Wars of the Continental Alliance

The  Wars of the Continental Alliance  were a series of wars between 1756-1765 fought between Fredrick II's Kingdom of Prussia and a coalition of France, Austria, Poland-Lithuania, and multiple minor German principalities and electorates. The war was the result of years of deep-seeded political tension within Germany in the aftermath of the War of Austrian Succession. For six hundred years, Austria had maintained dominance within Germany, facing no real opposition and the Holy Roman Empire had a major influence on Germany. However, by the 1740s, Prussia had become a premier German state, boasting one of the most powerful armies on the continent and a strong centralized government under the absolutist Fredrick II. Facing competition for dominance in Germany, tension grew and by 1756 it had exploded with the succession crisis present in the Electorate of Saxony after the death of Leopold, Elector of Saxony. Initially, Fredrick II had the upper hand, his well-drilled and modern armies decisively defeating and forcing the capitulation of Austria in the first year of the war and the establishment of Prussian satellite states in Saxony and Mecklenburg. Despite this successes, France remained at war with Prussia and eventually the larger populations of the coalition forced a war of attrition that gradually led too the gradual diminishment of Fredrick II's armies. Austria's reentrance into the war in 1764 spelled disaster for Fredrick II, and he was defeated in the Battle of Dessau, before fleeing into exile.

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First Phase: 1756-1757
Fredrick II commenced the war quickly, calling up all avaliable reserves and assembling 40,000 men in Potsdam within weeks. Correctly predicting that the Austrians and Saxons would assemble much slower, Fredrick crossed the Saxon border in mid-July, taking Touragu after a short siege and advancing further into Saxony, meeting little opposition from the Allies.

By August, Fredrick II had overrun nearly all of Saxony. The fortresses of Riesa and Freiberg had both fallen swiftly and the Saxon army, which had begun the war scattered and in bad need of reform, had retreated too within Dresden itself, with Elector Ferdinand even considering fleeing the city and withdrawing any claim too the Electorate.

However, under pressure from Empress Theresa, who promised a Austrian army was now assembling, Ferdinand remained adimant and a siege of Dresden seemed close. However, the Austrians finally fulfilled their promise and in late-August a large Austrian relief army entered Saxony under the command of Prince Joseph. The Austrian army that entered Saxony in the end of the summer of 1756 was stronger then that of the Austrian army of the 1740s: according too a number of vast reforms ordered by Empress Theresea, the army was better-drilled, more professional, and led by men who were chosen less so by social status. However, problems remained prevalent, and the army lacked significant central leadership, a weakness which hampered its coordination and overall performance in the campaigns of 1756.

Prince Joseph, with about 50,000 Austrians, many of whom were Landwehr, part-time levies raised in times of war and crisis, hoped for a decisive action against Fredrick, bypassing the Prussian-held fortifications at Schwarzenberg and marching to relieve Dresden, which had been besieged since August 16th.

However, preferring to fight the decisive battle on his own terms and regain the offensive initiative, Fredrick split his forces and planned a major offensive into Bohemia while Prince Joseph was pinned in Saxony by Fredrick's brother Prince Henry, who would remain in Saxony with 30,000 men. Swiftly moving around the slow Joseph's western flank, Fredrick recaptured the town of Aue before entering Bohemia, putting the Austrians in a precarious strategic situation.

Upon news of the Prussian incursion into Bohemia, Empress Theresa desperately scrambled to reassemble her armies and regain the trust of an Imperial Diet which was doubting her ability too halt the Prussians. The arrival of a French expeditionary force under Charles of Soubouise put some 30,000 well-trained troops on the field and bought her time too assemble an army under Count Leopold Von Daun, who was gathering a large force of Hungarians in Slovakia. Furthermore, Prince Joseph managed to win a victory over the Prussian Prince Henry at Freidberg, allowing him too dispatch a large contingent of Austrians south too aid in the counter-attack against Fredrick, who had unexpectedly bypassed Prague in late September.

With a general Prussian retreat from Saxony necessary following the defeat at Frediberg, Fredrick found himself in an increasing precarious and threatening position: he faced a large French force too his south and an Austrian force moving in on this already stretched lines of communication. Initially, Fredrick hoped too defeat each army individually, force marching towards the French under Charles of Soubouise. However, realizing that link-up between the French and Austrians was inevitable, Fredrick ordered a retreat to Saxony, deceptively weakening his rearguard to encourage a permature Allied attack. The Allies, having brought their forces together at Brno, launched this attack on October 9th, and in the Battle of Trest, Fredrick's greatest achievement, the Franco-Austrian forces under Charles of Soubouise were decisively defeated. With this victory Austria was exposed and, with Louis XV predicting the Austrian downfall to be imminent, the remaining French forces within Germany were withdrawn, further endangering Empress Theresa's position.

In Saxony, Prince Henry launched a reinvigorated offensive, driving the Austrians from Saxony and finally capturing Dresden on November 14th, although Maximilian had escaped the city. Under intense pressure from his remaining council, Maximilian withdrew all claims to the Electorate of Saxony, effectively making Ferdinand III the Electorate of Saxony.

Despite the defeat at Trest as a huge drop in morale in the aftermath of the Battle of Trest, Empress Theresa intended to fight on, and by December some 50,000 Austro-Hungarians had been gathered at Malakey under Leopold Von Daun, and these troops were ready to advance north and counter-attack come spring. However, the newly-formed Austrian army was far weaker then believed, with many of the soldier badly trained and supply lines exposed. Seeing these weaknesses, Fredrick II decided to follow up on his successes in Bohemia before the Austrians could reform, and with some 40,000 men began a winter camapign too smash Leopold von Daun. Fredrick II quickly captured the towns of Hondolon and Breclav against minimal Austrian reistance, but reports of formidable Austrian defenses at Malaky convinced Fredrick II to attempt an audacious march around von Daun's exposed eastern flank and threaten his position at Malaky. Von Daun initially believed the flanking march too be nothing more then a minor incursion, but upon news of the fall of Piestenany Von Daun abandoned the defenses at Malaky and began a hurried retreat to Samorin where he could fortify the multiple fords over the Danube and contain Fredrick in Slovakia. However, the retreat was plagued by ice-frozen roads and unstable supply routes which slowed the disorganized march too a crawl, allowing Fredrick to move west and intercept Von Daun at Samorin on January 11th, decisively defeating his rearguard and disrupting the retreat. Fredrick and his army crossed the Danube unopposed the following day after the remnants of the Austrian army retreated to Liesing, where Prince Joseph had retreated too earlier. The Austrian army remained besieged in Liesing for the remainder of the wars first phase as peace negotiations took place in Austria, Empress Maria Theresa agreeing to surrender negotations after hearing news of the defeat at Samorin.

The Vienna Pact, signed and ratified on April 4th, 1757, put an end to the phase of the war. The treaty had a number of major effects on the war and changed the political landscape within Europe, especially in Germany. The contents of the treaty were as follows:

1. Austria would cede all control of Saxony too Prussia and the independent state of the Principality of Prague would be formed in Northern Bohemia under the control of Prussia.

2. Austria would pull out of the Continental Alliance and become allies with Prussia, being expected to pay a large sum of war reparations and commit troops to Fredrick at any time.

3. The Holy Roman Empire, the dominant political entity within Germany and an institution which had influenced German politics for five hundred years, would be dissolved, and it in place the League of Brandenburg would be formed under Prussian leadership.

Second Phase: 1758-1759
The dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire had reverberating effects throughout Europe and dramatically changed the political landscape within Germany and further advanced Fredrick's attempts to unite Germany into a single political entity.

The first meeting of the League of Brandenburg took place on July 17th in Berlin and was attended by some 213 delegates from the German states of Hanover, Westphalia, Bavaria, Saxony, and dozens of other German principalities and electorates. It was soon clear that the League would be a much closer-knit and tighter institution then the HRE, and Fredrick II announced that they would hold a series of votes to elect the Warden of Germany, who would take on a near dictatorial role within Germany, having the power to raise taxes, issue laws, declare war, and raise armies.

Unsurprisingly, Fredrick II was elected the Warden over his opponent Wilhelm I of Bavaria. Soon after his election Fredrick made clear his intention to create a single, unified German state: he called for the implementation of heavy taxes and a number of trade tariffs to help finance the planned formation of a German army under the guidelines of the Prussian military. The Electorate of Bavaria, under the hostile Wilhelm I, threatened to withdraw from the League, and when their ultimatums were met with silence they withdrew their delegates from Berlin and declared their independent sovereignty on December 25th. Eager to maintain the political unity of the League and dissuade further secession within the League, Fredrick II marched an army of 20,000 to the Bavarian border, and a threatened Wilhelm I appealed to the French, who were still at war with Prussia, for military aid. On February 9th, 1758, a French army under the command of Charles, the Prince of Soubise, entered Bavarian territory under the pretext of, 'protecting the independent sovereignty of the state of Bavaria.' While Fredrick had initially hoped to avoid war, the presence of a French army threatened the Leagues delicate political stability and his own army entered Bavaria in the spring.

Regensburg fell to the Prussians in late April and a standoff soon ensued, with the Franco-Bavarians entrenched on the Danube at Donau with the hopes of keeping the Prussians in Northern Bavaria as the French ranks swelled. However, Fredrick II got moving in June, and split his forces in the hopes of invoking an advance over the Danube from Charles of Soubise. The II Division under Prince Henry moved west, and after several weeks Charles took the bate and left his defensive positions, moving against the II Division which was encamped at Bayern. In the resulting Battle of Bayern, Charles failed to exploit his initial numerical advantage and was decisively defeated when Fredrick II arrived on the field with the bulk of the Prussian army which had forced marched from Regensburg. Following this catastrophic defeat, the French withdrew from Bavaria, and the outnumbered Bavarians surrendered on July 29th. In exchange for the retention of his throne, Wilhelm I was forced to publicly swear allegiance to Fredrick II and would region the League. While these events occurred in Bavaria, a French army under the command of the Duc de Lyon entered Germany, sacking Trier before retreating back into France when a larger Hanoverian army under the Duke of Cumberland approached.

With the Continental Alliance having nearly completely collapsed with Poland's inactivity, Fredrick II planned a final crushing blow to paralyze France. Gathering thousands of Prussian veterans and German recruits Saarbruken and established the Army of the Rhine, taking a further step at unifying Germany by creating a single military force under the command of the League. Troops gathered throughout the winter and by April it was the largest force Fredrick had ever gathered, consisting of some 210 guns, 90,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry.

Meanwhile, Louis XV scrambled too protect France itself and halt the downfall many predicted. Moving a large French army under Duc de Lyon too a strong position at Metz, Louis XV called together the Estates-General for the first time in over a hundred years too stop the imminent financial collapse. Implementing heavy taxes on the peasentry, Louis XV, at least for a time, managed to keep the economy on its feet.

Avoiding any more delay, the Army of the Rhine entered France on May 6th. After sweeping the border Fredrick II split his forces, sending the capable Fredrich von Seydlitz with 40,000 men south to Nancy and advancing with the remainder of his army north to the formidable fortress of Metz. Seeing the large Prussian force march against him, Louis de Contandes, who commanded the border garrisons, burned the town and retreated to Metz, only to be trapped their the day after his arrival by Fredrick II. De Contandes, with about 11,000 men, surrendered the town and its defenses to the Germans on May 24th.

With the loss of the border fortresses, Duc de Lyon moved north to disrupt further German penetration into France, bringing his army too Chalons and having his men build a series of strong earthworks and embankments. Although Fredrick could have easily bypassed de Lyon's position and marched to Paris near unoppossed, he was seeking a decisive battle and marched against de Lyon's position. In the two-day Battle of Chalons, the bloodiest battle of the war, de Lyon managed to beat off the German attacks before retreating, his army basically intact. Although Fredrick had broken the French, he had substained such casualties in the battle that he called off any further advance into France. After establishing German garrisons in Metz, Fredrick II returned too Germany, abandoning the invasion of France.

Third Phase: 1759-1763
The French strategic success at Chalons not only halted the German invasion of France and rescued Louis XV but also brought an end to the aura of invincibility Fredrick II had managed to gain. When news of the German withdrawal reached Warsaw on July 1st, King William of Poland ordered the immediate formation of an army too sweep East Prussia, which was defended by only a small force of Prussian levies. Although Poland had remained inactive for the entirety of the war, they predicted a collapse in Fredrick's authority and a chance to regain ancient Polish territory lost after years of erosion. Under the command of Count Mikal Van Pac, about 15,000 Polish-Lithuanian troops entered Prussian territory, and, sweeping away the scattered Prussian forces along the border, advanced swiftly towards Konigbserg. After a short siege, the city and its garrison surrendered on March 31st. However, King William had not expected the swift German response, and Fredrick II quickly gathered a force of 20,000 Prussians and began a series of forced marches to East Prussia, leaving the bulk of his army on the Rhine to contest any French expansion. Moving the Korps de Hussar under Hans Joachim von Zieten around Van Pac's southern flank, Fredrick was able to disrupt communications between Warsaw and Van Pac and threaten his lines of supply. Outmanuevered, Van Pac reentered Poland on July 14th, having abandoned East Prussia. Although Fredrick the Great had now amassed a formidable force at Konigbserg, he had been exhuasted by two years of relentless campaigning and halted the advance, allowing his equally tired men some rest as he prepared to resume the offensive in the spring.

Russia under Empress Elizabeth had watched the growing conflict with interest since 1756, and while she was oppossed to a unified Germany Elizabeth saw the unification as inevitable and, when it did happen, it would be best to remain on good terms with the Germans. Despite this initial hope too remain neutral, the threat presented to Russia's vital European ally of Poland by Fredrick II was unnerving, and under direct orders from Elizabeth, a force of some 9,000 Russian troops entered Poland in the winter of 1759 and reinforced Van Pac, who was encamped on the Prussian border at Elblag.

Although the Polish were now under intense pressure from Fredrick II, by the beginning of 1760 the situation had improved dramatically for the Alliance. In the year-long lull in the fighting France had rebuilt its forces and now had several armies posted along the Rhine, and secret negotiations were taking place between delegates of Louis XV's court and repersentatives of Empress Theresa with the hopes of Austrias re-entrance into the Alliance. However, their was also political activity within the Prussian ranks as well, and, fearing a renewed Allied offensive against him on multiple fronts, Fredrick II appealed to the British Parliament for troops and funds. While there was already several thousand British troops within the Army of Hanover, George II had taken more of an advisory role and the Whigs own anti-war stance dissuaded any major intervention. But George II died on January 11th and was succeeded by his fiercly pro-war son George III, and the potential collapse of his German allies and the fall of his ancestral homeland in Hanover coupled with the possibility of reestablishment of French influence on the Rhine convinced George III too intervene in the war more dramatically. After several weeks of lobbying by the reestablished Tory party and a highly-contested vote in the House of Commons, it was decided to land an army of 30,000 British troops under Prince Ferdinand of Hanover to Hanover to help contest any French advance across the Rhine.

By early spring Fredrick II had resumed aggressive-activities along the Polish border and after extensive reconnaissance by Joachim Fredrick II crossed into Poland and advanced towards Van Pac's position at Elblag. Despite being outnumbered, Fredrick launched an audacious attack and destroyed Van Pac. With the destruction of the main Polish force Fredrick marched unopposed to Warsaw, which was stormed and sacked on June 19th by the Germans in one of the most controversial moments of the war. King Williams complete capitulation soon followed and German troops permanently occupied Warsaw for the remainder of the war.

Simultaneous with Fredrick's offensive against Poland, a large French army under Duc de Lyon besieged Metz on June 1st, taking the fortress and, emulating Fredrick II's own innovative tactics, began a swift advance into Western Germany. The German forces under Prince Henry were forced into a retreat, and withdrew to the Rhine before encamping themselves at Bonn to block any French thrusts across the river. Despite repulsing an attempted French crossing of the Rhine on September 4th, a second French force crossed at an unprotected ford at Mitte, trapping Prince Henry at Bonn. After a short siege, Prince Henry surrendered 17,000 German troops and 32 guns in the worst German defeat in the war. However, the French were unable too hold on too their foothold by a counter-offensive led by Fredrick. By winter, both sides had settled on either bank of the Rhine in a tense standoff. This campaign would see the last major battle in which significant numbers of Germans fought.

While this occurred, a breakdown of negotiations between France and Austria caused a declaration of war, and a French army swept through the Austrian Netherlands in the early summer, pushing all the way too Brecht before being stopped by overstretched lines of communication.

The Army of Observation under Prince Ferdinand of Hanover, finally became active on April 16th, 1761, when George III ordered the immediate movement of the army into the Netherlands to stop the expected French invasion, a thrust which would secure French Rhine crossings and meet only minimal resistance from the Dutch. George III was correct in his prediction, and Duc de Lyon had already shifted his focus to Flanders front, where he hoped to achieve the decisive breakthrough he had been hoping for. By spring, De Lyon had gathered over 60,000 men in Antwerpt to prepare for the invasion of the Netherlands. In the Conference of Breda, German and French representatives attempted to reach a peaceful resolution, but Britain's absence and Louis XV's insistence on the dismemberment of the League of Brandenberg caused the negotiations too collapse, following which De Lyon began preparations for the invasion of the Netherlands.

These preparations were interrupted when, on August 8th, Prince Ferdinand entered Belgium with some 35,000 men. Due too a lack of preparations for the invasions, food supplies within the army were minimal and Ferdinand was forced too stay beside the coast too receive supplies from the Royal Navy squadron under Edward Russell which mirrored the armies movements. Although taking Knokke-Heist and Zeebrugge in quick succession, Ferdinand's offensive was stalled when he attempted to advance against the 8,000-man contingent of the French army encamped at Bruges and the advance was stalled by French irregular troops and summer rains which turned the roads into slush. Ferdinand was intercepted by De Lyon, who had brought the main French army, and defeated at Maldegem. The arrival of the French Channel fleet simultaneously forced Russell's retreat, and Ferdinand, with no stable line of supply, withdrew from Belgium, having achieved nothing.

However, this withdrawal was unauthorized by George III, and with winter fast approaching a second Anglo-Hanoverian venture into Belgium was planned. This time the invasion would be better organized, and on October 1st Ferdinand led the Army of Observation back into Flanders. Deeming the British threat to French control vanquished, De Lyon had split his force into three corps, and the I Corps under Joan Serurier was intercepted and destroyed in the Battle of Leuven. Following this success Ferdinand captured the key fortresses at Liege and Namur, and threatened to trap De Lyon in Flanders. Deeming his position in Belgium as untenable, De Lyon began a retreat from Flanders which was plagued by poor organization and insestent raiding from Belgian irregulars. By January, Mons and Tournai were the sole remaining French possessions within Belgium.

1762 saw little land fighting as the French made no attempts too contest the British consolidation of Belgium, and Fredrick II, his population and funds exhausted, remained immobile on the Rhine. With the Germans tired of war, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria finally reentered the war after a second series of negotiations with France. 30,000 Austrian troops under the Margrave of Badden-Badden entered Saxony in September, meeting little resistance from the Saxons. Hans Joachim, leading a, 'flying column,' of Prussian cavalry and light infantry, orchestrated a series of deceptive marches in Northern Saxony which persuaded the Magrave that a large German force was amassing to his rear, causing him to abandon the siege of Dresden and withdraw back too Austrian territory. By the time the Austrians had reorganized and prepared for another offensive the next spring, Joachim had gathered some 20,000 Germans.

While on land the war was relatively inactive, there was unexpected fighting on the seas. Edward Russell, eager to secure British naval dominance in the Channel, led a series of forays which destroyed the French Channel Fleet at St.Anne and Dieppe. With the French fleets scattered or blockaded, a heavy British blockade began of the French coast, and Russell led the blockade of Brest which was disrupted in November by the arrival of a large Franco-Spanish fleet under Alano de Castenatna. In the resulting Battle of Brest, Russell decisively defeated the Allied fleet and secured British naval dominance for the remainder of the war. It would be the last naval action of the war, and in April, 1763, a peace conference including all belligerents of the war took place at Luxembourg.

Aftermath
The Peace of Luxembourg was signed between May 19th and June 6th in Luxembourg, and resulted in the complete end of the war. The treaty had a number of articles:

I. Complete international recognition and acceptance of the League of Brandenberg, specifically by France and Austria, and the strengthening of economic and political ties within Germany for the eventual unification into the greater-state of Germany

II. The formal dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and a gradual end too all Austrian political influence within Germany through the prohibition of the succession of Austrian nobles too German seats of power.

III. A return too pre-war boundaries for France, Prussia, Austria, and Poland. Alsace-Lorraine would be accepted as a French province as long as all French troops withdrew from the Rhine, and the Duchy of Warsaw established by Fredrick in 1760 would be terminated and returned too Poland-Lithuania.

