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1762

Britain

The war was continuing to be an increasingly costly affair, both France and Britain tested the diplomatic waters for coming to a peace, but neither side was ready to make a serious attempt at it. Both though they were doing well enough that they were doing well enough that with just a bit more effort they could achieve their goals and gain a decisive advantage.

For Britain though, pursuing this extra push would cost ever more money and their army was stretching thin in order to support troops in the west Germanies, Portugal, India, North America and the Caribbean. Parliament authorized sending 500 British troops to reinforce Brunswick while Hanover itself raised another 4000 to prepare for the spring campaigns, and attempt to push the French back across the Rhine. Subsidies and officers were sent to Portugal to help them raise 3500 Portuguese troops to keep the Franco-Spanish armies at bay in the peninsula.

The 1762 amendment to the Militia act of 1757 expanded the size of the English and Welsh militia in the British Isles and now included Scotland in a very limited capacity. Scottish limitations were because of lingering concerns over the recent Jacobite uprisings there in 1745.

The Colonial Militia Service Act of 1762 was passed at the same time, and required the colonies in North America to provide quotas of enlisted troops for support in the Caribbean campaigns. Yet despite this there were very few allowances for Colonial officers, and many British officers viewed the colonial enlisted with contempt.

With no say in this act, and because this also pulled defenders away from protecting their homes against attacks by Native American, the colonial committees in years to come would cite the Service Act of 1762 as among the first of several intolerable acts passed by parliament.

Parliament also, after some debated decided to formally declare war on Morocco on January 3rd, 1762, at the behest of their ally Portugal who had done so the prior November. However any campaign against Morocco was described as a distraction at best and a waste of resources at worst and Britain would continue its policy of occasionally ransoming prisoners back for the moment. It was also decided that it was not needed to declare against Naples and Sicily since they had not done so, nor to the other Barbary States.

William Pitt, had been at the peak of his power in parliament after the fall of New France and the recent successes in the West Indies. Continued Caribbean campaigns as well as plans to hit France closer to home were prepared. However, King George II was becoming increasingly ill, and Prince George III was becoming jealous of his popularity as his began to surround himself with his own advisors.

Parliament’s view on Prussia though was precariously balanced. Had the devil’s luck not been with Prussia the prior year, they may have told Fredrick to seek peace and withheld subsidies. Now, again Parliament would narrowly approve a half years worth of subsides to Prussia to continue the war in the hopes that with Sweden removed and Russia possibly withdrawn Fredrick could force Austria into a peace.

Along with subsidies to Prussia and Portugal and money to raise forces in Hanover and the colonies, Britain had need to spend more on bolstering their navy, after the various defeats and victories whittled down their numbers. In truth they assessed that the combined French, Spanish, Austrian, Neapolitan and Sicilian fleet outnumber their own even when combined with that of Portugal. That also was not counting whatever Morocco and the Barbary States might have added to the opposition. Historians note: as of early 1762 the combined British and Portuguese navy numbered 118 SOTL, and 82 Frigates or 20 or more guns, and numerous support ships. The Allied Fleet (France, Spain, Austria, Naples, Sicily) numbered

138 SOTL, and 98 Frigates of 20 or more guns, and numerous support ships.

France

France too was by now hurting financially to pay for the war. Subsidies to Austria, Naples and Sicily, Morocco, the Barbary States, their West German allies, and raising over 12,000 more troops to be sent to the various front, and laying down many new ships was taking its toll. Trade from the Levant was no longer offsetting loss of trade to the Caribbean and India from British Atlantic blockades. Requests had been made for more support in India, but there were limited resources available. (Word of France’s second capture of Madras would not reach Paris or London until June.)

Choisel though he only needed to finish the fully capture of Hanover by either knocking out Brunswick’s Hanover army, or helping Austria decisively defeat Fredrick. Even so he still needed to draw the British away from the continent. Choisel would meet again with Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie prince Charlie) to devise a plan to strike at the British Isles themselves to force Britain into a peace.

Austria

Austria was again in need of rebuilding armies and subsidies from France, as well as needing help from France to force Fredrick to pull back from Silesia, since it seemed Russia was once again, marching back to St. Petersburg. France though kept attaching this assistance with additional costs. In exchange for further subsidies, reinforcing the French component of the army in Silesia, and raising an additional army to attack Fredrick from the West, Choisel and King Louis XVI wanted additional concessions to pass the diet.

These included:
That the County of Bouillon, held by the Duke of Bouillon, Jacques Léopold de La Tour d'Auvergne, is fully incorporated into French Authority. The title and holdings of the Duke of is retained; but removed from the lands and any authority in or of the Holy Roman Empire.

That “Further Austria” territories west of the Rhine in the Palatinate (former County of Falkenstein) would be added to the ‘French Netherlands’ (as part of ‘Austrian Netherlands’ concessions) in the event of Austria’s successful acquisition of Silesia.

That La Petite-Pierre (Palatinate-Zweibrucken), which has been de-facto ruled by France since 1680, is formally annexed by France.

Numerous other pre-approvals for various land trades between the German Princes in the HRE and France at the war’s end (again assuming a favorable outcome).

As well as consenting to the above, Austria and Saxony would raise and train over 8,000 additional forces in time for the spring campaigns against Prussia.

Prussia

Despite hating to have to concede territory to Mecklenburg and Sweden in exchange for much needed peace and closing the northern front, Fredrick was able to gain much relief to his beleaguered forces. By the opening of the spring campaigns, by shifting garrison troops on the northern borders and raising what he could from Brandenburg and Pomerania, Fredrick was about to gather over 10,000 reinforcements along with much needed British subsidies. It was enough to keep him evenly matched with the Franco-Austrian army in Glatz. So long as Russia stayed east dealing with their own troubles

Russia

With Vasily Lopukhin dead, Buturlin was acting commander-in-chief of the Russian army. He along with Suvorov had done what they could to re-muster their army from Fredrick’s rout and regathered them back in Konigsburg. They again were waiting for communiques from St. Peterburg, only to learn in late winter that Peter III had left his sequestration and there was feuding between Peter, Elizabeth and Catherine.

Without updated word other than rumor and concern for the palace, Buturlin began marching east in mid March, as soon as snows had abated enough to do so, once again leaving Fermor in charge of garrison forces at Konigsburg. By mid April, he had received orders from Peter III stating Elizabeth had passed, and was ordered to return to Konigsburg and make peace with Fredrick. Ten days later, he received orders from Catherine saying Peter III was dead and told to return back to St. Peterburg again.

The Short Reign of Peter III.

Elizabeth had become entirely unresponsive to communication on February 20th, 1762. In response, Peter left sequestration, and demanded to take on his duties as the Emperor of Russia, even though Elizabeth lingered on. Peter had already made his plans known about seeking peace and even alliance with Prussia, while many in the court saw that as throwing away their gains in East Prussia and betraying their allies. Elizabeth still being alive delayed the enactment of his plans. His response was to prepare the manifesto of March 1762 (OTL manifesto of February 1762) where in nobility was exempted from obligatory state and military service and given freedom to travel abroad.

Peter did not have long to wait as Elizabeth Petrovna, Empress of Russia died April 3rd, 1762. His manifesto was met favorably and enacted within days of his ascension, but was the only act passed under his reign. Peter’s next moves were to send out his order to make peace with Fredrick and ally with them against Denmark. Word of this got to Catherine and many of her supporters, causing significant anger. In response Peter III had some of Catherine’s guards arrested on April 11th, and was prepared to do the same to her.

Catherine convinced the Leib Guard to protect her and when guards loyal to Peter arrived on the night of April 19th and attempted to order them to stand aside a fight broke out, resulting in the deaths of three soldiers, and Peter’s guard fleeing as the Leib Guard began a general revolt. By the morning of the 20th, fighting had broken out in St. Peterburg, and Peter found himself and his Holsitein court forced to flee to Oranienbaum which was besieged. Hopelessly outnumbered Peter and his supporters were forced to surrender. Peter was arrested, and forced to sign his abdication to his wife Catherine on the following day, April 21st. Ten days later, on May 1st, Peter III was murdered by Alexei Orlav, brother to Gregory Orlov, one of Catherine’s lovers.

While Peter’s incomplete overtures of peace toward Prussia were aborted, Catherine recalled Buturlin’s army (after allowing reinforcement of Konigsburg) which had already been on the way to St. Peterburg to help secure her position and obtain his recognition of her regency. Catherine did not have the same level of hate against Fredrick that Elizabeth had, though also had no intention of throwing away Russia’s advantage against them in the war either. Even so, repeated defeats and Sweden’s withdrawal made continued campaigns daunting, so by summer Catherine took court to consider her options.

Spain

Charles III, King of Spain, despite his losses in the prior years campaign against Portugal did not desire to give up the assault despite the truce. The French commanders though were refusing to march in a second campaign unless the Spanish were properly supplied. To this end Spain raised significant additional supplies as well as 5,000 troops to replace some of those that had been lost. The French had replaced their losses as well but only the 600 or so they had lost the prior year. The British were now fully blockading Spain’s Atlantic coast and trade was suffering. Taking Portugal could be a used to bargain against any potential British conquests of Spain’s colonies.

The Gibraltar siege too had not been going well. Despite all efforts to blockade the fortress outside the reach of its guns, the British kept slipping small fast ships through. French, Spanish and a few independent contracted Dutch engineers began working on an expensive project backed by Spain and France that they hoped might make a dramatic difference in the Gibraltar Siege.

Portugal

Queen Maria I and Portugal found themselves almost entirely dependent on the British for the defense of their country. Their subsidies help pay for raising an additional 3500 Portuguese forces who were helped in being trained by the British. They could only hope to pursue a defensive war, and keep the Spanish at bay

Morocco

The Sultan of Morocco, Mohammed ben Abdallah, considered the last year to have gone very well. The subsidies received from France and Spain, and the ransoms from the British had paid for numerous projects and improvements, including financing the conquest of Mazagan. A combination of force and diplomacy subjugated many of the inland Berber tribes and expanded the Sultan’s influence further into the interior. Tangeirs was being rebuilt with French assistance. He had also funded two major expiditions, one along the Atlantic coast, going through Infi, Tarfaya, Cape Bojador, Dhakla, had finally reached Ras Nouadhibou (Cabo Blanco). With the continued subsidies this year, he planned out settlement projects in these areas to support a chain of trade toward the Sub-Saharan coast. Likewise, a western tran-saharan expedition went from Sijilmasa to Taghaza (Taodenni) destinted for Timbuktu and the slave and gold trade of the Sub-Sahara. Sijilmasa itself would be rebuilt and resettled along with Taghaza, again to support a chain of controlled trade through the area.