History UsefulNotes / SevenYearsWar

From 1756-1763 this was one of the most important wars in history and the largest of the classical eighteenth century style power struggles. It was in a way a bipolar war, consisting of the struggle between various families (and the realms they ruled) for control of Central Europe and the struggle between Britain and France for control of overseas markets and colonies. Its result led to the founding of UsefulNotes/TheBritishEmpire and a secessionist British state that would, two centuries later, become more populous and richer than her (via UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution). On the other hand, it also marked the end of the first French Colonial Empire overseas and arguably caused her to turn inward to Europe again during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Most notably, the war marked the ascent of Prussia to Great Power status when she finally managed to conquer ''just'' enough territory (from the Austrian Habsburgs) to be able to put up a decent fight against the other Great Powers. However, on the Prussian part, the war was a very dangerous wager that it could not possibly have survived, let alone won - they only came out on top because nobody was willing or able to test whether Prussia was still up for a fight after the war. This has been referred to as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_of_the_House_of_Brandenburg "Miracle of the House Brandenburg"]], which may or may not have caused a Prussian belief in a invincible military, which was further reinforced through the FrancoPrussianWar and would prove disastrous for Germany in both world wars.

** The Prussian military escaped total destruction by the skin of their teeth. Given how important Prussia (and a Prussian-led Germany) would [[FrancoPrussianWar later]] [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI become]], one can't help but wonder what would have happened had the Austrians and/or Russians marched for Berlin after [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kunersdorf Kunersdorf]] or had Elizabeth of Russia not died when she did, or had someone attacked Prussia immediately after the war, when it was bankrupt and devastated. It's really a wonder Prussia survived the war at all, let alone came out on top.

* AllTheLittleGermanies

*** [[RunningGag From a third point of view]] it would also be realistic to say that AllTheLittleGermanies were a hotbed of war and turmoil vulnerable to each other and Bigger Fish. Even if Hanover avoided fighting Britain's enemies it probably would have fought others. As long as Hanover kept the alliance and fought for British interests, Britain fought to prevent her from being gobbled up by more powerful neighbors like the French Invasion that happened in this year. And coincidentally enough, when the alliance fell apart OttoVonBismark conquered and annexed the country in 1866...

* OlderThanTheyThink: A war with countries grouping together to form alliances and fighting battles in several regions of the world simultaneously. Many historians argue that this war can be considered the actual First World War--meaning WorldWarI is really WorldWarII.

* ''Empire Total War'' features the North American theatre of this conflict in its story mode.

* "Acadian Driftwood", a song by TheBand

* Kenneth Roberts' NorthWestPassage deals with the fighting in North America.
* ''Der Große König'': A German film made in 1942 to inspire morale by associating Prussian [[ProudWarriorRace tradition]] with [[ThoseWackyNazis guess who]] . Ironically the real "Great King"(Frederick the Great) of the title would have thought his alleged spiritual descendants were overlate for an appointment with the [[ATasteOfTheLash Knoutmaster]] .

* AccidentalMisnaming: British soldiers fighting the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, couldn't pronounce his name and hilariously anglicised it to "Sir Roger Dowlett", making him sound like a QuintessentialBritishGentleman. Considering the Nawab was guilty of {{Obligatory War Crime Scene}}s like [[HellholePrison the Black Hole of Calcutta]], this might be inappropriate; but on the other hand, considering some of the things other supposed British "Gentlemen" did in this war....

*** [[RunningGag From a third point of view]] it would also be realistic to say that AllTheLittleGermanies were a hotbed of war and turmoil vulnerable to each other and Bigger Fish. Even if Hanover avoided fighting Britain's enemies it probably would have fought others. As long as Hanover kept the alliance and fought for British interests, Britain fought to prevent her from being gobbled up by more powerful neighbors like the French Invasion that happened in this year. And coincidentally enough, when the alliance fell apart OttoVonBismark conquered and annexed the country in 1866....

* EarthIsABattlefield: The closest any war would be until WorldWarI.

* {{Cossacks}}

** The battle of Rossbach (1757), in which Frederick's army caught an army composed of French troops and the ill-assorted army of the HolyRomanEmpire while it was deploying and drove it into headlong flight.

* BritsWithBattleships
* [[CanucksWithChinooks Canuks With Canoes]]

* GaulsWithGrenades

* HolyRomanEmpire: The war made a mockery of the very concept, what with Prussia and Austria both being de jure part of it. It would however still take a couple of decades until it finally kicked the bucket.

* [[YanksWithTanks Yanks With Muskets]]

Often referred to in the US as the 'French and Indian War', what with the British North American colonies being restricted to - you guessed it - raising handfuls militia to defend against small-scale French and Indian raids and launch little raids of their own. It also marked a crucial turning point in the history of {{Canada}}, as the colony of New France was ceded to the British by France - setting the stage for Canada's later development as a bilingual country and (with the introduction of lots of fresh immigrants to sideline them) loyalty to the national government during the next British Civil War (aka 'The American Revolution').

** Also see above under HeyItsThatGuy.

* HeyItsThatGuy: George Washington. Now starring as an officer in the Virginia Colonial forces. Serving in the King's name and rather incompetent.
** Not necessarily incompetent. He botched his first assignment which was far more responsibility than a subaltern should have(roughly the equivalent of putting a junior officer in the Virginia National Guard in charge of policy during the Cuban Missile Crisis). Latter assignments he performed reasonably if not superbly.
** In a little skirmish in 1760, a Mecklenburger serving with the Swedish army is captured by the Prussian Belling Hussars. [[ColonelBadass Colonel Belling]], who happens to be a relative of the [[EnsignNewbie young man]], persuades him to join his regiment. His name? [[FourStarBadass Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher]].
** Also in 1760, the newborn son of an artillery officer in the army of the HolyRomanEmpire is nearly lost on the retreat from the advancing Prussians. Luckily he is found by a hussar and returned to his parents. He is August Neidhardt, later known as Neidthard von Gneisenau, Blücher's chief of staff in the Waterloo campaign.
** Also John Stark, here an officer in Rogers Rangers, who went on to become an important American general during the revolution.
** James Wolfe's legendary stealth attack at the Plains of Abraham was made possible in part because of the exceptional surveying and cartographical skills of a young naval officer named James Cook. Similarly, the engineering skills of several Americans who would later command at Bunker Hill were crucial to getting British artillery up the bluff.
** At the Battle of Minden, the British cavalry commander [[GeneralFailure Lord George Sackville]] repeatedly disobeyed orders to charge and rout the retreating French infantry, [[DrivenByEnvy because he didn't want his up-and-coming subordinate Lord Granby to "gain glory" from such an attack]]. He was subsequently court martialled and discharged from the British Army after being deemed ''"unfit to serve His Majesty in any capacity whatsoever"''. He would later resurface as Lord Germain, Secretary of State for the American Department, making him the cabinet minister responsible for the Thirteen Colonies when [[AmericanRevolution a certain uprising broke out]]...

From 1756-1763 this was one of the most important wars in history and the largest of the classical eighteenth century style power struggles. It was in a way a bipolar war, consisting of the struggle between various families (and the realms they ruled) for control of Central Europe and the struggle between Britain and France for control of overseas markets and colonies. Its result led to the founding of UsefulNotes/TheBritishEmpire and a secessionist British state that would, two centuries later, become more populous and richer than her (via UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution). On the other hand, it also marked the end of the first French Colonial Empire overseas and arguably caused her to turn inward to Europe again during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Most notably, the war marked the ascent of Prussia to Great Power status when she finally managed to conquer ''just'' enough territory (from the Austrian Habsburgs) to be able to put up a decent fight against the other Great Powers. However, on the Prussian part, the war was a very dangerous wager that it could not possibly have survived, let alone won - they only came out on top because nobody was willing or able to test whether Prussia was still up for a fight after the war. This has been referred to as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_of_the_House_of_Brandenburg "Mircale of the House Brandenburg"]], which may or may not have caused a Prussian belief in a invincible military, which was further reinforced through the FrancoPrussianWar and would prove disastrous for Germany in both world wars.

* HolyRomanEmpire

From 1756-1763 this was one of the most important wars in history and the largest of the classical eighteenth century style power struggles. It was in a way a bipolar war, consisting of the struggle between various families (and the realms they ruled) for control of Central Europe and the struggle between Britain and France for control of overseas markets and colonies. Its result led to the founding of UsefulNotes/TheBritishEmpire and a secessionist British state that would, two centuries later, become more populous and richer than her (via UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution). On the other hand, it also marked the end of the first French Colonial Empire overseas and arguably caused her to turn inward to Europe again during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Most notably, the war marked the ascent of Prussia to Great Power status when she finally managed to conquer ''just'' enough territory (from the Austrian Habsburgs) to be able to put up a decent fight against the other Great Powers.

** The word Jaeger means ''hunter'' because they were special ops people recruited from German hunters, gamekeepers, and the like.

* AccidentalMisnaming: British soldiers fighting the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, couldn't pronounce his name and hilariously anglicised it to "Sir Roger Dowlett", making him sound like a QuintessentialBritishGentleman. Considering the Nawab was guilty of [[ObligatoryWarCrimeScene ObligatoryWarCrimeScenes]] like [[HellholePrison the Black Hole of Calcutta]], this might be inappropriate; but on the other hand, considering some of the things other supposed British "Gentlemen" did in this war....

** The wars of NapoleonBonaparte could make a try for that though.

* ''BarryLyndon''

** James Wolfe's legendary stealth attack at the Plains of Abraham was made possible in part because of the exceptional surveying and cartographical skills of a young naval officer named James Cook.

* MaximumFunChamber: The infamous Black Hole of Calcutta, a tiny guardroom in which over a hundred British and allied troops were crammed by the rebellious Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah; nearly all of them died.

** Exacerbating matters is the fact that GeorgeWashington, the leader of the British colonial militia sent to scout the Ohio Territory, was tricked into accepting responsibility for the 'assassination' of Jumonville. Following the Jumonville Affair, Washington was defeated at Fort Necessity by a French and Indian force, and he signed the terms of surrender. Washington, who did not speak French, did not realize that the document he signed also included an admission that the death of Jumonville was an assassination. This became a ''cause celebre'' for the French and was one of the major factors instigating the conflict.

From 1756-1763 this was one of the most important wars in history and the largest of the classical eighteenth century style power struggles. It was in a way a bipolar war, consisting of the struggle between various families (and the realms they ruled) for control of Central Europe and the struggle between Britain and France for control of overseas markets and colonies. Its result led to the founding of TheBritishEmpire and a secessionist British state that would, two centuries later, become more populous and richer than her (via UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution). On the other hand, it also marked the end of the first French Colonial Empire overseas and arguably caused her to turn inward to Europe again during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Most notably, the war marked the ascent of Prussia to Great Power status when she finally managed to conquer ''just'' enough territory (from the Austrian Habsburgs) to be able to put up a decent fight against the other Great Powers.

* {{Plunder}}: Practically the entire French Empire. [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority Which is why]] it became TheBritishEmpire.

** That would also happen in later European wars. For instance Field Marshal Blücher, victor of Waterloo (1815), was a SevenYearsWar veteran.