Seven-Years War-European History
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was the final significant conflict involving all of the European great powers before the French Revolution. In general, Prussia, Hanover, and Great Britain were on one side, while France, Austria, Saxony, Sweden, and Russia were on the other. The War of the Austrian Succession gave rise to the conflict as the Austrian Habsburgs sought to reclaim the wealthy region of Silesia that had been taken from them by Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia (1740–48).
The French and Indian War, which took place between Great Britain and France from 1754 to 1863, and the conflict over control of India were the principal sources of dispute between these two longtime foes during the Seven Years' War. In light of this, it is possible to consider the Seven Years' War as the European theatre of a nine-year conflict between France and Great Britain. In order to save electoral Hanover, the British royal dynasty's Continental possession, from the prospect of a French takeover, Britain formed an alliance with Prussia.
The French And Indian War's Antecedents And The Diplomatic Revolution
The War of the Austrian Succession was ended by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), although it left many reasons for discontent among the countries. It did nothing to quell the Great Britain-France colonial rivalry, and by validating Frederick the Great's annexation of Silesia, it all but ensured a future war between Austria and Prussia. Russia saw the expansion of Prussia as a threat to its plans for Poland and the Baltic, but it was excluded from the negotiations.
Russia provided mercenary troops to the British under the terms of the Treaty of St. Petersburg, signed on December 9, 1747, to be used against the French in the last stages of the war. As retaliation, the French had blocked any Russian presence at the peace congress. The parties to the War of the Austrian Succession had aligned themselves in a traditional manner. Great Britain and Austria, two of France's longtime adversaries, had united, just as they had done against Louis XIV.
France had backed Prussia, the most adamantly anti-Austrian state in Germany. However, neither side saw many reasons to be happy with their alliance: British aid to Austria had not resulted in anything that was particularly helpful to the British, and British military action had not succeeded in saving Silesia for Austria.
After gaining control of Silesia, Prussia made peace with Austria, disregarding French interests. The duke of Newcastle, British secretary of state in the ministry of his brother Henry Pelham, still believed that the continuation of the Anglo-Austrian alignment beyond 1748 was crucial because France had formed a defensive alliance with Prussia in 1747.
The "diplomatic revolution" or "reversal of alliances" is the term used to describe how that system fell apart and how France and Austria and Great Britain aligned with Prussia.
The Interests Of The European Powers
The Hanoverian monarch George II of Great Britain was fervently committed to his family's Continental holdings, but his responsibilities in Germany were offset by the requirements of the British colonies abroad. Hanover needed to be protected from Franco-Prussian attack in order to continue the battle against France for colonial expansion. In a conflict with Great Britain, France was keenly interested in colonial expansion and prepared to take advantage of Hanover's weakness, but it had no desire to send troops there in favor of Prussia.
The existence of le Secret du roi, a system of private diplomacy run by King Louis XV, further complicated French affairs. Unbeknownst to his foreign minister, Louis had built up a network of agents all over Europe to pursue his own political goals, which were frequently at conflict with France's declared policies. In order to support his cousin Louis François de Bourbon, prince de Conti, Louis's ambitions for le Secret du roi included retaining Poland, Sweden, and Turkey as French client nations in opposition to Russian and Austrian interests.
Austria and Russia signed a defense alliance on June 2, 1746, protecting Poland and their own territories from attacks by Prussia or Turkey. They also consented to a covert provision that said that in the case of war with Prussia, Silesia and the countship of Glatz (now Kódzko, Poland) would be returned to Austria. However, their true goal was to completely undermine Frederick's authority, limit his influence to Brandenburg, and hand over East Prussia to Poland in exchange for the Russian annexation of the Polish duchy of Courland.
Grand chancellor of Russia under the empress Elizabeth, Aleksey Petrovich, Graf (count) Bestuzhev-Ryumin, was hostile to both France and Prussia, but he was unable to persuade Austrian statesman Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz to commit to offensive plans against Prussia as long as Prussia could count on French support.
Frederick the Great saw Saxony and Polish West Prussia to be prospective areas for expansion but knew that if he launched an aggressive campaign for them, he could not count on French help. He might be the target of an Austro-Russian attack if he sided with the French against the British in an effort to seize Hanover. Frederick Augustus II, the hereditary elector of Saxony, served as Augustus III, the elective monarch of Poland, but the two provinces were geographically separated by Brandenburg and Silesia.