The Seven Years War and its global impact

¶ … War as the "First World War"

The Seven Years War from 1756 to 1763 was described by Winston Churchill as the "first world war," because each of the major European powers of the time played a part in the conflict -- "the first conflict in human history to be fought around the globe" ("Seven Years War"). This paper will discuss the aspects of the war, focusing on who fought and why, what the war's outcome was, and why it has been justly called the "first world war."

Even though the war was fought "in Europe, Africa, India and North America between England [and its] colonies, Prussia, Portugal and smaller German states [on one side] against Austria, France, Russia, Sweden and Saxony [on the other]," some scholars dispute the fact that it should be considered a World War, like David Reynolds in America, Empire of Liberty, who describes the Seven Years War as Total War, with fighting on land and sea leading to "atrocities,' such as the deportation of some 8,000 French-Canadian settlers from Nova Scotia to Louisiana" (44). However, the majority of opinion appears to generate the belief that the conflict was indeed the first world war, the argument mainly being that "after 1914 and even a lot more in the second world war, war became total, [no longer simply on the battlefield] the difference between soldier and normal worker faded." ("Seven Years War the First World War?").

While emphasis can be placed upon certain points, or "disconnected episodes," as Fred Anderson states, like "Braddock's defeat, the Fort William Henry 'massacre,' the Battle of Quebec," the elements of the conflict are actually quite diffuse, which is one reason it has been given such different names:

Historians usually call it the Seven Years' War. Modern Americans…know it as the French and Indian War. Neither name communicates the conflict's immensity and importance. Winston Churchill came closer when he called it "a world war -- the first in history," noting that unlike the previous Anglo-French wars, this time "the prize would be something more than a rearrangement of frontiers and a redistribution of fortresses and sugar islands." ("The Real First World War and the Making of America.")

Nonetheless, the Seven Years War conflict arose out of two arenas: First, trouble in Europe over Austrian succession, the province of Silesia, and the forming of alliances led Frederick II of Prussia to invade Saxony, which was aligned with Austria. Meanwhile, the British allies of Prussia were attacked in the Mediterranean by the French, who were on the side of Austria. Fighting between France and Britain also had an American element to it, which effected the other cause of the war in another arena: Britain and France were fighting over colonies in the New World. "The primary reason for the beginning of the American theatre of the war was a dispute over the Ohio River banks" ("Seven Years War").

In Europe, however, fighting did not seriously get underway until 1757 when Maria Theresa of Hapsburg, Empress of Austria, openly declared war on Frederick II. A series of battles began: Prague, Kolin, Rossbach, Leuthen, extending even into Asia, as empires clashed: "The same year saw Clive of India defeat the French in India at the Battle of Plassey (23 June), and the French occupy Hanover, having defeated the duke of Cumberland at Hastenbeck, forcing him to sign the Convention of Kloster-Zeven" (Richard).

In 1758, Frederick defeated the Russians, and the British helped drive the French out of Hanover. The following year, Frederick suffered a series of setbacks, but Britain had great success "on land, at sea, and in the colonies," where the French fleet was utterly routed by the Royal Navy (Richard). In 1760, the British defeated the French in India. Then, in 1761, George III took the throne, as did Tsar Peter III. While George III virtually ended the alliance with Prussia, Peter III formed one between Russia and Prussia. The new alliance allowed Frederick to defeat the Austrians, as the British went on to take Havana and Manila from Spain. Treaties drawn up in 1763 among the several warring nations finally put an end to the conflict. Prussia had regained control of Silesia, and Britain had emerged as "the greatest colonial power, with control over India and North America seemingly secured" (Richard). The Holy Roman Empire and Hapsburg Austria was reduced in size and Frederic II would be remembered as Frederick the Great, who year after year kept his small nation from falling completely out of the contest.

As for the native American Indians, the Peace of Paris in 1763 "made it impossible for the Iroquois and other native groups to preserve their autonomy" (Anderson). The native American Indian allies of the French colonies in the New World were now left defenseless. They, in fact, "came to understand the tenuousness of their position when the British high command began to treat them as if they, not the French, had been conquered" (Anderson).