Seven Years War definition of Seven Years War in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Seven Years War, 1756–63, worldwide war fought in Europe, North America, and India between France, Austria, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, and (after 1762) Spain on the one side and Prussia, Great Britain, and Hanover on the other.

Nature of the War

The struggle was complex in its origin and involved two main distinct conflicts—the colonial rivalry between France and England and the struggle for supremacy in Germany between the house of Austria and the rising kingdom of Prussia. It was preluded in America by the outbreak of the last of the French and Indian Wars French and Indian Wars, 1689–1763, the name given by American historians to the North American colonial wars between Great Britain and France in the late 17th and the 18th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. and in India by fighting among native factions and the struggle there between the French governor Dupleix Dupleix, Joseph François , 1697–1763, French colonial administrator in India. He went to India in 1721 as an officer of the French East India Company.
..... Click the link for more information. and the British statesman Robert Clive Clive, Robert, Baron Clive of Plassey , 1725–74, British soldier and statesman. He went to India in 1743 as a clerk for the British East India Company and entered the military service of the company in 1744; he soon distinguished himself in the fighting against
..... Click the link for more information. .

The War of the Austrian Succession Austrian Succession, War of the, 1740–48, general European war. Causes of the War

The war broke out when, on the strength of the pragmatic sanction of 1713, the Austrian archduchess Maria Theresa succeeded her father, Holy Roman Emperor
..... Click the link for more information. (1740–48) had left Austria humiliated. Seeking to recover Silesia from Prussia, Empress Maria Theresa Maria Theresa , 1717–80, Austrian archduchess, queen of Bohemia and Hungary (1740–80), consort of Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and dowager empress after the accession (1765) of her son, Joseph II.
..... Click the link for more information. even before the conclusion of that war had secured the alliance of Elizabeth Elizabeth, 1709–62, czarina of Russia (1741–62), daughter of Peter I and Catherine I. She gained the throne by overthrowing the young czar, Ivan VI, and the regency of his mother, Anna Leopoldovna.
..... Click the link for more information. of Russia. In the years following the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), Kaunitz Kaunitz, Wenzel Anton, Fürst von , 1711–94, Austrian statesman. He distinguished himself as a negotiator of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) and was (1750–53) ambassador to Paris.
..... Click the link for more information. , as Austrian ambassador to France and then as chancellor, worked for a rapprochement with France.

The War Begins

In 1755, when hostilities broke out in North America, George II, king of England and elector of Hanover, negotiated the Treaty of Westminster with Frederick II Frederick II or Frederick the Great, 1712–86, king of Prussia (1740–86), son and successor of Frederick William I. Early Life

..... Click the link for more information. of Prussia, who guaranteed the neutrality of Hanover. This event hastened the alliance (1756) of France and Austria, sometimes called the "diplomatic revolution." Shortly afterward Frederick II opened hostilities by invading Saxony. In Jan., 1757, war was declared on the aggressor in the name of the Holy Roman Empire. Austria concluded alliances with France and Russia and was joined by Sweden. The main European phase of the war began with the Prussian invasion of Bohemia early in 1757.

Conduct of the War

Victorious at first, Frederick was severely defeated by the Austrians under Daun at Kolin (June, 1757) and had to evacuate Bohemia. The fighting was carried into Saxony and Silesia, where Frederick gained the great victories of Rossbach (Nov., 1757) and Leuthen (Dec., 1757) over the French and Austrians. The Russians, who had invaded Prussia, were defeated by Frederick at Zorndorf (Aug., 1758). The English and Hanoverians, at first unsuccessful against the French in NW Germany, began a vigorous effort when William Pitt (later earl of Chatham Chatham, William Pitt, 1st earl of , 1708–78, British statesman, known as the Great Commoner. Proud, dramatic, and patriotic, Chatham excelled as a war minister and orator.
..... Click the link for more information. ) came into power; the troops then won the victories of Krefeld (June, 1758) and Minden (Aug., 1759).

However, Frederick soon found himself in an almost desperate situation. He was badly beaten by Daun at Kunersdorf (Aug., 1759) and in Nov., 1759, Daun captured a Prussian army of 13,000 at Maxen. In Oct., 1760, the Russians took Berlin. Days later, as Frederick's army approached, they evacuated it, and in November Frederick defeated Daun at Torgau. Nonetheless, his situation remained critical, especially after the fall of Pitt (1761) deprived him of British subsidies. The death (Jan., 1762) of Elizabeth of Russia and the accession of Peter III Peter III, 1728–62, czar of Russia (1762), son of Charles Frederick, dispossessed duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and of Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great. He succeeded to the throne on the death of his aunt, Czarina Elizabeth.
..... Click the link for more information. , Frederick's ardent admirer, helped save him from defeat.

Peace

By the Treaty of St. Petersburg (1762) Russia made peace and restored all conquests; Sweden made peace in the same year. Now fighting alone in the east, the Austrians were soundly defeated at Burkersdorf (July, 1762). The French, too, had suffered severe reverses. In America they had lost Louisburg (1758), Quebec (1759), and some possessions in the West Indies; in India, the British victories at Plassey (1757) and Pondichéry (now Puducherry; 1761) had destroyed French power; on the sea, the French took Port Mahón from the British (1757) but were defeated by Hawke in Quiberon Bay (1759). The entry of Spain into the war under the terms of the Family Compact of 1761 was of little help to France, where the war had never been popular.

After protracted negotiations between the war-weary powers, peace was made (Feb., 1763) among Prussia, Austria, and Saxony at Hubertusburg Hubertusburg, Peace of , 1763, treaty signed on Feb. 15 between Austria and Prussia at the end of the Seven Years War. It was signed at Hubertusburg, Saxony (in present-day E Germany), a castle (built 1721–33) then used as a hunting lodge by the electors of
..... Click the link for more information. , and among England, France, and Spain at Paris (see Paris, Treaty of Paris, Treaty of, any of several important treaties, signed at or near Paris, France. The Treaty of 1763

The Treaty of Paris of Feb. 10, 1763, was signed by Great Britain, France, and Spain.
..... Click the link for more information. , 1763). The treaty of Hubertusburg, though it restored the prewar status quo, marked the ascendancy of Prussia as a leading European power. Through the Treaty of Paris, Great Britain emerged as the world's chief colonial empire, which was its primary goal in the war, and France lost most of its overseas possessions. For Russia the Seven Years War was the first great venture into purely European affairs.

Bibliography

See studies by L. J. Oliva (1964), R. Savory (1966), and H. H. Kaplan (1968).

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No references found			95 Hardcover G246 This detailed account of Cook's early naval career, the period of 13 years in the Royal Navy before his famous 1768 expedition to the Pacific, describes his service in the Seven Years War and the six years during which his was occupied surveying the coast of Newfoundland, and seeks to explain why he was chosen to captain the Endeavor. Captain Cook's war and peace; the Royal Navy years, 1755-1768 by Reference & Research Book News The satire was written just after the devastating 1755 Lisbon earthquake, which killed tens of thousands of people, and amid the Seven Years War which was ripping Europe apart. Experts celebrate French classic, with modern message by AFP / AFP Global Edition Exactly 250 years ago, during the Seven Years War, James Cook was busy charting the St Lawrence River when forces under General Wolfe scaled the river cliffs at night and captured the French fortress of Quebec. Police man is in focus; It's an open and shutter case for a ... by Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough, England)			Seven Seven against Thebes Seven Brothers Kurgans and Gorodishche Seven Churches in Asia Seven Cities of Cibola Seven Days battles Seven Days' Battles Seven Devils State Recreation Site Seven Dwarfs Seven Hills Seven Lakes State Park seven layer model Seven Liberal Arts Seven Oaks Massacre Seven Pines seven plagues, the Seven Sisters Seven Sisters Festival Seven Sleepers Seven Sleepers of Ephesus Seven That Were Hanged, The Seven Weeks War Seven Weeks' War Seven Wise Men of Greece Seven Wonders of the World Seven Years War Seven Years War of 1756–63 Seven Years War of the North 1563–70 Seven Years' War Seven, Group seven-eighths rule seven-segment display seven-tenths rule seven-thirds rule Seven-Year Industrial Training School Seven-Year School Seveneh seventeen seventeen-year locust Seventeenth Conference of the All-Union Communist Party Bolshevik Seventeenth Congress of the All-Union Communist Party Bolshevik Seventh All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers, Peasants, Red Seventh Bolshevik Seventh Chord Seventh Congress of Soviets of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics seventh heaven seventh son Seventh-day Adventists Seventh-Day Baptists seventy seventy-five-degree line			Seven stars Seven Stars in Paradise Seven Starz Seven Summits Trader Seven That Were Hanged, The Seven tongues of fire Seven tongues of fire Seven tongues of fire Seven Tongues of God Seven Tools Of The Bandit Seven Transmembrane Domain Receptor Seven United Provinces Seven Valleys Health Coalition Seven virtues Seven virtues Seven Weeks War Seven Weeks' War Seven Wise Men of Greece Seven wonders of ancient world Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Seven Wonders of the World Seven Wonders of the World Seven Words You Can't Say On TV Seven year itch Seven Year Night Seven Year's War Seven Year's War Seven Years in Tibet Seven Years War Seven Years War Association Seven Years War of 1756–63 Seven Years War of the North 1563–70 Seven Years' War Seven Years' War Seven Years' War Seven, Group Seven-Branch Candlestick Seven-Branch Candlestick seven-day seven-day wonder seven-day wonder seven-day wonder seven-eighths rule Seven-Eleven Japan Seven-five-three Seven-Five-Three Festival seven-fold Seven-layer model Seven-layer OSI model seven-membered seven-segment digit seven-segment digit Seven-segment display Seven-segment display Seven-segment indicator Seven-segment indicator Seven-shooter seven-sided seven-spot