Frederick marched into Silesia in December 1740 starting the First Silesian War, which evolved into the complicated War of Austrian Succession. Frederick captured Silesia. It was there that he fought the Battle of Mollwitz against the Austrians, which did not go well, with Frederick fleeing from the battlefield, only for his soldiers to win the battle. This victory shocked the world and doubled the population of Prussia. The war had ended in a Prussian victory, and Frederick had learnt a lot about battles and commanding armies. In 1744, the Second Silesian War started, with the Austrians under the command of Maria Theresa hoping to retake Silesia. In 1745, his ally, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles of Bavaria died and was replaced by Charles of Lorraine, the husband of Maria Theresa. The Austrian forces focused their collective might on him, but he still managed to defeat them in a pitched battle. Frederick then returned home and pulled some strings in the local newspapers, which earnt him the title, ‘ The Great ’. After the War of Austrian Succession, Maria Theresa found allies in Russia and France, while Frederick allied with the British. In 1756, Frederick attacked Saxony and launched the Seven Years War, which was fought on every continent other than Oceania, and led the way for the American War of Independence. Initially, despite some success, Frederick took too many losses and retreated to Silesia. Both sides attacked and defended, taking major losses, with Frederick even getting wounded. In 1761, Britain pulled out of the conflict. All seemed lost, until the Empress of Russia died, and was replaced by a German boy, Peter III, who was a massive fan of Frederick (and was even rumoured to dress up as him). Peter III extended peace to Prussia. This eventually broke the coalition and Frederick kept Silesia. Meanwhile, back in the astonished Russia, Peter was overthrown by another German princess, his wife, Ekaterina. Ekaterina, or Catherine would be the second Russian monarch to earn the title of ‘ The Great ’. Catherine the Great would go on to lead Russia to victory against the Ottoman Turks and turn Russia into a great European power. She also had a puppet government in the Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth. Both the Austrians, Russians and the Prussians agreed to take chunks of Poland - Lithuania and annex them between each other. When one side took a piece of land, the other two would take land in turn. It was a precarious balancing act, which had to keep the stability of the region. Through partitions, Frederick gained East - Prussia without a single shot being fired. Eventually, the in - between state of Poland - Lithuania was awkwardly snuffed out thanks to the partitions.
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