The Third Silesia War

When Austria, France and Russia formed a new alliance against Prussia, Frederick was convinced that Prussia would be attacked at the beginning of 1757 and decided to strike first again.

1756 On August 29th, a pre-emptive invasion of neighboring Saxony began the third Silesia War. When the allies of Austria and Prussia joined the battle, the conflict quickly escalated into the Pan-European Seven-Year War. The Prussians conquered Saxony at the end of 1756, marched into Bohemia at the beginning of 1757, and won a series of battles on the way to Prague.

In May, the Prussian army repelled the Austrian defenders in the battle of Prague, causing heavy losses, and then surrounded the city. /kloc-in June of 0/8, the Austrian army counterattacked and won a major victory in the Battle of Colin, completely driving the Prussians out of Bohemia.

At the same time, the invasion of Russia and Sweden separated the Prussian army from the east and the north. Russian troops in East Prussia won the battle of Grosdorf on August 30, but the strategy made little progress due to repeated logistical problems.

At the end of 1757, the imperial army and the French army tried to retake Saxony from the west, but they were completely defeated in the battle of Rosberg on165438+1October 5. This war temporarily ensured Prussia's control over Saxony and greatly reduced France's willingness to advance in the Silesia War. .

The second Austrian army invaded Silesia and made great progress until it was decisively defeated in the battle of Leuten on February 5, 65438. After that, the Prussians pursued the defeated Austrian army, drove it back to Bohemia, and controlled almost all of Silesia.

In winter, the Prussian-Hanover allied forces launched a series of offensives, which finally drove the French army out of Westphalia, crossed the Rhine River and defended the western wing of Prussia in the war.

/kloc-in the middle of 0/758, Prussia invaded Moravia and besieged Olmuz at the end of May. The city was heavily defended, and by the end of June, Prussia's supplies had run out. On June 30th, the Austrian captured and destroyed a huge Prussian supply convoy in the Battle of tuttle, Domsch. The invaders abandoned the siege and retreated to Upper Silesia. Russian troops crossed East Prussia and threatened Brandenburg. On August 25th, they fought Prussian troops in the Battle of Zongdov.

Although the Battle of Hotchkisch in June 65438 +654381October+April was a complete victory, the Austrian army that invaded Saxony made little progress.

1759, Austria and Russia moved eastward from Brandenburg. Prussia was finally defeated in the Battle of Dover, Kunnas in August 12, but the victorious allies did not pursue the defeated Prussians or occupy Berlin, the capital of Prussia. After Kunnas Madoff, Frederick once thought that the war had failed, but the conflict within the alliance and the indecisive leadership gave Prussia a second chance. Later, Frederick called this event "the miracle of Brandenburg". In the next few months, the Austrian recaptured most of Dresden and Saxony, and the invasion and retreat of these places continued until the next year.

1760 Austria invaded Silesia, where Prussia and Austrian troops exercised for a period of time before the battle of Legnitz on August 15. The battle ended in Prussia's great victory, which cut off Austria's way forward and restored Prussia's control over Lower Silesia. 1760 At the end of the year, Russians and Austrians briefly occupied Berlin. 165438+1On October 3rd, the main forces of Prussia and Austria fought in Tolgo.

The Prussians narrowly won, but both sides paid a heavy price. The exhausted Prussian and Austrian troops did nothing in 176 1, but Russian troops invaded Pomerania and eastern Brandenburg, threatening the decisive end of the war the following year.

1762 10 After the death of Queen Elizabeth in October, Russia's allies suddenly abandoned Austria. His successor was Peter III of Russia who enthusiastically supported Prussia. He immediately recalled his troops from Berlin and Pomerania and made peace with Prussia in the Treaty of St. Petersburg on May 5. Peter was overthrown and assassinated within a few months, but the war turned to Prussia again, and Russia did not continue hostilities. The two sides were almost exhausted, and 1762 began peace talks at the end of the year, ending the broader seven-year war.

Finally, the negotiators once again agreed to return to the pre-war state and confirmed Prussia's control of Silesia in the Hubertsburg Treaty of February 1763. Prussia also promised to support the election of Archduke Joseph, the son of Maria Teresa, as the Holy Roman Emperor.

result

The idea that the Silesia War ended with Prussia's victory over Austria was very common among contemporaries, and it has been widely supported by historians since then.

Prussia conquered and defended the land occupied by the Habsburg dynasty for a long time, and the status quo of the second and third wars confirmed this basic fact. These conflicts led to the great reorganization of the European diplomatic system at that time, which led to the Op competition and influenced German politics a century after the 1866 Op war.