Europe 1765

Europe during the Seven Years War: 1756 to 1763

-----Background-----

Between 1650 and 1750, the greatest military power in Western Europe was France. Lead by their king Louis XIV (the Sun King) they fought a series of wars (the War of Devolution [link] , the Franco-Dutch War [link] , the 1681 annexation of Strasbourg, the War of the Reunions [link] , the War of the League of Augsburg [link] , and the War of the Spanish Succession [link] ) to expand the territories of France all the way to the Rhine. These new territories then defended by a series of star forts designed by the French engineer Vauban. During his reign, king Louis constructed the chateau of Versailles, the most ostentatious palace in all of Europe.

The 1715 Treaty of Utrecht [link] ended the War of the Spanish Succession by dividing the Spanish Empire in Europe. Britain kept the key ports of Gibraltar and Minorca, which they had captured in 1713. Savoy-Piedmont received the island of Sicily. Austria received Belgium, Milan, Naples and Sardinia. Spain was reduced in Europe to its peninsula and the Balearic Islands. But the main French goal had been accomplished, putting a Bourbon on the Spanish throne. Spain would become a junior partner to France for almost a century.

But the Spanish were not pleased with the treaty and attempted to rebuild their Empire by invading Sardinia in 1717. This sparked the War of the Quadruple Alliance [link] where the French were forced to take down the Spanish in order to prevent them from undoing the Treaty of Utrecht.

The next major conflict was the War of the Polish Succession [link] where the French used the opportunity of Austrian armies being engaged in Poland to attack the undefended Austrian possessions in Italy. It was a win for the French, Austrian power in Italy was undermined as Savoy gained strength and Austrian southern Italy was reconstituted as a Bourbon realm tied to Spain (and hence France).

France won again in the War of the Austrian Succession [link] , together with their Prussian and Spanish allies they defeated the Austrians in Silesia, Italy and Belgium.

The British increasingly looked to Prussia as their ally on the continent rather than Austria. In 1756 the Diplomatic Revolution [link] was achieved whereby the great powers of Europe were polarized into British-Prussian and French-Austrian-Russian factions.

-----The War-----

The war had technically begun in 1754 when a young George Washington attacked a French force not far from Fort Duquesne. The war didn’t begin in Europe until the French attacked the British on Minorca. To celebrate the capture of the British port of Mahon, a French chef invented a new sauce, Mayonnaise.
The Prussians began mobilizing early, invading and occupying neutral Saxony before anyone could stop them. The following year they took the fight to the Austrians, but were defeated at the battle of Kolin. French, Austrian and Russian armies closed in on Prussia from all sides. But the Prussian king Frederick the Great reversed his luck at Rossbach where he defeated the French and Leuthen where he defeated the Austrians. Halfway around the world in India the British under Robert Clive defeated the Nawab of Bengal at Plassey. This victory would begin the British domination of India.

The war continued to drag on, as Prussia fought for its life on the Continent supported by a steady stream of British gold. Everything changed in 1759. The British won the battle of Minden against the French. At the battles of Lagos and Quiberon bay the British shattered French naval power. The vital sea lanes to the rest of the world now rested with Britannia. The British also achieved the impossible with the capture of Quebec, the key to Canada. Together with other victories these events constituted an Annus Mirabilis [link] for the British, a year of miracle victories on all fronts. But 1759 was not kind to the Prussians and the war dragged on in Europe.

By 1762 the situation for Prussia looked bleak. After losing their last Baltic port to the Russians, they could no longer be supplied by sea from Britain. But then news came of the Russian Tzaress’ death [link] . The new Tzar, Peter III was a fan of Frederick the Great, and withdrew Russia from the war. No longer threatened from the East, Frederick took the fight to the Austrians, winning the battle of Freiberg. The British continued their colonial victories, capturing Spanish Havana and Manila in 1762.

Exhausted by war, peace was agreed to at the 1763 Treaty of Paris. The map of North America was redrawn as the French were removed and their territories divvied up. With new territories extending all the way to the Mississippi, the Englishmen in the 13 Colonies looked forward to moving west. They were angered by the Proclamation of 1763 [link] which forbid settlement beyond the Appalachians. This anger was exacerbated by the 1765 Stamp Act which was meant to help pay for the war. But the colonists didn’t agree and the 1767 Townshend Acts, the Tea Act and the 1774 Coercive Acts only made things worse. These colonial frustrations would become a nation.

-----Europe Series-----
1550 [link]
1618 [link]
1648 [link]
1765
1815 [link]
1914 [link]

map base and flags are courtesy of Wikipedia

2/19/12 EDIT:
map base source [link]
map base created by Alex [link]