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Seven Years' War

The Seven Years' War (1756 - 1763) pitted Great Britain, Prussia and Hanover against France, Austria, Russia, Sweden, and Saxony. It was the first "world war"; most major European nations were involved, and the conflict spanned the globe with different theaters on the European continent, as well as in present day Canada, the United States, India, and the Caribbean.

Spain and Portugal were later drawn into the conflict, while a force from the neutral Netherlands was attacked in India.

The North American phase of this conflict is known in the United States as the French and Indian War. Many of the Indians (Native Americans/First Nations) sided with France although some did fight with the British. The name "Seven Years' War" is used in the United States to refer only to the European portions of the conflict (1756-1763), not the nine-year North American conflict or the Indian campaigns which lasted 15 years.

Roots

The Seven Years War may be viewed as a continuation of the War of the Austrian Succession. During that conflict, king Frederick II of Prussia had gained the rich province of Silesia. Empress Maria Theresa of Austria had only signed the peace Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in order to rebuild her military forces and to forge new alliances.

This she had done with remarkable success. The political map of Europe had been redrawn in a few years. Century old enemies France, Austria and Russia formed a single alliance against Prussia. Prussia had only the protection of Britain, which saw its Hannoverian possesion threatened by France.

The Austrian army had undergone an overhaul according to the Prussian system. Maria Theresa, whose knowledge of military affairs shamed many of her generals, had pressed relentlessly for reform. Her interest in the welfare of the soldiers had gained her their undivided respect.

The second cause for the war was formed by the heated colonial struggle between England and France.

Start of the war

The war began on May 15, 1756, when Great Britain declared war on France. Learning about the intentions of the coalition opposing him, Frederick determined to strike first. On August 29, his well prepared army crossed the frontier of Saxony.

European theatre

In the European theatre Prussia was outnumbered, but not outclassed, by her opponents. Prussia was a small state, but as one historian has remarked, it was an army with a country, not the other way around.

At the start of the war, Frederick crossed the border of Saxony, one of the smaller german States in league with Austria. The Saxon and Austrian armies were unprepared, and at the Battle of Lobositz Frederick prevented that the isolated Saxon army was relieved by an austrian army under general von Browne.

In the spring of 1757, Frederick again took the initiative by marching on Prague. After the bloody battle of Prague the Prussians started to besiege the city, but had to lift the siege after their defeat in the Battle of Kolin.

The tide turned against the Prussians, as their Hannoverian allies suffered a defeat at the hands of d'Estree (Battle of Hastenbeck), and their eastern territories were overrun by the Russians.

Despite victories, such as in the battle of Rossbach and the battle of Leuthen, 1757 saw Prussia definitely back in the defensive and getting short of manpower.

Though Frederick invaded Austria in the spring of 1858, he failed to score an important victory. In the west, the French were beaten in the battle of Rheinberg and the Battle of Krefeld.

In the east, at the Battle of Zorndorf in Prussia, a Prussian army of 25,000 men under Frederick fought to a standstill with a Russian army of 40,000 commanded by Count Fermor. The Russians withdrew from the field. In the undecided Battle of Tornow on September 25, a Swedish army repulsed six assaults by a Prussian army. On October 14, the Austrians surprised the main Prussian army at the Battle of Hochkirk. Frederick lost much of his artillery but retreated in good order.

1759 saw some severe Prussian defeats. At the battle of Kay, or Paltzig, the Russian count Saltikov with 70,000 Russians defeated 26,000 Prussian commanded by general von Wedell. Though the Hanoverians defeated an army of 60,000 French at Minden, Frederick lost half his army in the battle at Kunersdorf. In the Battle of Maxen, Austrian general Daun forced the surrender of an entire Prussian corps of 13,000 men.

1760 brought even more disaster to the Prussians. Prussian general Fouque was defeated in the Battle of Landshut. The French captured Marburg, the Swedes part of Pommerania. The Hannoverians were victorious over the French at the Battle of Marburg, but the Austrians captured Glatz in Silesia. In the Battle of Liegnitz Frederick scored a victory despite being outnumbered three to one. The Russians under General Totleben and Austrians under General Lacy briefly occupied Berlin. The end of the year saw Frederick once more victorious in the battle of Torgau.

1761 brought a new country into the war. Spain declared war on England on January 4. In the Battle of Villinghausen Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick defeated a 92,000 men French army. The Russians captured more area in Pommerania, while the Austrians captured Schweidnitz.

England now threatened to withdraw her subsidies, and as the Prussian armies had dwindled to 60,000 men the end seemed very near. But a turn of fortune was already at hand. On the 5th of January 1762 the tsarina died, and her successor, Peter III, at once offered peace.

The final major battle between Prussia and Austria was the Battle of Freiburg, fought on October 29 1762.

Colonial theatre

Great Britain battled France across India, North America, Europe, the Caribbean isles, the Philippines and coastal Africa. During the 1750s up to 1763, Great Britain gained enormous areas of land and influence at the expense of the French. Robert Clive ran the French from India, and General James Wolfe defeated the French forces of General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and so conquered Canada (New France).

Peace

The British-French hostilities were ended by the Treaty of Paris, which involved a complex series of land exchanges. France was given the choice of keeping either New France or their islands in the Caribbean, and chose the latter to retain their source of sugar. This suited the British as well, as their own Caribbean islands already supplied ample sugar, but with the handover of New France they gained control of all lands in North America east of the Mississippi River. Spain lost control of Florida to Britain, but took control of New Orleans and the Louisiana Territory west of the Mississippi River from the French.

European boundaries were returned to their pre-war states, by the Treaty of Hubertusburg (February 1763). This meant that Prussia was confirmed in its possesion of Silesia. Prussia had survived the combined assault of its numerous neighbours, each larger than itself. Prussia gained enormously in influence at the cost of the Holy Roman Empire. This influence marks the beginning of the modern German state, an event at least as influential colonial empire Great Britain had gained.

From a military point of view the battles are less interesting than the numerous marches and countermarches in which Frederick excelled. This warfare of mobility would later be admired by Napoleon Bonaparte.

Battles

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Seven Years' War".