Timeline of the Seven Years' War. The Seven Years' War - briefly. The main reasons for the start of the Seven Years' War were
In the period after the liberation from the Tatar-Mongols, Russia at least twice found itself in the face of catastrophe, i.e. complete loss of statehood. The first time was in 1572, during the invasion of the troops of the Crimean Khan Devlet Giray. This threat was averted by an outstanding victory near the village of Molodi. The second time was during the Time of Troubles at the beginning of the 17th century. The country during this period suffered enormous damage, but survived.
The third time the disaster could have happened in 1700, after the defeat of the Russian army near Narva at the very beginning Northern war. After that, Charles XII was going to go deep into Russia, to Novgorod, Pskov, and then to Moscow. It was certainly another turning point in our history. If Charles had realized his plan, he could well have succeeded in leading Russia out of the war, cutting off her territory in the northwest and replacing the king on her throne. The last one would be the most important. What Russia would have become without Peter I is now impossible to even imagine.
Fortunately, Karl's plan, which was absolutely correct from the Swedish point of view, was explained not by strategic plans, but, on the contrary, by youthful fervor. Therefore, the wise old generals dissuaded their king from marching on Moscow. They were sure that from a military point of view, Russia no longer posed any danger, while it was poor and sparsely populated, the distances there were huge, and there were no roads. It was much more convenient and pleasant to smash Poland, which the Swedes did, thereby signing their own verdict. In just 9 years, they received Poltava, after which Russia in one day passed into a new geopolitical quality, thanks to which it received completely new opportunities. In the middle of the same XVIII century. it sadly did not realize these newest opportunities during one of the many forgotten wars - the Seven Years' War (1756-1763).
This war could quite rightly be called a world war, since it covered not only the whole of Europe, but was also fought in America (from Quebec to Cuba) and Asia (from India to the Philippines). On the one hand there was a coalition of Prussia, Britain, Portugal, on the other - France, Austria, Spain and Sweden. In addition, both coalitions included several now defunct states. The general course of this war can best be described by the well-known Russian phrase "You can't figure it out without half a liter." Accordingly, there is no point in this, it is only about Russia.
Almost from the very beginning of the war, Russia, in which Elizabeth Petrovna then reigned, took the side of France and Austria. And this made the position of Prussia and the German states allied to it, to put it mildly, very difficult.
After all, Britain was not going to fight on the continent, for her the purpose of the war was to seize overseas colonies from France and Spain. The Germans, on the other hand, found themselves completely surrounded by three very powerful powers, whose forces in total were almost three times their size. The only advantage of the Prussian king Frederick II (the Great) was the ability to operate along internal lines of operations, quickly transferring troops from one direction to another. In addition, Frederick had the talent of a military leader and a reputation for invincibility.
True, at the beginning of the Seven Years' War, the Prussians lost a couple of battles to the Austrians, but they won much more victories. In addition, they inflicted a crushing defeat on the formally much stronger French army, after which their position no longer seemed hopeless.
But here, as the English military historian and analyst Liddell Hart wrote, "the Russian" steamroller "finally parted steam and rolled forward." In the summer of 1757, Russian troops under the command of Field Marshal Apraksin invaded East Prussia. In August, the first serious battle took place between the Russian and Prussian armies near the now defunct village of Gross-Egersdorf in the territory of the modern Kaliningrad region.
By this time, everyone had almost forgotten about the Russian victories over the Swedes, the Russian army was not taken seriously in Europe. And the Russians themselves did not take themselves seriously either.
Those. completely repeated the situation that took place during the Northern War until Battle of Poltava. Therefore, the German corps of Field Marshal Lewald, numbering 28 thousand people. boldly attacked Apraksin's twice as large army. And at first the attack had a chance of success, since the Russians had just crossed the Pregel River and were pushing their way through the wooded and swampy area in complete disarray. In such a situation, numerical superiority lost all meaning. However, the case was saved by the exceptional stamina of the Russian infantry, great job Russian artillery and, finally, a sudden attack by the brigade of Major General Rumyantsev on the flank and rear of the enemy. His Prussians could not stand it and began to retreat, and soon the retreat turned into a flight. The Prussian army in this battle lost 1818 people killed, 603 prisoners, and another 303 people. deserted. The Russians lost 1487 people killed.
All the more surprising was the further behavior of Apraksin, who not only did not develop success, but began to retreat and left the territory of East Prussia. For this, he was rightly put on trial, but even before the verdict, he died of a heart attack.
In 1758, Field Marshal Fermor led the Russian army. He very quickly occupied the whole of East Prussia and swore its population to the Russian Empress. Among those sworn in was the great philosopher Immanuel Kant, who lived all his life in Königsberg (Kaliningrad). After that, Russian troops went to Berlin. The main battle of the 1758 campaign took place, like a year ago, in August, near the village of Zorndorf (today it is the west of Poland). The Russian army of 42,000 was opposed by 33,000 Prussians under the command of Frederick the Great himself. They managed to get behind the Russian lines and attack the "Observation Corps", staffed exclusively by recruits. Those, however, showed amazing stamina, enabling the entire Russian army to turn the front and give Frederick a frontal battle. Which very quickly escalated into an uncontrollable and uncontrollable hand-to-hand fight in clouds of dust.
The battle turned out to be perhaps the most brutal of the entire Seven Years' War.
The Russians lost 16 thousand killed and wounded, the Prussians - 11 thousand.
Both armies could no longer carry on active operations.
However, the campaign as a whole was won by the Russians. They failed to take Berlin, but East Prussia remained behind them. Prussia's situation was facilitated only by the fact that her troops successfully defeated the French all year.
In 1759, the commander of the Russians changed again, now General-in-Chief Saltykov became the commander. The decisive events of the campaign took place again in August (they could have been decisive for the entire war as a whole, but, alas, they did not). On the territory of Silesia (today it is, again, Poland), the Russian army united with the Austrian and gave Friedrich a general battle near the village of Kunersdorf.
In this battle, the Russians had 41 thousand people, the Austrians - 18 thousand, the Prussians - 48 thousand. As at Zorndorf, Friedrich managed to go behind the Russian lines, but they managed to turn the front. The Prussian king used his signature invention against the weakest left flank of the Russians - an oblique attack, which had previously successfully broken the defense of any enemy. And at first, near Kunersdorf, everything also went very well for him. The Prussians captured one of the heights dominating the battlefield and a significant part of the Allied artillery. Friedrich's victory was so obvious that he sent a message about it to Berlin. Forgetting that "it's not enough to kill the Russians, you also have to knock them down" (he himself said this after Zorndorf).
However, the assault on the second dominant height of the Prussians did not go. The Russian infantry turned out to be no worse than the Prussian, oblique formation got stuck in their defense. Then the Prussian cavalry under the command of General Seydlitz was thrown into the attack. She was also considered the best in Europe. But it turned out that the Russian-Kalmyk cavalry, again, is no worse. Saltykov clearly monitored the course of the battle, transferring reserves to the right directions. Not having received even 0.01% of Friedrich's fame, he outright outplayed him precisely as a commander.
By evening, the Russian commander realized that the Prussians had run out of reserves,
after which he gave the order for an offensive, as a result of which Frederick's army
instantly disintegrated and fled. The only time in the entire war.
In the Battle of Kunersdorf, the Russians lost 5614 killed, 703 missing, the Austrians - 1446 and 447, respectively. Prussian losses were 6271 killed, 1356 missing, 4599 prisoners, 2055 deserters. In fact, however, after the battle, no more than 3 thousand combat-ready and obeying orders of soldiers and officers remained at the disposal of Frederick. The Russians brought back all the artillery lost at the beginning of the battle, taking some of the Prussian guns as well.
The battle was the largest in the entire Seven Years' War and one of the most outstanding victories of the Russian army in its entire history (it is doubly outstanding in that it was won not over the Turks or Persians, but over the best European army). All surviving participants in the battle received a medal with the inscription "To the Victor over the Prussians" (below in the photo).
After the war, Prussian emissaries traveled around Russia for many years and bought these medals for a lot of money in order to erase their catastrophe from history. Judging by the fact that today at least 99% of Russian citizens have no idea about the Battle of Kunersdorf, the emissaries successfully completed their task.
However, the disappearance of the battle from the people's memory was partly facilitated by the fact that it brought us absolutely zero political results, although the Russians and Austrians simply had to occupy Berlin and dictate the terms of surrender to the enemy. However, the "sworn allies" quarreled about further actions and did nothing at all, giving Frederick the opportunity to recuperate. As a result, the Battle of Kunersdorf actually became a turning point, only in the wrong direction.
In October 1760, a small force of Russians and Austrians even managed to take Berlin, but not for long, when the main forces of Frederick approached, they withdrew on their own. The Prussians won several more victories over the Austrians, but their resources were rapidly drying up. Here, however, Elizabeth Petrovna died, at the beginning of 1762, an admirer of Frederick, Peter III, ascended the Russian throne. Who not only returned to his idol all the Russian conquests (primarily East Prussia), but also sent the Russian corps to fight for Frederick against the Austrians.
Just six months after the coronation, Peter was overthrown and killed,
Catherine II recalled the corps, which had not had time to fight, back, but already in the war
did not enter. Thanks to this, the war ended with the victory of the Anglo-Prussian coalition.
First of all - due to the capture by England of most of the French colonial possessions in North America and India. But Prussia, contrary to all initial expectations, did not suffer any territorial losses in Europe.
Politically, Russia did not gain or lose anything from the war, remaining "with its own people." In military terms, the Russian army was the only one that did not suffer a single defeat, having won one truly outstanding victory and, thus, for the first time in its history, proved to be unequivocally the best in Europe, and therefore, in relation to that era, in the world as a whole. However, this did not give us anything but moral satisfaction.
In terms of long-term historical consequences Seven Years' War turned out to be truly tragic for us, given the missed opportunities. If Prussia had been defeated (and after Kunersdorf it was a fait accompli), it would not have been able to become a "collector of German lands" and, most likely, a united Germany, which unleashed two world wars in the 20th century, simply would not have arisen. And even if it appeared, it would be much weaker. In addition, had East Prussia remained part of Russia, the First World War, even if it had begun at all, would have gone completely differently. If there had not been a catastrophe for Samsonov's army, a direct and short path to Berlin would have immediately opened up for the Russian army. Therefore, it is quite possible to say that the first step towards the catastrophe of 1917 was taken the day after the Kunersdorf triumph.
By the way, after the return of East Prussia by Peter III to Friedrich, the great philosopher Kant did not again swear allegiance to the king, saying that the oath is given only once. We can assume that he remained a Russian subject until the end of his life. Therefore, his current cult in the Kaliningrad region is quite logical: this is really our great compatriot.
bengal subaFrance
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 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 of which the territory of Prussia was increased 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, relied 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 with a coalition of the three strongest continental powers and their allies, which he dubbed the "Union of Three Women" (Maria Theresa, Elizabeth and Madame Pompadour). However, behind the jokes of the Prussian king regarding 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, can do little to 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 a real threat to its western borders and interests in the Baltic and northern Europe. Close ties with Austria, an alliance treaty with which 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 of the old system of political relations on the continent, violated 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 on August 29, 1756 was the first to begin hostilities, 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, was 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 use the 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 irreplaceable: 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; there are no major battles like the battles of the initial stage of the war.
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 Daun by this time had about 90,000 soldiers), 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 of the 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 the last period of the war, he is forced to abandon offensive operations 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 longer the war went on, the more important this factor became. 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 the 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 previous tough 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 St. Petersburg, overthrow of Peter III, 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
The Seven Years' War is an all-European war between Prussia and England on the one hand and a coalition of France, Austria, Poland, Sweden, Russia, and Spain on the other. It ended with the Paris Peace Treaty and the Hubertsburg Peace Treaty. It continued from 1756 to 1763. The battles of the war took place both on land - in Europe, India and North America, and in the oceans: the Atlantic and Indian.Causes of the war
- Unresolved Issues of European Policy by the Previous War - For the Austrian Succession 1740-1748
- Lack of freedom of navigation in the seas of the East Indies
- Struggle for colonies between France and England
- The appearance on the European arena of a new serious rival - Prussia
- Prussian capture of Silesia
- The desire of England to protect its European possessions - Hanover
- The desire of Russia to dismember Prussia and annex its eastern region to itself
- Sweden's desire to get Pomerania
- Mercantile considerations of the parties: France and England hired allies for money
The main reason for the Seven Years' War is the struggle between England and France for supremacy in Europe and, consequently, the world. France, by that time already considered a great power, thanks to the policy of Louis XIV, tried to keep this title, England, whose socio-political system was the most advanced at that time, tried to take it away. The rest of the participants, taking advantage of the moment, the war resolved their narrow national-egoistic issues
« But instead of focusing on England, France launched another continental war, this time with a new and unusual ally. The Empress of Austria, playing on the religious prejudices of the king and on the annoyance of his favorite, who was offended by Frederick the Great's mockery of her, dragged France into an alliance with Austria against Prussia. Russia, Sweden and Poland subsequently joined this union. The empress insisted that the two Roman Catholic powers should unite in order to wrest Silesia from the Protestant king, and expressed her readiness to cede part of her possessions in the Netherlands to France, in accordance with her everlasting desire.
Frederick the Great, learning of this combination, instead of waiting for it to develop, moved his armies and invaded Saxony, whose ruler was also the king of Poland. With this march-manoeuvre, the Seven Years' War began in October 1756. (A. T. Mahan "The Influence of Sea Power on History" )
Course of the Seven Years' War
- 1748, April 30 - Treaty of Aachen, crowning the War of Austrian Succession
- 1755, June 8 - Naval battle between the fleets of England and France at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in Canada
- 1755, July-August - English warships began a privateer operation against French ships off the coast of Canada
- 1756, March 25 - Russian-Austrian Union Treaty
- 1756, April 17 - Blockade by the French army and fleet of the English island of Menorca in the Mediterranean Sea
- 1756, May 1 - Treaty of Versailles alliance between Austria and France
- May 17, 1756 - England declares war on France.
- 1756, May 20 - Naval battle of the British and French off the island of Menorca
- June 20, 1756 - France declares war on England
- 1756, June 28 - Menorca passed into the possession of France
- 1756, October - The Prussian army of Frederick the Great invades Saxony, which belongs to Poland. Beginning of the Seven Years' War
- 1756, October 4 - Surrender of the Saxon army
- 1756 November - France conquers Corsica
- 1757, January 11 - Austro-Russian treaty on the deployment of each side of the 80,000th army against Prussia
- 1757, February 2 - Treaty of Austria and Russia, according to which Russia received 1 million rubles annually for participation in the war
- 1757, April 25-June 7 - Unsuccessful company of Frederick in Bohemia
- 1757, May 1 - Treaty of Versailles between France and Austria, under which France was obliged to pay Austria 12 million florins annually
1757, May - Russia's entry into the war. For the first time, Russia has actively become a participant in European politics.
- 1757 - Prussian troops defeated by the Russian army at Gross-Jegersdorf
- 1757, October 25 - Defeat of the French at the Battle of Rosbach
- 1757, December - Russian offensive in East Prussia
- 1757, December 30 - Fall of Koenigsberg
- 1757, December - Prussia captured all of Silesia
- 1758, July - The siege of the Kustrin fortress by the Russian army, the key to Brandenburg
- 1758, August 1 - The victory of the Russian army in the battle of Kunersdorf
- 1758, August 14 - The defeat of the Russian army near Zorndorf
- 1759, July - Victory of the Russian army at Palzig
- 1759, August 20 - Destruction of the Toulon fleet of France by the English fleet
- 1759, November 20 - Destruction of the Brest fleet of France by the English fleet
- 1760, March 12 - negotiations between Austria and Russia on the acquisition by Russia of the right bank of the Dnieper, which then belonged to Poland, and East Prussia
September 8, 1760 - France loses Montreal, ending French possession of Canada
- 1760 - September 28 - The Russian army entered Berlin
- 1760, February 12 - France lost the island of Martinique in the West Indies
- 1761, January 16 - The fall of the French fortress of Pondicherry in India
- 1761, August 15 - Treaty of friendship between France and Spain with a secret protocol for Spain's entry into the Seven Years' War
- 1761, September 21 - Spain received a cargo of colonial American gold, allowing her to start a war with England
- 1761, December - The Russian army took the Prussian fortress of Kolberg (today the city of Kolobrzeg)
- 1761, December 25 - Death of the Russian Empress Elizabeth Petrovna
- January 4, 1762 - England declares war on Spain
- 1762, May 5 - The new Russian emperor concluded an alliance treaty with Frederick, which changed the balance of power in Europe
Peter III was an ardent admirer of Frederick. He not only abandoned all conquests in Prussia, but also expressed a desire to help Frederick. Chernyshev's corps was ordered to link up with Friedrich for joint offensive operations against Austria.
- 1762, June 8 - Palace coup in Russia. Catherine II ascended the throne, the treaty with Prussia was terminated
- 1762, August 10 - Spain lost Cuba
- 1763, February 10 - Treaty of Paris between France and England
- 1763, February 15 - Treaty of Hubertusburg between Austria, Saxony and Prussia
Results of the Seven Years' War
France has lost Canada with all the regions belonging to it, i.e., the Ohio River Valley and the entire left bank of the Mississippi River, with the exception of New Orleans. In addition, she had to give Spain the right bank of the same river and pay a reward for Florida ceded to England by the Spaniards. France was forced to abandon Hindustan, retaining only five cities. Austria lost Silesia forever. Thus, the Seven Years' War in the west ended the overseas possessions of France, ensured the complete hegemony of England on the seas, and in the east marked the beginning of Prussian hegemony in Germany. This predetermined the future unification of Germany under the auspices of Prussia.
"Under the terms Parisian world France has renounced all claims to Canada, Nova Scotia, and all the islands of the Gulf of St. Lawrence; together with Canada, she ceded the Ohio Valley and all her territory on the east bank of the Mississippi, with the exception of the city of New Orleans. At the same time, Spain, in exchange for Havana, which England returned to her, ceded Florida, by which name all her continental possessions east of the Mississippi were called. Thus England acquired a colonial state that enclosed Canada from Hudson's Bay and all the present United States east of the Mississippi. The possible advantages of the possession of this vast area were then only partly foreseen, and then nothing predicted the revolt of the thirteen colonies. In the West Indies, England gave back to France important islands, Martinique and Guadeloupe. Four islands from the Lesser Antilles group, called neutral, were divided between two powers: Santa Lucia passed to France, and Saint Vincent, Tobago and Dominica to England, which also kept Grenada. Menorca was returned to England, and since the return of this island to Spain was one of the conditions of her alliance with France, the latter, not being able to fulfill this condition now, ceded Louisiana, west of the Mississippi, to Spain. In India, France regained the possessions it had previously had, but lost the right to erect fortifications or keep troops in Bengal, and thus left the station at Chander Nagora defenseless. In a word, France again had the opportunity to trade in India, but practically abandoned her claims to political influence there. This meant that the English company retained all its gains. The right of fishing off the coast of Newfoundland and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which France had previously enjoyed, was left to her by treaty; but it was not given to Spain, who demanded it for their fishermen" ( Ibid)
After the Thirty Years' War, the nature of confrontations between countries in the world began to change. Local conflicts gave way to wars that had an international character. For example, such was the Seven Years' War, which began in Europe in 1756. It was an attempt by the Prussian king Frederick II to extend his influence over most of the continent. The aspirations of Prussia were supported by England, and a coalition of four states opposed such a powerful "tandem". These were Austria, Saxony, Sweden, France, which were supported by Russia.
The war lasted until 1763, ending with the signing of a series of peace treaties that influenced the political development of countries.
Reason and causes of the war
The official reason for the war was the dissatisfaction of many countries with the results of the redistribution of the "Austrian heritage". This process lasted eight years - from 1740 to 1748, leaving the states of Europe dissatisfied with new territorial acquisitions. The political and economic situation of that time had a significant impact on the formation of contradictions between England and France, Austria and Prussia. So by the end of the 1750s. Two groups of reasons were formed that provoked the start of the Seven Years' War:
- England and France could not divide the colonial possessions among themselves. The countries constantly competed with each other in this matter and not only at the political level. There were also armed clashes that claimed the lives of the population in the colonies and the soldiers of both armies.
- Austria and Prussia were arguing over Silesia, which was the most developed industrial region of Austria, taken from it as a result of the conflict of 1740-1748.
Participants of the confrontation
Prussia, which kindled the fire of war, concluded a coalition agreement with England. This group was opposed by Austria, France, Saxony, Sweden and Russia, which provided significant support to the coalition. Neutrality was occupied by Holland, which participated in the war for the "Austrian Succession".
Main fronts of the war
Historians distinguish three directions in which the hostilities of the opponents took place. First, this is the Asian front, where events unfolded in India. Secondly, this is the North American front, where the interests of France and England clashed. Thirdly, the European front, on which many military battles took place.
Start of hostilities
Frederick II had been preparing for war for several years. First of all, he increased the number of his own troops and carried out its complete reorganization. As a result, the king received a modern and efficient army for that time, whose soldiers made a number of successful conquests. In particular, Silesia was taken from Austria, which provoked a conflict between the members of the two coalitions. The ruler of Austria, Maria Theresa, wanted to return the region, and therefore turned to France, Sweden and Russia for help. The Prussian army could not stand against such a united army, which became the reason for the search for allies. Only England was able to resist both Russia and France at the same time. For their "services" the British government wanted to secure possessions on the mainland.
Prussia was the first to start hostilities by attacking Saxony, which was strategically important for Frederick II:
- Bridgehead for further advance to Austria.
- Providing a permanent supply of food and water for the Prussian army.
- Use for the benefit of Prussia of the material and economic potential of Saxony.
Austria tried to repel the attack of the Prussian army, but everything was unsuccessful. No one could stand against Frederick's soldiers. The army of Maria Theresa was unable to hold back the attacks of Prussia, so all the time losing in local skirmishes.
Within a short time, Frederick II managed to capture Moravia, Bohemia, entering Prague for a short time. The Austrian army began to fight back only in the summer of 1757, when the Austrian commander Daun, using the entire military reserve, ordered a constant shelling of the Prussian army. The consequence of such actions was the capitulation of the troops of Frederick II and his gradual retreat to the city of Nimburg. In order to save the remnants of his army, the king ordered to remove the oblogue of Prague, and return to the border of his own state.
European front 1758-1763: main events and battles
An allied army of almost 300 thousand people came out against the army of the Prussian king. Therefore, Frederick II decided to split the coalition that fought against her. First, the French were defeated, who were in the principalities neighboring Austria. This allowed Prussia to invade Silesia again.
Strategically, Frederick II was several steps ahead of his enemies. He managed to deceive attacks to bring chaos into the ranks of the army of the French, Lorraine and Austrians. Thanks to a well-planned operation, Silesia ended up under the rule of Prussia in the second.
In the summer of 1757, Russian troops actively began to take part in the war, which tried to capture the eastern regions of the Prussian state through Lithuania. By August of the same year, it became clear that Frederick would lose the Second Battle of Koenigsberg and East Prussia. But the Russian General Apraksin refused to continue military operations, arguing that the army was in a disadvantageous position. As a result of a successful campaign, the Russian army retained only the port of Memel, where the base of the fleet of the Russian Empire was located for the entire period of the war.
During 1758-1763. There were many battles, the main of which were:
- 1758 - East Prussia and Koenigsberg were conquered from the Russians, the decisive battle took place near the village of Zorndorf.
- The battle near the village of Kunersdorf, where a major battle took place between the Prussian army and the combined Russian-Astrian. After the battle, only three thousand soldiers remained from the 48 thousand army of Frederick II, with whom the king was forced to retreat across the Oder River. Another part of the Prussian troops were scattered in neighboring settlements. It took several days for the king and his generals to get them back in line. The allies did not pursue the army of Frederick the Second, since the human losses went to tens of thousands, a lot of soldiers were injured and went missing. After the Battle of Kunersdorf, Russian troops redeployed to Silesia, which helped the Austrians drive out the Prussian army.
- In 1760-1761. military operations were practically not conducted, the nature of the war can be characterized as inactive. Even the fact that Russian troops occupied Berlin for a while in 1760, but then surrendered it without a fight, did not cause an intensification of hostilities. The city was returned back to Prussia because it was of strategic importance.
- In 1762, Peter the Third ascended the Russian throne, who replaced Elizaveta Petrovna. This had a radical effect on the further course of the war. The Russian emperor worshiped the military genius of Frederick II, so he went to sign a peace treaty with him. At this time, England destroyed the fleet of France, bringing her out of the war. Peter the Third was killed in July 1762 on the orders of his wife, after which Russia returned to the war again, but did not continue it. Catherine II did not want to allow Austria to strengthen in Central Europe.
- February 1763 was signed by the Austro-Prussian peace treaty.
North American and Asian fronts
In North America, confrontations took place between England and France, who could not divide the spheres of influence in Canada. The French did not want to lose their possessions in this part of the North American continent, so they aggravated relations with the British in every possible way. Numerous Indian tribes were also drawn into the confrontation, who were trying to survive in an undeclared war.
The battle that finally put everything in its place took place in 1759 near Quebec. After that, the French finally lost their colonies in North America.
A clash of interests between the two countries also occurred in Asia, where Bengal rebelled against the British. It happened in 1757, at the very beginning of the Seven Years' War. France, to which Bengal was subject, declared neutrality. But this did not stop the British, they began to attack the French outposts more and more often.
The conduct of the war on several fronts and the absence of a strong army in Asia led to the fact that the government of this country could not adequately organize the defense of its Asian possessions. The British hurried to take advantage of this by landing their troops on the island of Martinique. It was the center of French trade in the West Indies, and as a result of the Seven Years' War, Martinique was ceded to Britain.
The results of the confrontation between England and France were enshrined in a peace treaty, which was signed in early February 1762 in Paris.
The results of the war
In fact, the war ended in 1760, but local confrontations continued for almost three more years. Peace treaties between the countries were signed in 1762 and 1763, on their basis the system of relations in Europe was then created after the Seven Years' War. The results of this conflict changed, once again, changed the political map of Europe, slightly adjusting the borders and reformatting the balance of power in the second half of the 18th century. in international relations.
The main consequences of the war include:
- The redistribution of colonial possessions in Europe, which caused the redistribution of spheres of influence between England and France.
- England became the largest colonial empire in Europe, thanks to the displacement of France from Northern Europe and Europe.
- France in Europe lost a lot of territory, which caused a weakening of the position of the state in Europe.
- In France, during the Seven Years' War, the preconditions for the beginning of the revolution, which began in 1848, gradually took shape.
- Prussia formalized its claims to Austria in the form of a peace treaty, under the terms of which Silesia, as well as neighboring territories, came under the rule of Frederick II.
- Aggravated territorial contradictions in Central Europe.
- Russia has gained invaluable experience in conducting military operations in Europe against the leading states of the continent.
- In Europe, a galaxy of outstanding commanders was formed, who then began to bring victories to their states.
- Russia did not receive any territorial acquisitions, but its positions in Europe were strengthened and strengthened.
- A large number of people died. According to average estimates, about two million servicemen could have died in the Seven Years' War.
- In the British colonies in North America, taxes increased several times to pay for military expenses. This aroused the resistance of the colonists, who in Canada and the North American states tried to develop industry, build roads, and invest in the economy of the colonies. As a result, the prerequisites began to take shape for the struggle against British rule on the continent.
- The Asian colonies of France became the property of the British Monarchy.
The victory of Prussia in the Seven Years' War could not have been predicted by the talented commanders of that time. Yes, Frederick II was a brilliant strategist and tactician, but his army was on the verge of complete loss many times. Historians believe that a number of factors prevented the final defeat of the Prussian army:
- The allied coalition formed against Prussia was not effective. Each country defended its own interests, which prevented at the right time to unite and act as a single force against the enemy.
- A strong Prussia was a profitable ally for Russia, England, and France, so the states agreed to seize Silesia and Austria.
Thanks to this, the consequences of the Seven Years' War had a serious impact on the situation in Europe. In the central part of the continent, a strong Prussian state arose, with centralized power. So Frederick II managed to overcome the separatism of individual principalities, get rid of the fragmentation within the country, focusing on the unity of the German lands. Prussia, in consequence, became the central core of the formation of such a state as Germany.
Kingdom of Naples
Sardinian kingdom
Friedrich II F. W. Seidlitz George II
George III
Robert Clave
Ferdinand of Brunswick
Count Lassie
Prince of Lorraine
Ernst Gideon Loudon
Louis XV
Louis Joseph de Montcalm
empress elizabeth
P. S. Saltykov
Charles III
August III
- 1756 - 250 000 soldiers: Prussia 200,000, Hanover 50,000
- 1759 - 220 000 Prussian soldiers
- 1760 - 120 000 Prussian soldiers
- 1756 - 419 000 soldier: Russian empire 100,000 soldiers
- 1759 - 391 000 soldiers: France 125,000, Holy Roman Empire 45,000, Austria 155,000, Sweden 16,000, Russian Empire 50,000
- 1760 - 220 000 soldier
The main standoff in Europe was between Austria and Prussia over Silesia, lost by Austria in the previous Silesian Wars. Therefore, the Seven Years' War is also called Third Silesian War. The first (-) and second (-) Silesian Wars are an integral part of the War of the Austrian Succession. In Swedish historiography the war is known as Pomeranian War(Swede. Pommerska kriget), in Canada - as "War of Conquest"(English) The War of the Conquest) and in India as "Third Karnatic War"(English) The Third Carnatic War). The North American theater of war is called French and Indian War.
The designation "seven-year" war received in the eighties of the eighteenth 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 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"
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 of which the territory of Prussia was increased 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, in January 1756, Great Britain concluded an alliance treaty with Prussia, thereby wishing to protect Hanover, the hereditary possession of the English king on the continent, from the threat of a French attack. Frederick, considering the war with Austria inevitable and aware of the limitations of his resources, relied 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 with a coalition of the three strongest continental powers and their allies, which he dubbed the "Union of Three Women" (Maria Theresa, Elizabeth and Madame Pompadour). However, behind the jokes of the Prussian king regarding 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, can do little to 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 a real threat to its western borders and interests in the Baltic and northern Europe. Close ties with Austria, with which an alliance treaty was signed as early as 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. That. By the members of the coalition, the war was fought for the restoration of the old system of political relations on the continent, violated 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, in the end, one of the main reasons that allowed Prussia to resist 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.
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Russian autocrat Elizaveta Petrovna |
Austrian Empress Maria Theresa |
Prussian King Frederick II |
Louis XV, King of France |
George II, King of England |
European theater of war
| Eastern European theater of operations Seven Years' War |
|---|
| Lobositz - Reichenberg - Prague - Kolin - Hastenbeck - Gross-Jägersdorf - Berlin (1757) - Moiss - Rossbach - Breslau - Leuten - Olmütz - Krefeld - Domstadl - Küstrin - Zorndorf - Tarmov - Lutherberg (1758) -Verbellin - Hochkirch - Bergen - Palzig - Minden - Kunersdorf - Hoyerswerda - Maxsen - Meissen - Landesshut - Emsdorf - Warburg - Liegnitz - Klosterkampen - Berlin (1760) - Torgau - Fehlinghausen - Kolberg - Wilhelmsthal - Burkersdorf - Lutherberg (1762) - Reichenbach - Freiberg |
1756 attack on Saxony
Military operations in Europe in 1756
Without waiting for the opponents of Prussia to deploy their forces, Frederick II on August 28, 1756 was the first to start hostilities, suddenly invading Saxony, allied with Austria, and occupying it. On September 1, 1756, Elizaveta Petrovna declared war on Prussia. On September 9, the Prussians surrounded the Saxon army encamped near Pirna. October 1, going to the rescue of the Saxons, the 33.5 thousandth army of the Austrian Field Marshal Brown 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 across to the enemy in whole battalions.
Seven Years' War in Europe
Saxony, which had armed forces the size of an average army corps and, moreover, was bound by eternal turmoil in Poland (the Saxon elector was, concurrently, the Polish king), did not pose, of course, 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 defenseless neighbor.
1757: Battles of Kolin, Rosbach and Leuthen, Russia begins hostilities
Bohemia, Silesia
Operations in Saxony and in Silesia in 1757
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 use the German expression, "running forward" (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 54,000th 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, a 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 general-in-chief Willim Fermor, who became famous for taking Memel in the previous campaign. 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 Fermor was the first to withdraw his troops, thus giving Frederick a reason to attribute the victory to himself. However, he did not dare to pursue the Russians. 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"
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 last blow, take Berlin, the road to which was free, and thereby force Prussia to surrender, however, 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, however, 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" (1812)
Meanwhile, England at sea defeated the French fleet at Quiberon Bay.
1760: Frederick's Pyrrhic victory at Torgau
The war thus continued. In 1760, Frederick with difficulty brought the size of his army to 120,000 soldiers. The Franco-Austro-Russian troops by this time numbered up to 220,000 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 Liegnitz region by August 7. Misleading a stronger enemy (Field Marshal Daun by this time had about 90,000 soldiers), 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. The pursuit of the enemy 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, by order of the command, leave the capital of Prussia.
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 ("Caesars") managed to oust the weak Prussian forces left in Saxony for screening, Saxony was lost to Frederick. He cannot allow this in any way: the human and material resources of Saxony are desperately needed for him to continue the war. November 3, 1760 at Torgau will be the last major battle of the 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, however, 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 the last period of the war, he is forced to abandon offensive operations and give the initiative to his opponents in the hope that they, due to their indecision and slowness, will not be able to use it properly.
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"
In 1761, there were no significant clashes: the war was waged 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 this time believes that Prussia will be able to avoid defeat: the resources of a small country are incommensurable with the power of its opponents, and the longer the war continues, the more important this factor becomes. 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 Koenigsberg, 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 Austrians, their recent allies. It is understandable why Friedrich fawned over his Russian admirer like never before before anyone else in his life. The latter, however, needed little: the rank of Prussian colonel, granted to them by Frederick, the eccentric Peter was more proud than the Russian imperial crown.
Asian theater of war
Indian campaign
Main article: Indian Campaign of the Seven Years' War
English landing in the Philippines
Main article: Philippine campaign
Central American Theater of War
Main articles: Guadalupe campaign , Dominican campaign , Martinique campaign , Cuban campaign
South American theater of war
European Politics and the Seven Years' War. Chronological table
| Year, date | Event |
|---|---|
| June 2, 1746 | |
| 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 |
