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Block 2: War of Austrian Succession
War was set off by the succession of Maria Theresa to the vast Habsburg lands centered in
Austria after the death of her father, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI. The war involved all
of Europe, with France, Prussia, Spain, Bavaria and Saxony sided against Austria and Britain,
The war spread to America, where it was known as King George's War. The first blow of the war
was struck by Frederick II of Prussia, who attacked Silesia in 1740. Frederick II was joined by
Charles Albert of Bavaria, elected Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII, who was a rival to Maria
Theresa for control of the Habsburg lands (Austria). In 1741, Charles VII invaded Bohemia and
occupied the city of Prague. Britain, under the rule of King George II, entered the war on
Austria's side, fearing a Europe that would be dominated by France.
The tide of the war turned, and in 1742 Austria invaded Bavaria, the Prussians withdrew from
the war in return for a claim over Silesia, and the French were forced into a retreat which was
ended by defeat at the battle of Dettingen. The War of Austria Succession kicked back up again
in 1744, with an alliance of Prussia, France and the Emperor Charles VII of Bavaria against
Austria. Charles VII died in 1745 which pulled Bavaria out of the war. However, the French
were victorious at the battle of Fontenoy where they defeated a combined British and Austrian
army and ended Britain's direct military intervention on the continent of Europe. The war now
started to fade away. Maria Theresa's husband Francis was elected to be the new Holy Roman
Emperor (known as Francis I), and was recognized as the new emperor by Prussia in the treaty of
Dresden in return for Austrian recognition of the Prussian control of Silesia. The war was finally
ended by the Treaty of Aix-le-Chapelle, which restored all conquered lands apart from Silesia
back to their original owners.
Block 3: Overview of the 7 Years’ War
The Seven Years’ War was made up of two main struggles. One centered on the naval and
colonial disagreement between Britain and its enemies, France and Spain; the second, on the
disagreement between Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia and his enemies: Austria, France,
Russia, and Sweden. Two other less important struggles were also worthy of note. As an ally of
Frederick II, King George II of Britain resisted French attacks in Germany in 1758. In 1762,
Spain, with the help of France, attacked Britain’s ally Portugal, but the Portuguese, thanks to
help from Britain, managed to resist successfully.
The naval and colonial war was a success for Britain, a reflection of the strength of the British
navy–itself the result of the wealth of Britain’s expanding colonial economy and the strength of
British public finances. The French planned an invasion of Britain, but their fleet of ships was
badly beat-up in defeats in 1759 at Lagos off the coast of Portugal and Quiberon Bay off the
coast of France. These naval victories allowed Britain to gain more land in the territories:
Louisbourg, Quebec, and Montreal in North America; Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Havana in
the West Indies; Manila in the Philippines; and the French military and trade bases in West
Africa. The British also won in India, capturing the major French base, Pondicherry. These
campaigns around the globe showed off and supported the size of British power.
The war in Europe began in 1756 when Frederick II of Prussia invaded Austria’s ally Saxony (in
Germany) in order to stop what he feared would be an attack on him by Austria and Russia.
Frederick II’s invasion was successful, but it helped to create a powerful union against Frederick.
Frederick II then invaded Bohemia, but the Austrians put up a strong resistance and forced him
to withdraw.
Although the country of Prussia survived the war, casualties were very heavy. Frederick II
discovered how exposed his territories were, but because they were so spread out, it allowed him
to abandon territory and thus to trade space for the vital time he needed to take advantage of
internal lines, in order to defeat his opponents one by one.
In 1757 East Prussia was invaded by the Russians, but Frederick II defeated the French at
Rossbach and the Austrians at Leuthen. In 1758 the Russians captured East Prussia, but the
bloody Battle of Zorndorf, in which Frederick II lost one-third of his army and the Russians lost
eighteen thousand men, blocked the Russian invasion of the Prussian heartland of Brandenburg.
In the following year, the Russians defeated Frederick at Kunersdorf (the Prussians lost almost
2/3 of their army); but the Russians failed to follow it up their victory by concentrated action
with Austria. In 1760-1761 the Austrians combined their position in Saxony and Silesia, while
the Russians temporarily seized Berlin and overran Pomerania. Frederick II was saved by the
death of his biggest enemy, Tsarina Elizabeth of Russia, on January 5, 1762, and the succession
of her nephew, Peter III to the throne. Frederick II was Peter III’s hero, and he quickly ordered
Russian forces to stop fighting. All alone, Austria was driven out of Silesia and forced to sign
peace at Hubertusberg on February 15, 1763, on the condition of a return to the prewar land
ownership.
Block 4: French and Indian War
The French and Indian War was the North American conflict that was part of a larger conflict
between Great Britain and France known as the Seven Years’ War. The French and Indian War
began in 1754 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The war provided Great Britain huge
gains of land in North America, but fights over later frontier laws and paying for the cost of the
war led to unhappiness in the colonies, and ultimately led to the American Revolution.
The French and Indian War came from ongoing frontier pressures in North America as both
French and British politicians and colonists wanted to expand their country’s sphere of influence
in frontier areas. In North America, the French and Indian War put France, French colonists, and
their Native American allies against Great Britain, the English colonists and the Iroquois
Confederacy of Native Americans, which controlled most of upstate New York and parts of
northern Pennsylvania. In 1753, before to the outbreak of battles, Great Britain controlled the 13
colonies up to the Appalachian Mountains, but past those mountains lay New France, a very
large, thinly settled colony that stretched from Louisiana through the Mississippi Valley and
Great Lakes to Canada.
The border between French and British lands was not well defined, and one disputed territory
was the upper Ohio River valley. The French had built a number of forts in this region in an
attempt to strengthen their claim on the territory. British colonial forces, led by lieutenant colonel
George Washington, tried to force out the French from the Ohio River Valley in 1754, but were
outnumbered and defeated by the French. When news of Washington’s failure reached British
Prime Minister, he called for a quick and undeclared counterattack. However, the Prime
Minister’s enemies in the Cabinet beat him by making the plans public, which alerted the French
government and turning a distant frontier battle into a full-scale war.
The war did not start well for the British. The British Government sent General Edward
Braddock to the colonies as commander in chief of British North American forces, but he pushed
away potential Native American allies, and colonial leaders failed to cooperate with him. On July
13, 1755 Braddock died while on a failed trip to capture Fort Duquesne in present-day
Pittsburgh. The war in North America settled into a deadlock for the next several years, while in
Europe the French won an important naval victory and captured the British possession of
Minorca in the Mediterranean Sea in 1756. However, after 1757 the war started to turn in favor
of Great Britain. The British military beat French forces in India, and in 1759 British armies
invaded and conquered Canada.
Facing defeat in North America and a weak position in Europe, the French government tied to
engage the British in peace negotiations, but British minister William Pitt wanted France to not
only give over Canada to Great Britain, but he also wanted money-making compromises that the
French government found unacceptable. After these negotiations failed, Spanish King Charles III
offered to come to the aid of his cousin, French King Louis XV, and their representatives signed
an alliance known as the Family Compact on August 15, 1761. The terms of the agreement stated
that Spain would declare war on Great Britain if the war did not end before May 1, 1762.
Originally meant to pressure the British into a peace agreement, the Family Compact ultimately
re-energized the French desire to continue the war, and caused the British government to declare
war on Spain on January 4, 1762.
Despite facing such a terrifying alliance, British naval strength and Spanish uselessness led to
British victory. British forces seized French Caribbean islands, Spanish-controlled Cuba, and the
Philippines in the Pacific Ocean. Fighting in Europe ended after a failed Spanish invasion of the
British ally Portugal. By 1763, French and Spanish ambassadors started to seek peace. In the
resulting Treaty of Paris (1763), Great Britain secured major gains in land, including all of the
French territory east of the Mississippi River, as well as Spanish-controlled Florida. The treaty
returned Cuba to Spain.
Unfortunately for the British, the fruits of victory brought seeds of future trouble with Great
Britain’s American colonies. The war had been very expensive, and the British government’s
attempts to force taxes on the colonists to help cover these expenses led to increasing colonial
anger against British attempts to expand its authority in the colonies. British attempts to limit
western expansion by colonists and the accidental start of a major war with the Native
Americans further angered the British subjects living in the American colonies. These disputes
would ultimately spur colonial rebellion that eventually developed into a full-scale war for
independence.
Block 5: Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris of 1763 (along with the companion Treaty of Hubertusburg) ended the
Seven Years’ War, the American counterpart of which was the French and Indian War.
In a nutshell, Britain emerged as the world’s leading colonial empire. Britain’s land possessions
stretched from India to Africa to the West Indies to North America. The British shocked
knowledgeable people of the day by choosing to take the barren wasteland of Canada from
France rather than the wealthy West Indian sugar islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique.
Britain made many land gains due to the war, but they could have received more. George III,
new to the throne, was fearful of the power amassed by Secretary of State William Pitt. The
king replaced him and pushed for speedy peace negotiations, preferring to give back recently
taken territories in order to end the conflict.
The following partial summary gives an indication of the worldwide scope of the changes
brought by these treaties:
FRANCE
North America
Gave Canada and all North American land east of the
Mississippi River to Britain (but not New Orleans)
North America
Gave west Louisiana (most of the present-day central United
States) and New Orleans to Spain
North America
Kept the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon (valuable fishing
islands off the coast of Newfoundland)
West Indies
Got back from Britain the islands of Guadeloupe and
Martinique in the Caribbean
West Indies
Gave Grenada and Grenadines in the Caribbean to Britain
India
Kept most posts in India, but lost almost all its influence to
Britain
Africa
Gave Senegal in Africa to Britain
Mediterranean
Gave the island of Minorca in the Mediterranean to Britain
Europe
Agreed to withdraw troops from the German states
SPAIN
North America
Gave Florida to Britain
North America
Got west Louisiana and New Orleans from France
West Indies
Got Cuba and the Philippines from Britain
Mediterranean
Gave the island of Minorca in the Mediterranean to Britain
BRITAIN
North America
Got Canada from France
North America
Got Florida from Spain
West Indies
Gave recently taken Guadeloupe and Martinique in the
Caribbean back to France
West Indies
Gave recently taken Cuba and the Philippines to Spain
West Indies
Got Grenada and the Grenadines in the Caribbean from France
India
Got extensive rights and power in India from France
Africa
Got Senegal in Africa from France
Mediterranean
Got the island of Minorca in the Mediterranean from France
and Spain