On 29 October one war neared its end and another began. In 1762 Prince Henry of Prussia stormed the wooded heights outside Freiberg in Saxony and in about three hours broke the Austrian and Imperial army facing him, in what Thomas Carlyle called the last battle of the Seven Years' War. In 1956 Israeli paratroopers dropped near the Mitla Pass in Sinai. It was the opening move of a war that Israel, Britain and France had planned in secret at Sèvres to reverse Egypt's nationalization of the Suez Canal Company, and within weeks pressure from Washington, Moscow and the United Nations forced all three to back down.
Battle of Freiberg, 1762: Prince Henry's victory and the last battle of the Seven Years' War
29 October 1762 · 264 years ago
Near Freiberg in Saxony, Prince Henry of Prussia attacked the entrenched Reichsarmee and its Austrian allies in the last great battle of the Seven Years' War. His Prussians drove the allied army from the heights and won.
Read the full story of Battle of Freiberg, 1762: Prince Henry's victory and the last battle of the Seven Years' War ›The Suez Crisis, 1956: invasion, ultimatum and retreat
29 October 1956 · 70 years ago
Israel invaded Egypt, and Britain and France soon joined in, seeking to regain the Suez Canal, which President Nasser had nationalized, and to remove him from power. Heavy pressure from the United States, the Soviet Union and the UN forced the invaders to withdraw.
Read the full story of The Suez Crisis, 1956: invasion, ultimatum and retreat ›Also on this day
In 1914 the Ottoman fleet, with the German-crewed Goeben and Breslau at its core, raided Russia's Black Sea coast. John Rickard dates the Goeben's attack on Sevastopol to 29 October; the American ambassador in Constantinople, Henry Morgenthau, reported raids on Odessa, Sevastopol and Theodosia and blamed the German officers who ran the fleet. Rickard dates Russia's declaration of war to 1 November. The Allied attempt to knock the Ottomans out of the war is told in our article on Gallipoli.1
