The War of the Bavarian Succession (July 1778 – May 1779) was fought between the Habsburg Monarchy and a Saxon–Prussian alliance to prevent the Habsburg acquisition of the Duchy of Bavaria. There were only a few minor skirmishes, but several thousand soldiers died from disease and starvation. It began after Maximilian Joseph (pictured) died, leaving no children. Charles IV Theodore, his heir, also had no children to succeed him; Charles II August, had a claim as Charles Theodore's heir presumptive. Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II wanted Bavaria, to expand his family's influence. For Frederick II of Prussia, Joseph's claim threatened the Hohenzollern ascendancy in German politics, but he saw no point in pursuing hostilities. Frederick Augustus I of Saxony wanted to preserve the territorial integrity of the Duchy for his brother-in-law, Charles August, and had no interest in seeing the Habsburgs acquire additional territory on his borders. France became involved to maintain the balance of power. Finally, Catherine II of Russia's threat to intervene on the side of Prussia with 50,000 Russian troops forced Joseph to reconsider his position, leading to the Treaty of Teschen in May 1779.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Bavarian_Succession

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1054:

Siward, Earl of Northumbria, led an invasion of Scotland and defeated Macbeth, King of Scotland, in a battle north of the Firth of Forth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siward,_Earl_of_Northumbria

1694:

A Royal Charter was granted to the Bank of England as the English Government's banker. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_England

1789:

The U.S. State Department, then known as the Department of Foreign Affairs, became the first federal agency created under the U.S. Constitution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_State

1916:

British mariner Charles Fryatt was executed at Bruges, Belgium, after a court-martial found him to be a franc-tireur. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Fryatt

1953:

An armistice was signed to end hostilities in the Korean War, officially making the Division of Korea indefinite by creating an approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) wide demilitarized zone across the Korean Peninsula. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Demilitarized_Zone

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

portend: 1. (transitive) To serve as a warning or omen. 2. (transitive) To signify; to denote. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/portend

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The thing about dancers is they're a certain breed. You don't do it to become rich and famous, you don't do it to have a really long career or to be the star, you do it because you can't imagine your life not doing it.   --Cat Deeley https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cat_Deeley