Whilst Maria Theresa was insisting at Paris upon obtaining an offensive as well as defensive alliance, Frederick II.

was signing with England an engagement not to permit the entrance into Germany of any foreign troops.
"I only wish to preserve Germany from war," wrote the King of Prussia to Louis XV.

On the 1st of May, 1756, at Versailles, Louis XV.

replied to the Anglo-Prussian treaty by his alliance with the Empress Maria Theresa.
The house of Bourbon was holding out the hand to the house of Austria; the work of Henry IV.

and of Richelieu, already weakened by an inconsistent and capricious policy, was completely crumbling to pieces, involving in its ruin the military fortunes of France.
The prudent moderation of Abbe de Bernis, then in great favor with Madame de Pompadour, and managing the negotiations with Austria, had removed from the treaty of Versailles the most alarming clauses.