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Before the armies march… before the battles are fought… before the first shots echo across Bohemia…

The outcome of the war is already being imagined.

In this episode, we step back from the battlefield to examine the forces gathering against Frederick II of Prussia—and the very real plans being formed to dismantle his kingdom piece by piece.

Austria seeks revenge and the return of Silesia. France pivots toward a global struggle with Britain, with Hanover squarely in its sights. Russia prepares to push west, eyeing East Prussia and greater influence in Poland. Sweden looks for an opportunity to reclaim its Baltic foothold. And within the Holy Roman Empire, a broader political system begins to align against Prussia’s rise.

This is not just a coalition.

It is a partition in the making.

Meanwhile, Britain faces a dilemma of its own—how to fight a global war while protecting Hanover. The solution? Gold. Subsidies begin to flow, an alliance with Prussia takes shape, and the Army of Observation assembles to hold the line in western Germany… or at least stand there and hope the French don’t push too hard.

At the center of it all, Frederick sees the trap forming around him. Surrounded, outnumbered, and running out of time, he makes the only move he believes he can.

He strikes first.

With Saxony already occupied, the war has begun. But as we’ll see, that opening move has only bought him time—not victory.

Because next… the war moves south.

Map of Europe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Years%27_War#/media/File:Europe_1748-1766_en.png

Map of the HRE

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/1740_Homann_Map_of_the_Holy_Roman_Empire_%28_Germanic_Empire_%29_-_Geographicus_-_ImperiiRomanoGerman-homann-1740.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=index&utm_content=original

Map of Hanover

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Electorate_of_Hanover_in_1789.png