On the evening of May 16, 1742, Frederick II, King of Prussia and his 10.000-strong army set up camp
somewhere in Bohemia. The men lit their campfires and began cooking, while Frederick talked strategy
with his officers. Then, a messenger suddenly entered the camp. His horse out of breath,
he handed Frederick a letter written by his general marching with the remainder of his army,
around one day’s march behind him. The day before Frederick passed a
minor Austrian encampment nearby the town of Chotusitz. Thinking nothing of it, he continued
his march. This letter, however, revealed the encampment they passed wasn’t minor. It housed
a 28.000-strong Habsburg army, chasing Frederick. His general urged him to turn around immediately,
as there was no doubt in his mind his army would face battle at the break of dawn.
[After Mollwitz]
After Frederick’s victory at Mollwitz, news travelled to all European courts.
The small, insignificant Prussia managed to take on one of the greatest European dynasties…
and win? In the direct aftermath, Mollwitz led to the chain of events
resulting in the War of the Austrian Succession. Blanning writes a period of diplomatic activity
followed. Every power participating in the subsequent war had different interests. In
short: the Habsburgs wanted to reclaim Silesia, Frederick wanted international
recognition for his conquest of Silesia, and especially not his fellow electorates of Saxony
and Bavaria to gain anything at his expense. The interests of other powers were a bit more complex.
Bavaria wanted its elector to become Holy Roman Emperor, and Saxony wanted
to take whatever territories it could get to link Poland-Lithuania with its electorate.
France wanted to prevent Maria Theresa’s husband from becoming Holy Roman Emperor.
Preferably while reducing the Habsburg Dominions to a second-rate power.
In May, Bavaria and Spain, with the support of France, signed the Treaty of Nymphenburg.
The treaty agreed to support the Bavarian elector’s candidacy as Holy Roman Emperor.
Later, Savoy-Piedmont and Saxony joined the alliance. Finally, Prussia joined on June 4,
with France agreeing to send two French army corps to aid him and invade Bohemia.
Still, Frederick wanted Silesia but knew he would not benefit if Maria Theresa’s lands
were properly dismembered. As such, he joined the alliance with a significant dose of suspicion.
Despite his allies preparing for war, Frederick enjoyed a relatively quiet summer welcoming
reinforcements and, at best, enduring some cavalry skirmishes against Hungarian Hussars. Then,
in August, the French army corps arrived. Contrary to Frederick’s expectations, namely, marching them
to Vienna, a combined French-Saxon-Bavarian army focussed on conquering Bohemia to secure
the electoral vote for Charles of Bavaria. Frederick’s allies didn’t know that Frederick
concluded a secret truce with General Neipperg on October 9. The Habsburgs were in a desperate
situation, losing ground every day. Frederick did not want to lose face towards his allies.
As such, both parties concluded a verbal truce which ‘stopped Prussia from making war, without
appearing to have stopped making war.’ Within a few months, Frederick had already betrayed his
alliance. And it would not be the last time. In November, a combined French-Bavarian-Saxon
army captured Prague. One month later, Charles was crowned King of Bohemia.
Then, securing this electoral vote, he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in January 1742.
Prussia had been relatively dormant during these developments. Realising his allies
were taking control of the situation, Frederick decided breaking the truce would be worth it to
cement his position. In December, he invaded Bohemia and captured Troppau and Olmutz.
He betrayed Maria Theresa a second time. He rationalised it by stating the Austrians broke
the truce by leaking its existence to certain parties. Though things went well for Frederick,
his allies faced a tougher challenge. In January, a fresh army, levied in large
part from Hungary and Croatia, under Field Marshal Count Ludwig Andreas Khevenhuller
was determined to drive out their enemies. From Vienna, he marched to Linz, where he defeated
the French General Segur. They continued their march west, capturing Munich. Banning writes,
in a twist of irony, the Bavarian Elector was crowned Emperor on that day in Frankfurt am
Main. The ‘First among European sovereigns’ had no state, no army and no resources.
In the background, Frederick continued securing his hold on Silesia by defeating some defiant
Austrian garrisons before marching into Moravia together with a 20.000-strong Saxon army. However,
when they reached Brno, the Saxons refused to go any further. Their refusal was one of the many
reasons Frederick referred to when publicly badmouthing his allies on many occassions.
It would not bode well for the future. The constant harassment of supply- and
communication lines by Hungarian hussars and local irregulars led Frederick to try
and squeeze the province as dry as he could before setting up his headquarters at Chrudim.
Facing hard times, Frederick reached out to Maria Theresa to see if she would be willing
to accept another pact of neutrality. Considering his earlier violations and his callous invasion to
begin with, she would not be fooled a third time. Sources conflict whether Maria Theresa sent an
army to recapture Prague or root out Frederick specifically. At any rate, in April, Austrian
troops stationed in Bohemia received orders to link up with an army advancing through Moravia.
Fielding an approximately 28.000-strong army, under the commander Charles of Lorraine,
they marched in Frederick’s direction. Correspondence reveals Frederick was in the
dark for the majority of the operation. It wasn’t until May 10 he realised a powerful Austrian army
marched in his direction. So he decided to split his army into two, taking them north.
Frederick took 10.000 soldiers, while one day behind them followed 18.000
more under Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau, son of Frederick’s mentor ‘the Old Dessauer.’
Frederick and Dessau figured they travelled far in advance of the Austrians. Then, on May 15,
Frederick passed an Austrian encampment near the village of Chotusitz. He didn’t think much of it.
One day later, near Chotusitz, Dessau’s rearguard engaged in a minor skirmish with Austrian cavalry.
The experienced commander understood it wasn’t just a random encampment or skirmish.
It was, in fact, Charles’ entire army. Respecting the danger he was in,
Dessau ordered his men on a gruelling march towards Frederick to bridge the gap. He sent out
several horseriders with the urgent message for Frederick to turn around and march towards him.
That night, at 2 AM, his exhausted army occupied Chotusitz, a small Bohemian
village. Riders returned with Frederick’s reply: Dessau was not to engage under any circumstances.
Dessau commanded up to 18.000 Prussian infantry. He deployed his men to the south of Chotusitz.
He positioned his cavalry on both flanks, with his left flank commanded by Lieutenant-General
von Waldow. In front of the Cirkwitz pond, on his far-right stood 70-year-old Lieutenant-general von
Buddenbrock. The cavalry consisted of heavy cuirassiers, Dragoons, and light hussars.
The positioning was done on purpose so that once Frederick arrived, he would find room to deploy
his infantry. The infantry was comprised of both grenadiers and light infantry.
Charles wanted to mount a charge before Frederick could deploy his army. Before dawn,
he already deployed his infantry in two long lines in the centre,
flanked by two sizeable cavalry contingents. The Austrian infantry wore the characteristic white
coats with lapels, a tricorne hat equipped with muskets, bayonets and small swords. The Austrian
cavalry consisted of Hungarian hussars and traditional heavy Austrian cavalry.
The left was commanded by General Karl Bathyany, and the right by Wenzel, Prince
of Liechtenstein. Before 7 AM, Charles ordered his infantry lines to begin their march forward.
Frederick and his 10.000 soldiers arrived around 7 AM. A large body of Austrian soldiers advancing in
the distance welcomed him. The Austrian artillery fired away at the Prussian positions. But the
Austrians had no idea the King arrived - a large mound between Chotusitz and the Cirkwitz pond
blocked the view. Still, Frederick felt he would not be able to properly deploy his army in time.
As such, he ordered the artillery to fire at the Austrian positions.
As the artillery fired, Buddenbrock received orders to charge against the Austrians and hamper
their advance. The Prussian right charged straight towards the Austrian left flank. Batthyany ordered
his cavalry to launch a counter-charge. Both bodies of cavalry heavily damaged each other
upon impact. An aggressive and cluttered melee ensued. According to some eyewitness accounts,
the rising dust blinded the rearguard of the cavalry. The Prussian cavalry, inferior to
the Austrians, endured the brunt of the damage. All the while, Frederick frantically deployed
his army in the background. He learned from Mollwitz that his incredibly disciplined
infantry could once again make the difference in the face of adversity.
Soon after, Wenzel’s cavalry launched a charge against Waldow. Fighting took
place on both the eastern and western sides of the battlefield. Among this chaos, Charles
infantry marched forward towards Chotusitz. Under Dessau, the Prussian infantry launched
a counter-charge as Frederick’s infantry was still not ready for combat. Heavily outnumbered,
ferocious fighting broke out. Dessau’s troops were slowly pushed back into Chotusitz.
When the Austrians reached the outer row of wooden houses, they lit them on fire.
The smoke made commanding the armies incredibly challenging. As fighting ensued on every front,
part of Waldow’s cavalry broke from the melee and charged into the Austrian right flank. Infantry
fired volleys at each other as the cavalry battled it out. Finally, Batthyany and Buddenbrock’s
cavalry drifted off to the Austrian left, leaving that infantry flank entirely exposed.
It wasn’t until 10:30 AM that Frederick finished deploying his infantry in a square.
Sources conflict, but it numbered between 14 and 24 battalions. He managed to do so without
the Austrians realising a large infantry body hid behind the mound. Upon Frederick’s command,
the infantry square marched forward towards the Austrian left. Flanking them entirely,
they rapidly fired their volleys against the bewildered infantry. Before long, part of the
Austrian infantry began showing cracks. With an unguarded flank and facing fierce
resistance from the infantry within Chotusitz, Charles decided the conditions weren’t in his
favour. By the end of the morning, he ordered the general retreat. The Austrians managed to
take most of their equipment with them, aside from a few heavy artillery pieces.
Several officers reportedly urged Frederick to order a pursuit.
However, he refused, considering his cavalry was still in disarray from the fighting and
Wenzel’s cavalry guarded the Austrian rear. In total, Prussia suffered 4800 casualties
whereas Austria suffered 6400, of whom most were prisoners. Because Charles was allowed an orderly
retreat, the battle of Chotusitz did not prove to be a decisive victory for Prussia. Although
not militarily. Because international developments would soon radically play in Frederick’s favour.
Despite not being a decisive victor, Austria’s retreat certainly allowed Frederick to boast of
his victory. Letters to friends reveal he exaggerated the numbers - stating
the Prussians lost 1200 at best, whereas the Austrians lost up to seven times as many men.
Charles managed to coordinate a stable retreat. Whereas he was able to take up
arms against Frederick again, in Vienna, worry got the best of Maria Theresa and her advisors.
Not to mention the empty treasury. If the Habsburgs wanted to defeat France,
they could not have that pesky Frederick taking up resources. As such, they finally caved to another
round of diplomatic talks with Frederick. The British presided over the peace talks,
agreeing to pay a significant sum for Maria Theresa to cede Silesia.
The British had no interest in the balance of power on the European mainland being disturbed.
On June 11, both parties signed the preliminary peace at Breslau. The final treaty was signed
on July 28 in Berlin. The Austrians were only willing to cede Silesia if Frederick became
its ‘sovereign Duke.’ The King reportedly replied, ‘I don’t give a fuck about titles,
so long as I get the territory.’ He now left his former allies, the French, Bavarians and Saxons,
to fight against the Habsburgs without him. His sudden withdrawal from the war was again
a massive blow to his former allies. It was the second time he betrayed them.
Despite the peace treaty, neither side expected the peace to last indefinitely. Maria Theresa
knew that she would have her revenge once she beat the French. Frederick understood this,
and as soon as the peace was signed, he began restocking his depleted treasury and rebuilding
his army. All the while, he strengthened his new fortresses in Silesia against a possible invasion.
Thank you for watching this video.