On October 9 (September 28, old style), 1760, during the Seven Years War, Berlin officially surrendered to the Russian troops who stormed it.

The Russian side guaranteed the safety of the townspeople, and the authorities of the Prussian capital paid an indemnity in the amount of 1.5 million thalers.

Seven Years War

In the middle of the 18th century, Europe was gripped by contradictions caused by colonial rivalry and the struggle for influence in German lands.

“At that time, two alliances - Anglo-Prussian and Franco-Austrian - became the pivotal ones in this confrontation.

The Russian authorities feared that Prussia could begin expansion into the territories recently acquired by St. Petersburg in the Baltic States and therefore decided to support Vienna and Paris, "Andrei Koshkin, a full member of the Academy of Military Sciences, told RT.

According to him, the war began with the Prussian invasion of Saxony in the summer of 1756.

In 1757, the Prussian troops inflicted several defeats on the Austrians on the territory of modern Bohemia, although they could not take Prague.

France and Russia soon joined the war.

At the beginning of 1758, all of East Prussia came under Russian control.

In 1758, Prussia inflicted a series of painful defeats on France and concentrated on fighting Russia and Austria.

In 1759, the Prussian army was defeated by the Russian-Austrian forces in the Battle of Kunersdorf.

This, according to Andrei Koshkin, opened the way for the Allies to Berlin, but the Austrians decided to focus on the struggle for Silesia, and the Russian command did not dare to attack the capital of Prussia independently at that moment.

The allies did not succeed in finally crushing the Prussian king Frederick II in 1759.

“In the terminology of the twentieth century, the Seven Years War would probably be world war.

In fact, it was the largest conflict of its era.

The battles were fought in a large part of Europe and in the colonies.

Huge by the standards of their time armies of hundreds of thousands of people took part in the hostilities.

In 1760, the Allies could have a chance to completely defeat Frederick II, but the Austrians were dragging their feet and in no hurry to join up with the Russian troops, "Koshkin said.

According to him, the lack of coordination between the allied forces led to large losses of the Austrian army and to the fact that the chances of Frederick II for a successful outcome of the war for him increased.

  • The plan of the campaign against Berlin in 1760 (Archive of Prince Vorontsov)

  • © Wikimedia Commons

Taking Berlin

Against the background of general uncertainty in the theater of operations, the Russian and Austrian command agreed to conduct a raid on Berlin, Koshkin notes.

“For these purposes, a 20,000-strong detachment was allocated from the Russian side and a 15,000-strong detachment from the Austrian side.

The Russian corps was commanded by Count Zakhary Chernyshev, and its vanguard was General Gottlob von Totleben, ”said the expert.

According to him, the Russian avant-garde approached Berlin in early October.

On October 3, 1760, Totleben tried to break into the Prussian capital, but he failed outright.

The garrison of the city held the city gates, and large reinforcements arrived in Berlin.

However, soon the Austrians and the main forces of the Russian corps approached the capital of Prussia.

While Chernyshev was preparing an operation to storm the city, Totleben entered into negotiations with his leadership.

The Prussian reinforcements stationed in Berlin at that time decided to leave the city.

“On the night of October 9, Berlin's own garrison and the city authorities of the Prussian capital decided to capitulate.

Moreover, to surrender not to the Austrians, but to the Russians, whose word they trusted more, ”said Koshkin.

  • Gottlob Totleben.

    Engraving by Ivan Ivanovich Matyushin

  • © Wikipedia Commons

Early in the morning the Berlin garrison surrendered.

Under the terms of the capitulation of the Prussian capital, the Russian command guaranteed the townspeople personal safety, the inviolability of property, the absence of a military post and freedom of religion.

In turn, Berlin agreed to pay the Russian side an indemnity of 1.5 million thalers.

“Berlin was taken, but not in the traditional view for many.

There were no large-scale hostilities, huge losses, destruction.

It was more of a political act, "said Igor Kurukin, professor at the Russian State Humanitarian University, Doctor of Historical Sciences, in a commentary on RT.

The Austrians, whom the Russian command presented with the fact of the city's surrender, were dissatisfied with its terms.

Contrary to the Russian-Prussian agreements, they brought part of their troops to a post in Berlin.

Moreover, in the city there were conflicts between Russian and Austrian soldiers.

Nevertheless, the capital of Prussia practically did not suffer.

The requisitions concerned the royal property, but not the property of the townspeople.

“The deployment of a relatively small corps of allies in Berlin did not solve fundamental military problems.

Against the background of rumors about the advance of the main Prussian forces towards the capital of the city, Russian and Austrian units withdrew from Berlin on October 12, "added Andrey Koshkin.

  • Russian soldiers in Berlin in October 1760.

    1789 engraving

  • © Wikimedia Commons

Russian troops for some time successfully operated against the Prussians, but at the beginning of 1762, the Empress of Russia Elizaveta Petrovna died.

Peter III, who replaced her, according to historians, was an admirer of Frederick II and soon concluded a peace treaty with Prussia, returning to it all the previously conquered territories.

“As a result of the Seven Years War, Russia did not acquire any lands, serving instead the interests of other powers.

But she established herself as a serious military enemy and went through military school.

For example, about the Prussians, such a major military leader as Pyotr Rumyantsev sharpened his saber, who later successfully used this experience, fighting the Turks, "said historian and writer Dmitry Volodikhin to RT.

  • Artist A. Kotzebue.

    "The capture of the Kolberg fortress during the Seven Years War."

    The picture shows the capture of the fortress by Russian troops in 1761

  • © Wikimedia Commons

According to Andrey Koshkin, the capture of Berlin, due to the relative small size of the Russian corps and its isolation from the main forces, did not bring serious military benefits, but it had political significance.

“Russia, along with other leading world powers, participated in the largest conflict of that time, and even occupied, albeit not for long, the capital of the state, which, according to many contemporaries, possessed the strongest land army in the world.

It was a powerful geopolitical claim, a significant political success.

It is a pity that East Prussia, which had already become Russian possession, was returned to the enemy, but the experience gained during the war made it possible to significantly expand the country already in the Catherine era, "Koshkin summed up.