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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