Concept

Seven Years' War

Overview

The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a global war fought by numerous great powers, primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and the Indian subcontinent. The primary warring states were Great Britain and Prussia fighting against France and Austria, with other countries joining these coalitions: Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Russia, plus Saxony and many other minor states of the Holy Roman Empire. Related conflicts include the Third Silesian War, French and Indian War, Third Carnatic War, Anglo-Spanish War (1762–1763), and Spanish–Portuguese War.

Although the War of the Austrian Succession ended with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), none of the signatories were happy with the terms, and it was generally viewed as a temporary armistice. It led to a strategic realignment known as the Diplomatic Revolution that ended the long-running rivalry between Austria and France. The two declared war on Britain after signing the Treaty of Versailles in 1756, with a second agreement in 1757 bringing Prussia into the war on the side of Britain.

Spain became a French ally in 1762, unsuccessfully invading Portugal, and losing Havana and Manila to Britain. Although these were returned under the Treaty of Paris in 1763, France lost its possessions in North America, while Britain established its commercial dominance in India.

The conflict in Europe centred on Austrian attempts to recover Silesia, and ended with the Treaty of Hubertusburg in 1763. This confirmed Prussian occupation of Silesia and its status as a great power, challenging Austria for dominance within Germany and altering the European balance of power.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

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The Russians, driven out everywhere, recrossed the Borysthenes, which separates Poland from their own country. Charles lost no time in following them; he crossed the great river after them at Mohilou, the last town in Poland, which is sometimes in the hands of the Poles, sometimes in those of the Czar, after the usual fate of…
Voltaire, Voltaire's history of Charles XII, king of Sweden
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The empire of Russia is the largest in the whole globe, extending from west to east upwards of two thousand common leagues of France,[1] and about eight hundred in its greatest breadth from north to south. It borders upon Poland and the Frozen Sea, and joins to Sweden and China.
Voltaire, The History of Peter the Great, Emperor of Russia
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The scope of the Great War furnishes an urgent as well as convenient starting point for the discussion. The extent of that war is unparalleled, because the conditions involved in it are so new. The dynastic conflicts of the seventeenth century are called by the same name: we have only one word, “war.” The sameness of the word too easily conceals from us the difference in significance. We think of all wars as much…
John Dewey, The public and its problems
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Seven Years' War

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