17.5.1742 Battle of Chotusice

The Austrian army suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Chotusice on 17 May 1742. Tens of thousands of men lost their lives. Maria Theresa had to give up her beloved Silesia.

While one stream of Austrian troops, which Maria Theresa had managed to mobilise, attacked in Bavaria, the other, led by Charles of Lorraine, headed for Bohemia. In May 1742, it clashed with the Prussian army at the Battle of Chotusice near Čáslav. The Prussians capitalized on their two-to-one superiority in artillery and better organized cavalry, which eventually decided the battle in their favour.

The battle ended after three hours of fierce fighting. The Austrians did not lack courage and vigour. But the Prussians had more guns. Eighty against 40 Austrian. And the Prussian soldiers were equipped with iron-rifled rifles, which were faster to load than the Austrian wooden ones, which broke easily. "The Prussian soldiers also had better command. The Austrian army was forced to clear the battlefield," says Karel Richter in his book Iron and Blood: the Prusso-Austrian Wars 1740-1866.

The Austrians lost over six thousand soldiers in this battle, but the losses on the Prussian side were only about 1,300 soldiers lower. "A total of around eleven thousand men died and it was the bloodiest battle that the Prussian and Austrian armies had yet fought against each other," writes Vladimir Liška in his book Maria Theresa: Mysteries and Mysteries.

Just four days before the battle, Maria Theresa gave birth to her fifth child, a daughter, Maria Christina, in Vienna. It happened on the day of the monarch's twenty-fifth birthday, perhaps because of this she became so attached to this child. In a situation where Prussian advance patrols appeared only 50 kilometres from Vienna, however, Maria Theresa had no choice but to initiate negotiations through her emissaries.

For Maria Theresa, the defeat of Chotusitz was no reason for her to plead with Friedrich for peace. On the contrary, it was Friedrich who was interested in a peace agreement at that moment. Despite the Chotus victory, he did not increase his demands. England became the mediator between the two antagonistic powers and tried to broker peace.

A preliminary agreement was concluded on 11 June 1742. "Maria Theresa considers Silesia the most beautiful jewel in her crown. The thought of losing it brings tears to her eyes. Nevertheless, she is forced to agree to what was agreed at Wrocław. In the corner of her soul, the thought lurks that the day will come when she will take back what is hers...," Richter writes in his book.

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