Customer Reviews

The Seven Years War in Europe: 1756-1763

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Dr Franz A.J. Szabo creates a very different and interesting picture of the Seven Years War in this book. His accounts of the political situation in Europe during this key formative period in history are fascinating and in depth. Unfortunately, he allows his very apparent bias against Prussia, specifically Frederick II to be an annoyingly repetitive theme in an otherwise excellent history of the war. The Prussian army is admitted to be the most competent fighting force in europe, but otherwise Prussians are "Infamous", "Overconfident" and "Brutal." Much is made of the occupation of Saxony, which was no more or less brutal than many other occupations of the period. The effective Canton system of recruiting men into the Prussian army is labeled immoral, and Austrian generals are frequently excused from their mistakes. While accurate civilians casualties are reported for allied countries, any mention of the 400,000 Prussian civilian losses is suspiciously absent. There is minimal attention given to Russian atrocities against civilians, which were acknowledged by most nations of the time as being horrendous.

In addition to the overall Anti Prussian bias, the attacks made on Frederick of Prussia are in some places accurate, but in most places over the top and distracting from the overarching picture. Szabo descirbes Frederick as a "thief", and his invasion of Silesia is rightly condemned, but certainly not deserving of anymore attention than the other wars of conquest undertaken by monarchs of the 16th-18th centuries. More distracting than this is his thinly veiled accusations of cowardice, his complete derision of Fredericks tactical capabilities, and non-relevant disparagement of Fredericks poetry, Hygienic habits, and musical ability. Any slightly heroic action on Fredericks part is dismissed as a propaganda play, and victories are invariably the result of other Prussians, not Frederick, while defeats are his sole responsibility. I quote from page 24: "Frederick more directly was personally responsible for Prussia's failures, if, ironically, not its successes." Any authors slightly less critcal of Frederick are lambasted as "Apologists for Frederick" including respected Historian and Author Christopher Duffy. Finally, Frederick is blatantly blamed for the actions of Nazi Germany during the 20th Century, and HITLER is described as "Lacking Fredericks capacity for ruthlessness."

In closing, this excellent overview of the war is marred by the open animus of its author. For a overview of the war, as well as excellent logistical and economic information, it is second to none. However, the pro Austrian viewpoint (Szabo dedicated the book to his two Austrian grandfathers, both veterans of World War 1) would not be distracting without the attacks on Prussia which, instead of convincing the audience, leaves them wondering why Szabo has such a chip on his shoulder.

A solid single volume study of the war in the European theater, with a balanced depiction of personalities, politics, campaign and battle anecdotes, and economic backstory. Particularly useful in that it is the only book in english that covers both the Hanoverian-French conflict in Germany and Frederick's Prussia-Austria-Russia campaigns. Note -- the battle coverage does not go down to the detail level of Christopher Duffy's books on Frederick the Great, and few battle maps are provided. As the other review mentions, its more critical view of Frederick and his quirky/cranky personality, vanity, and tendency to blame others for ills of his own making, was for me a refreshing take compared to the many other SYW/Frederick books I have read that are draped in mild idol worship.

Overall, the book is an excellent first read for anyone new to the Seven Years War.

Professor Szabo has done everyone a favor by offering an interesting reassessment of the continental aspects of the Seven Years War based upon a thorough reading of primary and secondary sources. His work is a major contribution to a large body of literature concerning the nature of eighteenth century warfare. While other reviews have correctly emphasized the author's anti-Frederick interpretation, mention should also be made of Professor Szabo's argument that the Seven Years War was not a 'limited-war' in any sense of the term. This places him in agreement with scholars such as Jeremy Black and Denis Showalter who have critiqued the myth of eighteenth century warfare as limited in intent and scope. This reader found Professor Szabo's assessment of Frederick II interesting and, ultimately, convincing. His coverage of the complex diplomatic history of the European powers was thorough and easy to understand. Furthermore, his ability to integrate the military and diplomatic history of the period was simply magisterial. For those accustomed to viewing Frederick II as a military genius (as I once was), it is imperative that you read this book...no matter how much it might hurt! :)

This book is not one which regards Frederick II with starry eyes. The author takes a rather dim view of him in many ways and shows how the myth of Old Fritz may have caused longterm harm to Prussia and to the united Germany it created. One particularly good feature of the book is it shows how the campaigns in western Germany were essential to the survival of Prussia, which accounts centered on Frederick tend to neglect. A good book for anyone interested in the period.

This book provides a good military and diplomatic history of the campaigns conducted by and against Prussia during the Seven Years War. While many histories of the war focus mainly on Prussia, this book's particular strength is the detailed coverage it gives to Austria and France and the less detailed, but still more than adequate, coverage of Russia and Sweden. This balanced coverage goes a long way to supporting Szabo's central argument that Fredrick mismanaged the war and that Austria and Russia's performance is generally underrated.

Szabo provides good clear descriptions of the war's campaigns and key political and diplomatic developments. There is, however, almost no coverage of the impact of the war on civilians and the discussion of how it was financed and its economic impacts feels underdeveloped. The decision to structure the book so that most chapters cover a single year's campaigning works well and emphasises the importance weather conditions played in campaigns of the time - one conclusion I took away was that the Austrian and Russian armies failure to establish winter quarters on Prussian territory and having to withdraw to their bases each autumn was of central importance to Prussia's survival. The book has detailed maps of the areas in which fighting took place and some of the key battles but would have benefited greatly from the inclusion of maps showing the movements of the rival armies during the main campaigns.

"The Seven Years War in Europe" is a great source for anyone interested in the world's first "world war" in Europe. Prof. Szabo writes the book in an interesting manner that is very easy to follow. He makes his thesis clear and rightfully fights the stereotype that the Seven Years War was a "limited" conflict. In addition to strategy, Szabo discusses the war's economic and political impact in great detail including how the nations were able to fund such a large and expensive conflict. He makes his point on the final page of the book "The Seven Years War on the European continent was costly, bitter, and sanguinary far beyond the concept of civilized warfare" (paraphrased). This is also the best book I have read dealing with the Franco British struggle on the continent.

The downside to the book is that he seems to have a person beef with Frederick. It is almost as if Maria Theresa wrote the book herself. He describes Frederick as a monster who just reaps all the benefits of victory. In addition he makes Austria look as the principle victim of the war, never mentioning that Austria and Russia had plans to completely dismantle Prussia. As another reviewer states when Szabo describes the two states most effected by the war he never mentioned that Prussia lost 1/9 of its population fighting the Allies. He insults to Frederick almost border on the ridiculous portraying Frederick as "an opportunist and risk taker dressed in the veneer of an intellectual, but at root a heartless killer..." Other times he goes as far as to insult Frederick's flute playing abilities and his philosophic thinking. His poetry is disgraced but he strongly favors Kaunitz'.

In short this is a great book on the stategy and politics of the Seven Years War. If the Frederick bias were left out I would give it 5 stars. Not that I have a problem with him disagreeing with Frederick's image, he merely resorts in some cases to complete insulting that becomes repetative and often annoying.