Battles of the Seven Years' War

The Seven Years' War, 1754–1763, spanned five continents, affecting Europe, the Americas, West Africa, India, and the Philippines.

The conflict split Europe into two coalitions: Kingdom of Great Britain, Prussia, Portugal, Hanover, and other small German states on one side versus the Kingdom of France, Austria-led Holy Roman Empire, Russia, Spain, several small German states, and Sweden) on the other. The coalitions represented a "revolution" in diplomatic alliances, reflected in the Diplomatic Revolution. Ultimately, the victory of the Anglo-Prussian coalition undercut the balance of power in Europe, a balance that was not reestablished until 1815.

Situation
Although Anglo-French skirmishes over their American colonies had already begun in 1754, the large-scale conflict that drew in most of the European powers was centered on Austria's desire to recover Silesia, which they had lost in 1747, from the Prussians. In India, the Mughal Empire, with the encouragement of the French, tried to crush a British attempt to conquer Bengal: these are known as the Third Carnatic War.

In the European theater, seeing the opportunity to curtail Britain's and Prussia's ever-growing power, France and Austria put aside their ancient rivalry to form a coalition of their own. Faced with this sudden turn of events, Britain aligned herself with Prussia; this alliance drew in not only the British king's territories in personal union, including Hanover, and also those of his relatives in the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg and the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel. This series of political maneuvers became known as the Diplomatic Revolution.

In the Americas, the same coalitions prevailed; both sides added a First Nation partner. Abenaki, an Algonquin linguistic tribe, joined with the French. The Iroquois, or Five Nations, joined with the British. In both cases, the war in North America in particular proved expensive. The Iroquois, who lived predominantly in lands controlled by the French, wrought havoc on the European trade routes and settlements. The Abenaki, who were also known as "People of the Dawn", lived in, or had been displaced by, English settlers in the Atlantic colonies. In the West Indies, the British and Spanish fought for control of key points in the Caribbean trade routes, particularly the Windward Passage and Havana. In West Africa, the British effort to oust France from its colonies in Gorée, Senegal, and Gambia.

After seven years of fighting (nine in North America), the Anglo-Prussian coalition prevailed. The war marked the rise of Britain as the world's predominant power; it also destroyed France's land supremacy in Europe; Prussia, due to Frederick the Great's military prowess, established itself as a dominant land-power in Europe; and the Austrian Habsburgs lost permanently their territories in Silesia. This altered the European balance of power.