The Events and Impact of the Seven Years War

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The Seven Years War was best known to those in American history as the French and Indian war. In reality, the war was much larger in scope and devastation in relation to the simple name given to it. Lasting from 1756-1763, the Seven Years War involved much of the imperial powers of that time: Prussia, England, and Portugal on one side with France, Spain, and Austria on the other. Spurred by competition for land and territory, the war implicated the two world powers, Britain and France, in a fateful battle for dominance. The period also saw the rise of important figures such as George Washington and Benedict Arnold that would later be instrumental in the American Revolution. Yet the significance of this war was that it set up the stage for events like the French and American Revolutions, and rearranged a new world order of imperialism.
In the years leading up to the Seven Years War, there were already many skirmishes in the thirteen colonies between the British and the Native American tribes in the area.1 The first official year of fighting also led to many decisive defeats to the overextended British Empire. Many small battles for dominance between the British and the French also occurred along the Indian coast. In response to the acts of expansion by the French, the British decided to defend its own territory in North America and India.2 There were many battles scattered across the world, with significant naval battles in the Indian theatre and the Mediterranean. At first, the French won many decisive battles with the aid of its allies against the British Empire. Both countries however, were relatively equal in size and power at the time, but that would soon change. The British began to turn the tide as they made significant lead...

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...ersity of North Carolina Press, 1984.
10. Fraser, Rebecca. "George III (1727-1760)." The Story of Britain. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2003.
11. Ibid.
12. Cobban, Alfred . "Historians and the Causes of the French Revolution." Aspects of the French Revolution. New York: George Braziller, 1968.
13. Hane, W. Scott. "Absolute Monarchy." The History of France. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000.
14. Ibid.
15. Fraser, Rebecca. "George III (1727-1760)." The Story of Britain. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2003.
16. Ibid.
17. Graham, Gerald S. "William Pitt and the Seven Years War." A Concise History of the British Empire. New York: Viking Press, 1970.
18. Ibid.
19. Marshall, Peter. "The British Presence in India in the 18th Century." http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/east_india_01.shtml (accessed June 8, 2014).
20. Ibid.
21. Ibid.

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