Many powerful countries participated in the war. According to a 2009 article:
After years of skirmishes between England,Spain and France inNorth America, England officially declared war on France in 1756, setting off whatWinston Churchill would later call “the first world war.” While the French, British, and Spanish battled overcolonies in theNew World,Frederick the Great of Prussia inEurope faced off against troops from Austria, France,Russia and Sweden.
A "diplomatic revolution" established an Anglo-Prussian camp, whichallied with some smallerGerman states and laterPortugal. It fought an Austro-French camp, which allied with Sweden,Saxony and laterSpain.
Civilians were not spared in the Seven Years' War.Sieges were common, as wasarson (destroyingtowns by burning them). Openbattles involving extremely heavy losses were also frequent. Overall, between 900,000 to 1,400,000 people died in the war.[7]
Great Britain gained the bulk ofNew France, SpanishFlorida, someCaribbean islands, andSenegal. It also maintained its superiority over the French outposts on theIndian subcontinent.
In Europe,Frederick II of Prussia failed to complete apreemptive strike against Austria. His opponents fought off Prussian forces, and atKunersdorf, they nearlydestroyed them. At the Peace of Hubertusburg, Prussia managed to avoid giving up any land to Austria, and thestatus quo ante bellum was restored.
William Pitt once said, "America was won in Germany." He was talking about the Prussian war effort, which allowed Britain to limit its military involvement onContinental Europe and focus instead on establishing naval supremacy. While French and allied forces were able to occupy Prussian andHanoverian territories up toEast Frisia, the British naval blockade impaired French supply routes to the colonies and prevented the French from invading Britain and continuing with their commerce raiding.
The involvement of Portugal, Spain, and Sweden did not return them to their former status asgreat powers. For its brief involvement in the war, Spain lostFlorida to Britain but gained FrenchLouisiana west of theMississippi River in exchange. Graat Britain also returnedCuba and thePhilippines, which it had catured duting the war, to Spain.
