The Seven Years’ War began in 1754 as a conflict between Great Britain and France in North America. In Europe, the war broke out over territorial disputes between Prussia and Austria. Prussia sought territorial expansion in Europe and consolidation of its power. In a realignment of traditional alliances, known as the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756, Prussia became part of a coalition led by Britain. Austria ended centuries of conflict by allying with France, along with Saxony, Sweden, and Russia.
About Seven Years’ War in brief
The Seven Years’ War began in 1754 as a conflict between Great Britain and France in North America. In Europe, the war broke out over territorial disputes between Prussia and Austria, which wanted to regain Silesia after it was captured by Prussia in the previous war. Prussia sought territorial expansion in Europe and consolidation of its power. In a realignment of traditional alliances, known as the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756, Prussia became part of a coalition led by Britain. Austria ended centuries of conflict by allying with France, along with Saxony, Sweden, and Russia. Spain entered the war in 1761, joining France in the Third Family Compact between the two Bourbon monarchies. The alliance with France was a disaster for Spain, with the loss to Britain of two major ports, Havana in the Caribbean and Manila in the Philippines, returned in the 1763 Treaty of Paris. Britain began its rise as the world’s predominant colonial and naval power. For a time France’s supremacy in Europe was halted until after the French Revolution and the emergence of Napoleon Bonaparte. Prussia confirmed its status as a great power, challenging Austria for dominance within the German states, thus altering the European balance of power. The Russian Empire was originally aligned with Austria, fearing Prussia’s ambition on the succession of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Sweden joined the coalition, seeing its chance when all major continental powers of Europe opposed Spain, bound by the Pacte de Famille.
Relantly, the Imperial diet of the Holy Roman Empire declared on Prussia on 17 January 1757, which declared Prussia the most powerful state in the world. The result caused uproar across Europe. Smaller German states either joined the Seven Years’ War or supplied mercenaries to the parties involved in the conflict. The conflict exploded across the colonial boundaries and extended to Britain’s seizure of hundreds of French merchant ships at sea. Spain unsuccessfully attempted to invade Britain’s ally Portugal, attacking with their forces facing British troops in Iberia. In 1762, France and Spain launched an unsuccessful invasion of Portugal on behalf of France and they launched an successful attack on the island of Cozumel in 1762. The French and Indian War, with both the British and the French and their respective Native American allies fighting for control of territory, ended in 1763. It was the most important event to occur in eighteenth-century North America, with France’s presence as a land power ended. The war was followed by the Battle of Jumonville Glen on 28 May 1754, when a British unit led by a 22-year-old Lt. George Washington ambushed a small French force at the Battle of Jum onville Glen. The War of 1754-1763 ended with the Treaty of Hubertusburg ended the war between Saxony and Austria and Prussia, in1763. The British and French were allied against France and Austria in 1756.
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