France-Habsburg rivalry

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The term France-Habsburg rivalry (German: Habsburgisch-Französischer Gegensatz) describes the rivalry between the House of Habsburg, rulers of the Holy Roman Empire as well as Spain, and the kingdom of France, lasting from 1516 until 1756.

Following the Austrian tradition of peaceful coalitions by marriage, which Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor described as Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria, nube! - Wars may be led by others - you, lucky Austria, marry!), Philip the Handsome married Joanna of Castile.

With the then-Spanish County of Flanders to the north, France had the Habsburgs on three sides as its neighbor. This led to conflicts when their son Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor ruled The empire on which the sun never sets.

During the 240 years, the Thirty Years' War was the most significant, devastating large parts of Southern Germany, and shaping a new political map of Europe.

In 1756, in the Seven Years' War against the new power of Prussia, France and Austria became allies for the first time. This alliance was later sealed with the marriage of Austrian princess Marie Antoinette to the French Dauphin.

The Napoleonic Wars put an end to the Holy Roman Empire, but they also marked the beginning of the French-German enmity that lead to two World Wars.