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The Miracle of House Habsburg or the Miracle of House Romanov



Battle of Kunersdorff



Frederick's Charge

"a cruel reverse! I shall not survive it. I think everything is lost. Adieu pour jamais"

-Frederick II of Prussia

Following the great victory at Kundersdorf the Russo-Austrian army did not lay off [1]. Instead the great army, 90,000 large encircled Berlin. Knowing that he had lost Frederick decided to charge the enemy one last time. Hence at dawn his army surged forth sortieing into the Russo-Austrian lines. Almost immediately thousands were hit by cannon fire, and many more scattered. However Frederick and his more loyal soldiers kept going forward. The Russians and Austrians continued to fire shot after shot at them, yet they refused to stop. Finally when they reached the allied lines they smashed into them and nearly broke them, but a counter charge by Saltykov's Cossacks and Kalmyk's blunted the attack. So much so that the following counter-attack by the Russo-Austrian infantry shattered the Prussians and drove them back into the city. With the main Prussian force destroyed and the rest dispersed the allied troops were able to take Berlin. This stunning victory shocked Europe. Due to this defeat Prussia was forced to sign a humiliating treaty, the Treaty of Hubertusburg [2].

A few days later off the coast of Portugal Admiral de la Clue evaded Sir Edward Boscawen and his fleet. This allowed de la Clue and his 12 ships to join up with de Conflans and his fleet of 21 ships. With fear of invasion widespread through England no one thought the situation could get worse, but it did. In Quebec following a period of illness General Wolfe died [3]. This effectively crushed the British army's morale. Soon after Monckton was forced to choose between attacking Quebec or returning in disgrace. With his late commander in mind he decided to strike. Arriving in mass the 3,300 British regulars arrayed themselves 3 ranks deep. Following this Bougainville arrived with 3,000 men [4]. The ensuing battle would determine the fate of Canada. Initially the Brits pushed back Bougainville and were on the cusp of victory, then suddenly General Montcalm arrived with over 4,000 men. Montcalm smashed into the British lines swinging the tides in France's favor. Another that would add to the Disaster of Quebec was the constant flooding of reinforcements from other positions. And in Monckton's own words, "The battle, no the war is lost..." because with their overwhelming size the French would soon after crush the British army. To follow up their victory at Quebec the French chased off Saunders and the remaining British in the Second Battle of Montmorency.

All of this forced Britain to the negotiating table. At first Britain believed that the French terms were too harsh and nearly left the talks. But when news of Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick's encirclement and subsequent defeat to Duc de Broglie the British knew that they had lost. In the following treaty, the Treaty of Paris, the victors followed through with their pre-war goals.

[1] Primary POD, instead of laying off the Russo-Austrian force goes for Berlin
[2] Follows prewar plans for peace
[3] Minor POD, instead of surviving he dies
[4] If the Brits landed where Monckton thought they should they would have engaged Bougainville first, not Montcalm
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