1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Silesian Wars
SILESIAN WARS, the name given to the contests between Austria and Prussia for the possession of Silesia. The first (1740-1742) and second (1744-1745) wars formed a part of the great European struggle called the War of the Austrian Succession (q.v.), and the third war (1756-1762) similarly a part of the Seven Years' War (q.v.).