Seven Years' War: Encyclopedia II - Seven Years' War - European theatre

Seven Years' War - European theatre

In the European theatre, Prussia was outnumbered, but not outclassed, by her opponents. Prussia was a small state, but as one historian remarked, it was an army with a country, not the other way around.

At the start of the war, Frederick crossed the border of Saxony, one of the smaller German States in league with Austria. The Saxon and Austrian armies were unprepared, and at the Battle of Lobositz Frederick prevented the isolated Saxon army from being reinforced by an Austrian army under General von Browne. However, Saxony had successfully delayed the Prussian campaign.

In the spring of 1757, Frederick again took the initiative by marching on Prague. After the bloody Battle of Prague the Prussians started to besiege the city, but had to lift the siege after Frederick's first defeat at the Battle of Kolin.

Things were looking very grim for Prussia at this time, with the Austrians mobilizing to attack Prussian-controlled soil and a French army under Soubise approaching from the west. In what Napoleon called "a masterpiece in maneuver and resolution", Frederick both thoroughly crushed the French at the Battle of Rossbach and the Austrians at the Battle of Leuthen. With these complete victories at hand, Frederick had once again established himself as Europe's finest general and his men as the world's finest soldiers.

Though Frederick invaded Austria in the spring of 1758, he failed to score an important victory. In the west, the French were beaten in the Battle of Rheinberg and the Battle of Krefeld (Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick).

In the east, at the Battle of Zorndorf in Prussia, a Prussian army of 35,000 men under Frederick fought to a standstill with a Russian army of 43,000 commanded by Count Fermor. The Russians withdrew from the field. In the undecided Battle of Tornow on September 25, a Swedish army repulsed six assaults by a Prussian army. On October 14, the Austrians surprised the main Prussian army at the Battle of Hochkirch. Frederick lost much of his artillery but retreated in good order.

1759 saw some severe Prussian defeats. At the Battle of Kay, or Paltzig, the Russian Count Saltykov with 70,000 Russians defeated 26,000 Prussian troops commanded by General von Wedel. Though the Hanoverians defeated an army of 60,000 French at Minden, Frederick lost half his army in the Battle of Kunersdorf. In the Battle of Maxen, Austrian general Daun forced the surrender of an entire Prussian corps of 13,000 men.

The French planned to invade the British Isles during 1759 by accumulating troops near the mouth of the Loire and concentrating their Brest and Toulon fleets. But the plans were wrecked by two defeats at sea. In August, the Mediterranean fleet under M. de la Clue was scattered by a larger British fleet under Edward Boscawen at the Battle of Lagos. In the Battle of Quiberon Bay on 20 November, the British admiral Edward Hawke with 23 ships of the line caught the French Brest fleet with 21 ships of the line under Marshal de Conflans and sank, captured or forced aground many of them, putting an end to the French plans.

1760 brought even more disaster to the Prussians. The Prussian general Fouque was defeated in the Battle of Landshut. The French captured Marburg, the Swedes part of Pomerania. The Hanoverians were victorious over the French at the Battle of Marburg, but the Austrians captured Glatz in Silesia. In the Battle of Liegnitz Frederick scored a victory despite being outnumbered three to one. The Russians under General Saltykov and Austrians under General Lacy briefly occupied Berlin. The end of the year saw Frederick once more victorious in the Battle of Torgau.

1761 brought a new country into the war. Spain declared war on Great Britain on January 4. In the Battle of Villinghausen Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick defeated a 92,000 man French army. The Russians captured more area in Pomerania, while the Austrians captured Schweidnitz.

Great Britain now threatened to withdraw her subsidies, and as the Prussian armies had dwindled to 60,000 men the end seemed very near. But a turn of fortune was already at hand. On 5 January 1762 the Tsaritsa died, and her Prussophile successor, Peter III, at once offered peace.

The final major battle between Prussia and Austria was the Battle of Freiberg, fought on 29 October 1762.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "European theatre", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki