A Saxon–Prussian alliance fought the War of the Bavarian Succession (July 1778 – 21 May 1779) against the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy to prevent the Habsburgs from acquiring the Electorate of Bavaria. Although the war consisted of only a few minor skirmishes, thousands of soldiers died from disease and starvation, earning the conflict the name Kartoffelkrieg (Potato War) in Prussia and Saxony; in Habsburg Austria, it was sometimes called the Zwetschgenrummel (Plum Fuss).