Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' War

What a glorious period of peace Germany enjoyed after the furious storms of war had devastated its flourishing provinces and brought ruin and death into so many homes! Prussia a...

Frederick improved the winter of 1756 by increasing the strength of his army and putting it in complete readiness for the field; for it was evident that the enemy, enraged at th...

The Austrians fled into the city of Prague, which was closely invested by the Prussians and bombarded with red-hot shot. The people suffered greatly, and the prospect of approac...

Frederick encountered the enemy at Rossbach,[9] November 5, 1757. He could only oppose twenty-two thousand men to an army over sixty thousand strong. The disparity was great, bu...

The main army of the Austrians, eighty thousand strong, held a position in the vicinity of Leuthen, between Breslau and Neumarkt. When its commander, Prince Carl of Lothringen,...

The year 1757, which had been so abundant in Prussian victories, drew to its close. Without remaining longer in Bohemia, the King made a forced march into Silesia,—where several...

Notwithstanding obstacles of the kind related in the last chapter, which were frequent in that region, the progress of the army was not checked and Silesia was reached. The King...

The King was in more cheerful humor after the brilliant victory at Zorndorf. The carrying out of his battle plans had demanded all his physical and mental ability, but he was no...

The year 1758 came to its close, and after a survey of his military operations it must be said that Frederick, notwithstanding many disasters, had made great headway against the...

The deplorable result of these operations weighed heavily upon the King and never before did he inaugurate a campaign in a more despondent mood than that of 1760. It affected al...

Cavalry and infantry were so exhausted by the bloody work that the King granted them a three hours’ rest. Frederick went through the camp-lines, where there was great rejoicing...

The next year began less fortunately than 1760 closed. The enemy determined to crush Frederick by weight of numbers. It was a long time, however, before military operations comm...

The King entered upon another year with serious anxiety, for he could not escape the conviction that the longer the war continued the worse was his situation. His army was conti...

Maria Theresa and the Elector of Saxony realized that under such circumstances as these they were in no condition to continue the war alone against Prussia and that, whether the...