Elizabeth of Russia Dies - Prussia Saved

January 5, 1762

The Tsarina's death was Frederick's 'miracle of the House of Brandenburg.' Her successor Peter III, a fanatical admirer of Frederick, not only made peace but returned every inch of Russian conquest. Prussia, which had been staring at annihilation, was abruptly handed a second life. Peter's wife Catherine, watching his pro-Prussian folly with cold eyes, was already planning the coup that would make her empress within months.