Spain became a French ally in 1762, unsuccessfullyinvadingPortugal, as well as losingHavana andManila to Britain. Although these were returned under theTreaty of Paris (1763), France lost its possessions in North America, while Britain established its commercial dominance inIndia.
The conflict in Europe centred on Austrian attempts to recoverSilesia, and ended with theTreaty of Hubertusburg in 1763. This confirmed Prussian occupation of Silesia and its status as a great power, challenging Austria for dominance withinGermany and altering theEuropean balance of power.
The boundary between British and French possessions in North America was largely undefined in the 1750s. France had long claimed the entireMississippi River basin. This was disputed by Britain. In the early 1750s the French began constructing a chain of forts in theOhio River Valley to assert their claim and shield the Native American population from increasing British influence.
The British settlers along the coast were upset that French troops would now be close to the western borders of their colonies. They felt the French would encourage their tribal allies among the North American natives to attack them. Also, the British settlers wanted access to the fertile land of the Ohio River Valley for the new settlers that were flooding into the British colonies seeking farmland.[12]
The most important French fort planned was intended to occupy a position at "the Forks", where theAllegheny andMonongahela rivers meet to form the Ohio River in present-dayPittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Peaceful British attempts to halt this fort construction were unsuccessful, and the French proceeded to build the fort they namedFort Duquesne. British colonial militia from Virginia accompanied by ChiefTanacharison and a small number ofMingo warriors were sent to drive them out. Led byGeorge Washington, they ambushed a small French force atJumonville Glen on 28 May 1754 killing ten, including commanderJoseph Coulon de Jumonville.[13] The French retaliated by attacking Washington's army atFort Necessity on 3 July 1754 and forced Washington to surrender.[14] These were the first engagements of what would become the worldwide Seven Years' War.
Britain and France did not negotiate a solution after receiving news about the clash. The two countries eventually sent regular troops to North America to enforce their claims. The first British action was the assault onAcadia on 16 June 1755 in theBattle of Fort Beauséjour,[15] which was immediately followed by theirexpulsion of the Acadians.[16] In July, British Major GeneralEdward Braddock led about 2,000 regular army troops and provincial militia on an expedition to retake Fort Duquesne, butthe expedition ended in disastrous defeat.[17] In further action, AdmiralEdward Boscawen fired on the French shipAlcideon 8 June 1755, capturing it and two troop ships. In September 1755, British colonial and French troops met in the inconclusiveBattle of Lake George.[18]
The British navy harassed French shipping beginning in August 1755, seizing hundreds of ships and capturing thousands of merchant seamen even though the two nations were nominally at peace. Incensed, France prepared to attack Hanover, whoseprince-elector was also the King of Great Britain andMinorca. Britain concluded a treaty with Prussia in which the latter agreed to protect Hanover. In response France concluded an alliance with its long-time enemy Austria, an event known as theDiplomatic Revolution.[citation needed]
The War of the Austrian Succession had seen the belligerents aligned on a time-honoured basis. France's traditional enemies,Great Britain andAustria, had coalesced just as they had done againstLouis XIV.Prussia, the leading anti-Austrian state in Germany, had been supported by France. Neither group, however, found much reason to be satisfied with its partnership: British subsidies to Austria produced nothing of much help to the British, while the British military effort had not saved Silesia for Austria. Prussia, having secured Silesia, came to terms with Austria in disregard of French interests. Even so, France concluded a defensive alliance with Prussia in 1747, and theDuke of Newcastle, British secretary of state in the 1743–1754 ministry of his brotherHenry Pelham, deemed the maintenance of theAnglo-Austrian alignment after 1748 as essential. The collapse of that system and the aligning of France with Austria and of Great Britain with Prussia constituted what is known as the "Diplomatic Revolution" of 1756.
In 1756 Austria was making military preparations for war with Prussia and pursuing an alliance with Russia for this purpose. On 2 June 1746, Austria and Russia had signed the1746 Treaty of Saint Petersburg [ru],[20]a defensive alliance that covered their own territories andPoland against attack by Prussia or by theOttoman Empire. Vienna and Saint Petersburg also agreed to a secret clause that promised the restoration of Silesia and of the countship of Glatz (nowKłodzko, Poland) to Austria in the event of hostilities with Prussia. Their real desire, however, was to destroy Frederick's power altogether, reducing his sway to hisElectorate of Brandenburg and givingEast Prussia to Poland in exchange for the cession of the PolishDuchy of Courland to Russia.Alexey Bestuzhev-Ryumin, grand chancellor of Russia from 1744 to 1758 under EmpressElizabeth, was hostile both to France and to Prussia, but he could not persuade Austrian statesmanWenzel Anton von Kaunitz to commit to offensive designs against Prussia so long as Prussia was able to rely on French support.
The Hanoverian KingGeorge II of Great Britain was passionately devoted to his family's continental holdings, but his commitments in Germany were counterbalanced by the demands of the British colonies overseas. If war against France for colonial expansion were to resume, then Hanover had to be secured against Franco-Prussian attack. France was very much interested in colonial expansion and was willing to exploit the vulnerability of Hanover in war against Great Britain, but it had no desire to divert forces to Central Europe for Prussia's interest.
French policy was, moreover, complicated by the existence of theSecret du Roi—a system of private diplomacy conducted by King Louis XV. Unbeknownst to his foreign minister, Louis had established a network of agents throughout Europe with the goal of pursuing personal political objectives that were often at odds with France's publicly stated policies. Louis's goals forle Secret du roi included the Polish crown for his kinsmanLouis François de Bourbon, Prince of Conti, and the maintenance of Poland, Sweden, and the Ottoman Empire as French allies in opposition to Russian and Austrian interests.
Frederick sawSaxony andPolish West Prussia as potential fields for expansion, but could not expect French support if he started an aggressive war for them. If he joined the French against the British in the hope of annexing Hanover, he might fall victim to an Austro-Russian attack. The hereditary elector of Saxony,Frederick Augustus II, was also elective King of Poland as Augustus III, but his two territories were physically separated by the Prussian possessions of Brandenburg and Silesia. Neither Saxony nor Poland could pose as a great power: Saxony was merely a buffer between Prussia andAustrian Bohemia, whereas Poland, despite its union with the ancient lands of theGrand Duchy of Lithuania, was prey to pro-French and pro-Russian factions. A Prussian scheme for compensating Frederick Augustus with Bohemia in exchange for Saxony presupposed further spoliation of Austria.
In the attempt to satisfy Austria at the time, in the1764 imperial election Britain gave the Hanoverian electoral vote to support the candidacy of Maria Theresa's son,Joseph II, as theHoly Roman Emperor (r. 1765–1790), much to the dismay of Frederick and Prussia. In 1751 Britain joined the Austro-Russian alliance,[21]but complications arose. Britain's basic framework for the alliance itself was to protect Hanover's interests against France. At the same time, Kaunitz kept approaching the French in the hope of establishing just such an alliance with Austria. Not only that, France had no intention to ally with Russia, who, years earlier, had meddled in France's affairs during Austria's succession war. France also saw the dismemberment of Prussia as threatening to the stability of Central Europe.
Years later, Kaunitz kept trying to establish France's alliance with Austria. He tried as hard as he could to avoid Austrian entanglement in Hanover's political affairs, and was even willing to trade theAustrian Netherlands for France's aid in recapturing Silesia. Frustrated by this behaviour and by theDutch Republic's insistence on neutrality, Britain soon turned to Russia. On 30 September 1755, Britain pledged financial aid to Russia in order to station 50,000 troops on the Livonian-Lithuanian border, so they could defend Britain's interests in Hanover immediately. Bestuzhev, assuming the preparation was directed against Prussia, was more than happy to accede to the request of the British. Unbeknownst to the other powers, King George II also made overtures to the Prussian king, Frederick, who, fearing the Austro-Russian intentions, was also desirous of a rapprochement with Britain. On 16 January 1756, theConvention of Westminster was signed, whereby Britain and Prussia promised to aid one another; the parties expressed a wish to achieve lasting peace and stability in Europe.
The carefully coded words in the agreement proved no less catalytic for the other European powers. The results were absolute chaos. Empress Elizabeth of Russia expressed outrage at British duplicity. Not only that, but France was enraged and terrified by the sudden betrayal by its only ally, Prussia. Austria, particularly Kaunitz, used this situation to their utmost advantage. Now-isolated France was forced to accede to the Austro-Russian alliance or face ruin. Thereafter, on 1 May 1756, France and Austria signed theFirst Treaty of Versailles, in which both nations pledged 24,000 troops to defend each other in the case of an attack. This diplomatic revolution proved to be an important cause of the war; although both treaties were ostensibly defensive in nature, the actions of both coalitions made the war virtually inevitable.
The Seven Years' War, like most European wars of the eighteenth century, was fought as a so-calledcabinet war in which disciplinedregular armies were equipped and supplied by the state to conduct warfare on behalf of the sovereign's interests. Occupied enemy territories were regularly taxed and extorted for funds, but large-scale atrocities against civilian populations were rare compared with conflicts in the previous century.[24]Military logistics was the decisive factor in many wars, as armies had grown too large to support themselves on prolonged campaigns by foraging and plunder alone. Military supplies were stored in centralisedmagazines and distributed bybaggage trains that were highly vulnerable to enemy raids.[25] Armies were generally unable to sustain combat operations during winter and normally establishedwinter quarters in the cold season, resuming their campaigns with the return of spring.[22]
The leading members of the first coalition were Britain and Prussia. Aside from Prussia, seven minor German states within the Holy Roman Empire allied with the United Kingdom and operated under British command and subsidies during the war. They consisted ofHanover (in personal union with the British crown since 1714),Hesse-Kassel,Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel,Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg,Würzburg,Ansbach, andSchaumburg-Lippe. Discounting Hanoverian troops who later entered the British army, these seven states contributed nearly 50,000 troops over the course of the war, a very high number for their small populations (almost half of these, 21,756 men, came from Hessen-Kassel).[26] Portugal later joined the coalition after being invaded by Spain in 1762. Russia was briefly part of the coalition, placing 20,000 of its troops under Frederick's command in Silesia and threatening Austria's eastern flank by marching 45,000 troops into Mecklenburg following Peter III's ascension in January 1762, but exited the war after his death a few months later.[27] Various minor Native American polities also fought alongside the British during thecontinental North American theater, such as theIroquois Confederacy, while others such as theWabanaki Confederacy sided with the French.
The leading members of the second coalition were France and the Habsburg Monarchy (also known as the Austrian Monarchy), with Sweden joining in 1756 and Spain in 1762. Russia was initially the third major member of the coalition and fought heavily for most of the war but switched sides in early 1762 and withdrew by late 1762. The Habsburgs' territory (including Austria itself as well asBohemia, theAustrian Netherlands,andpartof Imperial Italy) was mostly within the Holy Roman Empire and other states of the HRE joined the Habsburgs, formally the HRE's sovereigns. The Habsburgs had successfully rallied the Imperial Diet to declareReichskrieg against Prussia, freeing Frederick II's vassals from their obligations and allowing them to summon the Imperial Army to supplement the forces of their own hereditary lands.[28] Notable HRE states that fought alongside the Habsburgs includedSaxony,Bavaria, thePalatinate,Tuscany,[29]Modena-Reggio,Mainz,Trier,Württemberg,Zweibrücken, andAnhalt-Zerbst. These states contributed forces to theReichsarmee andKaiserliche Armee and under theKreis system. The Habsburgs viewed this as an important propaganda coup as it allowed them to present their war with Prussia as a lawful Imperial action preserving the peace of the Empire, rather than an Austrian war. The burden was not evenly distributed; Mainz for example provided 15,000 troops for both the Austrian army and theKreistruppen over the course of the war, a considerable burden for a state of about a third of a million inhabitants.[30] Thede facto independentBengal Subah also fought the British in India with French support.
Much of the HRE remained neutral in the conflict, with the largest neutral polity beingPiedmont-Savoy.
For much of the eighteenth century, France approached its wars in the same way. It would let colonies defend themselves or would offer only minimal help (sending them limited numbers of troops or inexperienced soldiers), anticipating that fights for the colonies would most likely be lost anyway.[31] This strategy was to a degree forced upon France: geography, coupled with the superiority of the British navy, made it difficult for the French navy to provide significant supplies and support to overseas colonies.[32] Similarly, several long land borders made an effective domestic army imperative for any French ruler.[33] Given these military necessities, the French government, unsurprisingly, based its strategy overwhelmingly on the army in Europe: it would keep most of its army on the continent, hoping for victories closer to home.[33] The plan was to fight to the end of hostilities and then, in treaty negotiations, to trade territorial acquisitions in Europe to regain lost overseas possessions (as had happened in,e.g., theTreaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and theTreaty of Aix-la-Chapelle). This approach did not serve France well in the war, as the colonies were indeed lost, and although much of the European war went well, by its end France had few counterbalancing European successes.[34]
British raid on French settlement of Miramichi (later calledBurnt Church, New Brunswick), 1758
The British—by inclination as well as for practical reasons—had tended to avoid large-scale commitments of troops on the continent.[35] They sought to offset the disadvantage of this in Europe by allying themselves with one or more continental powers whose interests were antithetical to those of their enemies, particularly France.[36] By subsidising the armies of continental allies, Britain could turn London's enormous financial power tomilitary advantage. In the Seven Years' War, the British chose as their principal partner the most brilliant general of the day,Frederick the Great of Prussia, then the rising power in central Europe, and paid Frederick substantial subsidies for his campaigns.[37] This was accomplished in theDiplomatic Revolution of 1756, in which Britain ended its long-standing alliance with Austria in favour of Prussia, leaving Austria to side with France. In marked contrast to France, Britain strove to prosecute the war actively overseas, taking full advantage of itsnaval power.[38][39] The British pursued a dual strategy—navalblockade andbombardment of enemy ports, and rapid movement of troops by sea.[40] They harassed enemy shipping and attacked enemy colonies, frequently using colonists from nearby British colonies in the effort. Overall, the war cost Prussia 139 million thalers; of these 58.3 million (42%) came from Prussian taxes and savings, 27 million (19%) came from British subsidies, and the rest came from either currency debasement or pillage of other northern German states, especially Saxony.[41]
The Russians and the Austrians were determined to reduce the power of Prussia, the new threat on their doorstep, and Austria was anxious to regainSilesia, lost to Prussia in theWar of the Austrian Succession. Along with France, Russia and Austria agreed in 1756 to mutual defence and an attack by Austria and Russia on Prussia, subsidized by France.[42]
William Pitt the Elder, who entered the cabinet in 1756, had a grand vision for the war that made it entirely different from previous wars with France. As prime minister, Pitt committed Britain to a grand strategy of seizing the entire French Empire, especially its possessions in North America and India. Britain's main weapon was the Royal Navy, which could control the seas and bring as many invasion troops as were needed. He also planned to use colonial forces from the thirteen American colonies, working under the command of British regulars, to invade New France. In order to tie the French army down he subsidized his European allies. Pitt was head of the government from 1756 to 1761, and even after that the British continued his strategy. It proved completely successful.[43] Pitt had a clear appreciation of the enormous value of imperial possessions, and realized the vulnerability of the French Empire.[44]
The British prime minister, theDuke of Newcastle, was optimistic that the new series of alliances could prevent war from breaking out in Europe.[45] However, a large French force was assembled atToulon, and the French opened the campaign against the British with anattack on Minorca in the Mediterranean. A British attempt at relief was foiled at theBattle of Minorca, and the island was captured on 28 June (for whichAdmiral Byng was court-martialed and executed).[46] Britain formally declared war on France on 17 May,[47] nearly two years after fighting had broken out in theOhio Country.
Frederick II of Prussia had received reports of the clashes in North America and hadformed an alliance with Great Britain. On 29 August 1756, he led Prussian troops across the border of Saxony, one of the small German states in league with Austria. He intended this as a bold pre-emption of an anticipated Austro-French invasion of Silesia. He had three goals in his new war on Austria. First, he would seize Saxony and eliminate it as a threat to Prussia, then use the Saxon army and treasury to aid the Prussian war effort. His second goal was to advance into Bohemia, where he might set up winter quarters at Austria's expense. Thirdly, he wanted to invadeMoravia from Silesia, seize the fortress at Olmütz, and advance on Vienna to force an end to the war.[48]
Accordingly, leaving Field Marshal CountKurt von Schwerin in Silesia with 25,000 soldiers to guard against incursions from Moravia and Hungary, and leaving Field MarshalHans von Lehwaldt in East Prussia to guard against Russian invasion from the east, Frederick set off with his army for Saxony. The Prussian army marched in three columns. On the right was a column of about 15,000 men under the command ofPrince Ferdinand of Brunswick. On the left was a column of 18,000 men under the command of theDuke of Brunswick-Bevern. In the centre was Frederick II, himself with Field MarshalJames Keith commanding a corps of 30,000 troops.[48] Ferdinand of Brunswick was to close in on the town ofChemnitz. The Duke of Brunswick-Bevern was to traverseLusatia to close in onBautzen. Meanwhile, Frederick and Keith would make forDresden.
The Saxon and Austrian armies were unprepared, and their forces were scattered. Frederick occupied Dresden with little or no opposition from the Saxons.[49] At theBattle of Lobositz on 1 October 1756, Frederick stumbled into one of the embarrassments of his career. Severely underestimating a reformed Austrian army under General Maximilian Ulysses Browne, he found himself outmanoeuvred and outgunned, and at one point in the confusion even ordered his troops to fire on retreating Prussian cavalry. Frederick actually fled the field of battle, leaving Field Marshall Keith in command. Browne, however, also left the field, in a vain attempt to meet up with an isolated Saxon army holed up in the fortress at Pirna. As the Prussians technically remained in control of the field of battle, Frederick, in a masterful coverup, claimed Lobositz as a Prussian victory.[50] The Prussians then occupied Saxony; after thesiege of Pirna, the Saxon army surrendered in October 1756, and was forcibly incorporated into the Prussian army. The attack on neutral Saxony caused outrage across Europe and led to the strengthening of the anti-Prussian coalition.[51] The Austrians had succeeded in partially occupying Silesia and, more importantly, denying Frederick winter quarters in Bohemia. Frederick had proven to be overly confident to the point of arrogance and his errors were very costly for Prussia's smaller army. This led him to remark that he did not fight the same Austrians as he had during the previous war.[52][page needed]
Britain had been surprised by the sudden Prussian offensive but now began shipping supplies and £670,000 (equivalent to £116,000,000 in 2023) to its new ally.[53] Acombined force of allied German states was organised by the British to protectHanover from French invasion, under the command of theDuke of Cumberland.[54] The British attempted to persuade theDutch Republic to join the alliance, but the request was rejected, as the Dutch wished to remain fully neutral.[55] Despite the huge disparity in numbers, the year had been successful for the Prussian-led forces on the continent, in contrast to the British campaigns in North America.
On 18 April 1757, Frederick II again took the initiative by marching into theKingdom of Bohemia, hoping to inflict a decisive defeat on Austrian forces.[56] After winning the bloodyBattle of Prague on 6 May 1757, in which both forces suffered major casualties, the Prussians forced the Austrians back into the fortifications of Prague. The Prussian army thenlaid siege to the city.[57] In response, Austrian commanderLeopold von Daun collected a force of 30,000 men to come to the relief of Prague.[58] Following the battle at Prague, Frederick took 5,000 troops from the siege at Prague and sent them to reinforce the 19,000-man army under the Duke of Brunswick-Bevern at Kolín in Bohemia.[59] Daun arrived too late to participate in the battle of Prague, but picked up 16,000 men who had escaped from the battle. With this army he slowly moved to relieve Prague. The Prussian army was too weak to simultaneously besiege Prague and keep Daun away, and Frederick was forced to attack prepared positions. The resultingBattle of Kolín was a sharp defeat for Frederick, his first. His losses further forced him to lift the siege and withdraw from Bohemia altogether.[57]
Later that summer, the Russians under Field MarshalApraksin besiegedMemel with 75,000 troops. Memel had one of the strongest fortresses in Prussia. However, after five days of artillery bombardment, the Russian army was able to storm it.[60] The Russians then used Memel as a base to invadeEast Prussia and defeated a smaller Prussian force in the fiercely contestedBattle of Gross-Jägersdorf on 30 August 1757. In the words of the American historianDaniel Marston, Gross-Jägersdorf left the Prussians with "a newfound respect for the fighting capabilities of the Russians that was reinforced in the later battles of Zorndorf and Kunersdorf".[61] However, the Russians were not yet able to take Königsberg after using up their supplies of cannonballs at Memel, and Gross-Jägersdorf retreated soon afterwards.
Logistics was a recurring problem for the Russians throughout the war.[62] The Russians lacked a quartermaster's department capable of keeping armies operating in Central Europe properly supplied over the primitive mud roads of eastern Europe.[62] The tendency of Russian armies to break off operations after fighting a major battle, even when they were not defeated, was less about their casualties and more about their supply lines; after expending much of their munitions in a battle, Russian generals did not wish to risk another battle knowing resupply would be a long time coming.[62] This long-standing weakness was evident in theRussian-Ottoman War of 1735–1739, where Russian battle victories led to only modest war gains due to problems supplying their armies.[63] The Russian quartermasters department had not improved, so the same problems reoccurred in Prussia.[63] Still, the Imperial Russian Army was a new threat to Prussia. Not only was Frederick forced to break off his invasion of Bohemia, he was also now forced to withdraw further into Prussian-controlled territory.[64] His defeats on the battlefield brought still more opportunistic nations into the war. Sweden declared war on Prussia and invaded Pomerania with 17,000 men.[60] Sweden felt this small army was all that was needed to occupy Pomerania and felt the Swedish army would not need to engage with the Prussians because the Prussians were occupied on so many other fronts.
This problem was compounded when the main Hanoverian army under Cumberland, which include Hesse-Kassel and Brunswick troops, was defeated at theBattle of Hastenbeck and forced to surrender entirely at theConvention of Klosterzeven following aFrench Invasion of Hanover.[65] The convention removed Hanover from the war, leaving the western approach to Prussian territory extremely vulnerable. Frederick sent urgent requests to Britain for more substantial assistance, as he was now without any outside military support for his forces in Germany.[66]
Things were looking grim for Prussia now, with the Austrians mobilising to attack Prussian-controlled soil and a combined French andReichsarmee force underPrince Soubise approaching from the west. TheReichsarmee was a collection of armies from the smaller German states that had banded together to heed the appeal of the Holy Roman EmperorFranz I of Austria against Frederick.[67] However, in November and December 1757, the whole situation in Germany was reversed. First, Frederick devastated Soubise's forces at theBattle of Rossbach on 5 November 1757[68] and then routed a vastly superior Austrian force at theBattle of Leuthen on 5 December 1757.[69] Rossbach was the only battle between the French and the Prussians during the entire war.[67] At Rossbach, the Prussians lost about 548 men killed while the Franco-Reichsarmee force under Soubise lost about 10,000 killed.[70] Frederick always called Leuthen his greatest victory, an assessment shared by many at the time as the Austrian Army was considered to be a highly professional force.[70] With these victories, Frederick once again established himself as Europe's premier general and his men as Europe's most accomplished soldiers. However, Frederick missed an opportunity to completely destroy the Austrian army at Leuthen; although depleted, it escaped back into Bohemia. He hoped the two smashing victories would bring Maria Theresa to the peace table, but she was determined not to negotiate until she had re-taken Silesia. Maria Theresa also improved the Austrians' command after Leuthen by replacing her incompetent brother-in-law,Charles of Lorraine, with Daun, who was now a field marshal.
Calculating that no further Russian advance was likely until 1758, Frederick moved the bulk of his eastern forces to Pomerania under the command of Marshal Lehwaldt, where they were to repel the Swedish invasion. In short order, the Prussian army drove the Swedes back, occupied most ofSwedish Pomerania, and blockaded its capitalStralsund.[71]George II of Great Britain, on the advice of his British ministers after the battle of Rossbach, revoked the Convention of Klosterzeven, and Hanover reentered the war.[72] Over the winter the new commander of the Hanoverian forces,Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick (until immediately before a commander in the Prussian Army), regrouped his army and launched a series of offensives that drove the French back across theRiver Rhine. Ferdinand's forces kept Prussia's western flank secure for the rest of the war.[73]The British had suffered further defeats in North America, particularly atFort William Henry. At home, however, stability had been established. Since 1756, successive governments led byNewcastle and Pitt had fallen. In August 1757, the two men agreed to a political partnership and formed acoalition government that gave new, firmer direction to the war effort. The new strategy emphasised both Newcastle's commitment to British involvement on the continent, particularly in defence of its German possessions, and Pitt's determination to use naval power to seizeFrench colonies around the globe. This "dual strategy" would dominate British policy for the next five years.
Between 10 and 17 October 1757, a Hungarian general, CountAndrás Hadik, serving in the Austrian army, executed what may be the most famoushussar action in history. When the Prussian king, Frederick, was marching south with his powerful armies, the Hungarian general unexpectedly swung his force of 5,000, mostly hussars, around the Prussians and occupied part of their capital, Berlin, for one night.[74] The city was spared for a negotiated ransom of 200,000 thalers.[74] When Frederick heard about this humiliating occupation, he immediately sent a larger force to free the city. Hadik, however, left the city with his hussars and safely reached the Austrian lines. Subsequently, Hadik was promoted to the rank of marshal in the Austrian Army.
In early 1758, Frederick launched an invasion ofMoravia and laid siege to Olmütz (nowOlomouc, Czech Republic).[75] Following an Austrian victory at theBattle of Domstadtl that wiped out a supply convoy destined for Olmütz, Frederick broke off the siege and withdrew from Moravia. It marked the end of his final attempt to launch a major invasion of Austrian territory.[76] In January 1758, the Russians invadedEast Prussia, where the province, almost denuded of troops, put up little opposition.[67] East Prussia had been occupied by Russian forces over the winter and would remain under their control until 1762, although it was far less strategically valuable to Prussia than Brandenburg or Silesia. In any case, Frederick did not see the Russians as an immediate threat and instead entertained hopes of first fighting a decisive battle against Austria that would knock them out of the war.
In April 1758, the British concluded theAnglo-Prussian Convention with Frederick in which they committed to pay himan annual subsidy of £670,000. Britain also dispatched 9,000 troops to reinforce Ferdinand's Hanoverian army, the first British troop commitment on the continent and a reversal in the policy of Pitt. Ferdinand's Hanoverian army, supplemented by some Prussian troops, had succeeded in driving the French from Hanover and Westphalia and re-captured the port ofEmden in March 1758 before crossing the Rhine with his own forces, which caused alarm in France. Despite Ferdinand's victory over the French at theBattle of Krefeld and the brief occupation ofDüsseldorf, he was compelled by the successful manoeuvering of larger French forces to withdraw across the Rhine.[77]
By this point Frederick was increasingly concerned by the Russian advance from the east and marched to counter it. Just east of the Oder in Brandenburg-Neumark, at theBattle of Zorndorf (now Sarbinowo, Poland), a Prussian army of 35,000 men under Frederick on 25 August 1758, fought a Russian army of 43,000 commanded by CountWilliam Fermor.[78] Both sides suffered heavy casualties—the Prussians 12,800, the Russians 18,000—but the Russians withdrew after battle, and Frederick claimed victory.[79] The American historian Daniel Marston described Zorndorf as a "draw" as both sides were too exhausted and had taken such losses that neither wished to fight another battle with the other.[80] In the undecidedBattle of Tornow on 25 September, a Swedish army repulsed six assaults by a Prussian army but did not push on Berlin following theBattle of Fehrbellin.[81]
The war was continuing indecisively when on 14 October Marshal Daun's Austrians surprised the main Prussian army at theBattle of Hochkirch in Saxony.[82] Frederick lost much of his artillery but retreated in good order, helped by dense woods. The Austrians had ultimately made little progress in the campaign in Saxony despite Hochkirch and had failed to achieve a decisive breakthrough. After a thwarted attempt to take Dresden, Daun's troops were forced to withdraw to Austrian territory for the winter, so that Saxony remained under Prussian occupation.[83] At the same time, the Russians failed in an attempt to takeKolberg in Pomerania (nowKołobrzeg, Poland) from the Prussians.[84][page needed]
In France, 1758 had been disappointing and in the wake of this, a new chief minister, theDuc de Choiseul, was appointed. Choiseul planned to end the war in 1759 by making strong attacks on Britain and Hanover.
Prussia suffered several defeats in 1759. At theBattle of Kay, or Paltzig, the Russian CountSaltykov with 40,000 Russians defeated 26,000 Prussians commanded by GeneralCarl Heinrich von Wedel. Though the Hanoverians defeated an army of 60,000 French atMinden, Austrian generalDaun forced the surrender of an entire Prussian corps of 13,000 in theBattle of Maxen. Frederick himself lost half his army in theBattle of Kunersdorf (nowKunowice, Poland), the worst defeat in his military career and one that drove him to the brink of abdication and thoughts of suicide. The disaster resulted partly from his misjudgment of the Russians, who had already demonstrated their strength at Zorndorf and atGross-Jägersdorf (now Motornoye, Russia), and partly from good cooperation between the Russian and Austrian forces. However, disagreements with the Austrians over logistics and supplies resulted in the Russians withdrawing east yet again after Kunersdorf, ultimately enabling Frederick to re-group his shattered forces.
The year 1760 brought yet more Prussian disasters. The generalFouqué was defeated by the Austrians in theBattle of Landeshut. The French capturedMarburg in Hesse and the Swedes part ofPomerania. The Hanoverians were victorious over the French at theBattle of Warburg, their continued success preventing France from sending troops to aid the Austrians against Prussia in the east.
Despite this, the Austrians, under the command ofGeneral Laudon, captured Glatz (nowKłodzko, Poland) in Silesia. In theBattle of Liegnitz, Frederick scored a strong victory despite being outnumbered three to one. The Russians underGeneral Saltykov and Austrians underGeneral Lacy briefly occupied his capital, Berlin, in October but could not hold it for long. Still, the loss of Berlin to the Russians and Austrians was a great blow to Frederick's prestige as many pointed out that the Prussians had no hope of occupying temporarily or otherwise St. Petersburg or Vienna. In November 1760, Frederick was once more victorious, defeating the able Daun in theBattle of Torgau, but he suffered very heavy casualties, and the Austrians retreated in good order.
Meanwhile, after the battle of Kunersdorf, the Russian army was mostly inactive due mostly to their tenuous supply lines.[85] Russian logistics were so poor that in October 1759, an agreement was signed under which the Austrians undertook to supply the Russians as the quartermaster's department of the Russian Army was badly strained by the demands of Russian armies operating so far from home.[62] As it was, the requirement that the Austrian quartermaster's department supply both the Austrian and Russian armies proved beyond its capacity, and in practice, the Russians received little in the way of supplies from the Austrians.[62] At Liegnitz (nowLegnica, Poland), the Russians arrived too late to participate in the battle. They made two attempts to storm the fortress of Kolberg, but neither succeeded. The tenacious resistance of Kolberg allowed Frederick to focus on the Austrians instead of having to split his forces.
Operations of Russian army on Polish–Lithuanian territory, 1756–1763
Prussia began the 1761 campaign with just 100,000 available troops, many of them new recruits, and its situation seemed desperate.[86] However, the Austrian and Russian forces were also heavily depleted and could not launch a major offensive.[citation needed]
On the eastern front, progress was very slow. The Russian Army was heavily dependent upon its main magazines in Poland, and the Prussian Army launched several successful raids against them. One of them, led by general Platen in September resulted in the loss of 2,000 Russians, mostly captured, and the destruction of 5,000 wagons.[87][page needed] Deprived of men, the Prussians had to resort to this new sort of warfare, raiding, to delay the advance of their enemies. Frederick's army, though depleted, was left unmolested at its headquarters in Brunzelwitz, as both the Austrians and the Russians were hesitant to attack it. Nonetheless, at the end of 1761, Prussia suffered two critical setbacks. The Russians underZakhar Chernyshev andPyotr Rumyantsevstormed Kolberg in Pomerania, while the Austrians capturedSchweidnitz. The loss of Kolberg cost Prussia its last port on theBaltic Sea.[88] A major problem for the Russians throughout the war had always been their weak logistics, which prevented their generals from following up their victories, and now with the fall of Kolberg, the Russians could at long last supply their armies in Central Europe via the sea.[89] The fact that the Russians could now supply their armies over the sea, which was considerably faster and safer (Prussian cavalry could not intercept Russian ships in the Baltic) than over the land threatened to swing the balance of power decisively against Prussia, as Frederick could not spare any troops to protect his capital.[89] In Britain, it was speculated that a total Prussian collapse was now imminent.[citation needed]
Britain now threatened to withdraw its subsidies if Frederick did not consider offering concessions to secure peace. As the Prussian armies had dwindled to just 60,000 men and with Berlin itself about to come under siege, the survival of both Prussia and its king was severely threatened. Then on 5 January 1762 the Russian EmpressElizabeth died. Her Pro Prussian successor,Peter III, at once ended the Russian occupation of East Prussia and Pomerania (see: theTreaty of Saint Petersburg) and mediated Frederick's truce with Sweden. He also placed a corps of his own troops under Frederick's command. Frederick was then able to muster a larger army, of 120,000 men, and concentrate it against Austria.[87][page needed] He drove them from much of Silesia afterrecapturing Schweidnitz, while his brother Henry won a victory in Saxony in theBattle of Freiberg (29 October 1762). At the same time, his Brunswick allies captured the key town ofGöttingen and compounded this bytaking Cassel.[citation needed]
Two new countries entered the war in 1762. Britain declared war againstSpain on 4 January 1762; Spain reacted by issuing its own declaration of war against Britain on 18 January.[90] Portugal followed by joining the war on Britain's side. Spain, aided by the French,launched an invasion of Portugal and succeeded incapturing Almeida. The arrival of British reinforcements stalled a further Spanish advance, and in theBattle of Valencia de Alcántara British-Portuguese forces overran a major Spanish supply base. The invaders were stopped on the heights in front ofAbrantes (calledthe pass to Lisbon) where the Anglo-Portuguese were entrenched. Eventually the Anglo-Portuguese army, aided by guerrillas and practising ascorched earth strategy,[91][92][93] chased the greatly reduced Franco-Spanish army back to Spain,[94][95][96] recovering almost all the lost towns, among them the Spanish headquarters inCastelo Branco full of wounded and sick that had been left behind.[97]
Meanwhile, the long British naval blockade of French ports had sapped the morale of the French populace. Morale declined further when news of defeat in theBattle of Signal Hill inNewfoundland reached Paris.[98] After Russia's about-face, Sweden's withdrawal and Prussia's two victories against Austria, Louis XV became convinced that Austria would be unable to re-conquer Silesia (the condition for which France would receive the Austrian Netherlands) without financial and material subsidies, which Louis was no longer willing to provide. He therefore made peace with Frederick and evacuated Prussia's Rhineland territories, ending France's involvement in the war in Germany.[99]
Allegory of theTreaty of Hubertusburg. The text reads:Zwey Kayser und drey Könige sind nun des Krieges müde,Drum machen sie auf Gottes Winck mit Preußen Friedrich bieten friede. (Two emperors and three kings are now tired of the war, So at God's will to Prussia and Frederick they offer peace)
By 1763, the war in central Europe was essentially a stalemate between Prussia and Austria. Prussia had retaken nearly all of Silesia from the Austrians after Frederick's narrow victory over Daun at the Battle of Burkersdorf. After his brother Henry's 1762 victory at the Battle of Freiberg, Frederick held most of Saxony but not its capital, Dresden. His financial situation was not dire, but his kingdom was devastated, and his army severely weakened. His manpower had dramatically decreased, and he had lost so many effective officers and generals that an offensive against Dresden seemed impossible.[52] British subsidies had been stopped by the new prime minister,John Stuart (Lord Bute), and the Russian emperor had been overthrown by his wife,Catherine, who ended Russia's alliance with Prussia and withdrew from the war. Austria, however, like most participants, was facing a severe financial crisis and had to decrease the size of its army, which greatly affected its offensive power.[52] Indeed, after having effectively sustained a long war, its administration was in disarray.[100][page needed] By that time, it still held Dresden, the southeastern parts of Saxony, and the county of Glatz in southern Silesia, but the prospect of victory was dim without Russian support, and Maria Theresa had largely given up her hopes of re-conquering Silesia; her Chancellor, husband and eldest son were all urging her to make peace, while Daun was hesitant to attack Frederick. In 1763 a peace settlement was reached at theTreaty of Hubertusburg, in which Glatz was returned to Prussia in exchange for the Prussian evacuation of Saxony. This ended the war in central Europe.
The stalemate had really been reached by 1759–1760, and Prussia and Austria were nearly out of money. Themateriel of both sides had been largely consumed. Frederick was no longer receiving subsidies from Britain; the Golden Cavalry of St. George had produced nearly 13 million dollars (equivalent). He had melted and coined most of the church silver, had ransacked the palaces of his kingdom and coined that silver, and debased it by mixing it with copper. His banks' capital was exhausted, and he had pawned nearly everything of value from his own estate. While Frederick still had a significant amount of money left from the prior British subsidies, he hoped to use it to restore his kingdom's prosperity in peacetime; in any case, Prussia's population was so depleted that he could not sustain another long campaign.[101][page needed] Similarly, Maria Theresa had reached the limit of her resources. She had pawned her jewels in 1758; in 1760, she approved a public subscription for support and urged her public to bring their silver to the mint. French subsidies were no longer provided.[101][page needed] Although she had many young men still to draft, she could not conscript them and did not dare to resort to impressment, as Frederick had done.[102][page needed] She had even dismissed some men because it was too expensive to feed them.[101][page needed]
Great Britain planned a "descent" (anamphibious demonstration or raid) onRochefort, ajoint operation to overrun the town and burn shipping in theCharente. The expedition set out on 8 September 1757, SirJohn Mordaunt commanding the troops and SirEdward Hawke the fleet. On 23 September, theIsle d'Aix was taken, but military staff dithered and lost so much time that Rochefort became unassailable.[103] The expedition abandoned the Isle d'Aix, returning to Great Britain on 1 October.
UnderWilliam Pitt the Elder's leadership, Britain's position as the leading colonial power was confirmed by the Seven Years' War.
Despite the debatable strategic success and the operational failure of the descent on Rochefort, William Pitt—who saw purpose in this type of asymmetric enterprise—prepared to continue such operations.[103] An army was assembled under the command ofCharles Spencer; he was aided byGeorge Germain. The naval squadron and transports for the expedition were commanded byRichard Howe. The army landed on 5 June 1758 atCancale Bay, proceeded toSt. Malo, and, finding that it would take prolonged siege to capture it, instead attacked the nearby port of St. Servan. It burned shipping in the harbour, roughly 80 French privateers and merchantmen, as well as four warships which were under construction.[104][page needed] The force then re-embarked under threat of the arrival of French relief forces. An attack onHavre de Grace was called off, and the fleet sailed on toCherbourg; the weather being bad and provisions low, that too was abandoned, and the expedition returned having damaged French privateering and provided further strategic demonstration against the French coast.
Pitt now prepared to send troops into Germany; and both Marlborough and Sackville, disgusted by what they perceived as the futility of the "descents", obtained commissions in that army. The elderlyGeneral Bligh was appointed to command a new "descent", escorted by Howe. The campaign began propitiously with theRaid on Cherbourg. Covered by naval bombardment, the army drove off the French force detailed to oppose their landing, captured Cherbourg, and destroyed its fortifications, docks and shipping.
The troops were reembarked and moved to theBay of St. Lunaire in Brittany where, on 3 September, they were landed to operate against St. Malo; however, this action proved impractical. Worsening weather forced the two armies to separate: the ships sailed for the safer anchorage ofSt. Cast, while the army proceeded overland. The tardiness of Bligh in moving his forces allowed a French force of 10,000 fromBrest to catch up with him and open fire on the reembarkation troops. At theBattle of Saint Cast a rear-guard of 1,400 underDury held off the French while the rest of the army embarked. They could not be saved; 750, including Dury, were killed and the rest captured.
The colonial conflict mainly between France and Britain took place in India, North America, Europe, theWest Indies, thePhilippines, and coastal Africa. Over the course of the war, Great Britain gained enormous areas of land and influence at the expense of the French and the Spanish Empires.
Great Britain lostMenorca in the Mediterranean to the French in 1756 but capturedFort Saint Louis, the centre of the French colonies inSenegal, in 1758. More importantly, the British defeated the French in its defence ofNew France in 1759, with the fall of Quebec. The buffer that French North America had provided toNew Spain, the Spanish Empire's most important overseas holding, was now lost. Spain had entered the war after the Third Family Compact (15 August 1761) with France.[105] The BritishRoyal Navy took the French Caribbean sugar colonies ofGuadeloupe in 1759 andMartinique in 1762 as well as the Spanish Empire's main port in the West Indies,Havana in Cuba, and its main Asian port ofManilain the Philippines, both major Spanish colonial cities. British attempts at expansion into the hinterlands of Cuba and the Philippines met with stiff resistance. In the Philippines, the British wereconfined to Manilauntil their agreed upon withdrawal at the war's end.
French and British positions at the start of the War
British North America
■ New France and Allies
This Map also shows both the Iroquois and Wabanaki Confederacies, who were both influential in the war on the British and French sides respectively.
During the war, theSix Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy were allied with the British. Native Americans of the Laurentian valley—theAlgonquin, theAbenaki, theHuron and others—were allied with the French. Although the Algonquin tribes living north of the Great Lakes and along the St. Lawrence River were not directly concerned with the fate of the Ohio River Valley tribes, they had been victims of the Iroquois Confederation which included the Seneca, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Tuscarora tribes of central New York. The Iroquois had encroached on Algonquin territory and pushed the Algonquins west beyond Lake Michigan and to the shore of the St. Lawrence.[106] The Algonquin tribes were interested in fighting against the Iroquois. Throughout New England, New York and the north-west, Native American tribes formed differing alliances with the major belligerents.
In 1756 and 1757, the French capturedFort Oswego[107] andFort William Henry from the British.[108] The latter victory was marred when France's native allies broke the terms of capitulation and attacked the retreating British column, which was under French guard, slaughtering and scalping soldiers and taking captive many men, women and children while the French refused to protect their captives.[109] French naval deployments in 1757 alsosuccessfully defended the keyFortress of Louisbourg onCape Breton Island called Ile du Roi by the French, securing the seaward approaches to Quebec.[110]
British Prime Minister William Pitt's focus on the colonies for the 1758 campaign paid off with thetaking of Louisbourg after French reinforcements were blocked by a British naval victory in theBattle of Cartagena and in the successfulcapture of Fort Duquesne[111] andFort Frontenac.[112] The British also continued the process of deporting the Acadian population with a wave of major operations againstÎle Saint-Jean (present-dayPrince Edward Island), and theSt. John River and thePetitcodiac River Valleys. The celebration of these successes was dampened by their embarrassing defeat in theBattle of Carillon (Ticonderoga), in which 4,000 French troops repulsed 16,000 British. When the British led by generalsJames Abercrombie andGeorge Howe attacked, they believed that the French led by Lieutenant GeneralLouis-Joseph de Montcalm were defended only by a smallabatis which could be taken easily given the British force's significant numerical advantage. The British offensive which was supposed to advance in tight columns and overwhelm the French defenders fell into confusion and scattered, leaving large spaces in their ranks. WhenFrançois Gaston de Lévis sent 1,000 soldiers to reinforce Montcalm's struggling troops, the British were pinned down in the brush by intense French musket fire and they were forced to retreat.
All of Britain's campaigns against New France succeeded in 1759, part of what became known as anAnnus Mirabilis. Starting in June 1759, the British underJames Wolfe andJames Murray set up camp on the Île d'Orléans across the St. Lawrence River from Quebec, enabling them to commence the 3-month siege that ensued. The French under the Marquis de Montcalm anticipated a British assault to the east of Quebec so he ordered his soldiers to fortify the region ofBeauport. In July 1759,Fort Niagara[113] andFort Carillon[114] fell to sizable British forces, cutting off French frontier forts further west. On 31 July, theBritish attacked with 4,000 soldiers but the French positioned high up on the cliffs overlooking theMontmorency Falls forced the British forces to withdraw to the Île d'Orleans. While Wolfe and Murray planned a second offensive, British rangers raided French settlements along the St. Lawrence, destroying food supplies, ammunition and other goods in an attempt to vanquish the French through starvation.
On 13 September 1759, General James Wolfe led 5,000 troops up a goat path to thePlains of Abraham, 1 mile west of Quebec City. He had positioned his army between Montcalm's forces an hour's march to the east andLouis Antoine de Bougainville's regiments to the west, which could be mobilised within 3 hours. Instead of waiting for a coordinated attack with Bougainville, Montcalm attacked immediately. When his 3,500 troops advanced, their lines became scattered in a disorderly formation. Many French soldiers fired before they were within range of striking the British. Wolfe organised his troops in two lines stretching 1 mile across the Plains of Abraham. They were ordered to load their Brown Bess muskets with two bullets to obtain maximum power and hold their fire until the French soldiers came within 40 paces of the British ranks. Once the British had Montcalm's army in firing range, their volley was powerful and nearly all bullets hit their targets, devastating the French ranks. The French fled the Plains of Abraham in a state of utter confusion while they were pursued by members of the Scottish Fraser regiment and other British forces. Despite being cut down by musket fire from the Canadians and their indigenous allies, the British vastly outnumbered these opponents and won theBattle of the Plains of Abraham.[115] General Wolfe was mortally wounded in the chest early in the battle so the command fell to James Murray, who would become the lieutenant governor of Quebec after the war. The Marquis de Montcalm was also severely wounded later in the battle and died the following day. The French abandoned the city and French Canadians led by the Chevalier de Lévis staged a counteroffensive on the Plains of Abraham in the spring of 1760, with initial success at theBattle of Sainte-Foy.[116] During the subsequentsiege of Quebec, however, Lévis was unable to retake the city, largely because of British naval superiority following theBattle of Neuville and theBattle of Restigouche, which allowed the British to be resupplied but not the French. The French forces retreated toMontreal in the summer of 1760, and after atwo-month campaign by overwhelming British forces, they surrendered on 8 September, essentially ending theFrench Empire in North America. As the Seven Years War was not yet over in Europe, the British put all of New France under amilitary regime while awaiting the results. This regime would last from 1760 to 1763.
Seeing French and Indian defeat, in 1760, the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy resigned from the war and negotiated the Treaty of Kahnawake with the British. Among its conditions was their unrestricted travel between Canada and New York, as the nations had extensive trade between Montreal and Albany as well as populations living throughout the area.[117]
In 1762, towards the end of the war, French forces attackedSt. John's, Newfoundland. If successful, the expedition would have strengthened France's hand at the negotiating table. Although they took St. John's and raided nearby settlements, the French forces were eventually defeated by British troops at theBattle of Signal Hill. This was the final battle of the war in North America, and it forced the French to surrender to Lieutenant ColonelWilliam Amherst. The victorious British now controlled all of eastern North America.
Under the Treaty of Paris, Spain had to return to Portugal the settlement of Colonia do Sacramento, while the vast and rich territory of the so-called "Continent of S. Peter" (the present-day Brazilian state ofRio Grande do Sul) would be retaken from the Spanish army during the undeclared Hispano-Portuguese war of 1763–1777.[123][124][125][126]
Plan of Pondicherry, the French capital in India, taken by the British
In India, the outbreak of the Seven Years' War in Europe renewed the long running conflict between the French and the British trading companies for influence on the subcontinent. The French allied themselves with theMughal Empire to resist British expansion, but derived little benefit from this. The war began in Southern India but spread intoBengal, where British forces underRobert Clive recapturedCalcutta from theNawabSiraj ud-Daulah, a French ally, and ousted him from his throne at theBattle of Plassey in 1757. In the same year, the British also capturedChandernagar, the French settlement in Bengal.[130]
In the south, although the French capturedCuddalore, theirsiege of Madras failed, while the British commanderSir Eyre Coote decisively defeated theComte de Lally at theBattle of Wandiwash in 1760 and overran the French territory of theNorthern Circars. The French capital in India,Pondicherry, fell to the British in 1761 (it was returned after the war); together with the fall of the lesser French settlements ofKarikal andMahé this effectively eliminated French power in India.[131]
In 1758, at the urging of an American merchant,Thomas Cumming, Pitt dispatched an expedition to take the French settlement atSaint-Louis, Senegal. The Britishcaptured Senegal with ease in May 1758 and brought home large amounts of captured goods. This success convinced Pitt to launch two further expeditions to take the island ofGorée and the French trading post onthe Gambia. The battles in West Africa were ultimately a series of British expeditions against wealthy French colonies. The British and French had been competing for influence in the Gambia region following the acquisition ofJames Island in 1664 by the English from the Dutch. The loss of these valuable colonies to the British further weakened the French economy.[132]
Despite being one of the major European powers during this time, theOttoman Empire was notably neutral during the Seven Years' War. Following their military stalemate with the Russian Empire and their subsequent victory over the Holy Roman Empire (and Austria to an extent), during theAustro-Russian-Turkish War (1735–1739), and the signing of theTreaty of Belgrade, the Ottoman Empire enjoyed a generation of peace due to Austria and Russia contending with the rise of Prussia in Eastern Europe. During the war, King Frederick II of Prussia, better known to history asFrederick the Great, had made diplomatic overtures with the Ottoman Sultan,Mustafa III for years, up to the outbreak of war, to bring the empire into the war on the side of Prussia, Great Britain, and their other allies but he was unsuccessful. However, the Sultan was persuaded by his court not to join the war, primarily by his Grand Vizier,Koca Ragıb Pasha, who was quoted as saying.
"Our state looks like a majestic and mighty lion from afar. However, a closer look at this lion reveals that it has aged—its teeth have fallen out—its claws have fallen. So, let's leave this old lion to rest for a while."
Therefore, the Ottoman Empire avoided the major wars that would follow, including the Seven Years' War. The Ottoman Empire, or more accurately its leaders, recognised its internal problems. The previous wars had cost the empire greatly, both in terms of resources and finance, they were facing rebellions from nationalistic uprisings, notably from theBeyliks, and Persia had been reunited under Karim Khan Zand. That said, the Ottoman Empire would launch an abortive invasion of Hungary with 100,000 troops in 1763, contributing to the end of the war.[133]
Persia ended up under the rule of theZand dynasty during the period of the Seven Years' War. Like the Ottoman Empire, they were also neutral during the war. They had more pressing matters to attend to.Karim Khan Zand, was busy playing politics and was in the process of legitimising his claim to the Persian throne by placing a puppet king on the throne,Ismail III, the grandson of the lastSafavid king, in 1757.[134] However, by 1760, he had managed to eliminate all other potential claimants to the throne as well as Ismail III and had established himself as the head of his own dynasty, the aforementioned Zand dynasty.[135]
Christoffel Bisschop painting of Dutch merchants complaining to the regentPrincess Anne about British seizures of Dutch merchantmen in 1758
TheDutch Republic had played a central role in theFranco-Dutch War,Nine Years' War andWar of the Spanish Succession, which had proved enormously costly. As a result, the Dutch sought to remain neutral in subsequent European conflicts, successfully during theWar of the Polish Succession and unsuccessfully during War of the Austrian Succession.Pieter Steyn, thegrand pensionary ofHolland, led Dutch efforts to remain neutral in the run-up to the Seven Years' War despite the Republic's hostility towards France and alliance with Britain. The British government made an unsuccessful request forDutch troops to be sent to Britain in 1756,[n] and resistance fromAmsterdam merchants to joining the war combined with French assurances that they wanted peace with Holland led Steyn to declare the Republic's neutrality.[137][138]
Despite diplomatic issues such as British seizures of Dutch merchantmen carrying what Britain defined ascontraband, the Republic remained neutral for the duration of the war. Prussia viewed friendly relations with the Dutch as allowing them to secure their scattered possessions along the Republic's eastern border, while Britain recognised that Holland's seaports provided them with the most secure link to Hanover. The British government made plans to form a military-political bloc consisting of Britain, Hanover, Prussia and the Dutch Republic, though they came to nothing. To maintain good relations with Holland, the British eventually accepted the Republic's neutrality and agreed to stop impeding Dutch trade.[139]
During the war, France sought to respect Dutch sensitivities by limiting troop movements in the Austrian Netherlands, where the Dutch army occupied theBarrier Fortresses. The Dutch were consulted when passages were unavoidable, and issued apologies for accidental border violations.[140] The French also made plans to combine the French, Spanish, Danish and Dutch navies for a joint maritime action, though it ultimately went unrealised.[138] Unofficially, theDutch East India Company (VOC) attempted to undermine British domination in India during theThird Carnatic War. This resulted in theBattle of Chinsurah, where the VOC suffered a heavy defeat at British hands.[141]
Denmark–Norway was another neutral nation during the Seven Years War, although it could be argued[by whom?] that, due to close calls, it was a belligerent nation. It was very nearly dragged into the war on the side of France due to the actions of the Russian Empire. TsarPeter III had desired on reclaiming his title ofDuke of Holstein-Gottorp, whose lands were being overseen by the current king of Denmark-Norway,Frederick V, and was prepared to attack Denmark–Norway in order to do this. However, luckily for Denmark-Norway, the Russian emperor was deposed by his wife,Catherine II, before war could break out.[citation needed]
The Anglo-French hostilities were ended in 1763 by theTreaty of Paris, which involved a complex series of land exchanges, the most important being France's cession to Spain ofLouisiana, and to Great Britain the rest of New France. Britain returned to France the islands ofSaint Pierre and Miquelon, which had been ceded to Britain in 1714 under theTreaty of Utrecht, to assist with Frenchfishing rights. Faced with the choice of regaining eitherNew France or its Caribbean Island colonies ofGuadeloupe andMartinique, France chose the islands to retain these lucrative sources of sugar,[142] writing off New France as an unproductive, costly territory.[143] France also returned Minorca to the British. Spain lostFlorida to Great Britain, but it received from the French theÎle d'Orléans and all of the former French holdings west of theMississippi River. The exchanges suited the British as well, since their own West Indian islands already supplied ample sugar. With the acquisition of New France and Florida, they now controlled all of North America east of the Mississippi.
In India, the British retained theNorthern Circars, but returned all the French trading ports. The treaty, however, required that the fortifications of these settlements be destroyed and never rebuilt, while only minimal garrisons could be maintained there, thus rendering them worthless as military bases. Combined with the loss of France's ally inBengal and the defection ofHyderabad to the British as a result of the war, this effectively brought French power in India to an end, making way forBritish hegemony and eventual control of the subcontinent.[144]
France's navy was crippled by the war. Only after an ambitious rebuilding program in combination with Spain was France again able to challenge Britain's command of the sea.[145]
August 2009 historical re-enactment of theBattle of Warburg fought on 31 July 1760
Bute's settlement with France was mild compared with what Pitt's would have been. He had hoped for a lasting peace with France, and he was afraid that if he took too much, the whole of Europe would unite in envious hostility against Britain. Choiseul, however, had no intention of making a permanent peace, and, when France went to war with Great Britain during the American Revolution, the British found no support among the European powers.[146] France's defeat caused the French to embark upon major military reforms, with particular attention being paid to the artillery.[147] The origins of thefamed French artillery that played a prominent role in the wars of the French Revolution and beyond can to be traced to military reforms that started in 1763.[147]
The Treaty of Hubertusburg, between Austria, Prussia, and Saxony, was signed on 15 February 1763, at a hunting lodge betweenDresden andLeipzig. Negotiations had started there on 31 December 1762. Frederick, who had considered ceding East Prussia to Russia if Peter III helped him secure Saxony, finally insisted on excluding Russia (in fact, no longer a belligerent) from the negotiations. At the same time, he refused to evacuate Saxony until its elector had renounced any claim to reparation. The Austrians wanted at least to retain Glatz, which they had in fact reconquered, but Frederick would not allow it. The treaty simply restored the status quo of 1748, with Silesia and Glatz reverting to Frederick and Saxony to its own elector. The only concession that Prussia made to Austria was to consent to the election of Archduke Joseph as Holy Roman emperor. Saxony emerged from the war weakened and bankrupt; despite losing no territory, Saxony had essentially been a battleground between Prussia and Austria throughout the conflict, with many of its towns and cities (including the capital of Dresden) damaged by bombardment and looting.
Austria was not able to retake Silesia or make any significant territorial gain. However, it did prevent Prussia from invading parts of Saxony. More significantly, its military performance proved far better than during theWar of the Austrian Succession and seemed to vindicate Maria Theresa's administrative and military reforms. Hence, Austria's prestige was restored in great part and the empire secured its position as a major player in the European system.[148][page needed] Also, by promising to vote for Joseph II in the Imperial elections, Frederick II accepted the Habsburg preeminence in the Holy Roman Empire. The survival of Prussia as a first-rate power and the enhanced prestige of its king and army, however, was potentially damaging in the long run to Austria's influence in Germany. Austria now found herself estranged with the new developments within the empire itself. Besides the rise of Prussia,Augustus III, although ineffective, could muster an army not only from Saxony, but also Poland, since he was also the King of Poland as well as Elector of Saxony. Bavaria's growing power and independence was also apparent as it asserted more control on the deployment of its army, and managed to disengage from the war at its own will. Most importantly, with the now belligerent Hanover united personally underGeorge III of Great Britain, it amassed a considerable power, and even brought Britain in on future conflicts. This power dynamic was important to the future and the latter conflicts of theReich. The war also proved that Maria Theresa's reforms were still insufficient to compete with Prussia: unlike its enemy, the Austrians were almost bankrupt at the end of war. Hence, she dedicated the next two decades to the consolidation of her administration.
Prussia emerged from the war as a great power whose importance could no longer be challenged. Frederick the Great's personal reputation was enormously enhanced, as his debt to fortune (Russia's betrayal after Elizabeth's death) and to British financial support were soon forgotten, while the memory of his energy and his military genius was strenuously kept alive.[147] Though depicted as a key moment in Prussia's rise to greatness, the war weakened Prussia.[147] Prussia's lands and population were devastated though Frederick's extensive agrarian reforms and encouragement of immigration soon solved both these problems. Unfortunately for Prussia, its army had taken heavy losses (particularly the officer corps) and in the war's aftermath, Frederick could not afford to rebuild the Prussian Army to what it was before the war.[147] In theWar of the Bavarian Succession, the Prussians fought poorly despite being led by Frederick in person.[147] During the war with France in 1792–95, the Prussian Army did not fare well against revolutionary France, and in 1806, the Prussians suffered a complete defeat by the French at the Battle of Jena.[147] It was only after 1806 when Prussian government brought in reforms to recover from the disaster of Jena that Prussia's rise to greatness later in the 19th century was realized.[147] However, in the aftermath of the Seven Years' War, various nations all sent officers to Prussia to learn the secrets of Prussia's military power.[147] Prussia become one of the most imitated powers in Europe.[147]
Russia made one great invisible gain from the war: the elimination of French influence in Poland. TheFirst Partition of Poland (1772) was to be a Russo-Prussian transaction, with Austria only reluctantly involved and with France completely absent.[146] Though the war had ended in a draw, the performance of the Imperial Russian Army against Prussia had improved Russia's reputation as a factor in European politics, as many had not expected the Russians to hold their own against the Prussians in campaigns fought on Prussian soil.[147] The American historian David Stone observed that Russian soldiers proved capable of going head-on against the Prussians, inflicting and taking one bloody volley after another "without flinching", and though the quality of Russian generalship was quite variable, the Russians were never decisively defeated once in the war.[63] The Russians defeated the Prussians several times in the war, but the Russians lacked the necessary logistical capability to follow up their victories with lasting gains, and in this sense, the salvation of the House of Hohenzollern was due more to Russian weakness with respect to logistics than to Prussian strength on the battlefield.[149] Still, the fact that the Russians proved capable of defeating in battle the army of a "first-rate" European power on its own soil despite the often indifferent quality of their generals improved Russia's standing in Europe.[63] A lasting legacy of the war was that it awakened the Russians to their logistic weaknesses, and led to major reforms of the Imperial Russian Army's quartermaster department.[150] The supply system that would allow the Russians to advance into the Balkans during the war with the Ottomans in 1787–1792, Marshal Alexander Suvorov to campaign effectively in Italy and Switzerland in 1798–1799, and for the Russians to fight across Germany and France in 1813–1814 to take Paris was created directly in response to the logistic problems experienced by the Russians in the Seven Years' War.[150]
Map showing British territorial gains in North America following theTreaty of Paris in pink, and Spanish territorial gains after theTreaty of Fontainebleau in yellow
The British government was close to bankruptcy, and Britain now faced the delicate task of pacifying its new French-Canadian subjects as well as the many American Indian tribes who had supported France. In 1763,Pontiac's War broke out as a group of Indian tribes in the Great Lakes region and the Northwest (the modern American Midwest) said to have been led by the Ottawa chief Pontiac (whose role as the leader of the confederation seems to have been exaggerated by the British), unhappy with the eclipse of French power, rebelled against British rule. The Indians had long established congenial and friendly relations with the French fur traders, and the Anglo-American fur traders who had replaced the French had engaged in business practices that enraged the Indians, who complained about being cheated when they sold their furs.[151] Moreover, the Indians feared that with the coming of British rule might lead to white settlers displacing them off their land, whereas it was known that the French had only come as fur traders.[151] Pontiac's War was a major conflict in which the British temporarily lost control of the Great Lakes-Northwest regions to the Indians.[152] By the middle of 1763, the only forts the British held in the region were Fort Detroit (modern Detroit, Michigan), Fort Niagara (modern Youngstown, New York) and Fort Pitt (modern Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) with the rest all being lost to the Indians.[153] It was only with the British victory at theBattle of Bushy Run that prevented a complete collapse of British power in the Great Lakes region.[154] King George III'sProclamation of 1763, which forbade white settlement beyond the crest of the Appalachians, was intended to appease the Indians but led to considerable outrage in theThirteen Colonies, whose inhabitants were eager to acquire native lands. TheQuebec Act 1774, similarly intended to win over the loyalty of French Canadians, also spurred resentment among American colonists.[155] The Act protected Catholic religion and French language, which enraged the Americans, but theQuébécois remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolution and did not rebel.
The war also brought to an end the"Old System" of alliances in Europe.[156] In the years after the war, under the direction ofJohn Montagu (Lord Sandwich), the British attempted to re-establish this system. But after her surprising grand success against a coalition of great powers, European states such as Austria, the Dutch Republic, Sweden, Denmark–Norway, the Ottoman Empire and Russia, now saw Britain as a greater threat than France and did not join with it, while the Prussians were angered by what they considered a British betrayal in 1762. Consequently, when theAmerican Revolutionary War turned into a global war between 1778 and 1783, Britain found itself opposed by a strong coalition of European powers, and lacking any substantial ally.[157]
It would require a greater philosopher and historian than I am to explain the causes of the famous Seven Years' War in which Europe was engaged; and, indeed, its origin has always appeared to me to be so complicated, and the books written about it so amazingly hard to understand, that I have seldom been much wiser at the end of a chapter than at the beginning, and so shall not trouble my reader with any personal disquisitions concerning the matter.[158]
The events in the early chapters ofVoltaire'sCandide are based on the Seven Years' War; according toJean Starobinski ("Voltaire's Double-Barreled Musket", inBlessings in Disguise (California, 1993). p. 85), all the atrocities described in Chapter 3 are true to life. WhenCandide was written, Voltaire had been opposed tomilitarism; the book's themes of disillusionment and suffering underscore this position.
The board gamesFriedrich and, more recently,Prussia's Defiant Stand andClash of Monarchs are based on the events of the Seven Years' War.
The Partisan in War (1789), a treatise on light infantry tactics written by Colonel Andreas Emmerich, is based on his experiences in the Seven Years' War.
Numerous towns and other places now in United States were named afterFrederick the Great to commemorate the victorious conclusion of the war, includingFrederick, Maryland, andKing of Prussia, Pennsylvania.
Prussia Street in Dublin received its name around the time of the Seven Years' War.
The fourth scenario of the second act in theRTSAge of Empires III is about this military conflict, with the player fighting alongside the French against the British.
In the video gameAssassin's Creed III (2012), primarily set during theAmerican Revolution, the early missions followingHaytham Kenway are set during the North American campaigns of the French and Indian War from 1754 to 1755. The second half ofAssassin's Creed Rogue (2014) is also set within the timescale of the Seven Years' War, from 1756 to 1760.
Several installments ofDiana Gabaldon's fictionalLord John series (itself an offshoot of theOutlander series) describe a homosexual officer's experiences in Germany and France during the Seven Years' War. In particular, the short story "Lord John and the Succubus" occurs just before the Battle of Rossbach, and the novelLord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade centres on the Battle of Krefeld.
^While Prussia itself was part of the Empire and many HRE states remained neutral, theImperial Diet formally declared action against Prussia, so it was an Imperial action rather than being conducted solely in the name of Austrian interests. Seebelow.
^Total manpower is calculated from adding the number of men recruited in Europe (thus excluding colonial troops) in 1757-1763 to each country's establishment at the beginning of the war, present on tables 4.4 and 4.6. Wilson's figures include both army and navy personnel, but exclude militia, soldiers in garrisons, and support personnel.
^Per p. 69, about 22,000 soldiers from Hanover also joined the British Army after 1757. These are included in the British numbers, along with the 124,000 army recruits (300% of starting establishment, ~41,000) and 185,000 navy recruits (1550% of starting establishment, ~12,000) listed on p. 62.
^Per p. 61, another 25,000 Portuguese served in the militia, which played a considerable part in the fighting.
^During their brief participation on the Anglo-Prussian side, Russia contributed 20,000 troops to Frederick's army and sent another 40,000 to threaten Denmark.
^Total manpower is calculated from adding the number of men recruited in Europe (thus excluding colonial troops) from 1757-1763 to each country's establishment at the beginning of the war, present on tables 4.4 and 4.6. Wilson's figures include both army and navy personnel, but exclude militia, soldiers in garrisons, and support personnel.
^This figure only includes troops of the Habsburg monarchy ("Austria"), and not other states of the HRE, most of which go unlisted in this table. Two states that are listed, Mainz and Bavaria, respectively fielded 16,000 and 19,500 men in the war, which they sent to theReichsarmee. Per table 4.5, also on p. 62, deployedReichsarmee troops averaged 25,000 strong during the war, while"Austrians" (including troops recruited from outside the Habsburg domains) varied from 128,000 to 154,000.
^Per Danley, the British figure for deaths also includes deaths among minor German armies allied with the British, such as those of Hanover, Hessen-Kassel, Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and Schaumburg-Lippe.
^140,000 dead from the Habsburg Monarchy and another 25,000 from other allied states of the Holy Roman Empire in theReichsarmee.[9]
^Danley gives 120,000 total dead, including disease; Uralanis gives 60,000 killed or wounded, with no figures for disease deaths.
^In 1756, the British invoked the 1715Barrier Treaty which required the Dutch to send 6,000 troops to Britain when it was under risk of foreign invasion. Though the Dutch had done so during theJacobite rebellions of1715,1719 and1745, they were angered by the withdrawal of all British forces from the Low Countries in 1745, which left Holland's borders vulnerable to a French invasion. As such, the Dutch refused to send troops, stating to the British that they would only do so if the threat to theHanoverian succession was immediate.[136]
^"British History in depth: Was the American Revolution Inevitable?". BBC History. Retrieved21 July 2018.In 1763, Americans joyously celebrated the British victory in the Seven Years' War, revelling in their identity as Britons and jealously guarding their much-celebrated rights which they believed they possessed by virtue of membership in what they saw as the world's greatest empire.
^Emma Hart, Marie Houllemare, Trevor Burnard. "The Oxford Handbook of the Seven Years' War." June 2024. Pages 61-62. Essay "Resources" by Peter Wilson, chapter 4.
^Emma Hart, Marie Houllemare, Trevor Burnard. "The Oxford Handbook of the Seven Years' War." June 2024. Pages 61-62. Essay "Resources" by Peter Wilson, chapter 4.
^James C. Rilley, "The Seven Years War and the Old Regime in France", Princeton University Press: July 2024, p. 78.
^Emma Hart, Marie Houllemare, Trevor Burnard. "The Oxford Handbook of the Seven Years' War." June 2024. Pages 73-74. Essay "Resources" by Peter Wilson, chapter 4.
^Karge, Paul (1887).Die russisch-österreichische Allianz von 1746 und ihre Vorgeschichte: nach russischen und österreichischen Quellen [The Russo-Austrian Alliance of 1746 and its pre-history: from Russian and Austrian sources] (in German). Göttingen: Robert Peppmüller. p. 1. Retrieved2 February 2025.Weiter erfuhr Friedrich von Unterhandlungen, die teils an den übrigen ihm feindlichen Höfen, besonders aber in Petersburg zwischen den Vertretern Russlands, Oesterreischs, Englands und Hollands geführt wurden; sie fanden am 2. Juni in der russisch-österreichischen Allianz von Petersburg ihren Abschluss.
^Arnold-Baker, Charles (30 July 2015) [1996]. "Austria, post-Pragmatic (1740-1867)". In von Blumenthal, Henry (ed.).The Companion to British History. Routledge Revivals (reprint ed.). Abingdon: Routledge. p. 74.ISBN9781317400400. Retrieved2 February 2025.The Austro-Russian alliance of June 1746 was designed to hold Frederick to the P. of Dresden, and anticipate his probable designs on Poland or Saxony. [...] Nobody believed that [the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)] would last, and in Sept. 1751 the British, by way of reinsurance for Hanover, acceded to the Austro-Russian alliance.
^E.g.,Simms, Brendan (2008).Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire. London: Penguin Books. pp. 64–66.ISBN978-0-14-028984-8.OCLC319213140.
^Dumouriez, Charles François Du Périer (1797).An Account of Portugal. London: C. Law.p. 247,p. 254. See alsoGarcía Arenas (2004), pp. 41, 73–74 (pdf file).
^Reflexiones Histórico-Militares que manifiestan los Motivos Porque se Mantiene Portugal Reino Independiente de España y Generalmente Desgraciadas Nuestras Empresas y que Lo Serán Mientras No se Tomen Otras Disposiciones (in Spanish), Borzas, 28 November 1772; cited by Jorge Cejudo López inCatálogo del archivo del conde de Campomanes, Fundación Universitaria Española, 1975, legajo (file) n.30/12.
^Burkholder, Suzanne Hiles, " Seven Years' War" inEncyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, vol. 5, pp. 103–104, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1996.
^Bento, Cláudio Moreira –Brasil, conflitos externos 1500–1945 (electronic version), Academia de História Militar Terrestre do Brasil, chapter 5: As guerras no Sul 1763–77.
^James L.A. Webb Jr, "The mid-eighteenth century gum Arabic trade and the British conquest of Saint-Louis du Senegal, 1758."Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 25#1 (1997): 37–58.
^MacLeod, D. Peter (2008).Northern Armageddon: The Battle of the Plains of Abraham. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre.ISBN978-1-55365-412-4.
^A structure of alliances with European powers, in which Britain had formed grand coalitions againstBourbon ambitions in Europe.
^Gipson, Lawrence Henry (1950). "The American Revolution as an Aftermath of the Great War for the Empire, 1754–1763".Political Science Quarterly.65 (1):86–104.doi:10.2307/2144276.ISSN0032-3195.JSTOR2144276.
Maslovsky, Dmitry (1886–1891).Русская армия в Семилетней войне [The Russian Army in the Seven Years' War] (in Russian).Moscow: Типография штаба войск Московского военного округа.
Carter, Alice Clare (1971).The Dutch Republic in Europe in the Seven Years' War. MacMillan.
Carter, Alice Clare (1963). "The Dutch as Neutrals in the Seven Years' War".The International and Comparative Law Quarterly.12 (3):818–834.doi:10.1093/iclqaj/12.3.818.JSTOR756291.
Charters, Erica.Disease, War, and the Imperial State: The Welfare of the British Armed Forces During the Seven Years' War (University of Chicago Press, 2014).
Clodfelter, M. (2017).Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492–2015 (4th ed.). Jefferson, NC:McFarland & Company.ISBN978-0-7864-7470-7.
Crouch, Christian Ayne.Nobility Lost: French and Canadian Martial Cultures, Indians, and the End of New France. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2014.
Dodge, Edward J. (1998).Relief Is Greatly Wanted: The Battle of Fort William Henry. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books.ISBN978-0-7884-0932-5.OCLC39400729.
Danley, Mark (2012).The Seven Years' War: Global Views (History of Warfare). Brill.ISBN978-9004234086.
Dorn, Walter L.Competition for Empire, 1740–1763 (1940) focus on diplomacyfree to borrow
Duffy, Christopher.Instrument of War: The Austrian Army in the Seven Years War (2000);By Force of Arms: The Austrian Army in the Seven Years War, Vol II (2008)
Dull, Jonathan R. (2007).The French Navy and the Seven Years' War. University of Nebraska Press.ISBN978-0-8032-6024-5.
Fowler, William H. (2005).Empires at War: The Seven Years' War and the Struggle for North America. Vancouver, BC: Douglas & McIntyre.ISBN1-55365-096-4.
Higgonet, Patrice Louis-René (March 1968). "The Origins of the Seven Years' War".The Journal of Modern History.40. Journal of Modern History, 40.1:57–90.doi:10.1086/240165.S2CID144559966.
Hochedlinger, Michael (2003).Austria's Wars of Emergence, 1683–1797. London: Longwood.ISBN0-582-29084-8.
Katcher, Philip.Armies of the American Wars 1753-1815 (Osprey Publishing, 1975).
Kaplan, Herbert.Russia and the Outbreak of the Seven Years' War (University of California Press, 1968).
Keay, John.The Honourable Company: A History of the English East India Company. HarperCollins, 1993.
Kohn, George C. (2000).Seven Years War in Dictionary of Wars. Facts on File.ISBN978-0-8160-4157-2.
Luvaas, Jay (1999).Frederick the Great on the Art of War. Boston: Da Capo.ISBN978-0-306-80908-8.
McLynn, Frank.1759: The Year Britain Became Master of the World. (Jonathan Cape, 2004).ISBN0-224-06245-X
Wilson, Peter H. (2008). "Prussia as a Fiscal-Military State, 1640–1806". In Storrs, Christopher (ed.).The Fiscal-Military State in Eighteenth-Century Europe: Essays in honour of P.G.M. Dickson. Surrey: Ashgate. pp. 95–125.ISBN978-0-7546-5814-6.
Van Nimwegen, Olaf (2002).De Republiek der Verenigde Nederlanden als grote mogendheid: Buitenlandse politiek en oorlogvoering in de eerste helft van de achttiende eeuw en in het bijzonder tijdens de Oostenrijkse Successieoorlog (1740–1748) (in Dutch). De Bataafsche Leeuw.ISBN90-6707-540-X.
de Ligne, Charles-Joseph, Prince,Mon Journal de la guerre de Sept Ans. Textes inédits introduits, établis et annotés par Jeroom Vercruysse et Bruno Colson(in French) (Paris, Editions Honoré Champion, 2008) (L'Âge des Lumières, 44).
Cuyt, F., Jacobs, T., Van Gelder, K., & Vermeir, R. (2017). De Staatse Barrière in de tweede helft van de 18de eeuw: een rustig en vredig bezit?.
Uralanis, Boris (1960).Войны и народонаселение Европы: людские потери вооруженных сил Европейских стран в XVII-XX веках [Wars and the population of Europe: human losses of the armed forces of European countries in the XVII-XX centuries] (in Russian).Moscow: Социально-экономическая литература.
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