<P> Moreover, the Prussian army was better trained than other armies in Europe and was led by an excellent officer corps . King Frederick William I and "the guiding genius of the Prussian Army", Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt - Dessau or "Old Dessauer", had drilled the Prussian Army to a perfection previously unknown in Europe; they were without rival in their discipline, precision and rate of fire . Furthermore, while the Austrians had to wait for conscription to complete the field forces, Prussian regiments took the field at once . With this army it might not have been surprising that Frederick was able to overrun Silesia . However, Frederick sought even more advantages in the war he was planning . Accordingly, he had his Foreign Minister--Heinrich von Podewils--secretly negotiate a treaty with France to put Austria in a two front war . In this way, Prussia could attack the Austrians in the east while France would attack Austria from the west . A treaty with France was signed in April 1739 . </P> <P> In early December, Frederick assembled his army along the Oder river and on 16 December, without a formal declaration of war, the Prussians invaded Silesia . For most of the previous century, Austria's military resources had been concentrated in Hungary and Italy, countering threats from the Ottomans and Spanish respectively, while neglecting less vulnerable areas . As a result, the Austrians had fewer than 3,000 troops available to defend Silesia, and although this was increased to 7,000 shortly before the Prussian attack, they could only hold the fortresses of Glogau, Breslau, and Brieg, abandoning the rest of the province and retreating into Moravia, at which point both sides went into winter quarters . Prussia now controlled most of the single richest province in the Habsburg Empire (Silesian taxes provided 10% of total Imperial income), with a population of over one million, the major commercial centre of Breslau and large mining, weaving and dyeing industries . However, Frederick had hoped to avoid a long war by rapidly capturing all of Silesia, presenting Maria Theresa with a fait accompli, in exchange for which Prussia would guarantee the Habsburgs' other German territories; Austria's retention of its fortresses in Southern Silesia and the failure of Prussian diplomatic efforts to persuade powers like Britain and Russia to agree meant a quick victory could not be achieved . </P> <P> Early in the year, a new Austrian field army under General Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg relieved Neisse and marched on Brieg, threatening to cut the Prussians off . On 10 April, Frederick's army caught the Austrians on the snow - covered fields near Mollwitz . This was the first time that Frederick had led troops into battle . The victory that Frederick attained at the Battle of Mollwitz was a learning experience for the young King, who departed from the field just before his troops routed the Austrians; both his tactics and his cavalry were rather clumsy, and victory was only obtained due to the discipline of the Prussian infantry and their veteran commander, Field Marshall Kurt von Schwerin . </P> <P> Frederick obtained an alliance with the French against the Austrians, signing the Treaty of Breslau on 5 June . Accordingly, the French began to cross the Rhine on 15 August and joined the Bavarian Elector's forces on the Danube and advanced towards Vienna . The combined forces of the French and the Bavarians captured the Austrian town of Linz on 14 September . However, at this point, the objective was suddenly changed, and after many countermarches the anti-Austrian allies advanced, in three widely separated corps, on Prague . A French corps moved via Amberg and Pilsen . The Elector marched on Budweis, and the Saxons (who had now joined the allies against Austria) invaded Bohemia by the Elbe valley . The Austrians could at first offer little resistance, but before long a considerable force intervened at Tábor between the Danube and the allies, and Austrian troops including Neipperg were soon transferred from Silesia back to the west to defend the Austrian capital, Vienna, from the French . </P>

The war of the austrian succession could best be described as