owever, Maria's ascension immediately sparked dissent from distant male relatives, notably Charles Albert, King and Elector of Bavaria, who immediately reneged on the Pragmatic Sanction and started to raise troops. With Austria facing a potential civil war in the west, the newly crowned Frederick II (Der Grösse, or the Great) of Prussia took the opportunity of launching a surprise invasion, on 16 December 1640, of the rich Austrian lands of Silesia – the War of the Austrian Succession had started. The Prussian forces had several major victories, but the Austrians prevented them from overrunning Silesia in its entirety. In the west the French were backing the Bavarian claimant and the war was expanding. In 1742, Maria Therese reached a truce with Prussia allowing Austrian forces
