Siege of Prague

Siege of Prague Part of the Seven Years' War Date May–June 1757 Location Prague, Bohemia Result Prussian tactical victory; Austrian strategic victory, Prussians withdraw. Belligerents Prussia Austria Commanders and leaders Frederick the Great Strength 40,000

Seven Years' War: European theatre Bohemia and Moravia Pirna Lobositz Reichenberg Prague Siege of Prague Kolín Olomouc Domstadtl Prussian Bohemia Incursion Westphalia and Hesse Hastenbeck Rheinberg Krefeld Bergen Minden Emsdorf Warburg Kloster Kampen Langensalza 1st Cassel Grünberg Corbach Villinghausen Ölper Wilhelmsthal Nauheim 2nd Cassel Saxony 1st Lutterberg Hochkirch Hoyerswerda Maxen Meissen Dresden Torgau 2nd Lutterberg Rossbach Freiberg Brandenburg Zorndorf Kay Kunersdorf Silesia Landeshut Glatz Liegnitz Berlin Burkersdorf Moys Breslau Leuthen East Prussia Gross-Jägersdorf Pomeranian War Stralsund Tornow Fehrbellin Güstow Frisches Haff Pasewalk Kolberg Neuensund Neukalen Fantastic War Almeida Valencia de Alcántara Vila Velha de Ródão Marvão Naval Operations Port Mahon Minorca Rochefort Cartagena Bay of Biscay St Malo Cherbourg Saint Cast Britain Quiberon Bay Belle Île Cádiz Cape Finisterre

The Siege of Prague was an unsuccessful attempt by a Prussian army led by Frederick the Great to capture the Austrian city of Prague during the Seven Years' War. It took place in May 1757 immediately after the Battle of Prague. Despite having won that battle, Frederick had lost 14,300 dead, and his severely depleted force was not strong enough to assault Prague. Instead Frederick decided to besiege the city, hoping to force it into submission through lack of supplies. 40,000 Austrian troops were trapped in the city, though they were themselves not strong enough to consider launching a sortie.^[1] Frederick attempted to gain intelligence from within Prague by sending the criminal Christian Andreas Käsebier several times into the besieged city.

An Austrian army led by the Count von Daun made a sudden march to the north, threatening Frederick's lines of supply, and he was forced to break off the siege and march to attack them. Frederick was defeated at the Battle of Kolín and his force was now too weak to contemplate continuing the Siege of Prague, and he was forced to withdraw from Bohemia entirely.^[2] It marked a high-water mark for the Prussians, as they would never hold so advantageous a position again and most of the remainder of the war would be fought on their own territory. In spite of this the Prussians attempted another invasion of Austrian territory the following year which culminated in a failed attempt to take Olomouc.

References

Bibliography

• Anderson, Fred. Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754–1766. Faber and Faber, 2001
• Simms, Brendan. Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire. Penguin Books (2008)