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    Seven Years War

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    The Seven Years' War began in 1754 as a conflict between Britain and France over territorial disputes in North America. By 1756, major European powers including Prussia, Austria, Russia, and Sweden had aligned with either Britain or France, drawing much of Europe into a widespread war. The war was fought on multiple continents and involved numerous colonial conflicts between European powers and their native allies. It ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763, resulting in significant territorial changes that altered the global balance of power.

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    Seven Years War

    Uploaded by

    Bob
    106 views2 pages
    The Seven Years' War began in 1754 as a conflict between Britain and France over territorial disputes in North America. By 1756, major European powers including Prussia, Austria, Russia, and Sweden had aligned with either Britain or France, drawing much of Europe into a widespread war. The war was fought on multiple continents and involved numerous colonial conflicts between European powers and their native allies. It ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763, resulting in significant territorial changes that altered the global balance of power.

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    Global conflict.

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    The Seven Years' War began in 1754 as a conflict between Britain and France over territorial disputes in North America. By 1756, major European powers including Prussia, Austria, Russia, and Sweden had aligned with either Britain or France, drawing much of Europe into a widespread war. The war was fought on multiple continents and involved numerous colonial conflicts between European powers and their native allies. It ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763, resulting in significant territorial changes that altered the global balance of power.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as txt, pdf, or txt
    106 views2 pages

    Seven Years War

    Uploaded by

    Bob
    The Seven Years' War began in 1754 as a conflict between Britain and France over territorial disputes in North America. By 1756, major European powers including Prussia, Austria, Russia, and Sweden had aligned with either Britain or France, drawing much of Europe into a widespread war. The war was fought on multiple continents and involved numerous colonial conflicts between European powers and their native allies. It ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763, resulting in significant territorial changes that altered the global balance of power.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as txt, pdf, or txt
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    Summary[edit]

    Conflict between Great Britain and France broke out in 17541756 when the British
    attacked disputed French positions in North America, starting with a British ambush
    of a small French force at the Battle of Jumonville Glen on 28 May 1754, and
    extended across the colonial boundaries and the seizure of hundreds of French
    merchant ships at sea. Meanwhile, rising power Prussia was struggling with Austria
    for dominance within and outside the Holy Roman Empire in central Europe. In 1756,
    the major powers "switched partners".

    Realizing that war was imminent, Prussia preemptively struck Saxony and quickly
    overran it. The result caused uproar across Europe. Because of Austria's alliance
    with France to recapture Silesia, which had been lost in the War of the Austrian
    Succession, Prussia formed an alliance with Britain. Reluctantly, by following the
    imperial diet, which declared war on Prussia on 17 January 1757, most of the states
    of the empire joined Austria's cause. The Anglo-Prussian alliance was joined by
    smaller German states (especially the Electorate of Hanover). Sweden, seeking to
    re-gain Pomerania (most of which had been lost to Prussia in previous wars) joined
    the coalition, seeing its chance when virtually all of Europe opposed Prussia.
    Spain, bound by the Pacte de Famille, intervened on behalf of France and together
    they launched an utterly unsuccessful invasion of Portugal in 1762. The Russian
    Empire was originally aligned with Austria, fearing Prussia's ambition on the
    PolishLithuanian Commonwealth, but switched sides upon the succession of Tsar
    Peter III in 1762.

    Many middle and small powers in Europe, unlike in the previous wars, tried to steer
    clear away from the escalating conflict, even though they had interests in the
    conflict or with the belligerents, like DenmarkNorway. DenmarkNorway was,
    however, close to being dragged into the war on France's side when Peter III became
    Russian emperor and switched sides; Dano-Norwegian and Russian armies were close to
    ending up in battle, but the Russian emperor was deposed before war formally broke
    out. The Dutch Republic, a long-time British ally, kept its neutrality intact,
    fearing the odds against Britain and Prussia fighting the great powers of Europe,
    and even tried to prevent Britain's domination in India. Naples, Sicily, and Savoy,
    although sided with the Franco-Spanish alliance, declined to join the coalition
    under fear of British naval power. The taxation needed for war caused the Russian
    people considerable hardship, being added to the taxation of salt and alcohol begun
    by Empress Elizabeth in 1759 to complete her addition to the Winter Palace. Like
    Sweden, Russia concluded a separate peace with Prussia.

    The war ended with the Treaty of Paris between France, Spain and Great Britain and
    the Treaty of Hubertusburg between Saxony, Austria and Prussia, in 1763.

    The war was successful for Great Britain, which gained the bulk of New France in
    North America, Spanish Florida, some individual Caribbean islands in the West
    Indies, the colony of Senegal on the West African coast, and superiority over the
    French trading outposts on the Indian subcontinent. The Native American tribes were
    excluded from the settlement; a subsequent conflict, known as Pontiac's War, was
    also unsuccessful in returning them to their pre-war status. In Europe, the war
    began disastrously for Prussia, but a combination of good luck and successful
    strategy saw King Frederick the Great manage to retrieve the Prussian position and
    retain the status quo ante bellum. Prussia emerged as a new European great power.
    Although Austria failed to retrieve the territory of Silesia from Prussia (its
    original goal) its military prowess was also noted by the other powers. The
    involvement of Portugal, Spain and Sweden did not return them to their former
    status as great powers. France was deprived of many of its colonies and had saddled
    itself with heavy war debts that its inefficient financial system could barely
    handle. Spain lost Florida but gained French Louisiana and regained control of its
    colonies, e.g., Cuba and the Philippines, which had been captured by the British
    during the war. France and Spain avenged their defeat during the American
    Revolutionary War, with hopes of destroying Britain's dominance once and for all.

    The Seven Years' War was perhaps the first true world war, having taken place
    almost 160 years before World War I and influenced many major events later around
    the globe. The war restructured not only the European political order, but also
    affected events all around the world, paving the way for the beginning of later
    British world supremacy in the 19th century, the rise of Prussia in Germany, the
    beginning of tensions in British North America, as well as a clear sign of France's
    eventual turmoil. It was characterized in Europe by sieges and the arson of towns
    as well as open battles with heavy losses.

    Nomenclature[edit]
    In the historiography of some countries, the war is named after combatants in its
    respective theatres. In the present-day United States at the time, the southern
    English-speaking British colonies in North America the conflict is known as the
    French and Indian War (17541763). In English-speaking Canada the balance of
    Britain's former North American colonies it is called the Seven Years' War
    (17541763). In French-speaking Canada, it is known as La guerre de la Conqute
    (the War of the Conquest). Swedish historiography uses the name Pommerska kriget
    (Pomeranian War), as the SwedenPrussian involvement in 17571762 was limited to
    Pomerania in northern central Germany.[4] The Third Silesian War involved Prussia
    and Austria (17561763). On the Indian subcontinent, the conflict is called the
    Third Carnatic War (17571763).

    The war has been described as the first "world war",[5] although this label was
    also given to various earlier conflicts like the Eighty Years' War, the Thirty
    Years' War, the War of the Spanish Succession and the War of the Austrian
    Succession, and to later conflicts like the Napoleonic Wars. The term "Second
    Hundred Years' War" has been used in order to describe the almost continuous level
    of worldwide conflict between France and Great Britain during the entire 18th
    century, reminiscent of the Hundred Years' War of the 14th and 15th centuries.[6]

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