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People: Andrea Sansovino
Topic: Siege of Kolberg (Seven Years' War)
Location: Lastours Midi-Pyrenees France

Siege of Kolberg (Seven Years' War)

Years: 1759 - 1761

During the Seven Years' War, the Prussian-held town of Kolberg in Brandenburg-Prussian Pomerania (now Kołobrzeg) is besieged by Russian forces three times.

The first two sieges, in late 1759 and from 26 August to 18 September 1760, are unsuccessful.

A final and successful siege took place from August to December 1761.

In the sieges of 1760 and 1761, the Russian forces are supported by Swedish auxiliaries.

As a consequence of the fall of the city, Prussia loses her last major port on the Baltic Coast, while at the same time the Russian forces are able to take winter quarters in Pomerania.

However, when Empress Elizabeth of Russia dies only weeks after the Russian victory, her successor, Peter III of Russia, makes peace and returns Kolberg to Prussia.

"History should be taught as the rise of civilization, and not as the history of this nation or that. It should be taught from the point of view of mankind as a whole, and not with undue emphasis on one's own country. Children should learn that every country has committed crimes and that most crimes were blunders. They should learn how mass hysteria can drive a whole nation into folly and into persecution of the few who are not swept away by the prevailing madness."

—Bertrand Russell, On Education (1926)