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SEVEN WON DE US 



SEVEN YE AILS' WAR 



ruin ;' 1'ii ta. 11- of Mitylene 'Know thine oppor- 

 tunity ;' Bias of Priene in Caria-'Too many 

 workers spoil the work ;' Chilon of Spurt u 'Know 

 thyself ; ' Cleobulns, tyrant of Lindus in Rhodes 

 'Moderation is the chief good;' and I'eriander, 

 tyrant of Corinth ' Forethought in all things.' 



Seven Wonders of the World were in 

 ancient times reckoned to be the Pyramids of 

 Egypt, the Hanging (i.e. terraced) Gardens of 

 Semiramis at Babylon, the Temple of Diana at 

 Eidiesus, tin- Slut ue of Jupiter at Athens by 

 Phidias, the Mausoleum, the Colossus at Khodes, 

 and the Pharos of Alexandria. This cycle of 

 seven wonders originated among the Greeks after 

 the time of Alexander the Great, and they were 

 described in a special work by Philo of Byzan- 

 tium, which has been edited by Orelli (1816). 



Seven Years' War, THE, was the third, and 

 by far the longest (1756-63) and most terrible, of 

 the contests for the possession of Silesia (a. v. ). 

 During the two former wars the Empress Maria 

 Theresa had been too much engrossed in maintain- 

 ing her claims to the Austrian dominions to offer 

 any very effective resistance to the aggression of 

 Frederick the Great of Prussia ; but after emerging 

 triumphantly from that contest she began to con- 

 cert measures for the recovery of her lost province. 

 Frederick, however, with his usual astuteness, 

 foresaw her purpose and resolved to antici|>ate her. 

 Accordingly in August 1756 he made a sudden 

 advance upon Dresden with 60,000 men ; and, when 

 the elector refused either to side with him or to 

 promise strict neutrality in the coming struggle, he 

 shut up the Saxon army (17,000 strong) between 

 Pirna and Kh'nigstein. An Austrian army, com- 

 manded by Marshal Browne, advanced to relieve 

 the Saxons, bat was met by Frederick at Lobositz 

 (October 1), and driven back into Bohemia. The 

 Saxons then surrendered (October 14), and were 

 mostly incorporated with the Prussian army, whilst 

 their country was treated by Frederick, in the 

 absence of the elector, who fled to Poland, as a 

 conquered province. This action on the part of 

 Frederick thoroughly roused his enemies, and mode 

 tin-in rapidly perfect their alliances; so that, when 

 the second campaign began in the following year, 

 the Prussian king was opposed by 100,000 Russians, 

 more than that number of French troops, and by 

 armies raised by Sweden and the empire. His own 

 armies, including 40,000 Hanoverians, English, ami 

 Hessians, numliered less than 200,000. In April 

 Frederick, leaving a corps of 24,000 under Schwaldt 

 to oppose the Swedes and Russians, invaded 

 Bohemia and managed to shut up the Austrian 

 army under Duke Charles of Lorraine in Prague ; 

 but Marshal Dunn headed another army for the 

 Duke's release, and inflicted a crushing defeat 

 upon Frederick at Kolin (June 18). Meanwhile a 

 large Frenrh army under Marshal d'K-trees ad- 

 vanced into Hanover, defeated the incapable Duke 

 of Cumberland at Hastenbeck (July 26), and 

 intimidated him into disbanding, by the Conven- 

 tion of ( 'loster -Seven, the whole of his army 

 excepting the- Hanoverians. Another French 

 army under Sonbise effected a junction with the 

 Iiiipi-riali.HtN under the Prince of Hildhiirghausen 

 in (lie direction of Saxony: but Frederick turned 

 and smote them at Rossbach, and after half an 

 hour's fighting nut them completely to rout. This 

 ilivi-r-inii left tin- victorious Austrians unopposed, 

 and they soon made themselves masters of Silesia 

 and Breslau. Frederick, however, taught them 

 what stuff he was made of by defeating an 

 Austrian army three times as numerous as his 

 own at Leu then (December 5), and thereby re- 

 covered Silesia. These victories induced the 

 to vacate the province of East Prussia, 



which they had seized after defeating Lehwaldt at 

 Grossjiigersdorf (August 30). The English govern- 

 ment, rejecting Cumlierland's engagements of 

 ( looter-Seven, raised another army for 1758 and 

 put il under the leadership of Duke Ferdinand of 

 liiunswick, who effectually held his own against 

 the French, and even drove them out of West- 

 idialia and beyond the Rhine, defeating them at 

 href eld (June 23) and Minden near Frankfort 



i (August 1, 17~>9). The king of Prussia had in 

 tin- spring of 1758 pushed into itohernia, but could 

 make no headway before he was called back north- 

 wards to meet the Russians, who had invaded 

 Brandenburg. He defeated them in a desperate 

 battle at /orndorf (August -">). At this time 

 Frederick's brother, Prince Henry, was being hard 

 pri-sed in Saxony by Daun witn sujierior Forces, 

 and the king, the Russians lieing in rapid retreat 

 for Poland, sped back to his help. Daun, however, 



! contrived to take Frederick completely by surprise, 



j and gave him a terrible beating at Hochkircb 

 (October 14). Nevertheless, before the end of the 



j year the Prussians were again in possession of 

 Saxony. 



The fourth campaign (1739) in the east of 

 Prussia was altogether disastrous to tin- Prussians. 

 The king was not able to carry out his desire of 

 hindering the conjunction of his enemies, the 

 Russians and Austrians, first through the defeat 

 of his general Wedell near Zullichau (July 23), 

 and then through his own terrible losses against 

 the allied armies at Kunersdorf (August 12). 

 Three months later Daun compelled a Prussian 

 force under General von Finck to capitulate at 

 Maxen in the south of Saxony, and thereafter 

 established himself in that country. With greatly 

 diminished strength, an exhausted treasury, a 

 desolated territory incapable of affording either 

 men or supplies, and gloomy forebodings of the 

 final issue, though with unfaltering resolution never 

 to yield, Frederick prepared for the fifth campaign 

 (1760). His armv in Prussia, now reduced to 

 90,000 men, mostly foreigners and raw recruit*, 

 was still further diminished by the capture of 

 Fouque with 8000 men in Silesia,' followed by Mar- 

 shal London's conquest of that province, though 

 bv the brilliant victory of Liegnitz (August 15) 

 Frederick successfully prevented the Austrians and 

 Russians from uniting their forces. In sj>ite of 

 this his strength was now becoming ominously 

 insulKcient for the task he had set Tiimself ; the 

 Russians and Austrians captured and plundered 

 Berlin (October 1), the Swedes came down from 

 the north, and London closed in upon the king 

 from Silesia. But he fell with incredible fury 111.011 

 Daun at Torgau in Silesia (November 3), slew 

 12,000 of his men and took 8000 more prisoners, 

 and by t he retreat of the Anstrians was once more 

 left in possession of Saxony. In the following 

 year (1761) the French were again worsted by 

 Duke Ferdinand at Villinghausen (July 15). In 

 Silesia Frederick as usual attempted, Imt in vain, 

 to prevent the Austriiins from joining the Russians, 

 anil only found relief when scarcity of provisions 

 compelled the Russians to retreat to Poland. 

 London, however, captured Seliweiduitz, whilst 

 farther north the Russians and Swedes drove the 

 1'iiissians out of Pomerania. To add to Frederick's 

 dilliculties, all subsidies from Britain were stopped 

 by the Earl of Bute after George II. 's death, and 

 Prussia was utterly at the end of her resources of 

 all kinds. 



But suddenly the death of the czarina Elizabeth 

 (Jannarv 5, 1762) freed him from one of the most 

 powerful of his enemies. At the same time tin 

 new czar ( Peter III. ) induced Sweden to retire from 

 the war. Thereujton Frederick took up the contest 

 with renewed vigour ; on July 21 he stormed the 



