It was a cold and misty morning on April 10, 1741.
The 28-year-old Prussian King Frederick II looked at the small town of Mollwitz in the
province of Silesia.
Together with his near-22.000 strong army, he managed to use the cover of darkness and
fog to creep up on the Habsburg forces quartering nearby.
Judging by the campfires and the lack of movement, they had no idea a larger force was moving
in on them.
Frederick ordered his soldiers to take up positions and take their battle lines.
His right-hand man, the experienced Prussian general Kurt von Schwerin, warned Frederick.
If he deployed his army in a battle line, the element of surprise would be long gone.
Frederick does not heed his warning, despite repeated pleas from his officers.
Many years later, when reflecting on this battle, Frederick conceded he should have
listened to them.
It would be a costly mistake.
But alas, the Battle of Mollwitz, Frederick the Great's baptism of fire, was about to
commence.
[Geopolitical Background]
Ever since the treaty of Westphalia concluded the Thirty Years' War in 1648, the Holy Roman
Empire had been a shadow of its former self.
It was a patchwork of states, dominions and duchies with German princes attempting to
seize as much power as possible.
Over the years, the two ancient European powers, Austria and France, were joined by Britain
and Russia, with Poland, Spain, and the Ottoman Empire in decline.
Holland and Sweden were unable to maintain themselves among the European giants.
In October 1740, the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI died without a male heir.
Before his death, he had issued the pragmatic sanction.
This meant that the Habsburg hereditary territories were allowed to pass to a woman, his daughter,
Maria Theresa.
Yet internal strife in Austria led to a weak and divided Empire.
Austria had just participated in the War of the Polish Succession and concluded a poor
peace with the Ottomans.
But it wasn't just the Austrian Habsburgs who were in an unstable position.
In Russia, Tsarina Anna had passed away, and factions at court fought over control as her
infant son, Ivan VI, succeeded her.
The British were preoccupied with a war against Spain, and France was eager to weaken its
archrival, the Habsburgs.
As soon as Maria Theresa ascended to the throne, several European monarchs broke their promise
of recognising her.
Meanwhile, within that turbulent European theatre, one young King did not plan on playing
by the rules.
In May 1740, King of Prussia Frederick William I passed away.
Known as the Soldier King, he spent his entire reign expanding his army, dedicating the crown's
revenue to drilling and improving his force.
When he died, his 27-year-old son Frederick II succeeded him.
He inherited a well-disciplined, modern and relatively massive army, including a comfortably
stocked war chest.
Their healthy finances contrasted Prussia with the less-than-ideal finances of the electorates
of Bavaria and Saxony.
Their subsequent rulers spent heavily on palaces, ceremonies, and securing titles.
Saxony's elector Augustus III doubled as Poland's King and Lithuania's Grand Duke.
Meanwhile, despite the electorate's troubled finances, Bavaria's elector Charles Albert
contested Maria Theresa's husband, Francis of Lorraine's claim as the Holy Roman Emperor.
Being an elector and thus being able to cast an imperial vote, Frederick figured he shouldn't
trade his vote for free.
To make sure he played both sides, he assured Bavaria's elector that he supported his claim
to the throne, albeit covertly, so he could bargain with Maria Theresa if she turned out
to have the upper hand.
As such, the young King seeking to prove himself found himself in an incredibly favourable
position.
The geopolitical balance in Europe was quite uncertain, with all major powers preoccupied
with other problems.
So when Frederick learned of Bavaria lodging claims to the Habsburg inheritance and the
Saxons following suit, he knew he had to act fast if he wanted to enter history books.
And if we believe Frederick's writings, his motive indeed was that simple.
In his own words: 'The satisfaction of having my name in the journals and later in history
seduced me.'
A logical target would be Silesia, yielding the most tax from Habsburg lands.
Moreover, it was one of the most industrialised areas at the time.
Using the infrastructure his father left him, he mobilised his army much faster than any
other European state could.
In late October, Frederick learned of the Emperor's death, and by December 16, his armies
crossed the Silesian border.
It was an unprovoked and unexpected attack of a minor player against the leading dynasty
of the Holy Roman Empire and great power.
There were barely any Habsburg troops stationed there, 4000 at best.
By January 17, the entire province was his, except for a few fortresses, among them Brieg
and Neisse.
All the while, Frederick engaged in active and energetic diplomacy with his ministers
at home, European courts and even Vienna.
Upon hearing of Frederick's callous invasion, the entire Habsburg court responded with shock,
horror, and anger.
Maria Theresa sent an army numbering approximately 20.000 under Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg
to retake Silesia via Moravia.
There was nothing but contempt for Frederick's obscene actions.
Neipperg caught the inexperienced Frederick sleeping.
Rapidly advancing via the west, he relieved the besieged fortress of Neisse, marching
onto Breslau.
Neipperg's positioning cut Frederick off from his Kingdom, headquarters and supply lines.
Frederick now had to hurry back to prevent Neipperg from cementing his position.
A race between both armies emerged, trying to reach the other first.
[Battle formations]
Frederick received valuable intelligence, however.
Several captured Austrian soldiers revealed Neipperg's positions nearby the village of
Mollwitz.
Thanks to the fog and slight drizzle, Fredericks' army could close in on Neipperg's camp without
them noticing.
What followed was one of the most evident signs of Frederick's inexperience.
Instead of using the element of surprise, he took his merry time deploying his army
in a battle line doing everything by the book.
Additionally, he miscalculated the distance of the river close by, deploying several units
behind a bend and others at a 90-degree angle from his main battle line.
While all this was going on, Neipperg caught on.
His soldiers were cooking food and mainly facing the wrong direction.
They were spread over the villages of Mollwitz and Grunningen.
Panicked, he deployed his entire army.
Thanks to having their guard down, this took over an hour.
And thanks to Frederick taking his time, he allowed his enemy to position themselves in
a proper battle line.
Regarding army composition, the Prussians enjoyed multiple advantages.
The Austrians commanded some 19000 troops, whereas the Prussians fielded 21600 men.
Furthermore, they utilised an iron ramrod, a novel way to increase the firing frequency
of their flintlock muskets.
As a result, the Prussian infantry fired up to three times more rapid than the Austrians.
In addition, Frederick's late father drilled the Prussians, making them renowned for their
discipline.
In contrast, many of the Austrians were recently levied recruits.
Frederick's infantry and artillery outnumbered the Austrians.
However, the Austrian cavalry outnumbered the Prussians two to one.
The Austrians positioned their army in one long line, with cavalry on its flanks.
Meanwhile, Frederick himself manned the right flank of his army, consisting of a mixed cavalry-infantry
contingent.
The two centre lines consisted of the Prussian infantry.
On the left stood heavily outnumbered Prussian cavalry.
[Battle sequence]
Around 2 PM, Frederick ordered his artillery to open fire and his two centre lines to advance
onto the enemy positions.
This was Frederick's first serious experience of battle.
Several shells impacted the Austrian left flank, where up to 5000 cavalries were stationed.
Understanding they were under fire, they took the initiative, and without waiting for orders,
they decided to launch a charge against the Prussian cavalry.
The latter didn't attempt to counter the charge, despite a numerically superior Austrian force
now charging them head-on.
When both parties collided, the damage inflicted on the Prussians was significant.
It didn't matter Frederick was among them - many of the Prussians devolved into a rout.
Eyewitness accounts describe Frederick to behave with incredible courage - more than
once risking his life with near-indifference.
With the Prussian cavalry crumbling and fleeing, the right flank of the centre infantry lines
was now exposed.
Part of the Austrian cavalry charged into them.
The situation appeared rather grim, if not hopeless, for the Prussians.
The battle had only just begun, and they lost control of the battlefield entirely.
General Kurt Christoph, Graf von Schwerin, urged Frederick to leave.
The King, appreciating his less than favourable situation, heeded this warning.
He fled to the east with his cavalry unit, nearly being caught in the process.
With Frederick gone, Schwerin, a veteran general, took over command.
No matter his experience, Schwerin had a rather daunting task cut out for him.
By now, the Prussian cavalry was entirely scattered, and the Austrian cavalry was making
serious inroads against the Prussian infantry, launching constant charges against them.
There were no rare instances of friendly fire from the second against the first line.
But the Prussian infantry held firm.
They continued firing volleys against and engaging in close combat with the Austrian
cavalry.
They killed their commander and caused significant casualties.
When Austrian infantry regiments tried to join the fight and relieve pressure from the
cavalry, they suffered the brunt of the Prussian lines firing volleys at an incredible pace.
After a while, the Prussian infantry finally managed to fend off the Austrian cavalry.
Subsequently, Schwerin ordered the surviving infantrymen to loot the ammunition from the
slain soldiers.
He concentrated the majority of the Prussian infantry on his right flank.
Then, he ordered the right flank forward.
The left flank received the same order shortly after that.
The Prussian bulwark advanced, stopping in between the marching only to fire at the enemy.
They swiftly repelled a hesitant charge by the Austrian right flank cavalry.
An Austrian survivor recounted the moment: "The enemy army now advanced from all sides.
They enjoyed a numerical superiority of up to 3,000 men.
They overlapped us on both flanks.
I can safely say that never in my life did I see anything finer.
They marched forward with the greatest steadiness, with their lines as straight as a die, as
if they were on the parade ground.
Their polished weapons glinting in the sunlight made a stunning impression, and their volleys
were like a constant roll of thunder.
Our army became completely demoralised; our infantry could no longer be kept together
in their ranks, and our cavalry no longer had anywish to form up against the enemy.'
The Prussian right flank was the first to reach the Austrians.
Besides firing, the frontlines engaged in heavy close-combat.
Brutal fighting spread along the entire Austrian line.
This went on for a time.
The Prussian left joined in soon after.
The Austrian left was the first to break.
As they saw their fellow soldiers flee the battlefield, the other soldiers too broke
rank and abandoned the battlefield.
Neipperg understood they were losing momentum.
It would be challenging, if not impossible, to emerge from this situation victoriously.
In the late afternoon, Neipperg ordered the official retreat.
Lacking cavalry and because night set in, the Prussians decided not to pursue the Austrians.
Instead, Schwerin sent a messenger to Frederick to notify him of the victory.
[Aftermath]
The Austrians retreated to Neisse.
The Prussians laid siege to Brieg and captured it on May 4.
Frederick made several mistakes during the battle, which he agreed to in a self-critical
battle account.
Despite this, letters he sent to his ministers and close relatives in the direct aftermath
omit Schwerin's role in the battle entirely.
His leaving the battlefield could have multiple reasons.
The most straightforward conclusion to draw was that Frederick fled, although many primary
sources and subsequent historical analysis agree Frederick showed great courage during
the battle itself.
He likely left upon repeated pleas by General Schwerin.
But in any event, the new Prussian King managed to challenge one of Europe's greatest dynasties
and emerge victoriously.
In that regard, the victory of Mollwitz ensured Frederick's name travelled to all European
courts.
Despite not being in command himself and the triumph largely having been achieved thanks
to the discipline of his forces instilled by his father, it was a victory nonetheless.
And the young King made sure he learned of his mistakes.
He set up a gruelling training regimen for his cavalry to never again be unprepared.
He rose before dawn and drilled throughout the day.
Naturally, he expected his officers and soldiers to do the same.
Mollwitz would not be the final battle between the young King and the Habsburgs.
If anything, as Thomas Carlyle put it, Mollwitz was the loose pebble precipitating an avalanche.
The First Silesian War, and the War of the Austrian Succession, had only just broken
out.
Thank you for watching this video.