Why did Maria Theresa want to regain Silesia during the Seven Years’ War?

Maria Theresa’s desire to regain Silesia during the Seven Years’ War was driven by her determination to recover the province lost to Frederick II of Prussia during the War of the Austrian Succession.12

Silesia had been the richest of all the Habsburgs’ Austrian provinces, possessing flourishing mining and textile industries that made it a significant economic loss. Following the peace of 1745, which formally ceded the territory to Prussia, Maria Theresa remained steadfast in her goal to recover the province and, ultimately, to destroy Prussia’s power.32

Guided by the strategic vision of her chancellor, Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz, she pursued this objective through a major diplomatic shift known as the reversal of alliances. By abandoning her traditional alliance with England and forming new treaties with France and Russia, she sought to assemble the necessary military strength to reclaim her lost lands.2