tour 27 of 28
London 1753
Souvenir fan of the Royal Fireworks
In October 1748 a treaty was signed at
Aix-la-Chapelle ending the War of Austrian Succession. The war -
sparked off in 1740 by Maria Theresa's claim to inherit the
Habsburg territories from her father Emperor Charles VI - was an
episode in the jockeying for position by European powers that
continued throughout the century. Britain's main interest
was to gain access to and maintain lucrative trade routes to the
Americas that were controlled by France and Spain. The treaty
failed to settle matters and skirmishing continued in the early
1750s, finally emerging again into all-out war in
1756.
The official
celebration of the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle took place on 17 April
1749 in the northern part of St James's Park, now called
Green Park. A huge temporary structure was erected for a firework
display organised by the famous Italian pyrotechnist, Giovanni
Niccolo Servandoni in collaboration with the Royal Laboratory at
Woolwich. £8,000 was spent and 10,000 rockets were let off, but the
evening ended in chaos when one wing of the structure caught fire.
The most enduring success of the day was the overture specially
composed by Handel for the celebrations - the
Music for the Royal
Fireworks.