The Russian Empire in the Seven Years' War briefly. Seven Years' War (1756–1763)
Significantly expanded the borders of his state. Prussia, already at the beginning of the war of 1740-1748, which had the third army in Europe in terms of numbers and the first in terms of training, could now create powerful competition for the Austrians in the rivalry for supremacy over Germany. The Austrian Empress Maria Theresa did not want to accept the loss of Silesia. Her dislike for Frederick II was intensified by the religious difference between Catholic Austria and Protestant Prussia.
Frederick II the Great of Prussia - main character Seven Years' War
The Prussian-Austrian enmity was the main cause of the Seven Years' War, but colonial conflicts between England and France were added to it. In the middle of the 18th century, the question was being decided which of these two powers would dominate North America and India. The confusion of European relations led to the "diplomatic revolution" of the 1750s. The two-century feud between the Austrian Habsburgs and the French Bourbons was overcome in the name of common goals. Instead of the Anglo-Austrian and Franco-Prussian alliances that fought each other during the War of the Austrian Succession, new coalitions formed: Franco-Austrian and Anglo-Prussian.
Russia's position on the eve of the Seven Years' War was also complicated. At the St. Petersburg court, supporters of both Austria and Prussia had influence. In the end, the former prevailed, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna moved her troops to support the Habsburgs and France. However, the authority of the "Prussophiles" continued to be strong. Russian participation in the Seven Years' War from beginning to end was marked by indecision and hesitation between the two European factions.
The course of the Seven Years' War - briefly
The alliance of Austria, France and Russia against Prussia was a great secret, but Frederick II managed to find out about it. He decided himself to be the first to attack the not fully prepared allies in order to prevent them from connecting. The Seven Years' War began with the Prussian invasion of Saxony on August 29, 1756, whose elector sided with Frederick's enemies. The Saxon army (7 thousand soldiers) was blocked in Pirna (on the Bohemian border) and forced to surrender. The Austrian commander Broun tried to save the Saxons, but after the battle on October 1, 1756 near Lobositz, the Prussians forced him to retreat. Frederick captured Saxony.
The Seven Years' War continued in 1757. By the beginning of that year, the Austrians had gathered a large force. Three French armies moved against Frederick from the west - d "Estre, Richelieu and Subise, from the east - Russians, from the north - Swedes. The German Sejm declared Prussia a violator of peace. But the English army arrived in Westphalia to help Frederick. The British thought to tie the French with Prussian hands in Europe, in the meantime to push them decisively in the American and Indian colonies.England had enormous naval and financial power, but her land forces were weak, and they were commanded by the incapable son of King George II, the Duke of Cumberland.
Frederick moved to Bohemia (Czech Republic) in the spring of 1757 and on May 6, 1757 inflicted a heavy defeat on the Austrians near Prague, capturing up to 12 thousand soldiers. He locked another 40 thousand soldiers in Prague, and they almost repeated the fate of the Saxons in Pirna. But the Austrian commander-in-chief Daun rescued his people by moving towards Prague. Frederick the Great, who thought to stop him, was repulsed with heavy damage on June 18 in the battle of Collin and driven back from the Czech Republic.
Seven Years' War. The Life Guards Battalion at the Battle of Collin, 1757. Artist R. Knötel
On the Western theater During the Seven Years' War, the three commanders of the French armies were intriguing against each other: each of them wanted to lead the war alone. Accustomed to luxury, the French officers looked at the campaign as if it were a picnic. They kept going to Paris, carrying crowds of servants with them, and their soldiers needed everything and died in droves from diseases. July 26, 1757 d "Estre defeated the Duke of Cumberland near Hameln. The Hanoverian aristocrats, who thought only of their own benefits, concluded a capitulation that gave all of Hanover to the French. The Duke of Cumberland also wanted to approve it, but the British government Pitt Senior prevented this. It succeeded in removing the duke from command and replacing him (on the advice of Frederick the Great) German prince Ferdinand of Brunswick.
Another French army (Subise), united with the Austrians, entered Saxony. Frederick the Great had only 25 thousand troops here - half that of the enemy. But when he attacked the enemies at the village of Rosbach on November 5, 1757, they fled in panic even before the entire Prussian army entered the battle. From Rosbach Friedrich went to Silesia. On December 5, 1757, he inflicted a severe defeat on the Austrians near Leuthen, driving them back to the Czech Republic. On December 20, the 20,000-strong Austrian garrison of Breslau surrendered, and all of Europe froze in surprise at the exploits of the Prussian king. His actions in the Seven Years' War were ardently admired even in France.
Attack of the Prussian infantry at the Battle of Leuthen, 1757. Artist Karl Röchling
Even before that, a large Russian army of Apraksin entered East Prussia. On August 30, 1757, it inflicted a defeat on the old Prussian Field Marshal Lewald at Gross-Jägersdorf and in this way opened a way for itself beyond the Oder. However, instead of moving forward, Apraksin unexpectedly retreated back to the Russian border. This act of his was connected with the dangerous illness of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. Apraksin either did not want to quarrel with Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, a passionate Prussophile who was supposed to inherit the Russian throne after Elizabeth, or he intended, together with Chancellor Bestuzhev, with the help of his army to force the unbalanced Peter to abdicate in favor of his son. But Elizaveta Petrovna, who was already dying, recovered, and the Russian campaign against Prussia soon resumed.
Stepan Apraksin, one of the four Russian commanders-in-chief in the Seven Years' War
The British government of Pitt continued the Seven Years' War with energy, increasing monetary support for the Prussians. Frederick the Great brutally exploited Saxony and Mecklenburg, which he occupied. In the western theater of the Seven Years' War, Ferdinand of Brunswick in 1758 pushed the French back to the Rhine and defeated them at Krefeld, already on the left bank of the river. But the new, more capable French commander-in-chief, Marshal Contad, again invaded the Rhine and in the fall of 1758 passed through Westphalia to the Lippe River.
In the eastern theater of the Seven Years' War, the Russians, led after the removal of Apraksin by Saltykov, crossed from East Prussia to Brandenburg and Pomerania. Frederick the Great himself unsuccessfully besieged the Moravian Olmutz in 1758, and then moved to Brandenburg and on August 25, 1758 gave the Russian army the battle of Zorndorf. Its outcome was indecisive, but the Russians after this battle chose to retreat from Brandenburg, so it was recognized that they were defeated. Frederick rushed to Saxony, against the Austrians. On October 14, 1758, the rising star of the Austrian army, General Laudon, thanks surprise attack defeated the king at Gohkirche. However, by the end of the year, Frederick's generals had driven the Austrians out of Saxony.
Frederick the Great at the Battle of Zorndorf. Artist Karl Röchling
At the beginning of the campaign in 1759, Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick suffered in the western theater of the Seven Years' War big damage from the French General Broglie in the battle of Bergen (April 13), near Frankfurt am Main. In the summer of 1759, the French commander-in-chief Contad went deep into Germany to the Weser, but then Prince Ferdinand defeated him in the battle of the Prussian Minden and forced him to retreat behind the Rhine and Main. Ferdinand, however, could not build on his success: he had to send 12 thousand soldiers to King Frederick, whose position in the east was very bad.
The Russian commander Saltykov led the campaign of 1759 very slowly and only in July reached the Oder. On July 23, 1759, he defeated the Prussian general Wedel at Züllichau and Kai. This defeat could have been disastrous for Prussia and ended the Seven Years' War. But Saltykov, fearing the imminent death of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna and the coming to power of the "Prussophile" Peter III continued to slow down. On August 7, he connected with the Austrian corps of Laudon, and on August 12, 1759, he entered the battle of Kunersdorf with Frederick II himself. In this battle, the Prussian king suffered such a defeat that after him he already considered the war lost and thought about suicide. Laudon wanted to go to Berlin, but Saltykov did not trust the Austrians and did not want to assist them in acquiring unconditional hegemony over Germany. Until the end of August, the Russian commander stood motionless in Frankfurt, citing heavy losses, and in October he returned to Poland. This saved Frederick the Great from inevitable defeat.
Pyotr Saltykov, one of the four Russian commanders-in-chief in the Seven Years' War
Frederick began the campaign of 1760 in the most desperate situation. On June 28, 1760, the Prussian general Fouquet was defeated by Laudon at Landsgut. However, on August 15, 1760, Frederick the Great, in turn, defeated Laudon at Liegnitz. Saltykov, who continued to avoid any decisive undertakings, took advantage of this failure of the Austrians to withdraw beyond the Oder. The Austrians moved Lassi's corps on a short raid on Berlin. Saltykov sent Chernyshov's detachment to reinforce him only after a strict order from St. Petersburg. On October 9, 1760, the combined Russian-Austrian corps entered Berlin, stayed there for four days and took an indemnity from the city.
Frederick the Great meanwhile continued to fight in Saxony. On November 3, here, near the fortress of Torgau, the bloodiest battle of the Seven Years' War took place. The Prussians won a brilliant victory in it, but most of Saxony and part of Silesia remained in the hands of their opponents. The alliance against Prussia was replenished: Spain, ruled by a side branch of the French Bourbons, joined it.
But soon the Russian Empress Elizaveta Petrovna (1761) died, and her successor, Peter III, an enthusiastic admirer of Frederick II, not only renounced all the conquests made by the Russian armies, but even expressed his intention to go over to the side of Prussia in the Seven Years' War. The latter did not happen only because Peter III, after the coup on June 28, 1762, was deprived of the throne by his wife Catherine II. She abstained from any participation in the Seven Years' War, Russia withdrew from it. The Swedes also lagged behind the coalition. Frederick II could now direct all his efforts against Austria, which was inclined towards peace, especially since France fought so ineptly that it seemed to have completely outlived its former military glory of the era of Louis XIV.
The Seven Years' War on the European continent was accompanied by colonial struggle in America and India.
The results of the Seven Years' War - briefly
The results of the Seven Years' War determined the Paris and Hubertsburg peace treaties 1763.
The Peace of Paris in 1763 put an end to the maritime and colonial struggle between France and England. England wrested an entire empire from the French North America: Southern and Eastern Canada, the Ohio River Valley and the entire left bank of the Mississippi. From Spain, the British received Florida. Until the Seven Years' War, the whole south of India was subject to French influence. Now it was completely lost there, to soon pass to the British.
Results of the Seven Years' War in North America. Map. The British possessions before 1763 are marked in red, the accession of the British following the Seven Years' War is marked in pink
The Hubertsburg Treaty of 1763 between Prussia and Austria summed up the results of the Seven Years' War on the continent. In Europe, the old borders have been restored almost everywhere. Russia and Austria failed to return Prussia to the position of a minor power. However, Frederick the Great's plans for new conquests and the weakening of the power of the Habsburg emperors of Germany to the benefit of the Prussians did not come true.
Frederick IIFriedrich II, King of Prussia since 1740. Bright representative enlightened
absolutism, the founder of the Prussian-German statehood.
In 1756, Friedrich attacked Austrian allied Saxony and entered Dresden. He justified his
actions by a "preemptive strike", claiming that a Russian-Austrian
a coalition that was ready for aggression. Then followed the bloody Lobozitskaya battle, in
which Frederick won. In May 1757 Frederick took Prague, but then on June 18, 1757
year he was defeated in the Battle of Kolinsky.
The battle of Zorndorf on August 25, 1758 ended with the victory of the Russians (according to the unwritten laws of that
time, the winner was the one who left the battlefield behind; the battlefield of Zorndorf
remained for the Russians), the Battle of Kunersdorf in 1759 dealt a moral blow to Friedrich.
The Austrians occupied Dresden, and the Russians Berlin. Victory provided some respite
in the Battle of Liegnitz, but Frederick was finally exhausted. Only contradictions between
Austrian and Russian generals kept it from final collapse.
The sudden death of the Russian Empress Elizabeth in 1761 brought an unexpected deliverance.
The new Russian Tsar Peter III turned out to be a great admirer of Frederick's talent, with whom he
signed a truce. Received power as a result of the palace
coup, Empress Catherine II did not dare to again involve Russia in the war and withdrew all
Russian troops from the occupied territories. Over the next decades, she
maintained friendly relations with Friedrich in line with the policy of the so-called. northern chord.
Pyotr Alexandrovich Rumyantsev
Manifestation in the Seven Years' War:By the beginning of the Seven Years' War, Rumyantsev already had the rank of major general. As part of the Russian troops under
under the command of S. F. Apraksin, in 1757 he arrived in Courland. 19 (30) August distinguished himself
at the Battle of Gross-Jägersdorf. He was entrusted with the leadership of a reserve of four infantry
regiments - Grenadier, Trinity, Voronezh and Novgorod - which was located on the other
side of the forest that bordered the Jagersdorf field. The battle continued with varying success, and
when the Russian right flank began to retreat under the blows of the Prussians, Rumyantsev, without an order to
on his own initiative he threw his fresh reserve against the left flank of the Prussian infantry.
In January 1758, the columns of Saltykov and Rumyantsev (30,000) went on a new campaign and
occupied Koenigsberg, and then the whole of East Prussia. In summer Rumyantsev's cavalry
(4000 sabers) covered the maneuvers of Russian troops in Prussia, and her actions were
recognized as exemplary. In the battle of Zorndorf Rumyantsev, direct participation
did not accept, however, after the battle, covering Fermor's retreat to Pomerania, 20
dismounted dragoon and equestrian grenadier squadrons of the Rumyantsev detachment were detained
for the whole day, the 20,000th Prussian corps at Pass Krug.
In August 1759, Rumyantsev and his division took part in the Battle of Kunersdorf.
The division was located in the center of the Russian positions, at the height of the Great Spitz. It is she
became one of the main objects of attack by the Prussian troops after they crushed the left flank
Russians. Rumyantsev's division, however, despite heavy artillery fire and
the onslaught of Seydlitz's heavy cavalry (the best forces of the Prussians), repulsed
numerous attacks and went into a bayonet counterattack, which he personally led
Rumyantsev. This blow threw back the army of King Frederick II, and she began to retreat,
pursued by the cavalry.
Willim Villimovich Fermor
Manifestation in the Seven Years' War:Fermor's military career peaked during the Seven Years' War. In the rank of General-in-Chief, he
brilliantly takes Memel, contributes to the victory of the Russian troops at Gross-Jegersdorf (1757).
In 1758 he became the commander of the Russian troops instead of S. F. Apraksin,
takes Königsberg and all of East Prussia. Empress Maria Theresa was erected
to the dignity of a count. Unsuccessfully besieged Danzig and Kustrin; commanded the Russians
troops in the battle of Zorndorf, for which he received the Order of Andrei
First-Called and Saint Anne.
Post-war life:
Participated in the battle of Kunersdorf (1759). In 1760 he acted along the banks of the Oder for
diversion of Friedrich's forces, a short time replaced the sick Saltykov at the post
commander in chief, and at that time one of his detachments (under
command of Totleben) Berlin was occupied. At this time, on duty
officer, and then general on duty at Fermor, the future great Russian
commander A. V. Suvorov.
At the end of the war in 1762 he was dismissed from military service. IN next year appointed
governor-general of Smolensk, and after 1764 he headed a commission in the Senate on
salt and wine collections. Empress Catherine II entrusted him with the restoration
the city of Tver, almost completely destroyed by fire. In 1768 or 1770 he came out in
resignation, on September 8 (19), 1771 he died.
Stepan Fedorovich Apraksin
Stepan Fedorovich ApraksinManifestation in the Seven Years' War:
When Russia concluded an anti-Prussian alliance with Austria, Empress Elizabeth
Petrovna granted Apraksin a field marshal and appointed
commander-in-chief of the active army.
In May 1757, Apraksin's army, numbering up to 100 thousand people, of which -
20 thousand irregular troops set out from Livonia in the direction of the river
Neman. 20 thousandth detachment under the command of General-in-Chief Fermor at
support of the Russian fleet besieged Memel, the capture of which on June 25 (according to the old
style) in 1757 was the signal for the start of the campaign.
Apraksin with the main forces moved in the direction of Verzhbolovo and Gumbinen.
The enemy of the Russian army in East Prussia was left for her
guard corps under the command of Field Marshal Lewald, numbering
30.5 thousand soldiers and 10 thousand militias. Having learned about the bypass movement of the Russian
army, Lewald came out to meet her with the intention of attacking the Russian
troops. General battle between the Prussian and Russian armies
happened on August 19 (30), 1757 near the village of Gross-Egersdorf and ended
the victory of the Russian troops. For five hours of battle, the losses of the Prussian side exceeded
4.5 thousand people, Russian troops - 5.7 thousand, of which 1487 were killed. news about
victory was received with enthusiasm in St. Petersburg, and Apraksin received in his coat of arms
two cannons placed crosswise.
Pyotr Semyonovich Saltykov
Manifestation in the Seven Years' WarIn the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) the Russian Empire spoke
ally of France and Austria. Russia's main adversary in
this war was Prussia, whose army he personally led
King Friedrich II. However, the period of this war from 1757 to 1758
the year was not very successful for the Russian army,
especially after the bloody pyrrhic victory of the Russian troops over
Friedrich's army at Zorndorf. Inefficiency of actions
and the fall of the authority of the commander-in-chief of the Russian
Fermor's troops led to the fact that
Empress Elizabeth dismissed him. Replaced it
in this post Saltykov - the appointment took place in 1759.
France
Russia (1757-1761)
(1757-1761)
Sweden
Spain
Saxony
Kingdom of Naples
Sardinian kingdom
F. W. Seidlitz
George II
George III
Robert Clive
Geoffrey Amherst
Ferdinand of Brunswick
Siraj ud-Daula
Jose I
Count Lassie
Prince of Lorraine
Ernst Gideon Loudon
Louis XV
Louis Joseph de Montcalm
Elizaveta Petrovna †
P. S. Saltykov
K. G. Razumovsky
Charles III
August III
The designation "seven-year" war received in the 80s of the XVIII century, before that it was spoken of as a "recent war".
Causes of the war
Opposing Coalitions in Europe 1756
The first shots of the Seven Years' War were heard long before its official announcement, and not in Europe, but across the ocean. In - gg. Anglo-French colonial rivalry in North America led to border skirmishes between English and French colonists. By the summer of 1755, the clashes turned into an open armed conflict, in which both allied Indians and regular military units began to participate (see French and Indian War). In 1756 Great Britain officially declared war on France.
"Flipping Alliances"
Members of the Seven Years' War. Blue: Anglo-Prussian coalition. Green: anti-Prussian coalition
This conflict disrupted the system of military-political alliances that had developed in Europe and caused a reorientation of the foreign policy of a number of European powers, known as the “reversal of alliances”. The traditional rivalry between Austria and France for continental hegemony was weakened by the emergence of a third power: Prussia, after Frederick II came to power in 1740, began to claim a leading role in European politics. Having won the Silesian wars, Frederick took Silesia, one of the richest Austrian provinces, from Austria, as a result, increasing the territory of Prussia from 118.9 thousand to 194.8 thousand square kilometers, and the population - from 2,240,000 to 5,430,000 people. It is clear that Austria could not so easily come to terms with the loss of Silesia.
Having started the war with France, Great Britain concluded an alliance treaty with Prussia in January 1756, thereby wishing to secure itself from the threat of a French attack on Hanover, the English king's hereditary possession on the continent. Frederick, considering the war with Austria inevitable and aware of the limitations of his resources, made a bet on "English gold", as well as on the traditional influence of England on Russia, hoping to keep Russia from participating in the upcoming war and thereby avoid a war on two fronts. Having overestimated the influence of England on Russia, he, at the same time, clearly underestimated the indignation caused by his treaty with the British in France. As a result, Frederick will have to fight a coalition of the three strongest continental powers and their allies, baptized by him " union of three bab "(Maria Theresa, Elizabeth and Madame Pompadour). However, behind the jokes of the Prussian king in relation to his opponents, there is a lack of self-confidence: the forces in the war on the continent are too unequal, England, which does not have a strong land army, except for subsidies, there is little that can help him.
The conclusion of the Anglo-Prussian alliance pushed Austria, yearning for revenge, to move closer to its old enemy - France, for which Prussia has now also become an enemy (France, which supported Frederick in the first Silesian wars and saw in Prussia just an obedient tool for crushing Austrian power, was able to make sure that Friedrich does not even think to reckon with the role assigned to him). The famous Austrian diplomat of that time, Count Kaunitz, became the author of the new foreign policy. A defensive alliance was signed between France and Austria at Versailles, to which Russia joined at the end of 1756.
In Russia, the strengthening of Prussia was perceived as real threat its western borders and interests in the Baltics and northern Europe. Close ties with Austria, with which an allied treaty was signed back in 1746, also influenced the determination of Russia's position in the looming European conflict. Traditionally close ties also existed with England. It is curious that, having broken off diplomatic relations with Prussia long before the start of the war, Russia, nevertheless, did not break off diplomatic relations with England throughout the war.
None of the countries participating in the coalition was interested in the complete destruction of Prussia, hoping to use it in the future in their own interests, however, all were interested in weakening Prussia, in returning it to the borders that existed before the Silesian wars. Thus, the coalition members waged a war for the restoration old system political relations on the continent, disrupted by the results of the War of the Austrian Succession. Having united against a common enemy, the members of the anti-Prussian coalition did not even think about forgetting their traditional differences. Disagreement in the camp of the enemy, caused by conflicting interests and having a detrimental effect on the conduct of the war, was ultimately one of the main reasons that allowed Prussia to stand in the confrontation.
Until the end of 1757, when the successes of the newly-minted David in the fight against the “Goliath” of the anti-Prussian coalition created a club of admirers for the king in Germany and abroad, it never occurred to anyone in Europe to seriously consider Frederick the “Great”: at that time, most Europeans saw in him a sassy upstart who should have been put in his place long ago. To achieve this goal, the Allies sent a huge army of 419,000 soldiers against Prussia. Frederick II had only 200,000 soldiers at his disposal, plus 50,000 defenders of Hanover, hired for English money.
European theater of war
1756 attack on Saxony
The forces of the parties in 1756
| The country | troops |
|---|---|
| Prussia | 200 000 |
| Hanover | 50 000 |
| England | 90 000 |
| Total | 340 000 |
| Russia | 333 000 |
| Austria | 200 000 |
| France | 200 000 |
| Spain | 25 000 |
| Total allies | 758 000 |
| Total | 1 098 000 |
Without waiting for the opponents of Prussia to deploy their forces, Frederick II was the first to start hostilities on August 29, 1756, suddenly invading Saxony, allied with Austria, and occupying it. On September 1 (11), 1756, Elizaveta Petrovna declared war on Prussia. On September 9, the Prussians surrounded the Saxon army encamped near Pirna. On October 1, the 33.5 thousandth army of the Austrian Field Marshal Brown, who was going to the rescue of the Saxons, was defeated at Lobozitz. Caught in a hopeless situation, the eighteen thousandth army of Saxony capitulated on October 16. Captured, the Saxon soldiers were driven by force into the Prussian army. Later, they would "thank" Friedrich by running to the enemy with entire regiments.
Saxony, which had armed forces the size of an average army corps and, moreover, bound by eternal turmoil in Poland (the Saxon elector was also the Polish king), did not, of course, pose any military threat to Prussia. Aggression against Saxony was caused by Frederick's intentions:
- use Saxony as a convenient base of operations for the invasion of Austrian Bohemia and Moravia, the supply of Prussian troops here could be organized by waterways, along the Elbe and Oder, while the Austrians would have to use inconvenient mountain roads;
- transfer the war to the territory of the enemy, thus forcing him to pay for it, and, finally,
- to use the human and material resources of prosperous Saxony for their own strengthening. Subsequently, he carried out his plan to rob this country so successfully that some Saxons still dislike the inhabitants of Berlin and Brandenburg.
Despite this, in German (not Austrian!) historiography, it is still customary to consider the war on the part of Prussia as a defensive war. The argument is that the war would still have been started by Austria and its allies, regardless of whether Frederick had attacked Saxony or not. Opponents of this point of view object: the war began not least because of the Prussian conquests and its first act was aggression against a weakly protected neighbor.
1757: Battles of Kolin, Rosbach and Leuthen, Russia begins hostilities
The forces of the parties in 1757
| The country | troops |
|---|---|
| Prussia | 152 000 |
| Hanover | 45 000 |
| Saxony | 20 000 |
| Total | 217 000 |
| Russia | 104 000 |
| Austria | 174 000 |
| Imperial Union of Germany | 30 000 |
| Sweden | 22 000 |
| France | 134 000 |
| Total allies | 464 000 |
| Total | 681 000 |
Bohemia, Silesia
Having strengthened himself by absorbing Saxony, Frederick at the same time achieved the opposite effect, spurring his opponents to active offensive operations. Now he had no choice but to take advantage of German expression, "flight ahead" (German. Flucht nach vorne). Counting on the fact that France and Russia will not be able to enter the war before the summer, Frederick intends to defeat Austria before that time. At the beginning of 1757, the Prussian army, moving in four columns, entered Austrian territory in Bohemia. The Austrian army under the Prince of Lorraine consisted of 60,000 soldiers. On May 6, the Prussians defeated the Austrians and blockaded them in Prague. Having taken Prague, Frederick is going to go to Vienna without delay. However, the blitzkrieg plans were dealt a blow: the 54,000-strong Austrian army under the command of Field Marshal L. Daun came to the aid of the besieged. On June 18, 1757, in the vicinity of the city of Kolin, the 34,000-strong Prussian army entered into battle with the Austrians. Frederick II lost this battle, losing 14,000 men and 45 guns. The heavy defeat not only destroyed the myth of the invincibility of the Prussian commander, but, more importantly, forced Frederick II to lift the blockade of Prague and hastily retreat to Saxony. Soon, the threat that arose in Thuringia from the French and the Imperial army ("Caesars") forced him to leave there with the main forces. Having from this moment a significant numerical superiority, the Austrians win a series of victories over the generals of Friedrich (at Moise on September 7, at Breslau on November 22), the key Silesian fortresses of Schweidnitz (now Swidnica, Poland) and Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland) are in their hands. In October 1757, the Austrian general Hadik managed to capture the capital of Prussia, the city of Berlin, for a short time with a sudden raid by a flying detachment. Having averted the threat from the French and the "Caesars", Frederick II transferred an army of forty thousand to Silesia and on December 5 won a decisive victory over the Austrian army at Leuthen. As a result of this victory, the situation that existed at the beginning of the year was restored. Thus, the result of the campaign was a "combat draw".
Middle Germany
1758: The battles of Zorndorf and Hochkirch do not bring decisive success to either side
The new commander-in-chief of the Russians was Field Marshal Vilim Vilimovich Fermor. At the beginning of 1758, he occupied, without meeting resistance, all of East Prussia, including its capital, the city of Koenigsberg, then heading towards Brandenburg. In August he laid siege to Küstrin, a key fortress on the way to Berlin. Friedrich immediately moved towards him. The battle took place on August 14 near the village of Zorndorf and was distinguished by tremendous bloodshed. The Russians had 42,000 soldiers in the army with 240 guns, while Frederick had 33,000 soldiers with 116 guns. The battle revealed several big problems in the Russian army - the insufficient interaction of individual units, the poor moral preparation of the observation corps (the so-called "Shuvalovites"), and finally called into question the competence of the commander in chief himself. At the critical moment of the battle, Fermor left the army, did not direct the course of the battle for some time, and appeared only towards the end. Clausewitz later called the battle of Zorndorf the strangest battle of the Seven Years' War, referring to its chaotic, unpredictable course. Having started “according to the rules”, it eventually resulted in a great massacre, breaking up into many separate battles, in which the Russian soldiers showed unsurpassed tenacity, according to Friedrich, it was not enough to kill them, they also had to be knocked down. Both sides fought to the point of exhaustion and suffered huge losses. The Russian army lost 16,000 people, the Prussians 11,000. The opponents spent the night on the battlefield, the next day, Friedrich, fearing the approach of Rumyantsev's division, deployed his army and took it to Saxony. Russian troops withdrew to the Vistula. General Palmbach, sent by Fermor to besiege Kolberg, stood for a long time under the walls of the fortress, without doing anything.
On October 14, the Austrians operating in South Saxony managed to defeat Frederick at Hochkirch, however, without much consequences. Having won the battle, the Austrian commander Daun led his troops back to Bohemia.
The war with the French was more successful for the Prussians, they beat them three times in a year: at Rheinberg, at Krefeld and at Mer. In general, although the 1758 campaign of the year ended more or less successfully for the Prussians, it additionally weakened the Prussian troops, who suffered significant, irreplaceable losses for Frederick during the three years of the war: from 1756 to 1758, he lost, not counting those who were captured, 43 general killed or died from wounds received in battles, among them their best military leaders, such as Keith, Winterfeld, Schwerin, Moritz von Dessau and others.
1759: Defeat of the Prussians at Kunersdorf, "the miracle of the House of Brandenburg"
The complete defeat of the Prussian army. As a result of the victory, the road for the Allied offensive on Berlin was opened. Prussia was on the brink of disaster. “All is lost, save the yard and the archives!” - wrote Frederick II in a panic. However, the persecution was not organized. This made it possible for Frederick to gather an army and prepare for the defense of Berlin. Only the so-called "miracle of the House of Brandenburg" saved Prussia from final defeat.
The forces of the parties in 1759
| The country | troops |
|---|---|
| Prussia | 220 000 |
| Total | 220 000 |
| Russia | 50 000 |
| Austria | 155 000 |
| Imperial Union of Germany | 45 000 |
| Sweden | 16 000 |
| France | 125 000 |
| Total allies | 391 000 |
| Total | 611 000 |
On May 8 (19), 1759, General-in-Chief P. S. Saltykov was unexpectedly appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian army, concentrated at that time in Poznan, instead of V. V. Fermor. (The reasons for Fermor's resignation are not entirely clear, however, it is known that the St. the outcome of the battle of Zorndorf and the unsuccessful sieges of Küstrin and Kolberg). On July 7, 1759, the forty-thousand-strong Russian army marched west to the Oder River, in the direction of the city of Krosen, intending to join the Austrian troops there. The debut of the new commander-in-chief was successful: on July 23, in the battle of Palzig (Kai), he utterly defeated the twenty-eight thousandth corps of the Prussian General Wedel. On August 3, 1759, the allies met in the city of Frankfurt an der Oder, three days before that occupied by Russian troops.
At this time, the Prussian king with an army of 48,000 people, with 200 guns, was moving towards the enemy from the south. On August 10, he crossed to the right bank of the Oder River and took up a position east of the village of Kunersdorf. On August 12, 1759, the famous battle of the Seven Years' War took place - the Battle of Kunersdorf. Frederick was utterly defeated, out of the 48,000th army, he, by his own admission, did not even have 3,000 soldiers left. “In truth,” he wrote to his minister after the battle, “I believe that all is lost. I will not survive the death of my Fatherland. Goodbye forever". After the victory at Kunersdorf, the Allies had only to strike the final blow, take Berlin, the road to which was free, and thereby force Prussia to surrender, but disagreements in their camp did not allow them to use the victory and end the war. Instead of advancing on Berlin, they pulled their troops away, accusing each other of violating allied obligations. Friedrich himself called his unexpected salvation "the miracle of the House of Brandenburg." Friedrich escaped, but failures continued to haunt him until the end of the year: on November 20, the Austrians, together with imperial troops, managed to encircle and force the 15,000-strong corps of the Prussian general Fink at Maxen to surrender, shamefully, without a fight.
The heavy defeats of 1759 prompted Frederick to turn to England with the initiative to convene a peace congress. The British supported it all the more willingly because they, for their part, considered the main goals in this war achieved. On November 25, 1759, 5 days after Maxen, an invitation to a peace congress was handed over to representatives of Russia, Austria and France in Rysvik. France signaled its participation, but the matter ended in nothing because of the intransigent position taken by Russia and Austria, who hoped to use the victories of 1759 to deliver the final blow to Prussia in the next year's campaign.
Nicholas Pocock. "The Battle of Quiberon Bay" (1759)
Meanwhile, England at sea defeated the French fleet at Quiberon Bay.
1760: Frederick's Pyrrhic victory at Torgau
The losses of both sides are huge: more than 16,000 among the Prussians, about 16,000 (according to other sources, more than 17,000) among the Austrians. From the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa, their real value was hidden, but Frederick also forbade the publication of the lists of the dead. For him, the losses incurred are irreparable: in the last years of the war, the main source of replenishment of the Prussian army were prisoners of war. Driven by force into the Prussian service, they run across to the enemy in whole battalions at any opportunity. The Prussian army is not only being reduced, but is also losing its qualities. Its preservation, being a matter of life and death, now becomes the main concern of Friedrich and forces him to abandon active offensive operations. The last years of the Seven Years' War are filled with marches and maneuvers, big battles like battles initial stage war is not happening.
The victory at Torgau has been achieved, a significant part of Saxony (but not all of Saxony) has been returned by Frederick, but this is not the final victory for which he was ready to "risk everything." The war will continue for another three long years.
The forces of the parties in 1760
| The country | troops |
|---|---|
| Prussia | 200 000 |
| Total | 200 000 |
| Austria | 90 000 |
| Total allies | 375 000 |
| Total | 575 000 |
The war thus continued. In 1760, Frederick with difficulty brought the size of his army to 200,000 soldiers. The Franco-Austro-Russian troops by this time numbered up to 375,000 soldiers. However, as in previous years, the numerical superiority of the Allies was nullified by the lack of a unified plan and inconsistency in actions. The Prussian king, trying to prevent the actions of the Austrians in Silesia, on August 1, 1760, sent his thirty thousandth army across the Elbe and, with the passive pursuit of the Austrians, arrived in the region of Liegnitz by August 7. Misleading a stronger enemy (Field Marshal Down had about 90,000 soldiers by this time), Frederick II actively maneuvered at first, and then decided to break through to Breslau. While Friedrich and Down mutually exhausted the troops with their marches and countermarches, the Austrian corps of General Laudon on August 15 in the Liegnitz region suddenly collided with the Prussian troops. Frederick II unexpectedly attacked and defeated Laudon's corps. The Austrians lost up to 10,000 killed and 6,000 captured. Friedrich, who lost about 2,000 men killed and wounded in this battle, managed to break out of the encirclement.
Barely escaping encirclement, the Prussian king almost lost his own capital. On October 3 (September 22), 1760, the detachment of Major General Totleben stormed Berlin. The assault was repulsed, and Totleben had to retreat to Köpenick, where he waited for the corps of Lieutenant General Z. G. Chernyshev (reinforced by Panin's 8,000th corps) and the Austrian corps of General Lassi assigned to reinforce the corps. On the evening of October 8, at a military council in Berlin, due to the overwhelming numerical superiority of the enemy, a decision was made to retreat, and on the same night the Prussian troops defending the city leave for Spandau, leaving the garrison in the city as an "object" of surrender. The garrison brings surrender to Totleben, as the general who first laid siege to Berlin. Illegal, by the standards of military honor, the pursuit of the enemy, who gave the enemy a fortress, is taken over by Panin's corps and Krasnoshchekov's Cossacks, they manage to defeat the Prussian rearguard and capture more than a thousand prisoners. On the morning of October 9, 1760, the Russian detachment of Totleben and the Austrians (the latter in violation of the terms of surrender) enter Berlin. Guns and guns were seized in the city, gunpowder and armory depots were blown up. An indemnity was imposed on the population. With the news of the approach of Frederick with the main forces of the Prussians, the allies leave the capital of Prussia in a panic.
Having received news on the way that the Russians had abandoned Berlin, Friedrich turns to Saxony. While he was conducting military operations in Silesia, the Imperial army managed to oust the weak Prussian forces left in Saxony for screening, Saxony was lost to Frederick. He cannot allow this in any way: he needs the human and material resources of Saxony to continue the war. November 3, 1760 at Torgau will be the last major battle Seven Years' War. He is distinguished by incredible bitterness, victory tends to one side or the other several times during the day. The Austrian commander Daun manages to send a messenger to Vienna with the news of the defeat of the Prussians, and only by 9 pm it becomes clear that he was in a hurry. Frederick comes out victorious, but this is a Pyrrhic victory: in one day he loses 40% of his army. He is no longer able to make up for such losses, in last period war, he is forced to abandon offensive actions and give the initiative to his opponents in the hope that they, due to their indecision and sluggishness, will not be able to properly use it.
In the secondary theaters of the war, Frederick's opponents are accompanied by some successes: the Swedes manage to establish themselves in Pomerania, the French in Hesse.
1761-1763: The second "miracle of the House of Brandenburg"
The forces of the parties in 1761
| The country | troops |
|---|---|
| Prussia | 106 000 |
| Total | 106 000 |
| Austria | 140 000 |
| France | 140 000 |
| Imperial Union of Germany | 20 000 |
| Russia | 90 000 |
| Total allies | 390 000 |
| Total | 496 000 |
In 1761, no significant clashes occur: the war is fought mainly by maneuvering. The Austrians manage to capture Schweidnitz again, Russian troops under the command of General Rumyantsev take Kolberg (now Kolobrzeg). The capture of Kolberg would be the only major event of the 1761 campaign in Europe.
No one in Europe, not excluding Frederick himself, at that time believed that Prussia would be able to avoid defeat: the resources of a small country were incommensurable with the power of its opponents, and the further the war went on, the greater value acquired this factor. And then, when Frederick was already actively probing through intermediaries the possibility of starting peace negotiations, his implacable opponent, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, who once declared her determination to continue the war to a victorious end, dies, even if she had to sell half of her dresses for this. On January 5, 1762, Peter III ascended the Russian throne, who saved Prussia from defeat by concluding the Petersburg Peace with Frederick, his old idol. As a result, Russia voluntarily abandoned all its acquisitions in this war (East Prussia with Königsberg, whose inhabitants, including Immanuel Kant, had already sworn allegiance to the Russian crown) and provided Friedrich with a corps under the command of Count Z. G. Chernyshev for the war against the Austrians , their recent allies.
The forces of the parties in 1762
| The country | troops |
|---|---|
| Prussia | 60 000 |
| Total allies | 300 000 |
| Total | 360 000 |
Asian theater of war
Indian campaign
In 1757, the British captured the French Chandannagar located in Bengal, and the French captured British trading posts in southeastern India between Madras and Calcutta. In 1758-1759 there was a struggle between the fleets for dominance in Indian Ocean; on land, the French unsuccessfully besieged Madras. At the end of 1759, the French fleet left the Indian coast, and in early 1760, the French ground forces were defeated at Vandivash. In the autumn of 1760, the siege of Pondicherry began, and in early 1761 the capital of French India capitulated.
English landing in the Philippines
In 1762, the British East India Company, sending 13 ships and 6,830 soldiers, captured Manila, breaking the resistance of a small Spanish garrison of 600 people. The company also entered into an agreement with the Sultan of Sulu. However, the British failed to extend their power even to the territory of Luzon. After the end of the Seven Years' War, they left Manila in 1764, and in 1765 they completed the evacuation from the Philippine Islands.
British occupation gave impetus to new anti-Spanish uprisings
Central American Theater of War
In 1762-1763, Havana was captured by the British, who introduced a free trade regime. At the end of the Seven Years' War, the island was returned to the Spanish crown, but now she was forced to soften the former hard economic system. Cattle breeders and planters received great opportunities in foreign trade.
South American theater of war
European Politics and the Seven Years' War. Chronological table
| Year, date | Event |
|---|---|
| June 2, 1746 | Union treaty between Russia and Austria |
| October 18, 1748 | Aachen world. End of the War of the Austrian Succession |
| January 16, 1756 | Westminster Convention between Prussia and England |
| May 1, 1756 | Defensive alliance between France and Austria at Versailles |
| May 17, 1756 | England declares war on France |
| January 11, 1757 | Russia joins the Treaty of Versailles |
| January 22, 1757 | Union treaty between Russia and Austria |
| January 29, 1757 | Holy Roman Empire declares war on Prussia |
| May 1, 1757 | Offensive alliance between France and Austria at Versailles |
| January 22, 1758 | Estates of East Prussia swear allegiance to the Russian crown |
| April 11, 1758 | Treaty of subsidies between Prussia and England |
| April 13, 1758 | Subsidy agreement between Sweden and France |
| May 4, 1758 | Treaty of Alliance between France and Denmark |
| January 7, 1758 | Extension of the agreement on subsidies between Prussia and England |
| January 30-31, 1758 | Subsidy agreement between France and Austria |
| November 25, 1759 | Declaration of Prussia and England on the Convocation of a Peace Congress |
| April 1, 1760 | Extension of the union treaty between Russia and Austria |
| January 12, 1760 | Last extension of the subsidy treaty between Prussia and England |
| April 2, 1761 | Treaty of Friendship and Trade between Prussia and Turkey |
| June-July 1761 | Separate peace negotiations between France and England |
| August 8, 1761 | Convention between France and Spain concerning the war with England |
| January 4, 1762 | England declares war on Spain |
| January 5, 1762 | Death of Elizabeth Petrovna |
| February 4, 1762 | Alliance pact between France and Spain |
| May 5, 1762 | Peace treaty between Russia and Prussia in St. Petersburg |
| May 22, 1762 | Peace treaty between Prussia and Sweden in Hamburg |
| June 19, 1762 | Union treaty between Russia and Prussia |
| June 28, 1762 | coup in Saint Petersburg, the overthrow of Peter III, the coming to power of Catherine II |
| February 10, 1763 | Treaty of Paris between England, France and Spain |
| February 15, 1763 | Treaty of Hubertusburg between Prussia, Austria and Saxony |
Warlords of the Seven Years' War in Europe
Frederick II during the Seven Years' War
SEVEN YEARS WAR(1756–1763), coalition war of Austria, Russia, France, Saxony, Sweden and Spain against Prussia and Great Britain
The war was caused by two main reasons. In the first half of the 1750s, the colonial rivalry between France and Great Britain intensified in North America and India; French capture of the river valley Ohio led in 1755 to the beginning of an armed confrontation between the two states; the formal declaration of war followed after the French occupation in May 1756 of Menorca. This conflict was superimposed on the intra-European conflict of Prussia with its neighbors: the strengthening of the military and political power of Prussia in Central Europe and the expansionist policy of its king Frederick II (1740–1786) threatened the interests of other European powers.
The initiator of the creation of the anti-Prussian coalition was Austria, from which Frederick II took Silesia in 1742. The formation of the coalition accelerated after the conclusion of the Anglo-Prussian treaty of alliance on January 27, 1756, at Westminster. May 1, 1756 France and Austria officially entered into a military-political alliance (Pact of Versailles). Later, Russia (February 1757), Sweden (March 1757) and almost all states joined the Austro-French coalition. German Empire, except for Hesse-Kassel, Braunschweig and Hannover, which was in a personal union with Great Britain. The Allied forces numbered over 300,000, while the Prussian army numbered 150,000 and the Anglo-Hanoverian expeditionary force 45,000.
In an effort to prevent the performance of his opponents, Frederick II decided to put an end to his main enemy, Austria, with one sudden blow. On August 29, 1756, he invaded the Austrian allied kingdom of Saxony in order to break through its territory into Bohemia (Czech Republic). On September 10, the capital of the kingdom of Dresden fell. On October 1, near Lobozitz (North Bohemia), an attempt by the Austrian Field Marshal Brown to help the Allies was thwarted. On October 15, the Saxon army capitulated in the Pirna camp. Nevertheless, Saxon resistance delayed the Prussian advance and enabled the Austrians to complete their military preparations. The approach of winter forced Frederick II to end the campaign.
In the spring of the following 1757, Prussian troops from three sides - from Saxony (Frederick II), Silesia (Field Marshal Schwerin) and Lausitz (Duke of Brunswick-Bevernsky) - invaded Bohemia. The Austrians under the command of Brown and Duke Charles of Lorraine withdrew to Prague. On May 6, Frederick II defeated them at Mount Zizka and laid siege to Prague. However, on June 18, he was defeated by the Austrian Field Marshal Daun near Kolin; he had to raise the siege of Prague and retreat to Leitmeritz in North Bohemia. The failure of Frederick II meant the collapse of the plan for the lightning defeat of Austria.
In August, Prince Soubise's detached French corps entered Saxony and linked up with Prince von Hildburghausen's imperial army, planning an invasion of Prussia. But on November 5, Frederick II utterly defeated the Franco-Imperial troops at Rossbach. At the same time, the Austrians, under the command of Charles of Lorraine, moved into Silesia; On November 12, they took Schweidnitz, on November 22 they defeated the Duke of Brunswick-Beversky near Breslau (modern Wroclaw in Poland) and on November 24 they captured the city. However, on 5 December Frederick II defeated Charles of Lorraine at Leuthen and regained Silesia, minus Schweidnitz; Daun became the Austrian commander-in-chief.
In the west, the French army under the command of Marshal d'Estre occupied Hesse-Kassel in April 1757 and defeated the Anglo-Prussian-Hanoverian army of the Duke of Cumberland on July 26 at Hastenbeck (on the right bank of the Weser). the French commander Duke de Richelieu, under which he undertook to disband his army.But the British government, which was headed by the energetic W. Pitt the Elder on June 29, annulled the Klostertseven convention; ceded his post to the Count of Clermont, who withdrew the French army across the Rhine.
In the east, the Russian army launched an offensive against East Prussia in the summer of 1757; On July 5, she occupied Memel. An attempt by Field Marshal Lewald to stop her at Gross-Jägersdorf on August 30, 1757 ended in a crushing defeat for the Prussians. However, the Russian commander S.F. Apraksin, for domestic political reasons (the illness of Empress Elizabeth and the prospect of the accession of the pro-Prussian-minded Tsarevich Peter), withdrew his troops to Poland; recovered Elizabeth dismissed Apraksin. This forced the Swedes, who moved in September 1757 to Stettin, to retreat to Stralsund.
On January 16, 1758, the new Russian commander V.V. Fermor crossed the border and captured Koenigsberg on January 22; East Prussia was declared a Russian province; in the summer he penetrated Neumark and laid siege to Küstrin on the Oder. When Frederick II's plan to invade Bohemia through Moravia failed due to an unsuccessful attempt to take Olmütz in May-June, he advanced towards the Russians in early August. The fierce battle at Zorndorf on August 25 ended inconclusively; both sides suffered huge losses. Fermor's retreat to Pomerania enabled Frederick II to turn his forces against the Austrians; despite the defeat on October 14 from Daun at Hochkirch, he retained Saxony and Silesia in his hands. In the west, the threat of a new French offensive was eliminated by the victory of the Duke of Brunswick over the Count of Clermont at Krefeld on June 23, 1758.
In 1759 Frederick II was forced to go on the defensive on all fronts. The main danger for him was the intention of the Russian and Austrian command to start joint operations. In July, the army of P.S. Saltykov, who replaced Fermor, moved to Brandenburg to join the Austrians; the Prussian General Wendel, who tried to stop her, was defeated on July 23 at Züllichau. On August 3, at Crossen, the Russians connected with the corps of the Austrian General Laudon and occupied Frankfurt an der Oder; On August 12, they utterly defeated Frederick II at Kunersdorf; at the news of this, the Prussian garrison of Dresden capitulated. However, due to disagreements, the Allies did not build on their success and did not take the opportunity to capture Berlin: the Russians went to spend the winter in Poland, and the Austrians in Bohemia. Moving through Saxony, they surrounded the corps of the Prussian General Fink near Macsen (south of Dresden) and on November 21 forced him to surrender.
In the west, at the beginning of 1759, Subise captured Frankfurt am Main and made it the main southern base of the French. The Duke of Brunswick's attempt to recapture the city ended in his defeat on April 13 at Bergen. However, on August 1, he defeated the army of Marshal de Contade, which was besieging Minden, and thwarted the French invasion of Hanover. The attempt of the French to land in England also ended in failure: on November 20, Admiral Howe destroyed the French flotilla near Belle-Ile Island.
In the early summer of 1760, Laudon invaded Silesia and on June 23 defeated the Prussian corps of General Fouquet at Landesgut, but on August 14–15 he was defeated by Frederick II at Liegnitz. In the fall, the combined Russian-Austrian army under the command of Totleben marched on Berlin and occupied it on October 9, but left the capital on October 13, taking a huge contribution from it. The Russians have gone beyond the Oder; the Austrians retreated to Torgau, where on November 3 they were defeated by Frederick II and pushed back to Dresden; almost all of Saxony was again in the hands of the Prussians. Despite these successes, the military-political and economic situation of Prussia continued to deteriorate: Frederick II had practically no reserves left; financial resources were exhausted, and he had to resort to the practice of defacing coins.
On June 7, 1761, the British captured the island of Belle-Ile off the western coast of France. In July, the Duke of Brunswick repelled another French invasion of Westphalia by defeating Marshal Broglie at Bellinghausen near Paderborn. Disagreements between the new Russian commander A.B. Buturlin and Laudon prevented the implementation of the plan for joint Russian-Austrian operations; On September 13, Buturlin retreated to the east, leaving only the corps of Z.G. Chernyshev with Laudon. However, Frederick II's attempt to force Laudon to withdraw from Silesia failed; The Austrians captured Schweidnitz. In the north, on December 16, Russian-Swedish detachments took the strategically important fortress of Kolberg. On top of all these failures of Frederick II, Spain concluded a Family Pact with France on August 15, 1761, pledging to enter the war on the side of the Allies, and the cabinet of Pitt the Elder fell in England; Lord Bute's new government refused to renew the treaty in December financial assistance Prussia.
January 4, 1762 Great Britain declared war on Spain; after the refusal of Portugal to break allied relations with the British, Spanish troops occupied its territory. However, in Central Europe, after the death of the Russian Empress Elizabeth on January 5, the situation changed dramatically in favor of Frederick II; the new emperor Peter III suspended military operations against Prussia; On May 5, he concluded a peace treaty with Frederick II, returning to him all the regions and fortresses conquered by the Russian troops. Sweden followed suit on 22 May. June 19 Russia entered into a military alliance with Prussia; Chernyshev's corps joined the army of Frederick II. After the overthrow of Peter III on July 9, 1762, the new Empress Catherine II severed the military alliance with Prussia, but kept the peace agreement in force. Russia, one of the most dangerous opponents of Frederick II, withdrew from the war.
On July 21, 1762, Frederick II stormed the fortified camp of Daun near Burkersdorf and conquered all of Silesia from the Austrians; On October 9, Schweidnitz fell. On October 29, Prince Henry of Prussia defeated the imperial army at Freiberg and captured Saxony. In the west, the French were defeated at Wilhelmstan and lost Kassel. The corps of the Prussian General Kleist reached the Danube and took Nuremberg.
In the non-European theater of operations, there was a fierce struggle between the British and French for dominance in North America and India. In North America, the advantage was at first on the side of the French, who on August 14, 1756 captured Fort Oswego, and on August 6, 1757 - Fort William Henry. However, in the spring of 1758 the British launched major offensive operations in Canada. In July, they took a fortress on Cap Breton Island, and on August 27 they captured Fort Frontenac, establishing control over Lake Ontario and interrupting French communications between Canada and the river valley. Ohio. On July 23, 1759, the English General Amherst captured the strategically important Fort of Tyconderogu; On September 13, 1759, the English general Wolfe defeated the Marquis de Montcalm on the plain of Abraham near Quebec and on September 18 captured this citadel of French rule in the valley of the St. Lawrence. An attempt by the French to return Quebec in April-May 1760 failed. September 9 English General Amherst took Montreal, completing the conquest of Canada.
In India, success also accompanied the British. At the first stage, hostilities concentrated at the mouth of the river. Ganges. On March 24, 1757, Robert Clive took Chandernagor, and on June 23, at Plassy, on the Bagirati River, he defeated the army of the Bengali Nabob Siraja-ud-Daula, an ally of France, and captured all of Bengal. In 1758 Lally, the governor of the French possessions in India, launched an offensive against the British in the Carnatic. On May 13, 1758, he took Fort St. David, and on December 16 he laid siege to Madras, but the arrival of the English fleet forced him to retreat to Pondicherry on February 16, 1759. In March 1759 the British captured Masulipatam. On January 22, 1760, Lally was defeated at Vandevash by the English general Kuta. Pondicherry, the last stronghold of the French in India, besieged by the British in August 1760, capitulated on January 15, 1761.
After Spain entered the war, the British attacked her possessions in pacific ocean, capturing the Philippine Islands, and in the West Indies, having captured the fortress of Havana on the island of Cuba on August 13, 1762.
The mutual exhaustion of forces by the end of 1762 forced the belligerents to begin peace negotiations. On February 10, 1763, Great Britain, France and Spain concluded the Peace of Paris, according to which the French ceded to the British in North America the island of Cap Breton, Canada, the Ohio river valley and lands east of the Mississippi river, with the exception of New Orleans, in the West Indies islands Dominica, Saint Vincent, Grenada and Tobago, Senegal in Africa and almost all of their possessions in India (except for five fortresses); the Spaniards gave them Florida, receiving Louisiana in return from the French. On February 15, 1763, Austria and Prussia signed the Treaty of Hubertsburg, which restored the pre-war statu quo; Prussia preserved Silesia by guaranteeing freedom of the Catholic religion to its people.
The result of the war was the establishment of the complete hegemony of Great Britain on the seas and a sharp weakening of the colonial power of France. Prussia managed to maintain the status of a great European power. The era of the dominance of the Austrian Habsburgs in Germany is finally a thing of the past. From now on, a relative balance of two strong states was established in it - Prussia, which dominates in the north, and Austria, which dominates in the south. Russia, although it did not acquire any new territories, strengthened its authority in Europe and demonstrated its considerable military and political capabilities.
Ivan Krivushin
Seven Years' War 1756-1763 was provoked by a clash of interests of Russia, France and Austria on the one hand and Portugal, Prussia and England (in union with Hanover) on the other. Each of the states that entered the war, of course, pursued its own goals. Thus, Russia tried to increase its influence in the West.
The beginning of the war was laid by the battle of the fleets of England and France near the Balearic Islands on May 19, 1756. It ended with the victory of the French. Land operations began later - on August 28. The army under the command of the Prussian king Frederick the 2nd invaded the lands of Saxony, and later began the siege of Prague. At the same time, the French army occupied Hanover.
Russia entered the war in 1757. In August Russian army suffered heavy losses, but won the battle of Gross-Jägersdorf, opening the way to East Prussia. However, Field Marshal Apraksin, who commanded the troops, learned about the illness of the empress. Believing that her heir would soon take the throne, he began to withdraw troops to the Russian border. Later, announcing such actions as treason, the Empress brought Apraksin to court. Fermor took the place of the commander. In 1758, the territory of East Prussia was annexed to Russia.
Further events of the seven-year war (briefly): the victories won in 1757 by the Prussian army under the command of Frederick the 2nd were reduced to zero in 1769 due to the successful actions of the Russian-Austrian troops during the Battle of Kunersdorf. By 1761 Prussia was on the brink of defeat. But in 1762 Empress Elizabeth died. Peter the 3rd, who ascended the throne, was a supporter of rapprochement with Prussia. Preliminary peace negotiations held in the autumn of 1762 ended with the conclusion of the Paris Peace Treaty on January 30, 1763. This day is officially considered the date of the end of the Seven Years' War.
The victory was won by the Anglo-Prussian coalition. Thanks to this outcome of the war, Prussia finally entered the circle of leading European powers. Russia did not gain anything as a result of this war, except for the experience of military operations. France lost Canada and most overseas possessions, Austria lost all rights to Silesia and the county of Galz.