The final encounters of the war took place in the winter of 1761/62 near Malchin and Neukalen in Mecklenburg, just across the Swedish Pomeranian border, before the parties agreed on the Truce of Ribnitz on 7 April 1762.

The hopes of the Swedish Hats party to recover territories lost to Prussia in 1720 were thwarted, and the unpopular and costly war contributed to their subsequent downfall.

France promised financial backing for such a war and in June the same year the decision was made to send 20,000 Swedish troops to Germany to emphasise their commitment.

Only after hostilities had begun did the promised financial support from France and its allies arrive and only then, on 22 September 1757, did the Swedish government state its conditions and declare war.

The army's very premise, to suppress Frederick, was found false—on being notified of his victory at Rossbach on 5 November 1757, the Swedish commander Marshal Mattias Alexander von Ungern-Sternberg dared not obey the orders from his government and the French agent Marc René de Montalembert to lead his ill-equipped army in a march on Berlin, instead returning in November 1757 to Swedish Pomerania, where the Swedes were being besieged by the Prussians at Stralsund and Rügen.

This blockade was lifted by an invading Russian army on 18 June 1758, but von Rosen had grown tired of his thankless task and handed command over to Gustav David Hamilton.

After the failure of the Austrian invasion of Saxony, Hamilton left Neuruppin on 10 October and headed for the River Oder, in the hopes of joining up with the Russians.

His goal was to besiege Stettin and in preparation for this Lantingshausen allowed Axel von Fersen to take 4,000 men to capture Usedom and Wollin—this objective was met after the Battle of Frisches Haff ensured Swedish naval supremacy in September—while Lantingshausen took the main body of the army to advance deep into Prussian Pomerania, where he then remained still for a long while.

He pushed forward to Prenzlow (now Prenzlau) in Brandenburg with his main force of 6,000 troops, leaving Augustin Ehrensvard with a detachment in Pasewalk.

An advance guard under De Carnall defeated the Prussians at Neukalen (2 January 1762) who were trying to block the road and Ehrensvard marched into Malchin.

Via the queen's mediation, the Swedes signed the peace of Hamburg with Prussia and Mecklenburg on 22 May, accepting their defeat—Prussia and Sweden were restored to the status quo ante bellum.