Seven Years' War

The Seven Years' War lasted from 1756 to 1763 and involved most of the great powers in Europe. At first, the war was made up of two conflicts.^[1] One was mainly between Britain and France,^[1] and the other was between Prussia and its enemies: France, Austria, Russia, and Sweden.^[1]

An important cause of the war was the War of the Austrian Succession.^[2]

The war was known by different names in different places. In the United States, it is called the French and Indian War.^[3] In French Canada, it is called the War Of Conquest.^[4] In both Sweden and Prussia, it was called the Pomeranian War because they were fighting over Pomerania.^[4] In India, it is known as the Third Carnatic War.^[4]

As for the conflict between Prussia and Austria, it is called the Third Silesian War.^[4]

Colonialism was common at the time. During the war, the trade interests of the British Empire were opposed to those of the Bourbons, who ruled France and Spain. The Hohenzollerns, who ruled Prussia, and the Habsburgs, who were Holy Roman Emperors and archdukes in Austria, fought each other, mainly over Silesia.

A "diplomatic revolution" established an Anglo-Prussian camp, which was allied with some smaller German states and later the Portuguese Empire. It fought an Austro-French camp, which was allied with Sweden, Saxony and later Spain.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} "Seven Years' War". History. A&E Television Networks, LLC. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
2. ↑ Ted Brackemyre. "The American Revolution; A Very European Ordeal". U.S. History Scene. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
3. ↑ Bamber Gascoigne. "Seven Years' War". HistoryWorld. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3} Sam Ralph; Megan Wright. "The Seven Years War: the First World War In 1754". New Histories. Archived from the original on October 28, 2016. Retrieved January 12, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)