The siege of Prague was an unsuccessful attempt by a

Prussian army The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power. The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...

led by

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...

to capture the Bohemian city of

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

during the

Third Silesian War The Third Silesian War () was a war between Prussia and Austria (together with its allies) that lasted from 1756 to 1763 and confirmed Prussia's control of the region of Silesia (now in south-western Poland). The war was fought mainly in Silesi ...

(

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...

). 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 A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining supp ...

. 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 The Battle of Kolín on 18 June 1757 saw 54,000 Austrians under Count von Daun defeat 34,000 Prussians under Frederick the Great during the Third Silesian War (Seven Years' War). Prussian attempts to turn the Austrian right flank turned into pi ...

and his force was now too weak to contemplate continuing the siege of Prague, and he was forced to withdraw from

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

entirely.Anderson pp. 176–77 It marked a

high-water mark A high water mark is a point that represents the maximum rise of a body of water over land. Such a mark is often the result of a flood, but high water marks may reflect an all-time high, an annual high (highest level to which water rose that ...

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 Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on t ...

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) {{DEFAULTSORT:Prague, Siege of Battles of the Seven Years' War Siege of Prague Conflicts in 1757 Battles involving Prussia Battles involving Austria Sieges involving Prussia Siege of Prague Battles of Frederick the Great Siege of Prague Siege of Prague Siege of Prague Battles in Bohemia Battles of the Silesian Wars