Sparks Commentary: The Seven Years’ War was a massive worldwide conflict

“The free exercise of the roman religion [in Canada] is granted, likewise safe guards to all religious persons, as well as to the Bishop, who shall be at liberty to come and express, freely and with decency, the functions of his office, whenever he shall think proper, until the possession of Canada shall have been decided between their Britannic and most Christian [French] Majesties.”

– Articles of Capitulation of Quebec (18 September 1759), Number 6 – the document that changed Canada from a French colony into a British colony

The Seven Years’ War was a true world war, fought on five different continents

When we think of the eighteenth century, we usually think of the great revolutions in America and France, which were in the latter half of that century. And these revolutions obviously were quite important. But these revolutions were an outgrowth of previous conflicts, including (arguably) the Seven Years’ War. The Seven Years’ War was a true world war, to a degree that the later Napoleonic Wars were not. Specifically, the Seven Years’ War would eventually be fought on five different continents. The conflict would have profound consequences for the fate of empires, and even for the map of the world. There has been at least one major documentary about the “French and Indian War,” a related war that helped to spark the larger “Seven Years’ War.” But no documentary overview of the Seven Years’ War has yet been attempted. Thus, it seems to remain mostly forgotten today. Therefore, I would like to attempt an overview of this conflict, and of the many sub-conflicts that were a part of it. That is, I will try to show how the Seven Years’ War rocked the eighteenth-century world, and how it was fought from one end of this globe to the other.

Naval battle of Quiberon Bay, 1759 – Off the coast of Brittany, France

Origins of the war, and how it was fought in North America and Europe

Britain and France had been at each other’s throats for centuries. They had recently duked it out in the “War of the Austrian Succession,” which had ended in 1748. Both Britain and France then had colonies in North America, with France having its own colony in Canada. Britain had the thirteen American colonies, which would later become the United States. But the borders between the British and French colonies were the subject of some dispute, particularly in the frontier areas. In 1754, in the area that would later become Pennsylvania, the British sent some troops to ambush both the French and their Native American allies. The British troops were then led by George Washington, now famous as America’s first president. And this ambush took place at a location now called “Jumonville Glen.” Thus, on orders from the local British government, George Washington fired some of the first shots of what would eventually become the “French and Indian War.” This conflict would have profound consequences for North America, as Canada was lost to the British. It would also eventually lead to the American Revolution of some decades later (as I will describe later on in this post). However, the “Seven Years’ War” had not yet officially begun. If we were to begin the “Seven Years’ War” in 1754, it would be a “Nine Years’ War,” since it ended in 1763. Rather, the beginning of the Seven Years’ War is traditionally dated to two years later – that is, to 1756. Specifically, it is dated to the British declaration of war on France, on the 17th of May 1756. In Europe, this involved the Third Silesian War in 1756. In 1757, there was a Pomeranian War, as well as a Sassnitz campaign. In 1762, there was a Spanish invasion of Portugal. And, from 1762 to 1763, there was an Anglo-Spanish War – one of the largest sub-conflicts of the Seven Years’ War.

Jumonville Glen, Pennsylvania in modern times

Siege of Kolberg – Prussia, 1761 (part of the Third Silesian War)

The war was also fought in South America, Africa, India, and the Philippine Islands

On the side of the French, there were Spain, Sweden, Austria, Saxony, Hesse-Darmstadt, North America’s “Wabanaki Confederacy,” and the “Bengal Subah” of India. Until 1762, Russia also fought on the French side. But, from 1762 onward, Russia (and later Portugal) would fight on the British side instead. Others on the British side included Hanover, Prussia, Hesse-Kassel, Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and North America’s “Iroquois Confederacy.” Thus, many nations would be involved in the bloodbath. In South America, there was a conflict called the “Fantastic War,” which included the First Cevallos expedition. In this theatre of operations, the Spanish and the Portuguese would fight over their respective Latin American colonies. This included the Portuguese colony in Brazil, and the Spanish colonies in other parts of South America. There was also fighting in Spain’s colonies in the Caribbean, and in the distant Philippine Islands. In Africa, there was a West Africa campaign, one of the most forgotten parts of the war. This involved fighting in Senegal, the Gorée, and in the Gambia River. And, in India, there was the Third Carnatic War, as well as the Bengal War. The 1757 Battle of Plassey would prove especially decisive there. In this battle, the British “East India Company” beat the native Bengal Subah, and their French allies from the “French East India Company.” This began a long period of British rule in India. Starting in 1757, India was ruled by this private corporation: the British East India Company. Thus, this was one of the most decisive moments of the entire Seven Years’ War. At the end of the war, Spain temporarily lost Florida, but temporarily gained French Louisiana – later returned to the French. The British had also captured Cuba and the Philippines during the war. However, at the end of the war, they were returned to Spain, in the “1763 Treaty of Paris.” This treaty did not involve Austria and Prussia. Thus, five days after that first treaty, there was the lesser-known Treaty of Hubertusburg between Austria, Prussia, and Saxony. As Wikipedia notes, the French ceded their “North American possessions east of the Mississippi River, Canada, the islands of St Vincent, Tobago, Dominica, and Grenada, and Northern Circars in India to Great Britain.” (Source: Their page on the “Seven Years’ War”)

Bombardment of Havana – Cuba, 1762 (part of the Anglo-Spanish War)

Battle of Plassey, 1757 – the battle that began British rule in India

The ripple effects of this war arguably included the American and French Revolutions

After the war, the governments of both sides experienced major war debts. In Britain, they wanted to pay for these expensive debts by taxing their North American colonies. As I’ve shown in other posts, this would eventually contribute to the thirteen American colonies deciding to rebel against Great Britain. Therefore, they declared independence from the mother country in 1776, and later saw this independence recognized by the mother country in 1783. George Washington, who had led the earlier British ambush of the French at Jumonville Glen, would then lead America’s “Continental Army.” Later, he became the first president of the new “United States.” Thus, the Seven Years’ War has more connection to the American Revolutionary War than most people realize. The American War of Independence would eventually see another massive war between Britain and France as part of it. Some French soldiers, like the Marquis de Lafayette, thus fought in America – and thus brought the ideals of the American Revolution back to France with them. This, along with the ongoing French war debts from both conflicts, eventually led to the French Revolution. One could thus argue that the Seven Years’ War led to the American Revolution, which led to the French Revolution, which even led to the Napoleonic Wars. The shots fired by George Washington and his troops … arguably set off a chain reaction that drastically changed the world that we live in.

Battle of the Plains of Abraham – Quebec, Canada (1759)

How the war affected the future of Canada, and also led to British rule in India

The United States would refer to the North American part of the Seven Years’ War … simply as the “French and Indian War.” This was because the Americans, as part of the British Empire, were then fighting against the French and their Native American allies (or “Indians,” as they called them). But, in Canada, they would simply refer to it as the “Seven Years’ War” – the same title by which it is still known in Europe today. As mentioned earlier, the Seven Years’ War was also of great importance for the Canadians. It changed Canada from a French colony into a British colony, leading to an English-speaking control of the region. One could argue that the centuries of conflict between English Canadians and French Canadians can be traced back to this part of this war. Again, this conflict would also prove important for India, as it began to be ruled by the British “East India Company.” Control did not pass to the British Crown until 1857, the year of the so-called “Indian Mutiny.” And India only gained its independence in 1947, in the twentieth century. Thus, the legacy of the 1757 Battle of Plassey is still debated today, especially in India. In so many ways, this conflict left its mark upon the world that we live in.

“His Most Christian Majesty [the King of France] renounces all pretensions which he has heretofore formed or might have formed to Nova Scotia or Acadia [both of which are in Canada] in all its parts, and guaranties the whole of it, and with all its dependencies, to the King of Great Britain …

His Britannick Majesty, on his side, agrees to grant the liberty of the Catholick religion to the inhabitants of Canada: he will, in consequence, give the most precise and most effectual orders, that his new Roman Catholic subjects may profess the worship of their religion according to the rites of the Romish church, as far as the laws of Great Britain permit.”

– Treaty of Paris (1763), Article IV

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