Frederick the Great's War of the Austrian Succession

The Prussian state was making huge gains, but you would not want to be an average person living there during this time period. These trends of Prussian state building and militarism saw their ultimate expression in Frederick II, usually called Frederick the Great. When Frederick took the throne in 1740, he declared, "I intend to either assert my great power status or see everything go to ruins" He almost immediately launched an unprovoked invasion of Austria.