Peace of Hubertusburg 1763 and the end of the Seven Years' War

Abstract

After a bloody and crushing war known as the Seven Years' War 1756-1763, the Hubertusburg Peace was concluded in 1763, which put an end to the conflict that attracted most European powers; based on the desire of the Holy Roman Empire for the "German nation" to restore the Silesia region occupied by Prussia. However, it is remarkable that the beginning of the spiral of this war was the pre-emptive attack decided by the King of Prussia Frederick II (1712-1786) on the territory of Saxony - this region, which joined in 1756 the alliance of the Holy Roman Empire of the "German nation", France and Russia - with the aim of unifying its divided lands in a way that makes it vulnerable to the attack of his enemies allied against him. Especially that the leader of this alliance, Empress Maria Theresia (1717-1780), was striving with her advisor who was the planner of the anti-Prussian alliance (Duke Wentzell Anton von Kaunitz) to take revenge on Frederick II and restore the territory of Silesia, which he annexed to his possessions after the First and Second Silesian War. That was proved by the Treaty of Aachen 1748, as well as to curtail Prussia and weaken its growing power. However, the result was neither side was able to achieve its goals, and both go to the peace treaty that was called the Hubertusburg Peace, which restored the situation to what it was before the outbreak of the war. Moreover, it confirmed that the only way to end wars is the negotiating table. It is also remarkable that this reconciliation resulted in important results that were not mentioned publicly in its articles.