The Seven Years' War pitted Britain, Prussia and Hanover against France, Austria, Russia, Sweden and Saxony (and later Spain). It is now acknowledged as the first “world war”: most European nations were involved, and fighting spanned the globe with different theatres of war on the European continent, North America, the Caribbean, India and Africa. The war involved two main distinct conflicts – the colonial rivalry between Britain and France; and the struggle for supremacy in Germany between the Holy Roman Emperor in Austria and the rising kingdom of Prussia. The first of these was resolved through the Treaty of Paris (1763), which saw the British Empire affirm its supremacy through the acquisition of Spanish and French colonies. …
2041 words
Citation: Seager, Nicholas. "Seven Years' War [Seven Years War]". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 July 2004 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1007, accessed 26 November 2024.]
