The Seven Years’ War: The History and Legacy of the Decisive Global Conflict Between the French and British

Some historians have called the Seven Years’ War the first true world war, and they make a good point. In Europe, an alliance of Great Britain, the German state of Hanover (the ruling house of Britain was from Hanover) and Prussia fought a series of battles against an alliance of France, Austria and Russia, with the occasional involvement of some other European powers such as Sweden and Spain. The war was also fought in many other parts of the world, including in India, West Africa and the Caribbean, where both the French and the British had colonies. In addition to the fighting on land, battles were fought between ships on the high seas, and these naval battles were generally won by the British, who boasted the 18th century’s best navy. Ultimately, this globally coordinated war involved five continents and at least 29 states and tribal confederacies, with a casualty toll in the millions and the maps forever altered.

The war’s origins stemmed from the rivalry between two sets of European powers that found expression in the War of the Austrian Succession of 1740-1748. In 1740, Charles VI was emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, a dysfunctional aggregation of practically independent states corresponding roughly to what is now Germany. He was of the House of Habsburg, as were preceding emperors, but he had no sons, and the Salic Law then in effect in Germany forbade female succession. Charles did not want to see the Habsburg family lands, which were vast, broken up. These lands included Austria, Bohemia, Silesia, Hungary, the Austrian Netherlands (Belgium), Milan, Mantua, Parma, and Tuscany, making the Habsburgs one of the richest and most powerful families in Europe.