Causes Of The Seven Years War

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France and England had been fighting off and on since 1066. In the seventeenth century that fighting had extended to their colonies as well, and in the eighteenth century it would escalate even more. As the century progressed their rivalry extended beyond America to India, where the two European powers fought for control of the Indian subcontinent. The final conflict, known as the Seven Years' War (1756-63) in Europe, and the French and Indian War in North America. Britain emerged victorious everywhere, winning some of the greatest military victories of her history, and claimed the rewards of those victories. Other powers involved in the Seven Years' War included Prussia, Portugal, Spain, Austria, Russia, and Sweden. The Seven Years' War was fought in Europe, in India, in North America, in the Caribbean and even in the Philippines, which allows it to be considered the first world war.
There were long periods of peace in Europe between 1715 and 1792. There was sporadic warfare "against the Turks and small-scale fighting in Poland." The chief source of conflicts between major states was the disturbance caused by the rising military power of Prussia under the leadership of Frederick the Great. The War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48) and the Seven Years' War (1756-63) both originated in Frederick's expansionist ambitions and provided him with opportunities to establish a reputation as an outstanding military leader. During this time, warfare changed. The sieges and fixed fortifications which had been so prevalent, were now on the decline. Instead, thoughtful commanders worked on combining infantry, cavalry, field artillery, and light skirmishing troops. This aggressive style of fighting was marked by sweeping maneuver...

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...ions. Both sides had suffered around 30 percent casualties, and on September 1, the Russians withdrew. This allowed Frederick to claim a strategic victory, and state "It is easier to kill these Russians to the last man than to defeat them."
Britain and France were the major colonial powers of the 18th century, and their rivalry gave European conflicts global scope. Engaged on opposing sides in the Seven Years' War in Europe, the British and French also fought each another in India and North America. The global scale of the Seven Years' War allows it to be considered the first world war. The result was a massive defeat for France, but when Britain's North American colonies rebelled, the American Revolutionary War in 1775, the French gained some revenge. France's entry into the conflict as an ally of the colonists virtually guaranteed the success of a rebellion.

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