Seven Years' War

The Seven Years' War, fought from 1756 to 1763, involved most of the major powers of the time and spanned multiple continents. The main opposing coalitions were Great Britain and Prussia against France and Austria. They were joined by Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Russia, Saxony, and numerous smaller states of the Holy Roman Empire. Several related conflicts are often grouped under this war, including the Third Silesian War, the French and Indian War, the Third Carnatic War, the Anglo-Spanish War of 1762–1763, and the Spanish–Portuguese War.

The previous conflict, the War of the Austrian Succession, had ended with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, but no major power was satisfied with the outcome. Most saw it as only a temporary truce. This dissatisfaction led to a major shift in alliances known as the Diplomatic Revolution, which ended the long-standing hostility between Austria and France. In 1756, after signing the Treaty of Versailles, France and Austria declared war on Britain. A second agreement in 1757 brought Prussia into the war on Britain’s side.

Spain entered the war as a French ally in 1762. It attempted to invade Portugal but failed, and British forces captured Havana and Manila from Spain. Under the Treaty of Paris in 1763, these territories were returned to Spain. However, France lost its North American possessions, and Britain established its commercial dominance in India.

In Europe, the fighting centered on Austria’s attempts to reclaim the province of Silesia. The conflict there ended with the Treaty of Hubertusburg in 1763, which confirmed Prussian control of Silesia. This treaty also recognized Prussia as a major power, challenging Austria’s influence within Germany and shifting the European balance of power.

**Background**

**In North America** During the 1750s, the border between British and French territories in North America was largely unclear. France claimed the entire Mississippi River basin, a claim Britain disputed. In the early 1750s, France began building a line of forts in the Ohio River Valley to reinforce its claim and to limit British influence over Native American tribes. British colonists, whose settlements were expanding westward, were alarmed by the French presence near their borders. They feared the French would encourage Native American allies to attack them, and they also wanted access to the fertile Ohio Valley for the growing number of settlers seeking farmland.

The most important planned French fort was at the Forks of the Ohio, where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet to form the Ohio River, in what is now Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Peaceful British efforts to stop the construction failed, and the French built Fort Duquesne there. In response, British colonial militia from Virginia, led by George Washington and accompanied by Chief Tanacharison and a small group of Mingo warriors, was sent to drive them out. On May 28, 1754, they ambushed a small French force at Jumonville Glen, killing ten men, including the commander Joseph Coulon de Jumonville. The French retaliated by attacking Washington’s force at Fort Necessity on July 3, 1754, forcing him to surrender. These clashes were the first battles of what would become the global Seven Years’ War.

After learning of the fighting, Britain and France made no attempt to negotiate a settlement. Both nations eventually sent regular troops to North America to enforce their claims. The first British action was an assault on Acadia on June 16, 1755, at the Battle of Fort Beauséjour, followed immediately by the expulsion of the Acadians. In July, British Major General Edward Braddock led about 2,000 regulars and provincial militia on an expedition to retake Fort Duquesne, but the campaign ended in a disastrous defeat. Meanwhile, Admiral Edward Boscawen fired on the French ship *Alcide* on June 8, 1755, capturing it and two troop ships. In September 1755, British colonial and French forces fought the inconclusive Battle of Lake George.

Beginning in August 1755, the British navy harassed French shipping, seizing hundreds of ships and capturing thousands of merchant seamen, even though the two countries were nominally at peace. Angered, France prepared to attack Hanover, whose prince-elector was also the King of Great Britain and Minorca. Britain then signed a treaty with Prussia, which agreed to protect Hanover. In response, France formed an alliance with its longtime enemy Austria—the event known as the Diplomatic Revolution.

**In Europe** During the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748), King Frederick II of Prussia had seized the wealthy province of Silesia from Austria. Empress Maria Theresa of Austria signed the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 to buy time to rebuild her military and forge new alliances. That war had seen the traditional alignment of Britain and Austria against France, with Prussia (the leading anti-Austrian German state) supported by France. Neither side was satisfied with its partnership: British subsidies to Austria yielded little benefit, and British military efforts did not save Silesia for Austria. Prussia, having secured Silesia, made peace with Austria without regard for French interests. Even so, France concluded a defensive alliance with Prussia in 1747, and the Duke of Newcastle, British secretary of state, considered maintaining the Anglo-Austrian alliance after 1748 essential. The collapse of that system, and the realignment of France with Austria and Britain with Prussia, is what is known as the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756. In 1756, Austria began its campaign to recover Silesia.