Miracle of the House of Brandenburg
On 5 January 1762 Empress Elizabeth of Russia died after a long illness, and her nephew Peter III — an admirer of Frederick the Great to the point of obsession — immediately reversed Russian policy. Peter withdrew Russia from the anti-Prussian coalition, ordered his army to stop fighting, and returned all Prussian territory that Russian forces had occupied, including East Prussia. He then concluded a formal peace with Frederick and began preparing a Russian military alliance against Denmark, his former ally. The reversal could not have come at a more decisive moment. Frederick, having fought seven gruelling years against encircling enemies, was facing the prospect of a 1762 campaign with severely depleted forces and little prospect of survival. His brother Prince Henry had urged him to consider negotiations; Frederick himself had contemplated suicide if Prussia fell. The death of Elizabeth transformed hopeless defeat into survival. Frederick called it a 'miracle' and historians have followed his terminology ever since — the 'Miracle of the House of Brandenburg.' Peter III was himself overthrown and killed in a palace coup six months later, replaced by his wife Catherine the Great, who abandoned Peter's Prussian alliance but did not re-enter the war. Sweden also withdrew in May 1762. Frederick was saved, and the Treaty of Hubertusburg confirmed what the miracle had preserved: Silesia remained Prussian.
- Year: 1762 CE
- Category: Political
