What cause the Seven Years' War?

Question

The French and Indian War.
And how did it turn out?

I did googled it but the readings were confusing and difficult to understand. So I posted here hoping someone would explain it in a simpler way.

Answer 1

A broken mirror, or is that 7 years bad luck, I can never keep them streight....................Nuf Said

Answer 2

"When France began a line of fortifications to link New Orleans and Montreal along the Ohio Valley and threatened to isolate British coastal settlements from the vast hinterland, it sparked a colonial war that, two years later, brought Britain into full-out military alliance with a Prussia that was faced with a hostile coalition of France, Austria, Russia and Sweden. Britain saw its Hanoverian territory as threatened by France; at the same time there was colonial rivalry with France in India, Africa and the Caribbean. Although Britain supported Prussia’s European efforts with financial and military aid, a major contribution to the War came from her attacks on France’s colonial possessions. The ramifications were enormous. The acquisition of Canada and the loss of Britain’s other American colonies, the beginnings of the British Empire in India, the end of France as a major colonial power, the French Revolution, Russian expansion, the beginnings of Prussian military strength — all these and more can be traced to the war of 1756-63." [1] 1. At a systemic level the war the war was fuelled, on the one hand, by the conflicting colonial and mercantile ambitions of Britain and France in the New World and India; and on the other, by the desire of Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia to unite his disconnected lands by territorial acquisition, creating a bloc that threatened the existing distribution of power in Europe. 2. At state level, Frederick was challenging the hegemony of the Holy Roman Emperors in attempting to create a new European great power. At the same time there were religious factors involved, whereby most northern German states had adopted Protestantism after the Reformation, creating a potential source of further conflict with Catholic Austria - as in The Thirty Years War of 1618-1648. 3. Frederick's invasion of Saxony in 1756 forced Austria into an alliance with France. Other European powers were drawn into the continental theatre and on several occasions Prussia came close to defeat. So that it could be argued that Frederick may have overreached himself in initiating the conflict. Without the early withdrawal of Russian troops in the east and the physical intervention of Britain in Europe and her strategic attacks on France's colonies, Prussia might well have been defeated. The above is a vastly simplified summary of events but I hope it will give you a starting point for further research. A good account of the Thirty Years War from the British perspective (known in the USA as the French and Indian War and in the opinion of Winston Churchill the first 'world war') can be found in 'England in the Seven Years War' by Julian S Corbett. The quotation at the beginning of this Answer is from a review of this book - follow the link.

Answer 3

The Seven Years' War may be viewed as a continuation of the War of the Austrian Succession, in which King Frederick II of Prussia had gained the rich province of Silesia. Empress Maria Theresa of Austria had signed the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle only in order to gain time to rebuild her military forces and to forge new alliances, which she did with remarkable success. The political map of Europe had been redrawn in a few years. During the so-called Diplomatic Revolution of 1756, century-old enemies France, Austria and Russia formed a single alliance against Prussia.

Prussia had the protection only of Great Britain, whose ruling dynasty saw its ancestral Hanoverian possession as being threatened by France. In Great Britain's alliance with Prussia the two powers complemented each other. The British already had the most formidable navy in Europe, while Prussia had the most formidable land force on continental Europe, allowing Great Britain to focus her soldiers towards her colonies.

The Austrian army had undergone an overhaul according to the Prussian system. Maria Theresa, whose knowledge of military affairs shamed many of her generals, had pressed relentlessly for reform. Her interest in the welfare of the soldiers had gained her their undivided respect.

The second cause for war arose from the heated colonial struggle between Great Britain and France. These causes of the French and Indian War are described on that page.

The war ended France’s power, both in the Americas (where it lost all of its possessions except French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Domingue and Saint Pierre and Miquelon) and in continental Europe,[2] until the time of the French Revolution. Great Britain, meanwhile, emerged as the dominant colonial power in the world. The French Navy was crippled, which meant that only an ambitious rebuilding program in combination with the Spanish fleet would see it again threaten the Royal Navy's command of the sea.[3] On the other side of the world, the British East India Company acquired the strongest position within India, which was to become the "jewel in the imperial crown".

Answer 4

They could not resolve their issues in six!--The french lost a lot of turf and declared from there on out that they were after all "Lovers not Fighters!"

Answer 5

Do your own homework.