At the dawn of the 18th century, the illusion of a peaceful Europe was shattered by the actions of the Emirate of Sicily, whose continued pirate raids against Christian coasts finally provoked a massive retaliation. Following a particularly brazen raid near Rome in 1716, Pope Lucidian I declared a crusade, rallying Italian states to expunge the Islamic presence from the peninsula. The Habsburg monarchy joined the conflict in 1718, and the combined Christian forces won decisive victories at Caserta and Bari, effectively destroying the Sicilian army and occupying all of the Emirate's mainland territories. Facing total defeat, the Emirate appealed to the Sultanate of Madjrit, which entered the war in 1720. Utilizing its massive fleet, Madjrit blockaded and economically crippled the Italian maritime republics rather than committing to a ground invasion.

The conflict spiraled into a general European conflagration in 1722 when Prussia and Hungary capitalized on Austria's distraction in Italy to declare war. While Prussia successfully occupied Silesia, Austria managed a swift and crushing victory against the Hungarians at Eisenstadt, knocking them out of the war by early 1723. France subsequently entered the fray to combat Madjriti naval aggression, leading to a complex series of invasions and counter-invasions along the Franco-Spanish border. The situation for Austria deteriorated again in 1727 when Hungary re-entered the war alongside Eastern Rome. This new coalition besieged Vienna, forcing the desperate Habsburgs to beg their traditional rival, France, for assistance. In a stunning turn of events, a joint Franco-Austrian army broke the siege in 1730, leading to a second, harsher defeat for Hungary.

As the continental powers exhausted their treasuries and manpower, Britain, which had remained neutral, opportunistically declared war in 1731 to seize colonial possessions from the battered French and Madjriti empires. By funding Prussia and Austria to keep the continental war alive, Britain secured strategic gains in the Americas and Africa while facing little resistance. The conflict finally ended with the Peace of Baden in 1732. The treaty forced the Emirate of Sicily to cede its Italian lands to a new Kingdom of Naples, redistributed minor territories among the great powers, and codified British colonial acquisitions. Despite the immense loss of life and economic devastation, the war largely maintained the European status quo, leaving the continent exhausted and wary of the rising, duplicitous power of Britain.