The Seven Years' War, main events and causes. Generals of the Seven Years' War

SEVEN YEARS' WAR(1756–1763), war of a coalition of Austria, Russia, France, Saxony, Sweden and Spain against Prussia and Great Britain.

The war was caused by two main reasons. In the first half of the 1750s, colonial rivalry between France and Great Britain in North America and India intensified; capture of the river valley by the French Ohio led in 1755 to the beginning of an armed confrontation between the two states; A formal declaration of war followed the French occupation of Minorca in May 1756. This conflict overlapped with the intra-European conflict between Prussia and its neighbors: the strengthening of Prussia's military and political power in Central Europe and the expansionist policy of its king Frederick II (1740–1786) threatened the interests of other European powers.

The initiator of the creation of the anti-Prussian coalition was Austria, from which Frederick II took Silesia in 1742. The formation of the coalition accelerated after the conclusion of the Anglo-Prussian Union Treaty on January 27, 1756 in Westminster. On May 1, 1756, France and Austria officially entered into a military-political alliance (the Pact of Versailles). Later, Russia (February 1757), Sweden (March 1757) and almost all the states of the German Empire, except Hesse-Kassel, Brunswick and Hanover, which was in a personal union with Great Britain, joined the Austro-French coalition. The Allied forces numbered more than 300 thousand, while the Prussian army numbered 150 thousand, and the Anglo-Hanoverian Expeditionary Force – 45 thousand.

In an effort to prevent the advance of his opponents, Frederick II decided to put an end to his main enemy, Austria, with one sudden blow. On August 29, 1756, he invaded the Austrian-allied kingdom of Saxony in order to break through its territory into Bohemia (Czech Republic). On September 10, the capital of the kingdom, Dresden, fell. On October 1, near Lobositz (Northern Bohemia), an attempt by the Austrian Field Marshal Brown to provide assistance to the Allies was thwarted. On October 15, the Saxon army, blocked in the Pirna camp, capitulated. However, Saxon resistance delayed the Prussian advance and allowed the Austrians to complete their military preparations. The approach of winter forced Frederick II to stop the campaign.

In the spring of the following 1757, Prussian troops from three sides - from Saxony (Frederick II), Silesia (Field Marshal Schwerin) and Lausitz (Duke of Brunswick-Bevern) - invaded Bohemia. The Austrians, under the command of Brown and Duke Charles of Lorraine, retreated to Prague. On May 6, Frederick II defeated them at Mount Zizka and besieged Prague. However, on June 18 he was defeated by the Austrian Field Marshal Daun near Kolin; he had to lift the siege of Prague and retreat to Leitmeritz in Northern Bohemia. The failure of Frederick II meant the collapse of the plan for the lightning defeat of Austria.

In August, Prince Soubise's separate French corps entered Saxony and linked up with Prince von Hildburghausen's imperial army, planning an invasion of Prussia. But on November 5, Frederick II completely defeated the Franco-Imperial troops at Rossbach. At the same time, the Austrians, under Charles of Lorraine, moved into Silesia; On November 12 they took Schweidnitz, on November 22 they defeated the Duke of Brunswick-Beversky near Breslau (modern Wroclaw in Poland) and on November 24 they captured the city. However, on December 5, Frederick II defeated Charles of Lorraine at Leuthen and regained Silesia, with the exception of Schweidnitz; Daun became the Austrian commander-in-chief.

In the west, the French army under the command of Marshal d'Estrée occupied Hesse-Kassel in April 1757 and defeated the Anglo-Prussian-Hanoverian army of the Duke of Cumberland on July 26 at Hastenbeck (on the right bank of the Weser). On September 8, the Duke of Cumberland, through the mediation of Denmark, concluded the Klosterzen Convention with the new French commander Duke de Richelieu, according to which he undertook to disband his army. But the English government, which on June 29 was headed by the energetic W. Pitt the Elder, annulled the Klosterzen Convention; the Duke of Cumberland was replaced by Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick. On December 13, he ousted the French beyond the Aller River; Richelieu gave up his post to the Count of Clermont, and he withdrew the French army beyond the Rhine.

In the east, in the summer of 1757, the Russian army launched an offensive against East Prussia; On July 5, she occupied Memel. Field Marshal Lewald's attempt to stop it at Gross-Jägersdorf on August 30, 1757 ended in a crushing defeat for the Prussians. However, the Russian commander S.F. Apraksin, for internal political reasons (the illness of Empress Elizabeth and the prospect of the accession of the pro-Prussian Tsarevich Peter), withdrew his troops to Poland; Elizabeth, who had recovered, sent Apraksin to resign. This forced the Swedes, who moved to Stettin in September 1757, to retreat to Stralsund.

On January 16, 1758, the new Russian commander V.V. Fermor crossed the border and captured Koenigsberg on January 22; East Prussia was declared a Russian province; in the summer he penetrated Neumark and besieged Küstrin on the Oder. When Frederick II's plan to invade Bohemia through Moravia failed due to the failed attempt to take Olmütz in May-June, he advanced to meet the Russians in early August. The fierce battle of Zorndorf on August 25 ended inconclusively; both sides suffered huge losses. Fermor's retreat to Pomerania allowed Frederick II to turn his forces against the Austrians; despite the defeat on October 14 from Daun at Hochkirch, he retained Saxony and Silesia in his hands. In the west, the threat of a new French offensive was eliminated thanks to the victory of the Duke of Brunswick over the Count of Clermont at Krefeld on June 23, 1758.

In 1759, Frederick II was forced to go on the defensive on all fronts. The main danger for him was the intention of the Russian and Austrian commands to begin joint actions. In July, the army of P.S. Saltykov, who replaced Fermor, moved to Brandenburg to join the Austrians; The Prussian general Wendel, who tried to stop her, was defeated on July 23 at Züllichau. On August 3, at Crossen, the Russians united with the corps of the Austrian general Laudon and occupied Frankfurt-on-Oder; On August 12, they completely defeated Frederick II at Kunersdorf; Upon news of this, the Prussian garrison of Dresden capitulated. However, due to disagreements, the Allies did not build on their success and did not take advantage of the opportunity to capture Berlin: the Russians went to Poland for the winter, and the Austrians to Bohemia. Moving through Saxony, they surrounded the corps of the Prussian General Finck near Maxen (south of Dresden) and forced him to surrender on November 21.

In the west, at the beginning of 1759, Soubise captured Frankfurt am Main and made it the main southern base of the French. The Duke of Brunswick's attempt to recapture the city ended in his defeat on April 13 at Bergen. However, on August 1, he defeated the army of Marshal de Contade, which was besieging Minden, and thwarted the French invasion of Hanover. The French attempt to land in England also ended in failure: on November 20, Admiral Howe destroyed the French flotilla off Belle-Ile.

In the early summer of 1760, Laudon invaded Silesia and on June 23 defeated the Prussian corps of General Fouquet at Landesgut, but on August 14–15 he was defeated by Frederick II at Liegnitz. In the fall, the united Russian-Austrian army under the command of Totleben marched on Berlin and occupied it on October 9, but already left the capital on October 13, taking a huge indemnity from it. The Russians went beyond the Oder; the Austrians retreated to Torgau, where on November 3 they were defeated by Frederick II and pushed back to Dresden; Almost all of Saxony was again in the hands of the Prussians. Despite these successes, Prussia's military-political and economic situation continued to deteriorate: Frederick II had virtually no reserves left; financial resources were exhausted, and he had to resort to the practice of damaging coins.

On June 7, 1761, the British captured the island of Belle-Ile off the western coast of France. In July, the Duke of Brunswick repelled another French invasion of Westphalia, defeating Marshal Broglie at Bellinghausen near Paderborn. Disagreements between the new Russian commander A.B. Buturlin and Laudon prevented the implementation of the plan for joint Russian-Austrian operations; On September 13, Buturlin retreated to the east, leaving only Z.G. Chernyshev’s corps with Laudon. However, Frederick II's attempt to force Laudon to withdraw from Silesia failed; The Austrians captured Schweidnitz. In the north, on December 16, Russian-Swedish troops took the strategically important fortress of Kolberg. To top off all these failures of Frederick II, Spain concluded a Family Pact with France on August 15, 1761, pledging to enter the war on the side of the Allies, and in England the cabinet of Pitt the Elder fell; The new government of Lord Bute refused to extend the agreement on financial assistance to Prussia in December.

On January 4, 1762, Great Britain declared war on Spain; After Portugal refused to break off allied relations with the British, Spanish troops occupied its territory. However, in Central Europe, after the death of the Russian Empress Elizabeth on January 5, the situation changed dramatically in favor of Frederick II; the new Emperor Peter III suspended military operations against Prussia; On May 5, he concluded a peace treaty with Frederick II, returning to him all the regions and fortresses conquered by Russian troops. Sweden followed suit on May 22. On June 19, Russia entered into a military alliance with Prussia; Chernyshev's corps joined the army of Frederick II. After the overthrow of Peter III on July 9, 1762, the new Empress Catherine II broke off the military alliance with Prussia, but kept the peace agreement in force. Russia, one of Frederick II's most dangerous opponents, withdrew from the war.

On July 21, 1762, Frederick II stormed the fortified camp of Daun near Burkersdorf and conquered all of Silesia from the Austrians; On October 9, Schweidnitz fell. On October 29, Prince Henry of Prussia defeated the imperial army at Freiberg and captured Saxony. In the west, the French were defeated at Wilhelmstan and lost Kassel. The corps of the Prussian general Kleist reached the Danube and took Nuremberg.

In the extra-European theater of operations there was a fierce struggle between the British and the French for dominance in North America and India. In North America, the advantage was first on the side of the French, who captured Fort Oswego on August 14, 1756, and Fort William Henry on August 6, 1757. However, in the spring of 1758 the British began major offensive operations in Canada. In July they took a fortress on the island of Cap Breton, and on August 27 captured Fort Frontenac, establishing control over Lake Ontario and interrupting French communications between Canada and the river valley. Ohio. On July 23, 1759, the English general Amherst captured the strategically important fort of Taconderoga; On September 13, 1759, the English general Wolfe defeated the Marquis de Montcalm on the Plain of Abraham near Quebec and on September 18 captured this stronghold of French rule in the valley of the St. River. Lawrence. The French attempt to retake Quebec in April-May 1760 failed. On September 9, the English general Amherst took Montreal, completing the conquest of Canada.

In India, success also accompanied the British. At the first stage, military operations were concentrated at the mouth of the river. Ganges. On March 24, 1757, Robert Clive took Chandernagore, and on June 23, at Plassey on the Bagirati River, he defeated the army of the Bengal nabob Siraj-ud-Daula, an ally of France, and took possession of all of Bengal. In 1758 Lalli, the governor of the French possessions in India, launched an offensive against the British in the Carnatic. On May 13, 1758, he took Fort St. David, and on December 16, he besieged Madras, but the arrival of the English fleet forced him to retreat to Pondicherry on February 16, 1759. In March 1759, the British captured Masulipatam. On January 22, 1760, Lalli was defeated at Vandewash by the English general Kuta. Pondicherry, the last French stronghold in India, besieged by the British in August 1760, capitulated on January 15, 1761.

After Spain entered the war, the British attacked its possessions in the Pacific Ocean, capturing the Philippine Islands, and in the West Indies, capturing the fortress of Havana on the island of Cuba on August 13, 1762.

Mutual exhaustion of forces by the end of 1762 forced the warring parties to begin peace negotiations. On February 10, 1763, Great Britain, France and Spain concluded the Peace of Paris, according to which the French ceded Cap Breton, Canada, the Ohio River Valley and lands east of the Mississippi River to the British in North America, with the exception of New Orleans, an island in the West Indies Dominica, St. Vincent, Grenada and Tobago, in Africa Senegal and almost all of its possessions in India (except five fortresses); The Spaniards gave them Florida, receiving Louisiana in return from the French. On February 15, 1763, Austria and Prussia signed the Treaty of Hubertsburg, which restored the pre-war statu quo; Prussia retained Silesia, guaranteeing its population freedom of Catholic religion.

The result of the war was the establishment of complete British hegemony on the seas and a sharp weakening of the colonial power of France. Prussia managed to maintain its status as a great European power. The era of the dominance of the Austrian Habsburgs in Germany is finally a thing of the past. From now on, a relative balance between two strong states was established - Prussia, dominant in the north, and Austria, dominant in the south. Russia, although it did not acquire any new territories, strengthened its authority in Europe and demonstrated its considerable military-political capabilities.

Ivan Krivushin

The designation “Seven Years’ War” was given in the 80s of the 18th century; before that it was referred to as a “recent war.”

Causes of the war

Opposing coalitions in Europe in 1756

The first shots of the Seven Years' War rang out long before its official announcement, and not in Europe, but overseas. 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 resulted in an open armed conflict, in which both allied Indians and regular military units began to participate (see French and Indian War). In 1756, Great Britain officially declared war on France.

"Reversing Alliances"

Participants in the Seven Years' War. Blue: Anglo-Prussian coalition. Green: anti-Prussian coalition

This conflict disrupted the established system of military-political alliances in Europe and caused a foreign policy reorientation of a number of European powers, known as the “reversal of alliances.” The traditional rivalry between Austria and France for hegemony on the continent was weakened by the emergence of a third power: Prussia, after Frederick II came to power in 1740, began to claim a leading role in European politics. Having won the Silesian Wars, Frederick took Silesia, one of the richest Austrian provinces, from Austria, as a result increasing the territory of Prussia from 118.9 thousand to 194.8 thousand square kilometers, and the population from 2,240,000 to 5,430,000 people. It is clear that Austria could not easily accept the loss of Silesia.

Having started a war with France, Great Britain concluded a treaty of alliance with Prussia in January 1756, thereby wanting to protect itself from the threat of a French attack on Hanover, the hereditary possession of the English king on the continent. Frederick, considering a war with Austria inevitable and realizing 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 England's influence on Russia, he, at the same time, clearly underestimated the indignation caused by his agreement with the British in France. As a result, Frederick will have to fight 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 in relation to his opponents lies a lack of confidence in his own strength: 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, thirsting for revenge, to move closer to its old enemy - France, for which Prussia also became an enemy from now on (France, which supported Frederick in the first Silesian wars and saw in Prussia only an obedient instrument for crushing Austrian power, I was able to make sure that Friedrich did not even think about taking into account the role assigned to him). The author of the new foreign policy course was the famous Austrian diplomat of that time, Count Kaunitz. 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 states and northern Europe. Close ties with Austria, a treaty of union with which was signed back in 1746, also influenced Russia’s position in the brewing European conflict. Traditionally, close ties also existed with England. It is curious that, having broken diplomatic relations with Prussia long before the start of the war, Russia, nevertheless, did not break 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 for their own interests, but all were interested in weakening Prussia, in returning it to the borders that existed before the Silesian Wars. Thus, the war was fought by the coalition participants to restore the old system of political relations on the continent, disrupted by the results of the War of the Austrian Succession. Having united against a common enemy, the participants in the anti-Prussian coalition did not even think of forgetting about their traditional differences. Disagreement in the enemy’s camp, 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 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 beyond, it never occurred to anyone in Europe to seriously consider Frederick “The Great”: at that time, most Europeans saw He is an impudent upstart who is long overdue for being put in his place. To achieve this goal, the Allies fielded a huge army of 419,000 soldiers against Prussia. Frederick II had at his disposal only 200,000 soldiers plus 50,000 defenders of Hanover, hired with English money.

European theater of war

1756: attack on Saxony

Strengths of the parties in 1756

Without waiting for Prussia's opponents to deploy their forces, Frederick II was the first to begin hostilities on August 29, 1756, suddenly invading Saxony, allied with Austria, and occupying it. On September 1 (11), 1756, Elizaveta Petrovna declared war on Prussia. On September 9, the Prussians surrounded the Saxon army encamped near Pirna. On October 1, the 33.5 thousand army of the Austrian Field Marshal Brown, who went to the rescue of the Saxons, was defeated at Lobositz. Finding itself in a hopeless situation, the eighteen-thousand-strong army of Saxony capitulated on October 16. Captured, the Saxon soldiers were forced into the Prussian army. Later they would “thank” Frederick by running over to the enemy in entire regiments.

Saxony, which had armed forces the size of an average army corps and, moreover, was bound by eternal troubles in Poland (the Saxon elector was also the Polish king), did not, of course, pose any military threat to Prussia. The 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,
• 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 to be a defensive war. The reasoning is that the war would still have been started by Austria and its allies, regardless of whether Frederick 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

Strengths of the parties in 1757

Bohemia, Silesia

Having strengthened himself by absorbing Saxony, Frederick at the same time achieved the opposite effect, spurring his opponents to active offensive actions. Now he had no choice but, to use the German expression, “flight 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. Early in 1757, the Prussian army, moving in four columns, entered Austrian territory in Bohemia. The Austrian army under the command of the Prince of Lorraine numbered 60,000 soldiers. On May 6, the Prussians defeated the Austrians and blocked them in Prague. Having taken Prague, Frederick plans to march on Vienna without delay. However, the blitzkrieg plans were dealt a blow: a 54,000-strong Austrian army under the command of Field Marshal L. Down came to the aid of the besieged. On June 18, 1757, in the vicinity of the city of Kolin, a 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 also, 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 (the "Tsars") forced him to leave there with the main forces. Having from this moment on a significant numerical superiority, the Austrians win a series of victories over Frederick's generals (at Moise on September 7, at Breslau on November 22), and the key Silesian fortresses of Schweidnitz (now Świdnica, Poland) and Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland) are in their hands. In October 1757, the Austrian general Hadik managed to briefly capture the capital of Prussia, the city of Berlin, with a sudden raid of a flying detachment. Having warded off 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”.

Central Germany

1758: The battles of Zorndorf and Hochkirch do not bring decisive success to either side

Field Marshal General Willim Villimovich Fermor became the new commander-in-chief of the Russians. At the beginning of 1758, he occupied, without meeting resistance, all of East Prussia, including its capital, the city of Königsberg, then heading towards Brandenburg. In August he besieged Küstrin, a key fortress on the road to Berlin. Frederick immediately moved towards him. The battle took place on August 14 near the village of Zorndorf and was notable for its stunning bloodshed. The Russians had 42,000 soldiers in the army with 240 guns, and Frederick had 33,000 soldiers with 116 guns. The battle revealed several big problems in the Russian army - insufficient interaction between individual units, poor moral training of the observation corps (the so-called “Shuvalovites”), and finally called into question the competence of the commander-in-chief himself. At a critical moment in the battle, Fermor left the army, did not direct the course of the battle for some time, and appeared only towards the denouement. 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 until 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, Frederick, fearing the approach of Rumyantsev’s division, turned his army around and took it to Saxony. Russian troops retreated to the Vistula. General Palmbach, sent by Fermor to besiege Kolberg, stood for a long time under the walls of the fortress without accomplishing anything.

On October 14, the Austrians operating in South Saxony managed to defeat Frederick at Hochkirch, however, without any special 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 campaign of 1758 ended more or less successfully for the Prussians, it further 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 captured, 43 the general was killed or died from wounds received in battle, among them his best military leaders, such as Keith, Winterfeld, Schwerin, Moritz von Dessau and others.

1759: Defeat of the Prussians at Kunersdorf, “miracle of the House of Brandenburg”

Complete defeat of the Prussian army. As a result of the victory, the road was open for the Allied advance on Berlin. Prussia was on the brink of disaster. “Everything is lost, save the yard and archives!” - Frederick II wrote in panic. However, the persecution was not organized. This made it possible for Frederick to gather an army and prepare for the defense of Berlin. Prussia was saved from final defeat only by the so-called “miracle of the House of Brandenburg.”

Strengths of the parties in 1759

On May 8 (19), 1759, Chief General 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. Petersburg Conference repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with Fermor’s reports, their irregularity and confusion; Fermor could not account for spending significant sums on the maintenance of the army. Perhaps the decision to resign was also influenced by the indecisive the outcome of the battle of Zorndorf and the unsuccessful sieges of Küstrin and Kolberg). On July 7, 1759, a forty-thousand-strong Russian army marched west to the Oder River, in the direction of the city of Krosen, intending to link up with Austrian troops there. The debut of the new commander-in-chief was successful: on July 23, in the battle of Palzig (Kai), he completely 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, which had been occupied by Russian troops three days before.

At this time, the Prussian king with an army of 48,000 people, possessing 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 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 completely defeated; out of an army of 48 thousand, by his own admission, he did not have even 3 thousand 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 could only deliver the final blow, take Berlin, the road to which was clear, and thereby force Prussia to capitulate, but disagreements in their camp did not allow them to use the victory and end the war. Instead of attacking Berlin, they withdrew their troops away, accusing each other of violating allied obligations. Frederick himself called his unexpected salvation “the miracle of the House of Brandenburg.” Frederick escaped, but setbacks 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 Finck to surrender without a fight at Maxen.

The severe 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 to be achieved. On November 25, 1759, 5 days after Maxen, representatives of Russia, Austria and France were sent an invitation to a peace congress in Rysvik. France signaled its participation, but it came to nothing because of the irreconcilable position taken by Russia and Austria, who hoped to use the victories of 1759 to deal the finishing blow to Prussia in the following year's campaign.

Nicholas Pocock. "Battle of the Gulf of Quiberon" (1759)

Meanwhile, England defeated the French fleet at sea in the Gulf of Quiberon.

1760: Frederick's Pyrrhic victory at Torgau

The losses of both sides are enormous: more than 16,000 for the Prussians, about 16,000 (according to other sources, more than 17,000) for the Austrians. Their actual size was hidden from the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa, but Frederick also prohibited the publication of lists of the dead. For him, the losses suffered are irreparable: in the last years of the war, the main source of replenishment of the Prussian army were prisoners of war. Driven by force into Prussian service, at any opportunity they run over to the enemy in entire battalions. The Prussian army is not only shrinking, but also losing its qualities. Its preservation, being a matter of life and death, now becomes Frederick's main concern and forces him to abandon active offensive actions. 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.

Victory at Torgau was achieved, a significant part of Saxony (but not all of Saxony) was returned to Frederick, but this was not the final victory for which he was ready to “risk everything.” The war will last another three long years.

Strengths of the parties in 1760

The war thus continued. In 1760, Frederick had difficulty raising 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 Allies' numerical superiority was negated by the lack of a unified plan and inconsistency in actions. The Prussian king, trying to impede the actions of the Austrians in Silesia, transported his thirty thousand army across the Elbe on August 1, 1760 and, with passive pursuit of the Austrians, arrived in the Liegnitz region by August 7. Misleading the stronger enemy (Field Marshal Daun had about 90,000 soldiers by this time), Frederick II first actively maneuvered and then decided to break through to Breslau. While Frederick and Daun were mutually exhausting the troops with their marches and countermarches, the Austrian corps of General Laudon on August 15 in the Liegnitz area suddenly collided with Prussian troops. Frederick II unexpectedly attacked and defeated Laudon's corps. The Austrians lost up to 10,000 killed and 6,000 captured. Frederick, who lost about 2,000 people killed and wounded in this battle, managed to escape from the encirclement.

Having barely escaped encirclement, the Prussian king almost lost his own capital. On October 3 (September 22), 1760, Major General Totleben’s detachment 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 8,000-strong corps) and the Austrian corps of General Lassi, appointed as reinforcements. 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 that same night the Prussian troops defending the city left for Spandau, leaving a garrison in the city as an “object” of surrender. The garrison brings surrender to Totleben, as the general who first besieged Berlin. The illegal, by the standards of military honor, pursuit of the enemy, who had given up the fortress to the enemy, was taken over by Panin’s corps and Krasnoshchekov’s Cossacks, they managed to defeat the Prussian rearguard and capture more than a thousand prisoners. On the morning of October 9, 1760, Totleben's Russian detachment and the Austrians (the latter in violation of the terms of surrender) entered Berlin. In the city, guns and rifles were captured, gunpowder and weapons warehouses were blown up. An indemnity was imposed on the population. At the news of the approach of Frederick with the main forces of the Prussians, the allies left the Prussian capital in panic.

Having received news on the way that the Russians had abandoned Berlin, Frederick turned to Saxony. While he was conducting military operations in Silesia, the Imperial Army managed to oust the weak Prussian forces left in Saxony to screen, 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. On November 3, 1760, the last major battle of the Seven Years' War took place near Torgau. He is distinguished by incredible fierceness, victory leans first to one side, then to 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 emerges victorious, but it 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 actions and give the initiative to his opponents in the hope that, due to their indecisiveness and slowness, they will not be able to take advantage of it properly.

In the secondary theaters of war, Frederick's opponents had some successes: the Swedes managed to establish themselves in Pomerania, the French in Hesse.

1761-1763: the second “miracle of the Brandenburg House”

Strengths of the parties in 1761

In 1761, no significant clashes occur: the war is waged mainly by maneuvering. The Austrians manage to recapture Schweidnitz, 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 the small country were incommensurate with the power of its opponents, and the further the war continued, the more important this factor became. And then, when Frederick was already actively probing through intermediaries for the possibility of starting peace negotiations, his irreconcilable opponent, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, dies, having once declared her determination to continue the war to the victorious end, even if she had to sell half of her dresses to do so. On January 5, 1762, Peter III ascended the Russian throne, who saved Prussia from defeat by concluding the Peace of St. Petersburg with Frederick, his longtime idol. As a result, Russia voluntarily abandoned all its acquisitions in this war (East Prussia with Königsberg, the inhabitants of which, including Immanuel Kant, had already sworn allegiance to the Russian crown) and provided Frederick with a corps under Count Z. G. Chernyshev for the war against the Austrians , their recent allies.

Strengths of the parties in 1762

Asian theater of war

Indian campaign

In 1757, the British captured French Chandannagar in Bengal, and the French captured British trading posts in southeastern India between Madras and Calcutta. In 1758-1759 there was a struggle between 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 at the beginning of 1760 the French land forces were defeated at Vandiwash. In the autumn of 1760, the siege of Pondicherry began, and in early 1761 the capital of French India capitulated.

British landing in the Philippines

In 1762, the British East India Company, sending 13 ships and 6,830 soldiers, took possession of 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 into Luzon. After the end of the Seven Years' War, they left Manila in 1764, and in 1765 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 it was forced to soften the former harsh economic system. Cattle breeders and planters received greater opportunities in conducting foreign trade.

South American Theater of War

European politics and the Seven Years' War. Chronological table

Military leaders of the Seven Years' War in Europe

Frederick II during the Seven Years' War

• 1756 - 250 000 soldier: 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 confrontation in Europe was between Austria and Prussia over Silesia, which Austria had lost in the previous Silesian Wars. That's why the Seven Years' War is also called third Silesian war. The First (-) and Second (-) Silesian Wars are 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 Years’ War” was given in the eighties of the eighteenth century; before that it was referred to as a “recent war.”

Causes of the war

Opposing coalitions in Europe in 1756

The first shots of the Seven Years' War rang out long before its official announcement, and not in Europe, but overseas. 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 resulted in an open armed conflict, in which both allied Indians and regular military units began to participate (see French and Indian War). In 1756, Great Britain officially declared war on France.

"Reversing Alliances"

This conflict disrupted the established system of military-political alliances in Europe and caused a foreign policy reorientation of a number of European powers, known as the “reversal of alliances.” The traditional rivalry between Austria and France for hegemony on the continent was weakened by the emergence of a third power: Prussia, after Frederick II came to power in 1740, began to claim a leading role in European politics. Having won the Silesian Wars, Frederick took Silesia, one of the richest Austrian provinces, from Austria, as a result increasing the territory of Prussia from 118.9 thousand to 194.8 thousand square kilometers, and the population from 2,240,000 to 5,430,000 people. It is clear that Austria could not easily accept the loss of Silesia.

Having started a war with France, Great Britain entered into a treaty of alliance with Prussia in January 1756, thereby wanting to protect Hanover, the hereditary possession of the English king on the continent, from the threat of a French attack. Frederick, considering a war with Austria inevitable and realizing 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 England's influence on Russia, he, at the same time, clearly underestimated the indignation caused by his agreement with the British in France. As a result, Frederick will have to fight 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 in relation to his opponents lies a lack of confidence in his own strength: 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, thirsting for revenge, to move closer to its old enemy - France, for which Prussia also became an enemy from now on (France, which supported Frederick in the first Silesian wars and saw in Prussia only an obedient instrument for crushing Austrian power, I was able to make sure that Friedrich did not even think about taking into account the role assigned to him). The author of the new foreign policy course was the famous Austrian diplomat of that time, Count Kaunitz. 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 states and northern Europe. Close ties with Austria, a treaty of union with which was signed back in 1746, also influenced Russia’s position in the brewing European conflict. Traditionally close ties also existed with England. It is curious that, having broken diplomatic relations with Prussia long before the start of the war, Russia, nevertheless, did not break 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 for their own interests, but all were interested in weakening Prussia, in returning it to the borders that existed before the Silesian Wars. That. The coalition participants fought for the restoration of the old system of political relations on the continent, disrupted by the results of the War of the Austrian Succession. Having united against a common enemy, the participants in the anti-Prussian coalition did not even think of forgetting about their traditional differences. Disagreement in the enemy’s camp, 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 beyond, it did not occur to anyone in Europe to seriously consider Frederick “the Great”: at that time, most Europeans saw He is an impudent upstart who is long overdue for being put in his place. To achieve this goal, the Allies fielded a huge army of 419,000 soldiers against Prussia. Frederick II had at his disposal only 200,000 soldiers plus 50,000 defenders of Hanover, hired with English money.

European theater of war

1756: attack on Saxony

Military operations in Europe in 1756

Without waiting for Prussia's opponents to deploy their forces, Frederick II was the first to begin military operations on August 28, 1756, 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. On October 1, going to the rescue of the Saxons, the 33.5 thousand army of the Austrian Field Marshal Brown was defeated at Lobositz. Finding itself in a hopeless situation, the eighteen-thousand-strong army of Saxony capitulated on October 16. Captured, the Saxon soldiers were forced into the Prussian army. Later they would “thank” Frederick by running over to the enemy in entire battalions.

Seven Years' War in Europe

Saxony, which had armed forces the size of an average army corps and, moreover, was bound by eternal troubles in Poland (the Saxon elector was also the Polish king), did not, of course, pose any military threat to Prussia. The 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,
• 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, to be a defensive war. The reasoning is that the war would still have been started by Austria and its allies, regardless of whether Frederick 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 Silesia in 1757

Having strengthened himself by absorbing Saxony, Frederick, at the same time, achieved the opposite effect, spurring his opponents to active offensive actions. 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. Early in 1757, the Prussian army, moving in four columns, entered Austrian territory in Bohemia. The Austrian army under the command of the Prince of Lorraine numbered 60,000 soldiers. On May 6, the Prussians defeated the Austrians and blocked them in Prague. Having taken Prague, Frederick plans to march on Vienna without delay. However, the blitzkrieg plans were dealt a blow: a 54,000-strong Austrian army under the command of Field Marshal L. Down came to the aid of the besieged. On June 18, 1757, in the vicinity of the city of Kolin, a 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 also, 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 (“the Tsars”) forced him to leave there with the main forces. Having from this moment on a significant numerical superiority, the Austrians win a series of victories over Frederick's generals (at Moise on September 7, at Breslau on November 22), and the key Silesian fortresses of Schweidnitz (now Świdnica, Poland) and Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland) are in their hands. In October 1757, the Austrian general Hadik managed to briefly capture the capital of Prussia, the city of Berlin, with a sudden raid of a flying detachment. Having warded off 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”.

Central 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, famous for the capture of 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 Königsberg, then heading towards Brandenburg. In August he besieged Küstrin, a key fortress on the road to Berlin. Frederick immediately moved towards him. The battle took place on August 14 near the village of Zorndorf and was notable for its stunning bloodshed. The Russians had 42,000 soldiers in the army with 240 guns, and Frederick had 33,000 soldiers with 116 guns. The battle revealed several big problems in the Russian army - insufficient interaction between individual units, poor moral training of the observation corps (the so-called “Shuvalovites”), and finally called into question the competence of the commander-in-chief himself. At a critical moment in the battle, Fermor left the army, did not direct the course of the battle for some time, and appeared only towards the denouement. 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 until 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, thereby giving Frederick a reason to attribute the victory to himself. However, he did not dare to pursue the Russians. Russian troops retreated to the Vistula. General Palmbach, sent by Fermor to besiege Kolberg, stood for a long time under the walls of the fortress without accomplishing anything.

On October 14, the Austrians operating in South Saxony managed to defeat Frederick at Hochkirch, however, without any special 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 campaign of 1758 ended more or less successfully for the Prussians, it further 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 captured, 43 the general was killed or died from wounds received in battle, among them, his best military leaders, such as Keith, Winterfeld, Schwerin, Moritz von Dessau and others.

1759: Defeat of the Prussians at Kunersdorf, “miracle of the House of Brandenburg”

On May 8 (19), 1759, Chief General 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. Petersburg Conference repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with Fermor’s reports, their irregularity and confusion; Fermor could not account for spending significant sums on the maintenance of the army. Perhaps the decision to resign was also influenced by the indecisive the outcome of the battle of Zorndorf and the unsuccessful sieges of Küstrin and Kolberg). On July 7, 1759, a forty-thousand-strong Russian army marched west to the Oder River, in the direction of the city of Krosen, intending to link up with Austrian troops there. The debut of the new commander-in-chief was successful: on July 23, in the battle of Palzig (Kai), he completely 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, which had been occupied by Russian troops three days before.

At this time, the Prussian king with an army of 48,000 people, possessing 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 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 completely defeated; out of an army of 48 thousand, by his own admission, he did not have even 3 thousand soldiers left. “To tell the truth,” he wrote to his minister after the battle, “I believe that everything is lost. I will not survive the death of my Fatherland. Goodbye forever". After the victory at Kunersdorf, the Allies could only deliver the final blow, take Berlin, the road to which was clear, and thereby force Prussia to capitulate, however, disagreements in their camp did not allow them to use the victory and end the war. Instead of advancing to Berlin, they withdrew their troops away, accusing each other of violating allied obligations. Frederick himself called his unexpected salvation “the miracle of the House of Brandenburg.” Frederick escaped, but setbacks 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 Finck to surrender without a fight at Maxen.

The severe 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 to be achieved. On November 25, 1759, 5 days after Maxen, representatives of Russia, Austria and France were sent an invitation to a peace congress in Rysvik. France signaled its participation, however, the matter ended in nothing due to the irreconcilable position taken by Russia and Austria, who hoped to use the victories of 1759 to deal the final blow to Prussia in the following year's campaign.

Nicholas Pocock. "Battle of the Gulf of Quiberon" (1812)

Meanwhile, England defeated the French fleet at sea in the Gulf of Quiberon.

1760: Frederick's Pyrrhic victory at Torgau

The war thus continued. In 1760, Frederick had difficulty raising 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 Allies' numerical superiority was negated by the lack of a unified plan and inconsistency in actions. The Prussian king, trying to impede the actions of the Austrians in Silesia, on August 1, 1760, transported his thirty thousand army across the Elbe and, with passive pursuit of the Austrians, arrived in the Liegnitz area by August 7. Misleading the stronger enemy (Field Marshal Daun had about 90,000 soldiers by this time), Frederick II first actively maneuvered and then decided to break through to Breslau. While Frederick and Daun were mutually exhausting the troops with their marches and countermarches, the Austrian corps of General Laudon on August 15 in the Liegnitz area suddenly collided with Prussian troops. Frederick II unexpectedly attacked and defeated Laudon's corps. The Austrians lost up to 10,000 killed and 6,000 captured. Frederick, who lost about 2,000 people killed and wounded in this battle, managed to escape from the encirclement.

Having barely escaped encirclement, the Prussian king almost lost his own capital. On October 3 (September 22), 1760, Major General Totleben’s detachment 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 8,000-strong corps) and the Austrian corps of General Lassi, appointed as reinforcements. 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 that same night the Prussian troops defending the city left for Spandau, leaving a garrison in the city as an “object” of surrender. The garrison brings surrender to Totleben, as the general who first besieged Berlin. Panin's corps and Krasnoshchekov's Cossacks take over the pursuit of the enemy; they manage to defeat the Prussian rearguard and capture more than a thousand prisoners. On the morning of October 9, 1760, Totleben's Russian detachment and the Austrians (the latter in violation of the terms of surrender) entered Berlin. In the city, guns and rifles were captured, gunpowder and weapons warehouses were blown up. An indemnity was imposed on the population. Upon 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, Frederick turned to Saxony. While he was conducting military operations in Silesia, the Imperial Army (“the Tsars”) managed to oust the weak Prussian forces left in Saxony to screen, Saxony was lost to Frederick. He cannot allow this in any way: he desperately needs the human and material resources of Saxony to continue the war. On November 3, 1760, the last major battle of the Seven Years' War took place near Torgau. He is distinguished by incredible fierceness, victory leans first to one side, then to 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 emerges victorious, however, it 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 actions and give the initiative to his opponents in the hope that, due to their indecision and slowness, they will not be able to take advantage of it properly.

In the secondary theaters of war, Frederick's opponents had some successes: the Swedes managed to establish themselves in Pomerania, the French in Hesse.

1761-1763: the second “miracle of the Brandenburg House”

In 1761, no significant clashes occur: the war is waged mainly by maneuvering. The Austrians manage to recapture Schweidnitz, 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 incommensurate with the power of its opponents, and the further the war continues, the more important this factor becomes. And then, when Frederick was already actively probing through intermediaries for the possibility of starting peace negotiations, his irreconcilable opponent, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, dies, having once declared her determination to continue the war to the victorious end, even if she had to sell half of her dresses to do so. On January 5, 1762, Peter III ascended the Russian throne, who saved Prussia from defeat by concluding the Peace of St. Petersburg with Frederick, his longtime idol. As a result, Russia voluntarily abandoned all its acquisitions in this war (East Prussia with Königsberg, the inhabitants of which, including Immanuel Kant, had already sworn allegiance to the Russian crown) and provided Frederick with a corps under the command of Count Z. G. Chernyshev for the war against Austrians, their recent allies. It is understandable that Friedrich ingratiated himself so much with his Russian admirer as never before with anyone else in his life. The latter, however, needed little: the eccentric Peter was prouder of the title of Prussian colonel, granted to him by Frederick, than of the Russian imperial crown.

Asian theater of war

Indian campaign

Main article: Indian Campaign of the Seven Years' War

British 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

Most people, even those who are interested in history, do not attach much importance to the military conflict called the “Seven Years' War” (1756-1763). But this was the largest conflict, the battles of which were fought not only in Europe, but also in Asia and America. Winston Churchill even called it “the First World War.”

The causes of the war were related to the conflict between Austria and Prussia over the historical region called Silesia. It would seem nothing special, an ordinary local war, but it should be taken into account that Prussia was supported by Great Britain in the conflict, and Austria by Russia and France. The statement of Frederick II, who called his rivals “The Union of Three Women”, has remained in history - i.e. Russian Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, Austrian Maria Theresa and French Madame Pompadour.

It was in this war that the military genius of Friedrich II, a commander who was an idol for Adolf Hitler, manifested itself. It is curious that the underlying causes of both the Seven Years' War and the Second World War were the ambitions of the Germans on the political map of Europe.

The first phase of the war (1756-1757) was marked by the successes of the Prussian army, which captured some provinces of Austria. However, the entry of France and Russia stopped Prussia's offensive fervor. Russian troops showed themselves brilliantly in the battle of Gross-Jägersdorf.

Main events of the Seven Years' War

The bloodiest battle of the Seven Years' War, Zorndorf, dates back to 1758. Russia and Prussia lost more than 10 thousand soldiers in this battle, and neither side emerged as the sole winner of the battle.

Subsequently, the heroism of Russian soldiers allowed them to win a number of high-profile victories, including the battle of Kunersdorf. Even then, in 1759, for the first time in their history, the Russians could occupy Berlin, but this happened, due to a lack of organization, only a year later, in 1760. Although not for long, the Russians first came to Berlin 185 years before the legendary May days of 1945...

Frederick II proved himself to be a great commander, he defended himself as best he could, he even managed to recapture Saxony from the Austrians in 1760 and resist powerful rivals. Frederick was saved by what would later be called in history the “miracle of the House of Brandeburg.” Suddenly, the Russian Empress Elizaveta Petrovna dies, and Peter 3, who was an admirer of Frederick and everything Prussian, comes to power. The situation turns upside down: in May 1762, Russia concludes a peace treaty with Prussia and returns all its conquests in East Prussia to it. It is curious that in the spring of 1945, Adolf Hitler hoped that the “miracle of the Brandeburg House” would happen again...

Friedrich 2

The war ended in 1763 due to the complete exhaustion of the parties. Prussia retained Silesia and entered the circle of leading European powers. The Russians once again showed themselves to be magnificent soldiers who, alas, received nothing from this war, but many do not remember the most important result of this war.

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, Great Britain participated in the war. The theater of war for her was the American continent, where the British won a resounding victory, taking Canada from the French in 1759.

Moreover, the British ousted the French from India, where the British fleet once again showed its best side, and then victories were won over France on land.

Thus, “under the guise” of redrawing the map of Europe, Great Britain established itself as the largest colonial power during the Seven Years’ War, which laid the foundation for its power for a couple of centuries.

In memory of that war in Russia, only a small paragraph remains in school history textbooks, but it’s a pity - as we see, the story about the Seven Years’ War deserves much more.

By strengthening the supreme power, mobilizing resources, creating a well-organized, large army (over 100 years it grew 25 times and reached 150 thousand people), the relatively small Prussia turns into a strong aggressive power. The Prussian army becomes one of the best in Europe. She was distinguished by iron discipline, high maneuverability on the battlefield, and precise execution of orders. In addition, the Prussian army was led by an outstanding commander of that era - King Frederick II the Great, who made a significant contribution to the theory and practice of military affairs. By the middle of the 18th century. Anglo-French contradictions related to the struggle for the redistribution of colonies are also sharply aggravated. All this led to changes in traditional ties. England enters into an alliance with Prussia. This forces former adversaries France and Austria to unite against the threat of the Anglo-Prussian alliance. The latter unleashes the Seven Years' War (1756-1763). Two coalitions took part in it. On the one hand, England (in union with Hanover), Prussia, Portugal and some German states. On the other are Austria, France, Russia, Sweden, Saxony and most of the German states. As for Russia, St. Petersburg was not satisfied with the further strengthening of Prussia, which was fraught with its claims to influence in Poland and the former possessions of the Livonian Order. This directly affected Russian interests. Russia joined the Austro-French coalition and, at the request of its ally, the Polish king Augustus III, entered the Seven Years' War in 1757. First of all, Russia was interested in the territory of East Prussia, which St. Petersburg intended to give to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, receiving from it in return the region of Courland bordering Russia. In the Seven Years' War, Russian troops acted both independently (in East Prussia, Pomerania, on the Oder) and in cooperation with their Austrian allies (on the Oder, in Silesia).

Campaign of 1757

In 1757, Russian troops operated mainly in East Prussia. In May, the army under the command of Field Marshal Stepan Apraksin (55 thousand people) crossed the border of East Prussia, which was defended by troops under the command of Field Marshal Lewald (30 thousand regular troops and 10 thousand armed residents). According to the recollections of contemporaries, they did not go on the campaign with a light heart. Since the time of Ivan the Terrible, the Russians had not actually fought with the Germans, so the enemy was known only by hearsay. The Russian army knew about the famous victories of the Prussian king Frederick II the Great and therefore were afraid of the Prussians. According to the memoirs of a participant in the campaign, the future writer Andrei Bolotov, after the first unsuccessful border skirmish for the Russians, the army was overcome by “great timidity, cowardice and fear.” Apraksin avoided clashes with Levald in every possible way. This happened at Velau, where the Prussians occupied strong fortified positions. The “Peaceful Field Marshal” did not dare to attack them, but decided to bypass them. To do this, he started crossing the Pregel River in the area of ​​​​the village of Gross-Jägersdorf, in order to then move to Allenburg, bypassing the Prussian positions. Having learned about this maneuver, Lewald with an army of 24 thousand hurried to meet the Russians.

Battle of Gross-Jägersdorf (1757). After the crossing, Russian troops found themselves in an unfamiliar wooded and swampy area and lost their battle formation. Lewald took advantage of this, and on August 19, 1757, he quickly attacked the Russian units scattered near the river. The main blow fell on the 2nd division of General Vasily Lopukhin, which did not have time to complete the formation. She suffered heavy losses, but showed resilience and did not retreat. Lopukhin himself, wounded by bayonets, fell to the Prussians, but was repulsed by his soldiers and died in their arms. The Russians were unable to hold back a repeated attack in the same direction and found themselves pressed against the forest. They were threatened with complete defeat, but then the brigade of General Pyotr Rumyantsev intervened, which decided the outcome of the battle. Seeing the death of his comrades, Rumyantsev hastened to their aid. Having made his way through the forest thickets, his brigade delivered an unexpected blow to the flank and rear of Lewald's infantry. The Prussians could not withstand the bayonet attack and began to retreat. This gave the Russian center the opportunity to recover, form up and launch a counterattack. On the left flank, meanwhile, the Don Cossacks distinguished themselves. With a false retreat, they brought the Prussian cavalry under infantry and artillery fire, and then also launched a counterattack. The Prussian army retreated everywhere. The damage to the Russians amounted to 5.4 thousand people, the Prussians - 5 thousand people.

This was the first Russian victory over the Prussian army. It greatly boosted their morale, dispelling past fears. According to the testimony of foreign volunteers who were in Apraksin’s army (in particular, the Austrian Baron Andre), such a brutal battle had never happened in Europe. The experience of Groß-Jägersdorf showed that the Prussian army does not like close bayonet combat, in which the Russian soldier shows high fighting qualities. However, Apraksin did not follow up his success and soon withdrew his troops back to the border. According to the widespread version, the reason for his departure was not military, but internal political in nature. Apraksin feared that after the death of the ill Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, her nephew Peter III, an opponent of the war with Prussia, would come to power. A more prosaic reason that stopped the Russian offensive was the smallpox epidemic, which caused enormous devastation in the ranks of the Russian army. Thus, in 1757, 8.5 times more soldiers died from disease than on the battlefields. As a result, the 1757 campaign ended in vain for the Russians in tactical terms.

Campaign of 1758

Elizaveta Petrovna, who soon recovered, removed Apraksin from command and placed General William Farmer at the head of the army, demanding that he energetically continue the campaign. In January 1758, a 30,000-strong Russian army again crossed the border of East Prussia. The second East Prussian campaign ended quickly and almost bloodlessly. Not expecting the Russians to undertake a winter campaign, Frederick II sent Lewald's corps to Stettin (now Szczecin) to defend against a Swedish attack. As a result, small garrisons remained in East Prussia, which offered almost no resistance to the Russians. On January 11, Königsberg surrendered, and the population of East Prussia was soon sworn in to the Russian Empress. Thus, the last stronghold remained from the previous conquests of the crusaders in the Baltic states fell, and Elizaveta Petrovna, as it were, completed the work begun by Alexander Nevsky. In fact, in the winter of 1758, Russia fulfilled its immediate goals in the Seven Years' War. After waiting out the spring thaw, the Farmer moved the army to the Oder, to the Küstrin (Küstrzyn) region, where he planned to interact with the Swedish army, which was located on the Baltic coast. The appearance of the Russians at Küstrin (75 km from Berlin) seriously alarmed Frederick II. In an effort to avert the threat from his capital, the Prussian king left a barrier against the Austrians in Silesia, and he himself moved against the Farmer. Frederick's 33,000-strong army approached the Oder, on the other bank of which stood Farmer's 42,000-strong army. In a night march, the Prussian king ascended the river to the north, crossed the Oder and went to the rear of the Farmer, cutting off his route of retreat. The Russian commander accidentally learned about this from the Cossacks, one of whose patrols had a skirmish with the Prussians. The farmer immediately lifted the siege of Küstrin and positioned his army in an advantageous position near the village of Zorndorf.

Battle of Zorndorf (1758). On August 14, 1758, at 9 o’clock in the morning, the Prussians attacked the right wing of the Russian army. The first blow was taken by the so-called. "Observation Corps", consisting entirely of recruits. But he did not flinch and held back the onslaught. Soon the Russian cavalry drove back the Prussians. In turn, it was overthrown by the Prussian cavalry under the command of the famous General Seydlitz. Clouds of dust from under the hooves and smoke from shots were carried by the wind to the Russian positions and made visibility difficult. The Russian cavalry, pursued by the Prussians, galloped towards its infantrymen, but they, without disassembling it, opened fire on it. The soldiers of both armies were mixed in dust and smoke, and the massacre began. Having fired the cartridges, the Russian infantry stood unshakably, fighting back with bayonets and cutlasses. True, while some fought heroically, others got to the barrels of wine. After getting drunk, they began to beat their officers and disobeyed orders. Meanwhile, the Prussians attacked the Russian left wing, but were repulsed and put to flight. The brutal massacre continued until late in the evening. On both sides, the soldiers ran out of gunpowder, and they fought hand-to-hand with cold steel. Andrei Bolotov describes the courage of his compatriots in the last moments of the Battle of Zorndorf: “In groups, small groups, having fired their last cartridges, they remained solid as a rock. Many, pierced through, continued to stand on their feet and fight, others, having lost a leg or arm, already lying on the ground, they tried to kill the enemy with their surviving hand." Here is evidence from the opposite side of the Prussian cavalryman Captain von Kate: “The Russians lay in rows, kissed their guns - while they themselves were cut down with sabers - and did not leave them.” Exhausted, both troops spent the night on the battlefield. The Prussians lost more than 11 thousand people in the Battle of Zorndorf. The damage to the Russians exceeded 16 thousand people. (“Observation Corps” lost 80% of its members). In terms of the ratio of the number of killed and wounded to the total number of troops participating in the battle (32%), the Battle of Zorndorf is one of the bloodiest battles of the 18th-19th centuries. The next day the Farmer was the first to retreat. This gave Frederick a reason to attribute the victory to himself. However, having suffered heavy losses, he did not dare to pursue the Russians and took his battered army to Küstrin. With the Battle of Zorndorf, Farmer actually ended the campaign of 1758. In the fall, he went to winter quarters in Poland. After this battle, Frederick uttered a phrase that went down in history: “It is easier to kill Russians than to defeat them.”

Campaign of 1759

In 1759, the Russians agreed on joint actions with the Austrians on the Oder, General Pyotr Saltykov was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Russian troops. Here is the impression of him from one of the eyewitnesses: “A gray-haired old man, small, simple... without any decorations or pomp... He seemed to us like a real chicken, and no one dared to think that he could do anything important.” Meanwhile, the most brilliant campaign of the Russian troops in the Seven Years' War is associated with Saltykov.

Battle of Palzig (1759). The path to Saltykov's troops (40 thousand people), marching to the Oder to join the Austrian corps of General Laudon, was blocked by the Prussian corps under the command of General Wedel (28 thousand people). In an effort to prevent the allies from meeting, Wedel attacked Russian positions at Palzig (a German village southeast of Frankfurt an der Oder) on July 12, 1759. Saltykov used defense in depth against Prussian linear tactics. Prussian infantry fiercely attacked Russian positions four times. Having lost over 4 thousand people in unsuccessful attacks, only over 4 thousand people were killed, Wedel was forced to retreat. “Thus,” Saltykov wrote in his report, “the proud enemy, after a five-hour fierce battle, was completely defeated, driven out and defeated. The jealousy, bravery and courage of the entire generals and the fearlessness of the army, especially their obedience, I cannot sufficiently describe, in one word, commendable and unparalleled The act of soldiering left all foreign volunteers in amazement.” Russian losses amounted to 894 killed and 3,897 wounded. Saltykov almost did not pursue the Prussians, which allowed them to avoid complete defeat. After the battle of Palzig, the Russians occupied Frankfurt-on-Oder and united with the Austrians. The victory at Palzig raised the morale of the Russian troops and strengthened their faith in the new commander-in-chief.

Battle of Kunersdorf (1759). After joining with Laudon's corps (18 thousand people), Saltykov occupied Frankfurt-on-Oder. Frederick feared the Russian movement towards Berlin. At the end of July, his army crossed to the right bank of the Oder and went to the rear of the Russian-Austrian army. The Prussian king planned with his famous oblique attack to break through the left flank, where the Russian units were stationed, to press the Allied army to the river and destroy it. On August 1, 1759, at 11 a.m., near the village of Kunersdorf, the Prussian army led by King Frederick the Great (48 thousand people) attacked a pre-fortified position of Russian-Austrian troops under the command of General Saltykov (41 thousand Russians and 18 thousand Austrians) . The hottest battles took place over the heights of Mühlberg (left flank) and B. Spitz (the center of Saltykov’s army). The Prussian infantry, having created numerical superiority in this direction, managed to push back the Russian left flank, where units were located under the command of General Alexander Golitsyn. Having occupied Mühlberg, the Prussians installed artillery at this height, which opened longitudinal fire on the Russian positions. Frederick, no longer doubting victory, sent a messenger to the capital with news of success. But while the good news was rushing to Berlin, Russian guns hit Mühlberg. With precise fire they disrupted the ranks of the Prussian infantry, which was about to launch an attack from this height on the center of the Russian positions. Finally, the Prussians struck the main blow in the center, in the area of ​​the B. Spitz heights, where the regiments were stationed under the command of General Pyotr Rumyantsev. At the cost of heavy losses, the Prussian infantry managed to reach the height at which a fierce battle broke out. Russian soldiers showed great resilience and repeatedly launched counterattacks. The Prussian king brought up more and more forces, but in the “game of reserves” he was outplayed by the Russian commander-in-chief. Tightly controlling the course of the battle, Saltykov promptly sent reinforcements to the most threatened areas. To support his tortured infantry, Frederick sent General Seydlitz's cavalry shock forces into battle. But she suffered heavy losses from rifle and artillery fire and retreated after a short battle. After this, Rumyantsev led his soldiers into a bayonet counterattack. They overthrew the Prussian infantry and threw them from a height into a ravine. The surviving remnants of the Prussian cavalry made their way to the aid of their own, but were driven back by a blow from the right flank by Russian-Austrian units. At this turning point in the battle, Saltykov gave the order to launch a general offensive. Despite exhaustion after many hours of battle, the Russian soldiers found the strength to carry out a powerful attack, which turned the Prussian army into a wholesale rout. By seven in the evening it was all over. The Prussian army suffered a crushing defeat. Most of her soldiers fled, and after the battle Frederick had only 3 thousand people left under arms. The king’s condition is evidenced by his letter to one of his friends the day after the battle: “Everything is running, and I no longer have power over the army... A cruel misfortune, I will not survive it. The consequences of the battle will be worse than the battle itself: I have more There are no means and, to tell the truth, I consider everything lost." The Prussian damage amounted to over 7.6 thousand killed and 4.5 thousand prisoners and deserters. The Russians lost 2.6 thousand killed, 10.8 thousand wounded. Austrians - 0.89 thousand killed, 1.4 thousand wounded. Heavy losses, as well as contradictions with the Austrian command, did not allow Saltykov to use his triumph to capture Berlin and defeat Prussia. At the request of the Austrian command, instead of attacking Berlin, Russian troops went to Silesia. This gave Frederick the opportunity to come to his senses and recruit a new army.

Kunersdorf is the largest battle of the Seven Years' War and one of the most striking victories of Russian weapons in the 18th century. She promoted Saltykov to the list of outstanding Russian commanders. In this battle, he used traditional Russian military tactics - the transition from defense to offense. This is how Alexander Nevsky won on Lake Peipus, Dmitry Donskoy - on the Kulikovo Field, Peter the Great - near Poltava, Minikh - at Stavuchany. For the victory at Kunersdorf, Saltykov received the rank of field marshal. The participants in the battle were awarded a special medal with the inscription “To the winner over the Prussians.”

1760 Campaign

As Prussia weakened and the end of the war approached, the contradictions within the Allied camp intensified. Each of them achieved his own goals, which did not coincide with the intentions of his partners. Thus, France did not want the complete defeat of Prussia and wanted to preserve it as a counterbalance to Austria. She, in turn, sought to weaken Prussian power as much as possible, but sought to do this through the hands of the Russians. On the other hand, both Austria and France were united in the fact that Russia should not be allowed to grow stronger, and persistently protested against East Prussia joining it. Austria now sought to use the Russians, who had generally completed their tasks in the war, to conquer Silesia. When discussing the plan for 1760, Saltykov proposed moving military operations to Pomerania (an area on the Baltic coast). According to the commander, this region remained unravaged by the war and it was easy to get food there. In Pomerania, the Russian army could interact with the Baltic Fleet and receive reinforcements by sea, which strengthened its position in this region. In addition, the Russian occupation of Prussia's Baltic coast sharply reduced its trade relations and increased Frederick's economic difficulties. However, the Austrian leadership managed to convince Empress Elizabeth Petrovna to transfer the Russian army to Silesia for joint action. As a result, Russian troops were fragmented. Minor forces were sent to Pomerania, to besiege Kolberg (now the Polish city of Kolobrzeg), and the main ones to Silesia. The campaign in Silesia was characterized by inconsistency in the actions of the allies and Saltykov’s reluctance to destroy his soldiers in order to protect the interests of Austria. At the end of August, Saltykov became seriously ill, and command soon passed to Field Marshal Alexander Buturlin. The only striking episode in this campaign was the capture of Berlin by the corps of General Zakhar Chernyshev (23 thousand people).

Capture of Berlin (1760). On September 22, a Russian cavalry detachment under the command of General Totleben approached Berlin. According to the testimony of prisoners, there were only three infantry battalions and several cavalry squadrons in the city. After a short artillery preparation, Totleben stormed the Prussian capital on the night of September 23. At midnight, the Russians burst into the Gallic Gate, but were repulsed. The next morning, a Prussian corps led by the Prince of Württemberg (14 thousand people) approached Berlin. But at the same time, Chernyshev’s corps arrived in time to Totleben. By September 27, a 13,000-strong Austrian corps also approached the Russians. Then the Prince of Württemberg and his troops left the city in the evening. At 3 o'clock in the morning on September 28, envoys arrived from the city to the Russians with a message of agreement to surrender. After staying in the capital of Prussia for four days, Chernyshev destroyed the mint, the arsenal, took possession of the royal treasury and took an indemnity of 1.5 million thalers from the city authorities. But soon the Russians left the city upon news of the approaching Prussian army led by King Frederick II. According to Saltykov, the abandonment of Berlin was due to the inactivity of the Austrian commander-in-chief Daun, who gave the Prussian king the opportunity to “beat us as much as he pleases.” The capture of Berlin had more financial than military significance for the Russians. The symbolic side of this operation was no less important. This was the first capture of Berlin by Russian troops in history. It is interesting that in April 1945, before the decisive assault on the German capital, Soviet soldiers received a symbolic gift - copies of the keys to Berlin, given by the Germans to Chernyshev’s soldiers in 1760.

Campaign of 1761

In 1761, the Allies again failed to achieve coordinated action. This allowed Frederick, by successfully maneuvering, to once again avoid defeat. The main Russian forces continued to operate ineffectively together with the Austrians in Silesia. But the main success fell to the Russian units in Pomerania. This success was the capture of Kohlberg.

Capture of Kohlberg (1761). The first Russian attempts to take Kolberg (1758 and 1760) ended in failure. In September 1761, a third attempt was made. This time, the 22,000-strong corps of General Pyotr Rumyantsev, the hero of Gross-Jägersdorf and Kunersdorf, was moved to Kolberg. In August 1761, Rumyantsev, using a new for those times tactics of scattered formation, defeated the Prussian army under the command of the Prince of Württemberg (12 thousand people) on the approaches to the fortress. In this battle and subsequently, Russian ground forces were supported by the Baltic Fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Polyansky. On September 3, the Rumyantsev corps began the siege. It lasted four months and was accompanied by actions not only against the fortress, but also against the Prussian troops, who threatened the besiegers from the rear. The Military Council spoke out three times in favor of lifting the siege, and only the unyielding will of Rumyantsev allowed the matter to be brought to a successful conclusion. On December 5, 1761, the garrison of the fortress (4 thousand people), seeing that the Russians were not leaving and were going to continue the siege in the winter, capitulated. The capture of Kolberg allowed Russian troops to capture the Baltic coast of Prussia.

The battles for Kolberg made an important contribution to the development of Russian and world military art. Here the beginning of a new military tactic of scattered formation was laid. It was under the walls of Kolberg that the famous Russian light infantry - the rangers - were born, the experience of which was then used by other European armies. Near Kolberg, Rumyantsev was the first to use battalion columns in combination with loose formation. This experience was then effectively used by Suvorov. This method of combat appeared in the West only during the wars of the French Revolution.

Peace with Prussia (1762). The capture of Kolberg was the last victory of the Russian army in the Seven Years' War. The news of the surrender of the fortress found Empress Elizabeth Petrovna on her deathbed. The new Russian Emperor Peter III concluded a separate peace with Prussia, then an alliance and freely returned to it all its territories, which by that time had been captured by the Russian army. This saved Prussia from inevitable defeat. Moreover, in 1762, Frederick was able, with the help of Chernyshev’s corps, which was now temporarily operating as part of the Prussian army, to oust the Austrians from Silesia. Although Peter III was overthrown in June 1762 by Catherine II and the treaty of alliance was terminated, the war was not resumed. The number of deaths in the Russian army in the Seven Years' War was 120 thousand people. Of these, approximately 80% were deaths from diseases, including the smallpox epidemic. The excess of sanitary losses over combat losses was also typical for other countries participating in the war at that time. It should be noted that the end of the war with Prussia was not only the result of the sentiments of Peter III. It had more serious reasons. Russia achieved its main goal - weakening the Prussian state. However, its complete collapse was hardly part of the plans of Russian diplomacy, since it primarily strengthened Austria, Russia’s main competitor in the future division of the European part of the Ottoman Empire. And the war itself has long threatened the Russian economy with financial disaster. Another question is that the “knightly” gesture of Peter III towards Frederick II did not allow Russia to fully benefit from the fruits of its victories.

Results of the war. Fierce fighting also took place in other theaters of military operations of the Seven Years' War: in the colonies and at sea. In the Treaty of Hubertusburg in 1763 with Austria and Saxony, Prussia secured Silesia. According to the Paris Peace Treaty of 1763, Canada and the East were transferred to Great Britain from France. Louisiana, most of the French possessions in India. The main result of the Seven Years' War was the victory of Great Britain over France in the struggle for colonial and trade primacy.

For Russia, the consequences of the Seven Years' War turned out to be much more valuable than its results. She significantly increased the combat experience, military art and authority of the Russian army in Europe, which had previously been seriously shaken by Minich’s wanderings in the steppes. The battles of this campaign gave birth to a generation of outstanding commanders (Rumyantsev, Suvorov) and soldiers who achieved striking victories in the “age of Catherine.” It can be said that most of Catherine’s successes in foreign policy were prepared by the victories of Russian weapons in the Seven Years’ War. In particular, Prussia suffered huge losses in this war and could not actively interfere with Russian policy in the West in the second half of the 18th century. In addition, under the influence of impressions brought from the fields of Europe, ideas about agricultural innovations and rationalization of agriculture arose in Russian society after the Seven Years' War. Interest in foreign culture, in particular literature and art, is also growing. All these sentiments developed during the next reign.

"From Ancient Rus' to the Russian Empire." Shishkin Sergey Petrovich, Ufa.