Austro-Italian ironclad arms race
Seizing upon the decline of the Regia Marina in the years immediately after the Battle of Lissa, Tegetthoff worked to continue the efforts of Archduke Ferdinand Max of expanding the ironclad fleet of the now Austro-Hungarian Navy. Tegetthoff found political allies in the Austro-Hungarian Minister of War Carl von Franck and retired Admiral Bernhard von Wüllerstorf-Urbair. Wüllerstorf's and Franck's primary arguments in favor of continuing with the ironclad program Austria had engaged in prior to the Seven Weeks War lay largely along economic grounds. The two believed that constructing new ironclad warships would rejuvenate Austria-Hungary's economy following the defeat at the hands of Prussia and Italy, and that such a fleet would help to open up new commercial opportunities in the Levant and the Middle East. These proposals would be shelved however while Austria continued to reel from the military defeats inflicted by Prussia, and several cabinet reshufflings by Emperor Franz Joseph I resulted in a government more interested in pursuing revenge against Prussia than constructing new ironclads, which would be of little use in a hypothetical second war with Prussia.
Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes
The objective of Chavigny and Vergennes in Lisbon was to keep Portugal from entering the War of the Austrian Succession on the side of Britain, a task that proved relatively easy as the Portuguese had little interest in joining the war. In 1743 Vergennes accompanied his uncle to the court of Charles VII who was the ruler of Bavaria and also held the title of Holy Roman Emperor. Charles VII was a key ally of the French in the ongoing war against Austria, and they were charged with keeping him in the war by assuaging his concerns which they accomplished successfully. They next were instrumental in the agreement of the Union of Frankfurt, a pact involving several German rulers to uphold Charles VII's interests. after Charles VII's sudden death in 1745, they strove to help his successor Maximilian III but were unable to prevent him from losing his capital at Munich and making peace with the Austrians at the Treaty of Füssen. In November 1745 Chavigny was relieved of his post, and returned to France accompanied by Vergennes. The following year they returned to Portugal to take up their previous posts there where they remained until 1749, unsuccessfully trying to negotiate a commercial treaty.