WEBVTT 1 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:22.160 Hello, and Welcome to Western Sieve Episode four hundred and eighty, 2 00:00:22.679 --> 00:00:26.320 The Seven Years War in the Tangled woods of the 3 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:31.320 Ohio River Valley in seventeen fifty four, the future of 4 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:36.799 a global empire began, not in palaces or parliaments, or 5 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:41.000 in a distant grand European battlefield, but in a muddy 6 00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:46.159 skirmish They're A young Virginia officer by the name of 7 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:52.679 George Washington ambushed a French scouting party at Jimmaville Glen, 8 00:00:53.479 --> 00:00:56.840 touching off a chain of violence that would ignite the 9 00:00:56.840 --> 00:01:00.119 most expansive, maybe we can argue at the end and 10 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:06.799 the first World War that had ever been seen. The 11 00:01:06.840 --> 00:01:12.480 French quickly retaliated at fort necessity, forcing George Washington to 12 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:16.959 surrender in July seventeen fifty four. Would be the only 13 00:01:17.079 --> 00:01:23.040 surrender of his career. Though these colonial clashes seemed minor, 14 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:27.120 they were symptoms of a much deeper global rivalry between 15 00:01:27.159 --> 00:01:32.920 Britain and France, and between fragile, shifting alliances of Europe's 16 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:38.680 great powers. What began as a frontier squabble would soon 17 00:01:38.760 --> 00:01:45.599 spread to India, Africa, the Caribbean, and Europe itself. But 18 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:49.280 in the hearts of Europe. A Prussian king that we 19 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:54.040 have not discussed, a brilliant, ambitious, and very dangerous man, 20 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:59.200 would ensure that the continent would be involved in this inferno. 21 00:02:01.079 --> 00:02:07.519 Frederick the Great was born on January twenty fourth, seventeen twelve, 22 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:11.319 in the Royal city of Berlin, the son of Frederick 23 00:02:11.400 --> 00:02:17.120 William the First of Prussia and his Queen Sophia Dorothea 24 00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:22.439 of Hanover. His father had become known as the Soldier King, 25 00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:27.520 a man of iron discipline and frual habits who sought 26 00:02:27.560 --> 00:02:30.680 to turn the small, scattered holdings of Prussia into a 27 00:02:30.759 --> 00:02:36.080 highly militarized state. His mother, by contrast, was steeped in 28 00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:40.319 the cultural refinements of the Hanoverian court, and was actually 29 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:45.639 sister to George the Second of Great Britain. Between them, 30 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:49.360 Frederick would inherit two competing visions of the world, the 31 00:02:49.400 --> 00:02:54.759 strict austerity of Drill and the gilded, gleaming elegance of 32 00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:59.759 Enlightenment Europe. As a child, honestly, Frederick showed very little 33 00:03:00.039 --> 00:03:02.960 hensity for the life that his father envisioned for him. 34 00:03:03.319 --> 00:03:07.680 He preferred musical talents to the musket. He preferred the 35 00:03:07.719 --> 00:03:11.240 writings of Voltaire to military drill and the cadence of 36 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:15.800 marching feet. This brought him into fierce conflict with Frederick. 37 00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:21.560 William the King considered such purspuites effeminate and dangerous, fearing 38 00:03:21.639 --> 00:03:25.039 they would make his son unfit to rule. He once 39 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:27.680 beat the boy in public for wearing a silk sash, 40 00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:31.319 declaring quote, I will not have a boy of mine 41 00:03:31.719 --> 00:03:36.919 turned into a Frenchman quote. The escalation reached a breaking 42 00:03:36.919 --> 00:03:41.039 point in seventeen thirty when eighteen year old Frederick attempted 43 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:45.039 to flee Prussia with his close friend Hans Hermann Boncat. 44 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:49.800 The plan failed, Frederick was arrested and Kat was executed 45 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:54.439 before his eyes, a trauma that left its mark. Frederick, 46 00:03:54.520 --> 00:03:57.560 in fact, would later write, the tragedy of Cat's death 47 00:03:57.919 --> 00:04:00.520 taught me that one must learn to hide while's heart 48 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:07.240 in politics. After this humiliation, Frederick submitted outwardly to his 49 00:04:07.240 --> 00:04:11.879 father's will. He served in the Prussian Army, studied administration, 50 00:04:12.520 --> 00:04:17.480 and learned the mechanics of stakecraft. Privately, though he cultivated 51 00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:22.160 the arts, corresponding with philosophers, mastering French, and refining his 52 00:04:22.279 --> 00:04:26.560 musical skills. In seventeen thirty, he published his first major 53 00:04:26.680 --> 00:04:32.639 essay anti machiavel a refutation of Machiavelli's cynicism in favor 54 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:40.120 of a benevolent philosophy informed monarchy. Bulsare himself actually helped 55 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:43.680 him edit it, a relationship that would later define much 56 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:50.199 of Frederick's intellectual life. When Frederick Wilhelm died in seventeen forty, 57 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:54.959 the twenty eight year old Frederick ascended the throne. Few 58 00:04:55.079 --> 00:04:58.519 suspected that the young man who once seemed a dreaming, 59 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:02.279 distant scholar would prove to be one of the most 60 00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:06.720 formidable military leaders of what was a very military age. 61 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:12.839 But the transformation was swift. You see, that same year, 62 00:05:13.480 --> 00:05:16.560 the death of Emperor Charles the sixth of the Holy 63 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:21.600 Roman Empire left Maria Teresa of Austria as his heir 64 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:27.439 under what was referred to as the Pragmatic Sanction. Sensing 65 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:32.720 an opportunity, the new king, Frederick the Great, invaded the 66 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:38.319 rich Austrian province of Salatia. This audacious move was the 67 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:43.519 one that ignited the War of Austrian Succession. Against formidable odds, 68 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:49.319 Frederick's well drilled army, built by his father proved devastatingly effective. 69 00:05:50.279 --> 00:05:54.360 The campaigns of the First and Second Salatian Wars, which 70 00:05:54.439 --> 00:05:58.199 lasted from seventeen forty to seventeen forty two. At seventeen 71 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:02.439 forty four to forty five perspective, ended with the Prussian 72 00:06:02.600 --> 00:06:09.439 possession of Silatia, dramatically elevating its power in Europe. Frederick 73 00:06:09.519 --> 00:06:13.399 had now earned the nickname the Great from his admirers, 74 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:19.759 though his enemies preferred less flattering terms. He himself quipped quote, 75 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:25.639 he who defends everything defends nothing, a maxim that guided 76 00:06:25.879 --> 00:06:31.360 his focus on strategic, high value objectives. Now, Frederick did 77 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:36.000 not confine his ambitions to the battlefield. He transformed Berlin 78 00:06:36.360 --> 00:06:42.360 into a hub of enlightenment culture, inviting artists, musicians, and 79 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:47.199 thinkers to his court at San Sui, his palace in Potsdam. 80 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:51.120 There he played the flute in intimate evening concerts and 81 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:58.160 engaged Voltaire and sparkling often contentious conversations. A championed religious toleration, 82 00:06:58.600 --> 00:07:04.639 famously declaringquote, all religions must be tolerated. If Turks and 83 00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:08.560 Heathens come and want to populate our land, we will 84 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:13.560 build them mosques and churches end quote. Can you imagine 85 00:07:13.560 --> 00:07:18.319 a politician saying such today? At the same time, Frederick 86 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:23.720 reformed the legal system, he modernized agriculture, he encouraged immigration 87 00:07:23.879 --> 00:07:29.600 to sparsely populated lands, and he improved Prussia's bureaucracy. His 88 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:32.800 reign blended real politique, not that he knew what that 89 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:36.319 was yet, with the ideals of the Enlightenment, though he 90 00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:43.079 was never naive about human nature. Frederick, however, would get 91 00:07:43.079 --> 00:07:49.680 his true test in the Seven Years War. In seventeen 92 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:54.519 fifty six, Britain and France formally declared war, but in Europe, 93 00:07:54.560 --> 00:08:00.439 the most explosive development was Frederic's preemptive strike. Learning that Austria, France, 94 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:04.959 and Russia were secretly allying against him, Frederick the Great 95 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:09.439 invaded Saxony, forcing its army to surrender. This move is 96 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:12.600 the one that actually triggers the continental phase of the war. 97 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:18.480 The old system of alliances had now effectively collapsed. Austria 98 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:22.560 and France, once the bitterest of enemies, now stood united 99 00:08:22.839 --> 00:08:28.360 with Russia and Sweden against the upstart Prussia. Britain, hitherto 100 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:32.840 relatively isolated in Europe, allied with Prussia to distract France 101 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:37.840 on the continent while it pursued imperial ambitions abroad. This 102 00:08:37.960 --> 00:08:40.480 conflict that had begun and what is eventually going to 103 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:44.559 be the state of Ohio was now truly global. In India, 104 00:08:44.919 --> 00:08:49.279 North America, West Africa and the Caribbean, the British and 105 00:08:49.399 --> 00:08:53.240 French clashed, but of course the main show was in 106 00:08:53.240 --> 00:08:58.440 Central Europe, where Frederick now faced a forefront war. Writing 107 00:08:58.840 --> 00:09:02.919 from Geneva, Voltaire observed with both a touch of admiration 108 00:09:03.080 --> 00:09:06.519 and dread quote, he is the dortch bearer of war. 109 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:13.200 Wherever he goes, the world ignites. The year seventeen fifty 110 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:19.759 seven was really the heart of Frederic's legend. Against overwhelming odds, 111 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:26.519 he faced simultaneous invasions from Austria, France and Russia. In May, 112 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:30.320 at the Battle of Prague, Frederick struck first. By early 113 00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:34.360 seventeen fifty seven, Frederick had survived the dangerous opening phases 114 00:09:34.360 --> 00:09:37.440 of the war and was looking to strike before Austria 115 00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:42.080 could fully recover from its losses in Silatia. Maria Teresa 116 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:45.759 of Austria, determined to regain that province, had built up 117 00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:49.519 a formidable army under field Marshal Prince Charles of Laurent 118 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:54.279 and Marshal Leopold van Don. The Austrian plan was to 119 00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:57.960 take the fight directly into Silesia and crush the Prussians. 120 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:04.679 Frederick to preempt them. He concentrated his forces about sixty 121 00:10:04.679 --> 00:10:08.559 four thousand men and launched a rapid march into Bohemia, 122 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:12.799 the heartland of the Austrian monarchy. The prize, of course, 123 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:16.399 was Prague, the capitol where he hoped to deal a 124 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:19.559 knockout blow that would force Austria to the negotiation table. 125 00:10:20.759 --> 00:10:24.440 The Austrians, numbering roughly the same about sixty one thousand, 126 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:28.799 had taken up a strong position east of Prague. Their 127 00:10:28.840 --> 00:10:32.120 right rested on the steep, rocky heights of the Ziska Hill, 128 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:36.799 their center and left anchored along the Maldau River. Their 129 00:10:36.919 --> 00:10:41.840 army was battle hardened and outnumbered Frederick in terms of cavalry. 130 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:45.919 Frederick and his brilliant subordinate, I should say Field Marshal 131 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:50.840 Kurt Christoph von Schweren, recognized that a frontal assault would 132 00:10:50.840 --> 00:10:56.480 be suicide. Instead, they planned a wide flanking maneuver to 133 00:10:56.559 --> 00:11:00.799 smash into the Austrian right and roll up their line. 134 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:04.960 This was classic Frederic, avoid the strongest point, strike at 135 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:08.679 the vulnerable flank, and use speed to keep the enemy 136 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:12.759 off balance. The battle was fought on the sixth of 137 00:11:12.840 --> 00:11:17.240 May seventeen fifty seven. The day began with the Prussians 138 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:20.320 moving south to get around the Austrian right, but the 139 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:26.039 terrain was deceptive. The rolling hills, hid ravines, ponds, and 140 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:29.519 marshy ground that slowed the advance and disrupted the perfect 141 00:11:29.639 --> 00:11:33.759 lines of the Prussian infantry. In the confusion, the Austrian 142 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:37.759 right pivoted to meet the threat, forcing Frederic to improvise. 143 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:43.480 Schwerin personally led a renewed infantry assault across the broken ground. 144 00:11:43.559 --> 00:11:47.159 Under heavy fire. The Prussians fought their way up the 145 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:52.000 slopes against the Austrian grenadiers and artillery, but the attack stalled. 146 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:56.480 In the thick of it, Schwerin, seventy three years old 147 00:11:57.080 --> 00:12:02.240 and one of Prussia's greatest generals, seized the regimental colors 148 00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:05.600 the flag himself to rally his men in the midst 149 00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:09.559 of the battle, and he was shot dead. The loss 150 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:13.000 was a blow to morale, but the Prussians pushed on. 151 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:17.600 At the same time, Frederick launched a second wave of 152 00:12:17.639 --> 00:12:22.320 attack under General Winterfeldt. This fresh assault broke through the 153 00:12:22.360 --> 00:12:27.120 weakened Austrian right, forcing Chiles of Laurent to begin a retreat. 154 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:31.919 Toward the city. The fighting had been brutal and very costly, 155 00:12:32.840 --> 00:12:36.960 but Prussian discipline carried the day just by a bit. 156 00:12:38.360 --> 00:12:41.960 When the smoke cleared, the Austrians had lost about thirteen 157 00:12:42.039 --> 00:12:46.279 thousand men killed, wounded or captured to the Prussians fourteen thousand, 158 00:12:46.919 --> 00:12:51.720 a pyrrhic victory in terms of casualties. Crucially, the Austrian 159 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:55.279 army was forced back into the defenses of Prague itself, 160 00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:59.320 where Frederick quickly laid siege. It might have been the 161 00:12:59.320 --> 00:13:03.840 decisive moment Frederick hoped for, except that Marshal Dawn was 162 00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:07.279 marching with a fresh Austrian army to relieve the city. 163 00:13:08.039 --> 00:13:11.519 This led to the Battle of Colin in June seventeen 164 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:15.559 fifty seven, where Frederick suffered a rare and painful defeat, 165 00:13:15.960 --> 00:13:19.679 forcing him to abandon the siege. The Battle of Prague 166 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:23.039 was Frederick's attempt at a knockout blow in the Seven 167 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:27.879 Years War. Tactically, it showed his mastery of maneuver and 168 00:13:27.960 --> 00:13:32.000 the offensive spirit of the Prussian army, but also the 169 00:13:32.120 --> 00:13:37.799 risks of over extension. The victory was incomplete, Austria remained 170 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:41.480 in the war, and the loss of Schwerin deprived Frederick 171 00:13:41.559 --> 00:13:45.360 of one of his most trusted lieutenants. In his own words, 172 00:13:45.720 --> 00:13:48.679 Frederick would later write of the battle, we gained a victory, 173 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:51.440 but it was a dear bat one for the hero 174 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:55.639 who gained it was slain. Now. By the fall of 175 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:59.200 seventeen fifty seven, the Seven Years War had taken a 176 00:13:59.320 --> 00:14:04.000 dangerous turn for Prussia. Frederick's early campaign into Bohemia had 177 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:09.159 stalled after the defeat at Colin, forcing him to retreat. Austria, France, 178 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:12.720 the Holy Roman Empire, and Sweden were pushing in from 179 00:14:12.759 --> 00:14:17.679 all four sides. In Saxony, a combined French Imperial army 180 00:14:17.879 --> 00:14:21.639 about forty two thousand strong under the Prince of Supis 181 00:14:21.879 --> 00:14:26.799 and Prince Joseph of Saxey Halbundsen were advancing. Their goal 182 00:14:26.919 --> 00:14:29.799 was to push Frederick out of Saxony and open the 183 00:14:29.879 --> 00:14:34.639 road into the Prussian heartland. Frederick, with just twenty two 184 00:14:34.679 --> 00:14:38.960 thousand men, moved to confront him. His army was a 185 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:43.480 lot smaller, but it was professional. It was highly disciplined 186 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:48.720 and trained to execute rapid maneuvers that honestly, few European 187 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:54.080 forces could match. The ultimate engagement would take place near 188 00:14:54.120 --> 00:14:57.759 the village of Rossbach in modern day Saxony a Halt 189 00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:02.840 on November fifth, seventeen fifty s. The terrain was rolling countryside, 190 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:06.679 with low ridges and open fields that allowed good visibility, 191 00:15:07.240 --> 00:15:12.480 perfect for cavalry and artillery. Frederick's army camped near Rossbach, 192 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:16.279 facing north toward the French and Imperial forces, who were 193 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:21.679 positioned several miles away. The Allies, confident for their numerical superiority, 194 00:15:22.039 --> 00:15:25.240 believed they could simply swing around Frederick's left flank, cut 195 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:29.360 him off from retreat, and crush him. On the morning 196 00:15:29.399 --> 00:15:33.039 of November fifth, the Allied army began a long, sweeping 197 00:15:33.080 --> 00:15:37.039 march to get around Frederick's flank. To them, it appeared 198 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:40.679 that the Prussians were withdrawing, perhaps even retreating, since Frederick 199 00:15:40.759 --> 00:15:43.600 kept most of his troops out of sight behind the 200 00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:48.639 Genus and Paulson Hills. Now, in reality, Frederick was setting 201 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:53.039 a trap. He had read their intentions perfectly and decided 202 00:15:53.080 --> 00:15:56.639 to execute a rapid flank attack of his own, using 203 00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:59.440 the hills as a cover. He moved his entire army 204 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:02.679 crosswise so that by the time the Allies reached what 205 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:06.600 they thought was his flank, they were marching straight into 206 00:16:06.600 --> 00:16:11.879 his main line out of formation and strung out. The 207 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:17.080 decisive blow came from Frederick Willem von Seltz's commanding about 208 00:16:17.159 --> 00:16:22.600 thirty five hundred Prussian cavalry. Said Sliss hid his squadrons 209 00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:26.240 behind the hill until the enemy's leading columns were exposed 210 00:16:26.519 --> 00:16:32.279 and disorders. Then, at Frederick's signal, he unleashed his cavalry 211 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:38.320 in a massive two phase charge. The first wave smashed 212 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:42.960 into the Allied cavalry, routing it almost instantly. As the 213 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:47.080 fleeing horsemen galloped back through their own infantry, sensless men 214 00:16:47.320 --> 00:16:52.879 wheeled around, reformed in perfect order, and charged again, this 215 00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:56.960 time into the Allied infantry, which had no time to 216 00:16:57.000 --> 00:17:03.559 form up into proper defensive squares. Meanwhile, Prussian artillery, superbly 217 00:17:03.639 --> 00:17:08.640 handled by Colonel Mohler, rakes the enemy with devastating fire 218 00:17:08.680 --> 00:17:12.599 from close range. The Allies broke within only about an 219 00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:16.680 hour and a half of contact. The battle was essentially 220 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:22.440 over by one o'clock in the afternoon. This time the 221 00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:27.440 results were staggering. The French and Imperial forces had suffered 222 00:17:27.480 --> 00:17:30.839 losses of about five thousand killed and wounded and over 223 00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:35.720 five to eight thousand prisoners taken. The Prussians there they 224 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:41.680 lost fewer than five hundred and fifty men. Entire regiments 225 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:45.839 of the enemy disintegrated in panic, and the French prestige 226 00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:51.440 in Germany took a catastrophic blow. Rossbach was a moral 227 00:17:51.480 --> 00:17:57.359 earthquake across Europe. Newspapers marveled that Frederick's smaller army had 228 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:00.839 humiliated a force twice at size and another two hours 229 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:05.480 Voltaire quipped quote, the King of Prussia has beaten the 230 00:18:05.480 --> 00:18:10.720 French as if they were Spanish. Really, what this is, though, 231 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:15.799 is a changing of the guard. Numbers didn't count for 232 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:20.079 as much as discipline anymore. The medieval way of war 233 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:24.440 had truly melted away. We were going back to the 234 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:29.079 type of disciplined, smaller armies that frankly, Europe hadn't really 235 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:33.119 seen since the Roman Empire. This was going to be 236 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:36.440 the model of warfare, though, that was going to go 237 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:41.559 all the way through the Napoleonic Wars, where smaller, more 238 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:47.079 well trained units could stand up to large attacks. Rossbach 239 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:50.680 was more than a battlefield victory. It was a masterpiece 240 00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:56.839 of timing, deception and maneuver. Frederick's exploitation of terrain, concealment, 241 00:18:56.960 --> 00:19:01.240 and discipline. The speed of his Cavalry ultimately become a 242 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:07.359 case study for military academies for generations. Strategically, it relieved 243 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:11.519 the pressure on Prussia's western flank, It boosted British confidence 244 00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:14.920 in their ally, and it helped Frederick recover from Colin. 245 00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:19.400 The victory also underscored a theme in the Seven Years War. 246 00:19:20.440 --> 00:19:24.599 Frederick's genius was often about movement more than sheer force, 247 00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:28.400 as he would later say, and as I mentioned, it 248 00:19:28.440 --> 00:19:35.759 is not the quantity but the quality of troops that counts. 249 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:40.160 While Frederick was holding Europe together with Bayonets and Brilliants, 250 00:19:40.519 --> 00:19:43.440 the British returning the tide in North America under the 251 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:48.039 leadership of William Pitt the Elder. William Pitt the Elder 252 00:19:48.119 --> 00:19:51.880 was born on November fifteenth, seventeen oh eight, in Westminster 253 00:19:51.960 --> 00:19:56.759 into a well connected but financially modest gentry family. Educated 254 00:19:56.759 --> 00:20:00.400 at Eton and then Trinity College, Oxford, he developed a 255 00:20:00.440 --> 00:20:03.880 sharp intellect and eloquent speaking style, and a taste for 256 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:08.720 classical oratory. His military service in the cavalry gave him 257 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:11.960 some insight into army life, but it was politics that 258 00:20:12.039 --> 00:20:17.240 captured his ambition. In seventeen thirty five, he entered Parliament, 259 00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:22.160 as a member for Old Sarum, a notorious quote rotten 260 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:26.599 Borough quote. He quickly became known for his commanding speeches 261 00:20:26.920 --> 00:20:31.400 against the government of Sir Robert Walpole, particularly criticizing his 262 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:36.559 foreign policies to accommodating to France and Spain. This outspokenness 263 00:20:36.839 --> 00:20:40.240 earned him both popularity with the public and the enduring 264 00:20:40.440 --> 00:20:44.839 enemy of King George the Second, who disliked Pitt's defiance 265 00:20:45.160 --> 00:20:50.480 and rhetorical flourishes in the War of Jenkins's Ear. In 266 00:20:50.519 --> 00:20:53.920 the early stages of the War of Austrian Succession, Pitt 267 00:20:53.960 --> 00:20:58.039 distinguished himself as a fierce advocate of aggressive war against 268 00:20:58.039 --> 00:21:02.920 Britain's rivals, urging expansion of naval power in colonial ambition. 269 00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:08.160 His opposition to subsidies for continental allies put him at 270 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:11.720 odds with much of the political establishment, but his mastery 271 00:21:11.759 --> 00:21:15.480 of parliamentary debate and his ability to speak directly to 272 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:20.039 the national mood won him the nickname the Great Commoner. 273 00:21:21.480 --> 00:21:25.039 By the late seventeen forties, Pitt had served as Paymaster 274 00:21:25.319 --> 00:21:29.200 of the Military Forces, e lucrative office in which he 275 00:21:29.240 --> 00:21:33.559 surprised many by refusing to enrich himself through customary prerequisites, 276 00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:38.920 enhancing a reputation for integrity and honesty, those still barred 277 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:41.480 from the highest offices because the King didn't like him. 278 00:21:42.039 --> 00:21:44.559 By the eve of the Seven Years War, Pitt had 279 00:21:44.599 --> 00:21:49.039 become one of Britain's most formidable political figures, poised to 280 00:21:49.079 --> 00:21:53.279 play a decisive role in the global conflict to come now. 281 00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:57.200 Once the Seven Years War begins, Pitt and his allies 282 00:21:57.240 --> 00:22:02.319 in Parliament poured money into colonial campaigns, understanding that the 283 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:06.400 empire would be one not really in Saxony, but in Quebec, 284 00:22:06.839 --> 00:22:11.920 Bengal and in the Caribbean, and the poof guys was 285 00:22:11.960 --> 00:22:15.880 in the pudding. In seventeen fifty eight, the British captured Louisbourg, 286 00:22:15.960 --> 00:22:18.359 the gateway to the Saint Lawrence River. In North America, 287 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:22.359 Fort Dushane fell and was renamed Fort Pitt. Of course, 288 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:28.240 in India, Robert Clive defeated Naab of Bengali Plase, establishing 289 00:22:28.279 --> 00:22:32.519 now British control over the richest province in all of India. 290 00:22:33.720 --> 00:22:37.720 And then there was seventeen fifty nine, the Annis Mirabilis, 291 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:41.759 or the Year of Miracles. During this year alone, the 292 00:22:41.799 --> 00:22:46.279 British Royal Navy destroyed the French fleet at Quirbean Bay, 293 00:22:46.920 --> 00:22:52.920 establishing British naval supremacy throughout the Atlantic. General Wolfe then 294 00:22:53.000 --> 00:22:56.240 captured Quebec after the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. 295 00:22:56.880 --> 00:23:00.240 Both Wolf and the French commander Montcalm actually died in 296 00:23:00.279 --> 00:23:04.400 the battle, making them instant martyrs in their respective nations. 297 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:09.160 But Wolf went down as the victorious martyr, and Quebec 298 00:23:09.400 --> 00:23:14.319 fell into British hands. British poet Thomas Gray actually wrote 299 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:17.480 of Wolf's staff quote, he died victorious and the tears 300 00:23:17.480 --> 00:23:21.559 of his country were mingled with her joy. France's dream 301 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:25.720 of an American empire had essentially ended on the frozen 302 00:23:25.720 --> 00:23:31.799 bluffs above the Saint Lawrence. Now. Meanwhile, by contrast, by 303 00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:35.640 early seventeen fifty nine, Frederick's situation in Europe had grown 304 00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:39.480 more desperate. In seventeen fifty nine, Frederick had been fighting 305 00:23:39.519 --> 00:23:44.400 continuously for almost three years. His early lightning victories Rossenbach 306 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:46.960 and then Battle Within, which I didn't discuss much, were 307 00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:51.279 now distant memories. Austria, Russia and France were pressing him 308 00:23:51.319 --> 00:23:55.000 still on multiple fronts. Then, frankly, his meager resources were 309 00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:59.599 running low. That summer, a combined Russian Austrian army under 310 00:24:00.119 --> 00:24:04.160 Slatavak and Austrian general La Dawn had taken up a 311 00:24:04.200 --> 00:24:08.640 strong position just outside of Frankfurt. Their plan was simple, 312 00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:11.559 destroy Frederic's main army and then open up the road 313 00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:16.680 to Berlin. Frederick, reinforced after a recent victory at the 314 00:24:16.680 --> 00:24:20.279 Battle of Poltzig, marched with about fifty two sixty thousand 315 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:23.519 men to face roughly the same number of Allied troops. 316 00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:27.319 He believed his only chance was destroy quickly before the 317 00:24:27.319 --> 00:24:29.799 Allies could dig in further, even though the odds were 318 00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:36.119 fairly even so. The battle took place at Kutensdorf, where 319 00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:40.079 the terrain was deceptive. The Allied army occupied a series 320 00:24:40.119 --> 00:24:42.720 of ridges and heights that formed kind of a semi 321 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:44.880 circle if you look at it on a map. Their 322 00:24:45.240 --> 00:24:48.519 flanks were protected by the Oda River and their marshes adjoining. 323 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:53.480 These positions were connected by the so called Judenkroff, the 324 00:24:53.559 --> 00:24:59.319 Jewish Cemetery and Muhlberg high Ground. Bristling with artillery, it 325 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:02.799 was summer and the heat was oppressive. Water was scarce, 326 00:25:03.480 --> 00:25:07.519 a factor that would become critical. Frederick's plan was to 327 00:25:07.599 --> 00:25:11.200 attack from the northeast, roll up the Russian left flank, 328 00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:15.079 and drive the Allies into the Oder River. His opening 329 00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:18.559 move caught the Russians by surprise, and by late morning 330 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:23.440 the Prussians had seized Mohlberg. After bitter fighting, Russian lines wavered. 331 00:25:23.880 --> 00:25:28.680 It looked as though Frederick might snatch yet another lightning victory. 332 00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:33.559 But here Frederick made a fatal error. Instead of consolidating 333 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:36.720 his gains, he ordered an immediate push against the center 334 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:39.480 and right of the Allied line, which was held by 335 00:25:39.559 --> 00:25:45.279 the sturdier Austrians and was more heavily fortified. His exhausting troops, 336 00:25:45.799 --> 00:25:48.960 already worn down by a sweltering march, fighting in the 337 00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:51.319 middle of the hot sun and a lack of water, 338 00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:55.319 fought for the heights and advanced into murderous artillery and 339 00:25:55.400 --> 00:26:00.920 musket fire. The Prussian attack ultimately stalled out, then it collapsed. 340 00:26:02.039 --> 00:26:05.920 Sensing the moment, Ladan and the Austrians launched a massive 341 00:26:05.960 --> 00:26:11.799 counterattack with fresh Austrian cavalry and infantry. The Prussian army unraveled. 342 00:26:12.559 --> 00:26:16.720 What had begun as a promising assault turned into a route. 343 00:26:16.759 --> 00:26:20.599 Frederick's men fled in disorder towards the order, not the 344 00:26:20.680 --> 00:26:25.720 other way around, abandoning their cannon and standards. The defeat 345 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:31.880 was ultimately catastrophic. The Prussians lost around nineteen thousand men killed, wounded, 346 00:26:32.200 --> 00:26:35.799 or captured. That was about forty percent of Frederick's total army. 347 00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:40.440 The Allies suffered roughly fifteen thousand casualties, but they still 348 00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:43.960 held the field. It was the worst loss of Frederick's career, 349 00:26:44.680 --> 00:26:47.720 and for a brief moment it looked like Prussia was finished. 350 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:52.119 In despair, Frederick wrote to a minister, quote, I have 351 00:26:52.279 --> 00:26:55.079 not a regiment now from which I can expect anything. 352 00:26:55.720 --> 00:26:58.599 I think everything is lost. They shall not survive the 353 00:26:58.680 --> 00:27:03.920 ruin of my country. Yet the Allies, exhausted and short 354 00:27:03.960 --> 00:27:08.240 on supplies, failed to march on Berlin. This pause allowed 355 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:12.599 Frederick to rebuild his shattered army and fight on Kunzendorff. 356 00:27:12.640 --> 00:27:16.160 Thus became a grim lesson in the dangers of over extension, 357 00:27:16.720 --> 00:27:19.519 and a reminder that even a master tactician could be 358 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:25.200 done by fatigue, to reign and overconfidence. But then in 359 00:27:25.240 --> 00:27:28.759 the way it always seems to do. In seventeen sixty two, 360 00:27:28.839 --> 00:27:34.200 the wheel of fortune turned again. Empress Elizabeth of Russia died, 361 00:27:35.200 --> 00:27:39.799 and her successor, Peter Id, a fervent admirer of Frederick, 362 00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:45.880 immediately withdrew Russia from the war and offered Frederick an alliance, 363 00:27:47.160 --> 00:27:51.480 though Peter the Third was soon overthrown by his wife, Catherine, 364 00:27:51.480 --> 00:27:53.039 who's going to be Catherine the Great. I'm going to 365 00:27:53.079 --> 00:27:57.079 talk about her more soon. The shift shattered the anti 366 00:27:57.160 --> 00:28:02.640 Prussian coalition. Frederick seize the moment by attempting to regain 367 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:06.720 lost ground. He could restore his position and survived yet again, 368 00:28:06.759 --> 00:28:10.240 though by now Prussia was really starting to run out 369 00:28:10.279 --> 00:28:13.200 of resources. You can imagine at this point we have 370 00:28:13.319 --> 00:28:16.759 a couple of exhausted boxers who are just trying to 371 00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:18.599 slug it out on the match, and the question is 372 00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:23.319 really who can just stay standing the longest. Now elsewhere, 373 00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:27.960 the war continued to expand. In seventeen sixty two, Spain 374 00:28:28.119 --> 00:28:31.440 entered the war on France's side, and Britain responded with 375 00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:36.519 rapid colonial invasions. The British took Havana, a key Spanish 376 00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:39.279 port in the Caribbean which today the capitol of Cuba. 377 00:28:39.359 --> 00:28:44.039 In August of seventeen sixty two. In Manila, the British 378 00:28:44.039 --> 00:28:47.799 captured most of the Philippines, which expanded their reach now 379 00:28:47.960 --> 00:28:51.599 all the way around the globe. These prizes gave the 380 00:28:51.599 --> 00:28:55.359 British enormous leverage at the peace table and proved now 381 00:28:55.400 --> 00:29:02.640 that naval power had eclipsed dynastic alliances in shaping worlds. Finally, 382 00:29:02.920 --> 00:29:07.359 with everyone totally exhausted, the Treaty of Paris in seventeen 383 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:11.440 sixty three and the Treaty of Houtsburg that followed ended 384 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:14.319 the fighting of the Seven Years War. And by the way, 385 00:29:14.559 --> 00:29:17.160 I haven't talked about this directly, but the Seven Years 386 00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:19.799 War is called the French and Indian War if you're 387 00:29:19.839 --> 00:29:23.200 talking about it in North America. The Treaty of Paris 388 00:29:23.480 --> 00:29:29.160 involved Britain, France, and Spain. Essentially, France seeded Canada and 389 00:29:29.400 --> 00:29:33.720 all claims east of the Mississippi to Great Britain. Spain 390 00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:39.640 seated Florida Britain but received Louisiana from France. France retained 391 00:29:39.680 --> 00:29:44.119 a few Caribbean sugar islands and trading posts in India. Now, 392 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:47.000 a lot of what I just mentioned is going to 393 00:29:47.000 --> 00:29:52.359 get undone in the subsequent American Revolution and then French 394 00:29:52.400 --> 00:29:55.680 Revolution and rise of Napoleon. But that's where it stands 395 00:29:55.799 --> 00:29:58.559 at least at this point. So it's important to note 396 00:29:58.759 --> 00:30:03.519 that France essential seeds Canada and all of the Mississippi 397 00:30:03.559 --> 00:30:07.400 East to Great Britain. That's important because, as we're going 398 00:30:07.400 --> 00:30:10.319 to talk about very very soon, that's going to play 399 00:30:10.359 --> 00:30:14.920 a huge role in the lead up to the American Revolution. Now, 400 00:30:14.920 --> 00:30:19.319 the Treaty of Hutsburg involved only Prussia. In Austria, Silesia 401 00:30:19.720 --> 00:30:24.799