Prussia and its predecessor, Brandenburg-Prussia, were involved in numerous conflicts during their existence as nation-states. During their military engagements they often fulfilled the role of a supporting power, especially in the 17th century. In the 18th century Prussia began to adopt an independent role in the conflicts of that time; at the latest by the time of the Silesian Wars.

Prussia's Army won major victories like at Leuthen, Leipzig, Waterloo, Königgrätz and Sedan but also suffered devastating defeats such as at Kunersdorf and Jena-Auerstedt.

This article lists all the wars and battles in which Brandenburg-Prussia and the Kingdom of Prussia were militarily engaged in before the founding of the German Empire, covering the period from 1618 to 1871.

Wars

First Northern War (1656–1660)

The First Northern War (also Second or Little Northern War) was a conflict that took place from 1655 to 1661 between Poland, Sweden and Russia for supremacy in the Baltic states. Brandenburg fought initially on the side of Sweden against Poland, but changed sides, after Poland granted its prince-elector sovereignty over the Duchy of Prussia in the Treaty of Wehlau on 19 September 1657. Brandenburg succeeded in gaining ultimate sovereignty over the Duchy of Prussia and proved itself during the war as an important military and political power.

Battle Date Result Battle of Warsaw 28–30 July 1656 Victory Battle of Prostki 8 October 1656 Loss Battle of Nyborg 14 November 1659 Victory

Franco-Dutch War and Swedish-Brandenburg War (1674–1679) The Swedish-Brandenburg War was part of the Franco-Dutch War, and was a conflict between the Electorate of Brandenburg and Kingdom of Sweden for the domination of Pomerania. In this war, Sweden was an ally of France, whilst Brandenburg-Prussia, together with Austria, Denmark and Spain, fought on the side of the Dutch. At the end of 1674, Swedish troops invaded Brandenburg, but were successfully repulsed by the Brandenburg army.

Battle Date Result Battle of Turckheim 5 January 1675 Loss Battle of Rathenow 15 June 1675 Victory Battle of Nauen 17 June 1675 Victory Battle of Fehrbellin 18 June 1675 Victory Siege of Wismar 1 August – 14 December 1675 Victory Siege of Wolgast 1–10 November 1675 Victory Bremen-Verden campaign 15 September 1675 – 13 August 1676 Victory Siege of Stettin 16 September – 16 November 1676 Loss Siege of Stettin 25 June – 15 December 1677 Victory Battle of Warksow 18 January 1678 Loss Invasion of Rügen 22–24 September 1678 Victory Siege of Stralsund 20 September – 15 October 1678 Victory Great Sleigh Drive December 1678 – February 1679 Victory

Spanish-Brandenburg War (1680-1682) Battle Date Result Action of 30 September 1681 30 September 1681 Loss

Great Turkish War (1683–1699)

Battle Date Result Siege of Buda mid-June – 2 September 1686 Victory

Nine Years' War (1688–1697)

Battle Date Result Siege of Bonn July 1689 – 12 October 1689 Victory Siege of Namur 2 July – 4 September 1695 Victory

Spanish War of Succession (1701–1714)

In the Crown Treaty signed on 16 November 1700, Elector Frederick III had undertaken to provide a body of 8,000 men for the impending Spanish War of Succession for Emperor Leopold I. In return, the emperor promised that Frederick's future self-coronation as "King in Prussia" would be recognised across Europe and the Holy Roman Empire. The coronation took place on 18 January 1701 in Königsberg and from April 1701 the now entitled Royal Prussian Contingent deployed to the Lower Rhine at Wesel. In April 1702 it took part in hostilities for the first time at the Siege of Kaiserswerth.

Battle Date Result Siege of Kaiserswerth 18 April 1702 – 15 June 1702 Victory First Battle of Höchstädt 20 September 1703 Loss Second Battle of Höchstädt 13 August 1704 Victory Battle of Cassano 16 August 1705 Loss Battle of Turin 7 September 1706 Victory Battle of Oudenaarde 11 July 1708 Victory Battle of Malplaquet 11 September 1709 Victory

Great Northern War (1700–1721)

After the death of his father, King Frederick William I joined the coalition against the Swedish king, Charles XII, with the aim of capturing the Swedish territories in Pomerania. As a result, the Prussian occupied Stettin in 1713. In November 1714, when Charles XII took personal command of Swedish Pomerania, the Prussian Army, together with the Saxons and Danes, was able to force him back to Stralsund in 1715–16 during the Pomeranian campaign and besiege him there. After the end of the war Prussia gained Stettin, Usedom and all territories south of the Peene.

Battle Date Result Siege of Stralsund 1 May – 24 December 1715 Victory Battle of Stresow 16 November 1715 Victory

Austrian War of Succession (1740–1748)

First Silesian War (1740–1742)

In 1740, in the first year of his reign and shortly after his coronation Frederick II sent the Prussian Army to invade Austrian-ruled Silesia and so precipitated the First Silesian War and, in its broader sense, the Austrian War of Succession. Because Prussia allied itself with Bavaria, France, Saxony, the Electorate of Cologne, Spain, Sweden and Naples, whilst Prussia's main enemy, Austria allied itself with Great Britain, Sardinia, the Netherlands and Russia. For Prussia, the war was restricted to Silesia, and was able to capture the province after several victories.

Battle Date Result Battle of Baumgarten 27 February 1741 Loss Storming of Glogau 9 March 1741 Victory Battle of Mollwitz 10 April 1741 Victory Siege of Neisse 18–31 October 1741 Victory Capitulation of Olmütz 27 December 1741 Victory Siege of Glatz (1741) 9 January – 26 April 1741 Victory Battle of Lesch 16 February 1742 Battle of Chotusitz 17 May 1742 Victory

Second Silesian War (1744–1745)

The Second Silesian War was also part of the Austrian War of Succession, but also a war fought for supremacy in Silesia between Prussia and Austria. Frederick II had allied himself at that time with France. Austria formed an alliance with Saxony, Great Britain and the Netherlands. In August 1744, Prussia ambushed Bohemia with 80,000 soldiers and thereby opened the Second Silesian War. After several hard battles, it was agreed in the Treaty of Dresden that Silesia would always remain in Prussian hands.

Battle Date Result Siege of Prague (1744) 6–16 September 1744 Victory Siege of Tabor 20–23 October 1744 Loss Storming of Budweis 23 October 1744 Loss Battle of Teltschitz 19 November 1744 Loss Battle of Pless 27 November 1744 Loss Battle of Ratibor 9 February 1745 Victory Battle of Habelschwerdt 14 February 1745 Victory Battle of Hohenfriedberg 4 June 1745 Victory Siege of Kosel 27 August – 5 September 1745 Victory Battle of Soor 30 September 1745 Victory Battle of Hennersdorf 23 November 1745 Victory Battle of Zittau 27 November 1745 Battle of Kesselsdorf 15 December 1745 Victory

Seven Years' War (1756–1763)

Third Silesian War (1756–1763)

The Seven Years' War, fought between Prussia and Great Britain on one side and Austria, France, Sweden and Russia on the other, involved all the great European powers of the time. In the Third Silesian War (the Austrian-Prussian theatre), Austria's goal was the reconquest of Silesia, but Frederick II pre-empted his enemies, and on 29 August 1756 crossed the border of Saxony without a prior declaration of war. Military success alternated and the Prussian army faced defeat in the end, in spite of major victories. On 15 February 1763 the Peace of Hubertusburg was signed between Prussia and its opponents. The status quo ante was restored. The war established Prussia as the fifth major power in Europe, but Prussia lost 180,000 soldiers during the war.

Battle Date Result Siege of Pirna 11 September – 14 October 1756 Victory Battle of Lobositz 1 October 1756 Victory Battle of Reichenberg 21 April 1757 Victory Battle of Prague (1757) 6 May 1757 Victory Siege of Prague May 1757 Loss Battle of Kolín 18 June 1757 Loss Siege of Memel 19-25 June 1757 Loss Battle of Gross-Jägersdorf 30 August 1757 Loss Battle of Moys 7 September 1757 Loss 1757 raid on Berlin 16 October 1757 Loss Battle of Rossbach 5 November 1757 Victory Battle of Breslau (1757) 22 November 1757 Loss Battle of Leuthen 5 December 1757 Victory Siege of Breslau (1757) 7–20 December 1757 Victory Siege of Olomouc 4 May – 2 July 1758 Loss Battle of Rheinberg 12 June 1758 Inconclusive Battle of Krefeld 23 June 1758 Victory Battle of Domstadtl 30 June 1758 Loss Battle of Zorndorf 25 August 1758 Inconclusive Battle of Tornow 26 September 1758 Victory Battle of Fehrbellin (1758) 28 September 1758 Loss Battle of Hochkirch 14 October 1758 Loss Battle of Güstow 18 November 1758 Victory Battle of Peterswalde 14–20 April 1759 Victory Battle of Kay 23 July 1759 Loss Battle of Kunersdorf 12 August 1759 Loss Battle of Frisches Haff 10 September 1759 Loss Battle of Hoyerswerda 25 September 1759 Victory Siege of Kolberg 4 October – 1 November 1759 Victory Battle of Maxen 20 November 1759 Loss Battle of Meissen 4 December 1759 Loss Battle of Landeshut (1760) 23 June 1760 Loss Siege of Glatz 7 June – 26 July 1760 Loss Siege of Dresden July 1760 Loss Battle of Liegnitz (1760) 15 August 1760 Victory Battle of Strehla 20 August 1760 Victory Siege of Kolberg September 1760 Victory Battle of Pasewalk 3 October 1760 Loss Battle of Kloster Kampen 15 October 1760 Loss Raid on Berlin October 1760 Loss Battle of Torgau 3 November 1760 Victory Battle of Langensalza (1761) 15 February 1761 Victory Siege of Cassel (1761) March 1761 Loss Battle of Grünberg 21 March 1761 Loss Battle of Villinghausen 15–16 July 1761 Victory Siege of Kolberg 22 August – 16 December 1761 Loss Battle of Neuensund 18 September 1761 Loss Battle of Neukalen 2 January 1762 Loss Battle of Wilhelmsthal 24 June 1762 Victory Battle of Burkersdorf 21 July 1762 Victory Battle of Freiberg 29 October 1762 Victory

First Partition of Poland (1772) Overall, Prussia gained 36,000 km2 and about 600,000 people. According to Jerzy Surdykowski Frederick the Great soon introduced German colonists on territories he conquered and engaged in Germanization of Polish territories.

War of the Bavarian Succession (1778–1779) The War of the Bavarian Succession was fought between Prussia, Saxony and Bavaria on one side and Austria on the other.

Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1792–1815) The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts in the late 18th and early 19th centuries between Revolutionary France and later the French Empire and coalitions of various European states. Prussia was a member of three of the six anti-French coalitions.

War of the First Coalition (1792–1795) The War of the First Coalition saw the monarchies of Europe, led by Austria, opposed to revolutionary France. It lasted from 1793 to 1797, though Prussia made peace in 1795. Battle Date Result Siege of Thionville 24 August – 16 October 1792 Loss Siege of Verdun 29 August – 2 September 1792 Victory Battle of Valmy 20 September 1792 Loss Siege of Mainz 14 April – 23 July 1793 Victory Siege of Landau 20 August – 23 December 1793 Loss Battle of Pirmasens 14 September 1793 Victory Battle of Biesingen 17 November 1793 Victory Battle of Kaiserslautern 28–30 November 1793 Victory Second Battle of Wissembourg 26–29 December 1793 Loss Battle of Kaiserslautern 23 May 1794 Victory Battle of Trippstadt 13–17 July 1794 Loss

War of the Fourth Coalition (1806–1807) The War of the Fourth Coalition saw Prussia and her allies in conflict with France over concerns about the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine and the expansion of Napoleon's influence into Germany. It ended with the defeat of the coalition a year later.