The Seven Years’ War: A Summary of the War Fought in the Eighteenth Century in Europe and the Rest of the World. Period, Factions and Development.
The eighteenth century was a century of almost uninterrupted conflicts. Economically, France and England were fighting to decide which of the two would succeed in replacing Holland in leading the international economy, while Spain was now completely incapable of holding on to the territories it had conquered.
The most interesting fact is that this long series of conflicts for hegemony did not slow down the process of demographic growth and did not cause in any region a collapse comparable to that which occurred in Germany during the Thirty Years’ War . The wars were triggered by political motivations.
On a technical level, eighteenth-century warfare saw numerous innovations: the first was the introduction, in 1678, of the ring or collar bayonet that was attached to the barrel of the firearm thanks to a ring; the flintlock firing mechanism was perfected, much more effective than the previous one. A war of this type required slow movements, and therefore long travel times for the troops.
Seven Years’ War: Period and Factions
The Seven Years’ War which took place from 1756-1763 saw the two great coalitions opposing each other:
- On one side, alongside France , were lined up Austria, Sweden and Russia ;
- On the other front, England allied itself with the Kingdom of Prussia .
The rulers of Vienna still held the title of emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. Unable to expand towards Germany, they directed their energies towards the south, while their state was already showing evident signs of weakness and crisis, the Turks managed to reach the gates of Vienna and were repelled by a relief expedition invited by the king of Poland. In the following years, the Austrian counteroffensive allowed the Christian reconquest of Hungary.
Following the War of the Spanish Succession, Austria obtained the Southern Netherlands and Lombardy . In Central Europe in the 18th century, Austria’s main adversary became Prussia, the first nucleus of this kingdom was the Brandenburg March, which during the 17th century managed to extend its dominions by fighting hard with Poland and Sweden. In 1701, Frederick I obtained the royal title from the entrepreneurs.
During the Seven Years’ War, the Prussian state and army were firmly and precisely directed by Frederick II , who managed to hold his own against the forces of the vast coalition formed by France, Austria, Sweden and Russia. Poland and Sweden had long imposed their power on the Russians and Germans, the territory of Poland was divided between Austria, Russia and Prussia .
Seven Years’ War: development
The Seven Years’ War has been defined by many historians as the First World War , because it was fought not only on the European continent, but also in America and Asia. The main contenders were France and England, who faced each other in North America and India, in both regions the French were defeated, while England managed to establish itself as the only European power.
In Central America, England managed to set up a base in Honduras , and to take possession of some of the richest sugar-producing islands, in Africa finally, France was forced to cede the coast of Senegal to the English. Starting with the Peace of Paris, which in 1763 sanctioned the new situation that emerged from the war.
After the English victory, the parliament was forced to impose new taxes to pay off the debts of the conflict, which also involved the American colonists and aroused their anger and hostility towards the mother country, then the colonists were forbidden to set up industries capable of competing with the British ones. At the beginning of the seventies these problems caused the revolt of the colonies of America .
