1759
Berlin
The peace terms against the King of Prussia were harsh:
1. Silesia was handed back to Austria. This was particularly painful for Frederick as Silesia rivalled Brandenburg in importance in terms of population, development and strategic location.
2. East Prussia was given to Russia (though the Czarina was unsure of what she would do with a flat and poor Protestant land).
3. Several exclaves possessed by Prussia within Saxony would be handed to the Elector of Saxony as would the inheritance rights to Ansbach and Bayrouth (whose Margrave was childless and Frederick II would have been his heir).
4. The portion of Prussian Pomerania conquered from Sweden earlier in the century was returned.
5. King Frederick's exclaves in the Rhineland (Cleves, Mark, etc) would also be lost as well though their distribution had yet to be determined.
Frederick, having lost East Prussia which was a Kingdom, was left only with his stem Duchies within the Holy Roman Empire. Thus Frederick was no longer a King but a mere Elector.
Millions of marks in reparations would be extracted and the Elector of Brandenburg's Army would be restricted for 20 years to only 20,000 men. It had been the intention of the victorious parties to force Frederick II to abdicate. However, the former King refused to give them the satisfaction and beat them to the punch. He turned what was left of his domains to his idiot nephew before the final treaty was signed.
Little of this was unexpected. The peace was always going to be harsh for Prussia (now Brandenburg).
What was utterly unexpected were the other provisions of the peace.
The Czarina wanted one thing and would have been more than happy to turn over her conquest of East Prussia to possess: the person of her nephew, Peter. However, the "General" in the Prussian Army wisely fled west in the peace. Disguised as a Hanoverian officer in King Frederick's service, Peter would return to Hanover and then flee into the only real neutral nation of northern Europe, the Netherlands. Had the Czarina gotten her hands on him, Peter's death would likely to be slow and painful. From the Netherlands, he fled to his "ally", Great Britain.
What he didn't realize was that no one in Great Britain, including George II, gave a damn about him and only gave him lodging in hopes that he may be of use in the future either as an asset to hand over to Czarina Elizabeth or somehow if Russia called him back to the throne should the Czarina die.
As it was, Britain had more important things to worry about. As it was, the truth behind the Franco-Austrian alliance had finally come to light in two sections:
1. In return for French aid in regaining Silesia, the Empress had agreed to turn over the Austrian Netherlands (French Speaking Walloonia and Dutch-Catholic Flanders) to the King of France, a boon French Kings had sought for centuries. During the War of Spanish Succession, the longtime Spanish Habsburg possession was handed over to the Austrian Habsburgs. Completely disconnected from the other Habsburg realms, it seemed indefensible in the long run and Maria Theresa was happy to be rid of it in exchange for her beloved (and contiguous) Silesia.
2. An agreement was made regarding the French conquests in the northeastern Holy Roman Empire. The Empress, whom knew well of the long rivalry with France to dominate the Holy Roman Empire, would not accept France gaining a single square inch of land within Germany. By previous treaty, the French would soon gain control over Lorraine (patrimony of Maria Theresa's husband, the Emperor) per the terms of the War of Austrian Succession. The Emperor gave up the Duchy along the French border as part of the peace to the King of France's father-in-law. Once the man died, Lorraine would revert to France (yet another long-desired acquisition by French Kings).
France had recently overrun Hanover and large swathes of the small Protestant German Principalities. King Louis XV agreed to fully withdraw from the Empire upon one condition: That Hanover not be returned to George II or anyone in his immediate family.
The desires of both France and Austria were obvious:
1. France wanted Britain's direct influence in the Empire eliminated. This was not so much that Hanover would ever have been a direct threat to France. Moreso, Britain united in personal union with Hanover was a natural ally to Austria. British funds had long supported the Habsburgs in their wars with France. By pushing out the House of Hanover from Germany, this reduced the likelihood of future Austrian-British alliances against France. Louis XV didn't care much who got the German Electorate as long as it was not affiliated with Britain.
2. Austria wanted a future counter-weight to Brandenburg. Though the immediate future did not point to the House of Hohenzollern being a threat to Austria, that may not be the case always. Most of the Holy Roman Empire was Protestant (Lutheran or Calvinist mainly) and while monarchs no longer attempted to force their own religion upon the people, the Germans may someday rally around a Protestant House...like the Hohenzollerns.
By dividing the power in Germany, Maria Theresa may maintain some semblance of authority in the Empire.
The emissaries of Maria Theresa and Louis XV would debate many options including offering the throne to the Duke of Cumberland (George II would have been happy to agree to this) or one of the younger sons of the late Prince Frederick of Britain (George II would have found this tolerable too). However, the connection was still too close for France's taste.
Finally, an agreement was made which suited both France and Austria.
Hanover was given to the King of Denmark. The Electorate was contiguous to Frederick V of Denmark's lands of Denmark, Schleswig and Holstein. Count Moltke, whom had desperately tried avoiding war, was shocked when informed by the emissaries of France and Austria that his master, Frederick V of Denmark, had just gained an Electorate for such a meager contribution to the war.
It was also agreed that the Protestant Princes whom made a habit of leasing out Regiments of soldiers for foreign service (Hesse, Brunswick) would be restricted from doing so within the Holy Roman Empire. This would prove painful to some Princes but also meant it got the French occupation army out of their Principalities.
As such things took a while to negotiate and longer to implement, it would be 1760 before all the armies retreated to their homelands but the war in the east was effectively over. The administrative occupation of these exchanged territories would take years to carry out as many of the peoples of the "French" Netherlands, East Prussia and Hanover would object to being handed over to a new crown like cattle.
Open issues remained as to the final dispensation of East Prussia (if the Czarina would incorporate it into her Empire directly, hand it to her puppet in the Polish Commonwealth or select a pliable King) as well as the Riksdag of Sweden's still-to-be-determined heir to the vacant throne (their own King remaining in Berlin). Russia in particular became anxious that the Swedes make a choice sooner rather than later. The last thing the Czarina wanted was the idea of a Republic cropping up near her border.
The war in the west continued even as King George II openly wept at the loss of his patrimony in Hanover (he continued to plot to reconquer it from France and Denmark). France and Spain continued to war with Britain across the sea and Denmark was repeatedly ravaged by the Royal Navy in hopes of forcing King Frederick V to relinquish Hanover to her rightful sovereign.
The Dutch would be horrified that the French had been handed the "French Netherlands". The former Austrian Netherlands was a buffer between the Dutch Republic and France. Previous war resulted in a coalition of British, Austria, "Austrian" Netherlands, Dutch, Hanoverian and hired German mercenaries defending the borders against France.
It was looking less and less likely than any such coalition could be formed in the future as neither Britain, Danish Hanover nor Austria would be interested in a French-Dutch war. And certainly no one would pay for mercenaries for help. The wealthy Protestant Dutch Republic in political and military decline would likely be easy prey if France ever elected to invade.
The British were no less horrified. It was bad enough that France had bases across the English channel. Now France had acquired not only more bases but BETTER BASES across the English Channel in Flanders. Given the disparity between the respective sizes of the British and French armies, a successful French landing in Britain may be tantamount to Britain's conquest.
With peace reigning on the continent, war raged in the west as France and Spain (and unwillingly Denmark) sought to bring the British to the bargaining table.