When Frederick II the Great of the Hohenzollern family took the throne in 1740, he inherited from his father (Frederick William I, known as the King-Sergeant) well-trained and very high combat value infantry. It is worth adding that before 1740, Field Marshal Leopold von Anhalt-Dessau (called Old Dessaur) was responsible for a very high (even draconian) level of her discipline, and already then she used flintlock rifles with an iron stamp. On the battlefield, it used a linear tactic and a three-rank formation, in contrast to the Austrian army, which used a four-rank formation. It is also assumed that it was the fastest-firing infantry in Europe at that time, and some historical studies indicate that a single Prussian infantry soldier consumed from 300 to 350 rifle loads per year during exercises, which was an extremely high sum at that time. In number, it also constituted the basis of the Prussian army, constituting about 80-85% of its manpower. At the beginning of the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), the Prussian infantry regiments were based on three full-time standards: "old", "medium" and "new". There were 48 old infantry regiments - 33 of them were musketeers and 15 were fusiliers. Regiments were in turn divided into battalions and companies. In the case of old foot regiments, they were divided into two battalions (except for the Guard and the Anhalt-Dessau regiment), and each of them, after mobilization, consisted of 700 soldiers, with 122 soldiers in the company. Prussian infantry proved its great combat value during both Silesian Wars (1740-1742 and 1744-1745) and the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), and its greatest successes were at Strzegom-Dobromierz (1745), Lutynia (1757) or Rossbach ( 1757).
When Maria Theresa of the Habsburgs took the throne in 1740, she inherited from her father (Emperor Charles VI) an army of not the best quality. The infantry of that army was poorly trained, was characterized by numerous shortages, and in terms of discipline or equipment - more or less - it was inferior to its Prussian counterpart. Significant shortcomings of the Austrian infantry were clearly demonstrated by both Silesian wars (1740-1742 and 1744-1745), especially the battles at Ma³ujowice (1741), Strzegom-Dobromierz (1745) and Soor (1745). It is not surprising that after a series of defeats in the Silesian wars, the Austrian army - especially its infantry - underwent a number of changes. First of all, from 1748, weapons with an iron stamp were introduced, and in 1754, the so-called Commisflinte wz.1754, which turned out to be the basic weapon of the Austrian infantry until the beginning of the 19th century. It is worth noting that the infantry also received new regulations in 1749, which provided for musketeers to continue firing in a four-row formation, but in the case of grenadiers, they ordered to fire in a three-row formation. The elite of the Austrian infantry were grenadiers, who constituted about 8-10% of the personnel of that same infantry. They were trained in the Prussian fashion with a similarly iron discipline. At the level of the war, the Austrian infantry company numbered 136 men, and the grenadiers - 100 men. The battalion in the strength of 6 companies consisted of 18 officers and 798 soldiers and non-commissioned officers. However, in the strength of 4 companies - 12 officers and 532 soldiers and non-commissioned officers. Although during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) the Austrian infantry continued to give way - especially at the beginning of the conflict - to their Prussian counterpart, they did well in the battles at Kolin (1757) and Kunersdorf (1759), victorious for the Austrians. It is worth adding that in the latter they fought side by side with the Russian troops.