- Part two -
I
When Frederick II, later named the Great, ascended the Prussian throne in 1740, the state he inherited was territorially and in terms of population slightly larger than Portugal. It spread throughout northeastern Germany in small fragments without natural barriers that would serve as a support for fortresses. He inherited a deplorable legacy from the Thirty Years War, when all armies marched for years wherever they pleased, regardless of neutrality, with the exception of a few cases when neutral principalities had convincing military forces to instill respect for their borders. Johann George of Saxony remained neutral until Emperor Ferdinand forced him to join one of the sides; Georg Wilhelm of Brandenburg tried to remain neutral, but he lacked the strength. The lesson was not in vain for the powerful and powerful Hohenzollerns who came after him, who turned the Elector of Brandenburg into the Kingdom of Prussia, and for the father of Frederick II, Frederick Wilhelm I, not the most meek representative of this dynasty. In addition, Friedrich Wilhelm was a real expert in military affairs. In his youth, he fought under the leadership of Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy at Malplac and fully shared the opinion that war is one of the most important affairs of the head of state. In his youth, he fought under the leadership of Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy at Malplac and fully shared the opinion that war is one of the most important affairs of the head of state. In his youth, he fought under the leadership of Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy at Malplac and fully shared the opinion that war is one of the most important affairs of the head of state.
The wars were over, but Friedrich-Wilhelm behaved as if he expected the outbreak of war from day to day. A series of economic reforms to cut funds allocated to the financial and administrative spheres, including the maintenance of his own courtyard, which was hardly more opulent than the courtyard of a rural landowner, turned his treasury from the poorest in Europe to one of the richest. The funds saved were used to equip and arm an army of 80,000 men, almost equal to the armed forces of the Holy Roman Empire and constituting 4 percent of the population of Prussia. Despite the military service, including the noble families, obliged from childhood to give their male offspring to serve in the officer corps, little Prussia was not able to allocate such a number of soldiers for the army. Friedrich-Wilhelm's recruiters cruised across Europe in search of candidates, and if they did not volunteer, they were kidnapped. Stately, tall men were in particular danger; the king spent a lot of effort to collect a regiment of giants for his personal guard. Once, his recruiters even kidnapped a very tall Italian priest right during Mass.
The armies, characteristic of the era of the balance of power, were the product of a society striving with all its might to improve its productive mechanism. Even in Prussia, with its shortage of soldiers, artisans and merchants were exempted from military service. The middle class paid taxes on the upkeep of the army, and soldiers for it were supplied by the lower levels of society - peasants, vagabonds, the unemployed. Consequently, the most severe discipline was practiced throughout the troops; but nowhere was it more severe than that of Friedrich-Wilhelm. For insolence towards an officer, the usual punishment was running through the ranks; a soldier who raised his hand against his commander was shot on the spot without trial or investigation. Such disciplinary measures went well with the endless drill that continued in the Prussian army from morning to night,until people began to move like robots - instinctively, without thinking.
In addition, the number of movements required to load and fire a musket was reduced, and a new iron ramrod was introduced, invented by a friend and officer of Friedrich-Wilhelm, Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau. Other armies used wooden ramrods.
The rest of Europe scoffed at these eccentricities: the regiment of giants was laughable; an army that constantly drilled but never fought was considered a royal whim, like collecting cameos, and had almost the same practical meaning. In an official report presented to the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, it was said that Prussian soldiers were subjected to such severe flogging that after the first shot they would certainly defect.
But on October 20, 1740, the Holy Roman Emperor died.
Promotional video:
II
King Frederick II ascended the throne at the age of twenty-seven. He was known for liberal leanings, a love of the arts and sciences, and an inconsistent character. He abolished torture, proclaimed freedom of the press, absolute religious tolerance and began sending letters throughout Europe, persuading Voltaire, Maupertuis, and other famous people to come to Berlin and participate in the founding of the academy. He disbanded the regiment of giants, ordered that in view of the probable crop failure, army warehouses be opened, and grain sold at low prices. In Europe, it was thought that he would cut the army and start one of those German courts that sparkle with the reflected glitter of French culture.
All this was before the death of Emperor Charles VI. He left behind only daughters, but before dying, he tried to convince all European rulers to sign a document called "Pragmatic Sanction", guaranteeing the transfer of the heritage of the Habsburgs to his eldest daughter Maria Theresa, wife of Francis, Duke of Lorraine. Everyone signed the paper, although most of the signers had something in mind, for there were still two women who had more rights to claim the inheritance: the daughter of Joseph, the elder brother of Emperor Charles. One was married to Karl Albert, Elector of Bavaria, and the House of Wittelsbach never gave up the hope of becoming imperial; the other was the wife of Augustus, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, who did not claim the entire inheritance, but only part of it. Spain and Sardinia had vague claims;and France has always sat in ambush, ready to support any initiative that would weaken and divide the empire.
This confusion was compounded by the fact that the Habsburg empire, made up of a mass of dominions, each with its own laws of inheritance, was surrounded on all sides by expansionist states that saw an opportunity to snatch a piece for themselves. But the idea of the futility of military means to achieve goals and the concept of a balance of power were so firmly established that no one took any practical steps until December 16 (two months after the death of Charles VI).
On that day, Frederick, at the head of a 30,000-strong army, crossed the border of the Duchy of Silesia, claiming that he had rights to it.
From the point of view of legality, his claim was of the most unconvincing nature. It was based on a document from 1537, in which the Duke of Liegnitz and the then Margrave of Brandenburg captured an agreement that if one of these dynasties was left without male successors, the legacy would pass to the other. In fact (and at that time everyone recognized it) here we have a case of expansion of the state, moreover, of military expansion. The result was a reassessment of values - not immediately, but when Frederick demonstrated that something could be achieved in this way.
The demonstration took place on April 10, 1741 on a snow-covered field in Molvica. Frederick isolated and besieged fortresses throughout Silesia, his strategy left much to be desired, but he managed to bring about 20 thousand people to Molwitz. There they met with the same Austrian forces under the command of Marshal Neupperg. It was a rather unusual battle. Although the forces were almost equal in total, the Austrians had almost twice as many cavalry as the Prussians. This meant that Austria lacked infantry in the same proportion; in addition, the Prussians had sixty field guns against eighteen. King Frederick, imitating Gustav-Adolf, stood with the cavalry on the right flank. There was not enough room for the infantry to turn around, so part of it had to be lined up behind in the shape of the letter "G"; the features of the terrain were as follows,that this flank had advanced far ahead, closer to the enemy.
The cannons opened the battle; the shots angered the Austrian cavalry on the left flank so much that they rushed into the attack without an order and swept away the Prussian cavalry, including the king himself, who no longer took part in the further events of the day. But when the Austrians decided to finally deal with the enemy by striking the infantry on the flank, it turned out that they were opposed by something stronger than one could imagine. The infantry of Friedrich-Wilhelm, with the movements brought to automatism, did not give in, but stood in strong ranks and fired at the cavalry. Five times the Austrians tried to attack this extreme right flank of the Prussians and retreated five times; finally, when the infantry ranks converged, the offensive broke down. Reserve battalions turned forward and surrounded the Austrian left edge,moreover, the Prussian robots with their iron ramrods managed to fire up to five times against the enemy's two times. Neipperg's soldiers could not resist them, given the numerical superiority of the Prussian artillery, which punched wide gaps in the Austrian lines. The Austrian ranks crumpled and melted in the winter twilight.
For a time, Molwitz decided the fate of Silesia, and also raised in Europe almost the same loud noise as Breitenfeld: here the powerful empire was defeated by someone who was reckoned with as little as Sicily. The demonstration took place; it was shown that the military strength of a state is not necessarily proportional to its size and it is too early to abandon military means of achieving goals. Immediately Karl Albrecht of Bavaria declared a claim to the entire inheritance of the empire, Augustus announced his rights to a part of it, and France supported their alliance by force of arms. Because of this, England, already involved in a war with France for overseas possessions, was obliged to support Austria, and the War of the Austrian Succession began.
But such were the public, immediate consequences of Frederick's decisive victory at Molwitz. And on a personal plane, which turned out to be more important, Frederick, who learned from all his mistakes and blunders with humility unprecedented in history, thought long and carefully about the course of the battle. His infantry held out against the best European cavalry - excellent! This means that the infantry, past the school of Friedrich-Wilhelm, can turn back any cavalry. Marshal Schwerin strongly advised him to leave the battlefield after the first cavalry charge, and then won the battle; fine, he will never leave the battlefield, and Schwerin fell into disgrace. Most important was the string of accidents that caused the heavy right edge of the Prussians to strike obliquely against the Austrian left flank. Frederick in his time diligently studied military history and had an outstanding memory;the situation reminded him of the Theban Epaminondas, whom he never forgot.
III
If you started a conversation with a high-ranking official in an expansionist state about plebiscite or popular approval, he would think that you are crazy; but a million (if not more) of the inhabitants of Silesia, conquered by Frederick, were very pleased that they were under the Prussian heel. The overwhelming majority of the population were Protestants, if not oppressed by Austrian Catholic officials, then experiencing some difficulties. In addition, fairer Prussian rule was more effective than Austrian rule. Frederick conquered not only Silesia, but also her humility.
But there remained a man who would never have come to terms with the Prussians in Silesia, namely Maria Theresa, Empress and Queen. She considered Frederick the most evil and dangerous man in Europe and did not hide it; It was not only her personal annoyance that made her talk like that, but also a feeling, hidden deep in her soul, that Frederick's success had jeopardized the entire system to which she herself belonged. The empress's judgment of Frederick was expressed in a whole series of diplomatic intrigues and military maneuvers. In 1742, at the insistence of her British friends, Maria Theresa signed a peace treaty that ended up being just a truce. Under the terms of this peace, Silesia remained for Frederick, and she got the opportunity to attack Bavaria and France. In 1743, the French suffered disastrous defeats in Bohemia and the Rhine. Bavaria was completely ruled by the Austrians,and Frederick entered the war as an ally of France, including in order not to single-handedly meet a possible attack by the rebuilding Habsburgs. In 1744 he invaded Bohemia and captured Prague, but was forced to withdraw his troops under the threat of an attack on his communications. In 1745, the Austrians, having received a new ally in the person of Saxony, responded by invading Silesia, and received nuts at Hohenfriedberg and Zoor. The signed peace treaty confirmed the results of Molvitsa.and received for nuts under Hohenfriedberg and Zoor. The signed peace treaty confirmed the results of Molvitsa.and received for nuts under Hohenfriedberg and Zoor. The signed peace treaty confirmed the results of Molvitsa.
All military campaigns are characterized by certain characteristics. The War of the Austrian Succession was distinguished by the fact that active operations in it were conducted by irregular units of the Hungarian light cavalry - pandurs, which surrounded the front and flanks of the Austrian armies in clouds. They were real barbarians who were used to burn cities, raid camps and deal with the wounded found. Because of them, the communication of any army opposing the Austrians was greatly complicated. King Frederick had to make an effort to establish an intelligence service, informing him of the movements of the enemy. Frederick created a cavalry corps based on the principles that Frederick-Wilhelm laid down for the infantry: thorough training, perfect accuracy and coordination of movements, and also nurtured a galaxy of outstanding cavalry officers - Zieten,Seydlitz, Rothenburg. Unlike the pandurs, it was not an ordinary light cavalry, but an instrument for conducting combat reconnaissance, such a service was the first of its kind.
The infantry did not need improvement, except perhaps to strengthen their previous status. Frederick noticed that his infantrymen not only fired twice as fast as the enemy, but also made maneuvers much more agile, and on this he based a new tactic. The infantry fired a volley in platoon, made four steps forward under a veil of smoke, while simultaneously reloading weapons for the next volley, approached close to the enemy lines riddled with bullets and attacked using bayonets.
As for the battles, all the significant battles of the war - at Hotuzitz, Hohenfriedberg, Zoor - were a methodical repetition of Molvits. From time to time, Frederick pushed forward the heavy right edge, attacked the enemy in a scythe and crushed his line. Each case differed in some detail, but in general the pattern did not change, and it was noticed outside Prussia.
IV
This was the military-historical background against which the next act took place. The political background was partly determined by the fact that, having achieved what he wanted, Frederick became an opponent of war: "We must end it as a doctor cures a fever." But on the imperial side, Count Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz, adviser to Maria Theresa, now spoke. She was reluctant to accept Bavaria as compensation for the lost Silesia, but the peace that ended the general war did not give her either. Maria Theresa harbored an unquenchable grudge against the robber who had robbed her of an entire province.
Wenzel Anton (who practiced horseback riding in a closed gym, afraid of the fresh air, and kept a dozen kittens, which he replaced as soon as they grew up) exploited her anger and did it in the name of balance of power. He argued that the presence of a powerful new force in northern Germany (hardly anyone doubted the newfound might of Prussia, given its armies and acquired territories) deprived Austria of the freedom of action and the place in Europe that it should have occupied. For Austria to be able to revive, so that the French influence that dominated Europe at the behest of Frederick was weakened, Prussia must be crushed. Austria traditionally maintained ties with the maritime powers of England and Holland, but it was hopeless to expect that these Protestant countries would support the attack on Protestant Prussia. Therefore, the political course of Austria was aimed at concluding an alliance with France and Russia, and with the former it was possible to pay off with lands in Italy and the Netherlands, and with the second - with lands in East Prussia, since none of these possessions was part of the empire.
With such arguments Kaunitz convinced the empress. It was not difficult to come to an agreement with Russia, for in Russia ambitious aspirations never subsided; in addition, the Russian Empress Elizabeth had a deep personal dislike for Frederick. France and the smaller states of Sweden and Saxony took effort, but Kaunitz had incredible diplomatic talent and had a gift for everyone. In addition, he was helped by the inner conviction, instilled in him by the empress, that the expansion of the Prussian state upset the existing balance of power. If you do not stop the encroachments of the Prussians, then everyone will be under threat. France signed on to the project; then England immediately united with Frederick: the naval power gives money, and the Prussian troops defend Hanover on behalf of King George.
These were the reasons for the Seven Years' War, the first truly world war, which had far-reaching consequences, although its significance was hidden by later battles.
Active hostilities began in August 1756, when Frederick invaded Saxony without declaring war, occupied Dresden and isolated the Saxon army in a fortified camp at Pirna. The king had an excellent spy network; in the Saxon Imperial Chancellery, he had an agent named Menzel who was accidentally discovered and spent the rest of his life - eighteen years - in prison growing a long beard. Frederick made the papers obtained by Menzel public, justifying their aggression against Saxony. This is not to say that it did him much benefit. The resourceful Kaunitz immediately convened the imperial Diet and persuaded the small principalities to send contingents of their troops to the united army of the empire, which increased to half a million people, who merged to destroy Prussia.
Frederick's aggression achieved its first goal. Saxony was defeated, and those of its soldiers who managed to survive were given the right to choose: from now on to serve Frederick or go to prison. Frederick invaded Bohemia for the second time, won the battle at the walls of Prague, established a blockade of the city and continued to move south until June 18, 1757, in Cologne, he faced forces twice the size of his army, under the command of Marshal Leopold Joseph Down.
This man was probably the best commander with whom life brought Frederick. He had the usual plan for the Austrian commander - to line up and wait for an attack, since his troops could not compete in mobility and maneuverability with the Prussian. He carefully chose the place for his positions: the left flank on the ridge of a high, wooded hill, the center on hilly terrain among swampy ponds, and the right flank on another hill overgrown with oak groves. Down formed his troops in three lines instead of the usual two; across the entire front line, among the thickets, placed Croatian snipers. Frederick judged that the left flank of the Austrians was impregnable, and turned to the left to strike a scythe on the other flank. Then the units, which we might call brigades, would follow each other and, having reached Down's position, would turn to the right to sweep away the ranks of his soldiers. The lead detachment under the command of Gulsen really broke through the extreme flank and threw back the first two ranks of the Austrians; the next units were to cross the forward line of Down under the fire of the Croats who attacked the flank. One detachment stopped to get rid of the interference, turned around and fired several volleys, after which the next, deciding that the battle plan had changed, also turned and entered the battle.
The battle began too early and not in the planned location. This should not have led to catastrophic consequences, since Frederick still had a large detachment under the leadership of Prince Moritz of Dessau, who linked Gulsen's detachment with the units that hurried to rush to the enemy. But at that moment Frederick, as if on purpose, flared up and ordered Moritz to immediately join the battle. But the Austrians counterattacked, completely crushed Gulsen's formation, struck the flank of the Prussian line, and Frederick retreated from the battlefield, losing 13 thousand of 33 thousand people.
The allies considered that it was finished with him, and began to attack his possessions from all sides. Prince Hildburghausen at the head of a column of imperial troops and Marshal Soubise at the head of the French contingent (a total of 63 thousand people) went to Saxony; 17 thousand Swedes landed in Pomerania; 80 thousand Russians marched out, and Karl of Lorraine with his army and the forces of Down, in total over 100 thousand people, went to Silesia from the south.
That summer, battles raged along the entire perimeter, and Prussia gradually weakened. The Swedes could not cope with the detachment that came out against them, but Frederick had to send this detachment. Russian troops defeated parts of the Prussians, which accounted for a third of their number, but due to the failure in organizing supplies, everything stalled at the moment when there was an opportunity to take Berlin. The Austrians, as might be expected, fought a war of sieges, and Frederick was forced to dispatch 41 thousand men to prevent them from taking over everything, so he barely managed to muster 22 thousand people to meet Subise and Hildburghausen, who invaded Saxony.
The meeting between the two armies at Rosbach was preceded by maneuvers west of the Saale River. As a result, Frederick stopped at the western limit of the ridge of low hills, behind him were the Janus and Polzen hills. The Austrians were advancing in the rear of the Prussian troops, and no matter how slow their advance was, Frederick had to do something. He proposed attacking the enemy camp, which was a very risky endeavor on an open, village-strewn plain, but on November 5 the problem resolved itself.
Soubise and Hildburghausen knew how to read, and from what they read they learned that the Prussian king won battles by throwing all his strength against the enemy's left flank. Then they decided to outwit him by concentrating an army around his left flank and rear, intending to occupy the hills and cut off his communications. The Allies placed cavalry in the vanguard, the infantry lined up behind in three columns, and, to the sound of trumpets, launched a broad offensive through the village of Pettstedt around the left flank of the Prussians.
This plan had three flaws. First, Frederick placed an officer on the roof of the tallest building in Rosbach, who observed the movements of the enemy on the open plain; secondly, I had to walk through mud and sand, so it was very slow; thirdly, the attacking column did not send scouts ahead. When the king was informed that the enemy had passed through Pettstetd, Frederick calmly finished his dinner and then quickly reorganized the troops. Seydlitz with all his cavalry disappeared behind Polzen, at the top of which a hussar picket was set up; the artillery was placed on the opposite slope of Janus, so that only the muzzles of the guns protruded; the infantry stood behind the cannons, most of it concentrated on the right. The allied army noticed the maneuvers and the sudden disappearance of the Prussians from sight, the commanders decided that Frederick had begun a retreat, and gave the order to speed up,to catch up with him.
While they were speeding up, at three-thirty in the afternoon Seydlitz crossed the Polzen with 4,000 cavalry, solid as a wall and fast as the wind. He struck the flank of the Allied cavalry vanguard, completely overturning it, and pursued until he completed the rout. Then he gave the signal to return and lined up in a small depression near Tagveben. Prussian guns opened fire on the ill-fated Allied columns, tearing the ranks to pieces, and when they tried to turn around, the clear ranks of Frederick's infantry crossed the Janus, firing as usual. When the tormented columns decided to retreat, Seydlitz came out of cover and attacked them from the rear. It was one of the shortest great battles recorded by the chronicles: by half-past five the allied army had turned into a crowd mad with fear, having lost 67 cannons, 3,000 wounded and killed, 5,000 prisoners. The losses of the Prussians amounted to 541 people.
Battle of Rosbach
The worst thing for the allies was that the remnants of the army were in the most deplorable state, there was no way to restore it. The Battle of Rosbach was decisive as it brought France out of the war against Frederick. Frederick broke through the enemy ring, and also gave a fulcrum to the German national consciousness and secured the support of England. After the battle, the British Parliament increased subsidies almost tenfold.
But there were still many things to do, almost beyond the strength of any person and any army. While Frederick was at war with the imperial and French troops, Austria gradually occupied all of northern Silesia, defeated the Prussian forces in battle, took Breslau and Schweidnitz with their huge depots. Frederick handed over command of the defeated army to Zieten, gathered forces from Parchwitz and hastened to give the Austrians a battle.
Now he had 36 thousand people and 167 guns, a large battery in them was made up of super-heavy cannons captured in the Glogau fortress. Prince Karl and Down had about 80,000. Down was preparing to take up the winter quarters, but the news of Friedrich's approach forced him to leave Breslavl for the position, lining up in a double line. The right flank, located near the village of Nippern, behind the forest and marshes, was commanded by General Lukesi, the center was near the village of Leiten, the left flank was at Zagshuts. The ends of both flanks were pulled back, and General Nadasti, the commander of the left flank, covered his position with a notch. Ahead, at the village of Borne, a cavalry detachment stood under the command of the Saxon General Nostitz, but most of the cavalry remained in reserve behind the center.
Perhaps the fighting spirit of the defeated army, which was now commanded by Zieten, raised some doubts in Frederick; but his doubts were dispelled on the dark, frosty night of December 4, when the soldiers greeted him during a round of the camp with the words: "Good evening, Fritz." He gathered the generals and informed them that he was going to act against the rules of war, but intends to either defeat the enemy or die from his guns, after which he gave the order to advance at dawn.
The first to hit was Nostitz with his squad. In a haze of light fog, Tsiten violently attacked the Saxons from the front and flank, took most of them prisoner, and pushed the rest back. Then there was a lull as the fog cleared away and Frederick examined the enemy positions. He knew these places well, as he often made maneuvers there. To the right of Borne, behind a fold in the terrain, it was possible to hide his movements, and Frederick decided to do what his opponents in Rosbach did not succeed in: throw the entire army on the enemy's left flank. To begin with, an advanced cavalry detachment was sent in pursuit of the remnants of General Nostitz's detachment. The trick worked; Luquesi, who was aware of Frederick's habit of attacking the flanks, imagined that he was threatened by a massive offensive, and asked for reinforcements. Prince Charles dispatched reserve cavalry from the center and several units from the left flank to him.
But the attack died down, and then Karl and Down assumed that this was a maneuver to cover the retreat, for the army of Frederick suddenly disappeared from sight. “The Prussians are leaving,” Down remarked. "Don't bother them!" History has not preserved his words for us when Frederick's column stuck its nose out of the fold of the terrain and struck the flank of Nadasti.
Battle of Lieuten
Nadasti, a good combat officer, immediately brought his cavalry into battle and was able to throw Cyten back, but then stumbled upon the infantry and was defeated. Imagine what a commotion and confusion began when the whole wing, covered with a suite of Prussian rifle fire, was blown apart. But the Austrians began to organize defenses in the mills, in the Leiten ditches, and in the stone-walled cemetery. Prince Charles poured in new battalions as soon as they arrived from other places; in some places the Austrian formation reached twenty ranks in depth, and the ensuing battle was of the most fierce character. The new line ran almost perpendicular to the first, its center bunched together, but it was a line strong and numerous.
Frederick had to withdraw the last of his infantry reserves, but he was still unable to advance. Then he ordered to raise the super-heavy cannons to the hill, which until then hid his movements, they covered the new right flank of the Austrians with longitudinal fire, and the enemy ranks moved. At this moment Luchezi reached the place from his previous positions. He saw that the left flank of the Prussian infantry was not protected, and gave the order to attack it. But Frederick foresaw this. Behind a battery of heavy cannons was the left wing cavalry under the command of the Prussian general Drizen. When Lukezi's compound rushed forward at a trot, Drizen hit him at once from all sides. It was like Seydlitz's attack at Rosbach; Lukesi himself was killed and his soldiers scattered. Then Drizen turned around Leiten and attacked the flank and rear of the Austrian infantry. The December evening found the remnants of the Austrian army in flight.
- Part two -