The imperial crown was thus thrown down among the combatants, and a scramble ensued for its possession such as Europe had never witnessed before.  Every court was agitated, and the combinations of intrigue were as innumerable as were the aspirants for the crown.  The spring of 1745 opened with clouds of war darkening every quarter of the horizon.  England opened the campaign in Italy and the Netherlands, her whole object now being to humble France.  Maria Theresa remained uncompromising in her disposition to relinquish nothing and to grasp every thing.  The cabinet of England, with far higher views of policy, were anxious to detach some of the numerous foes combined against Austria; but it was almost impossible to induce the queen to make the slightest abatement of her desires.  She had set her heart upon annexing all of Bavaria to her realms.  That immense duchy, now a kingdom, was about the size of the State of South Carolina, containing over thirty thousand square miles.  Its population amounted to about four millions.  The death of the Emperor Charles VII., who was Elector of Bavaria, transmitted the sovereignty of this realm to his son, Maximilian Joseph.

Maximilian was anxious to withdraw from the strife.  He agreed to renounce all claim to the Austrian succession, to acknowledge the validity of the queen’s title, to dismiss the auxiliary troops, and to give his electoral vote to the Duke of Lorraine for emperor.  But so eager was the queen to grasp the Bavarian dominions, that it was with the utmost difficulty that England could induce her to accede even to these terms.

It is humiliating to record the readiness of these old monarchies to sell themselves and their armies to any cause which would pay the price demanded.  For seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars England purchased the alliance of Poland, and her army of thirty thousand men.  Before the treaty was formally ratified, the Emperor Charles VII. died, and there were indications that Bavaria would withdraw from the French alliance.  This alarmed the French ministry, and they immediately offered Poland a larger sum than England had proffered, to send her army to the French camp.  The bargain was on the point of being settled, when England and Austria again rushed in, and whispered in the ear of Augustus that they intended to chastise the King of Prussia thoroughly, and that if Poland would help them, Poland should be rewarded with generous slices of the Prussian territory.  This was a resistless bribe, and the Polish banners were borne in the train of the Austrian alliance.

The Duke of Lorraine was much annoyed by the imperial assumption of his wife.  She was anxious to secure for him the crown of Germany, as adding to her power and grandeur.  But Francis was still more anxious to attain that dignity, as his position in the court, as merely the docile subject of his wife, the queen, was exceedingly humiliating.  The spring of 1745 found all parties prepared for the renewal of the fight.