Seven Years War
    -Michael Jeszenka


	For some of my scenarios I create a document similar like this, for two reasons. One, to educate the uneducated on the matter, and two, so people will be fimilar with the events that take place so the scenario will be enjoyable.

The Seven Years War was a result of an alliance signed against King Frederick II (the great) of Prussia. This alliance was a result of the diplomatic revolution, which was the result of an earlier war called "The War of Austrian Succession".

*****The War of Austrian Succession******
    (Hohenzollerns)
    This war started in 1740, when two European super powers saw new leaders. One of them was Frederick Hohenzollern (the great). The Hohenzollerns had dominated Prussia since the 1600s. Frederick William was the first leader, and he set a Hohenzollern tradition of loving the military. Prussia has been described as "Not a country that has an army, but an army that has a country."
Frederick William used his army as mercenaries for money to build up his country. His successor, Frederick I participated in the War of Spanish Succession, in which Prussia was organized as a Kingdom and Frederick I became the first Hohenzollern king. His successor, Frederick William II, loved the military, drilled it, but never went to war with it. His major notable accomplishment was the pragmatic sanction, covered bellow. His successor was Frederick II, AKA Frederick the great.

    (Hapsburgs)
    Much is known of the Hapsburgs so I will not go into detail here as I have with the Hohenzollerns. During Frederick William II's reign, the Holy Roman Emperor (a Hapsburg like always) devoted his reign to one purpose. Securing the empire for his daughter and only heir, Maria Theresa. The Austrian Empire consisted of three main parts, besides winning's in the war of Austrian Succession. The parts were Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia. Hungary and Bohemia did not like their Hapsburg rulers, so he figured when he was gone, Austria's enemies would ally against him and free these states and destroy Austria. He came up with a solution, called the Pragmatic Sanction. In it, all rulers of Europe agreed to recognize Maria Theresa as heir to ALL Hapsburg lands. In theory, Maria Theresa was guaranteed a peaceful reign.

    (The War)
    In 1740, both of these rulers came to power. Frederick II, scorned the Pragmatic Sanction his father had signed! He figured that Maria Theresa was a woman incapable of defending herself. Frederick II looked greedily at Silesia, and invaded. Other European powers including France and several German states, took after Prussia's lead. Maria Theresa being desperate, turned to Hungary for support. She gave a very famous speech at Pressburg and won the noble's hearts. They raised an army of 100,000 and ejected all the invaders, except the Prussians in Silesia. Both the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War are called the Silesian Wars.

*****The Diplomatic Revolution*****
    This war showed to the world Prussia's might. They had the strongest military on land. Austria now saw them as the greatest enemy. France had been enemies of the Hapsburgs for centuries but began to grow weary of Prussia's strength. An alliance was signed, in which Russia, Saxony and Sweden joined in. The prepared to take Frederick II out.
    Prussia didn't just sit there, they made an alliance of their own, with Britain. Great Britain had the strongest navy, and Prussia had the strongest military, so they should be invincible. Eight years had gone by since the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, which singed in 1748, concluded the war of Austrian Succession. During this time, a number of hostile acts were preformed on the British and French frontiers. It had been an unofficial war of outposts.

*****The Seven Years War*****
    (Europe)
    With tensions mounting, Frederick II decided to act first. On August 29, 1756, Prussia invaded Saxony with 70,000 men. The rest was distributed throughout the kingdom to guard in Hanover, Silesia, East Prussia, and Pomerania. Saxony was invaded and Dresden was taken. The defending Saxons entrenched themselves on a Plateau where the town Pirna lay. The Austrians were deceived into thinking that Prussia would attack through Silesia. So while they marched over to Saxony, Prussia closely guarded Pirna, and prepared for the Austrians. It was a Prussian victory.     Next the two armies meet again at Prague. On the open field, Prussia scored a victory. The Austrians took next defense in Prague and Prussia besieged the city. When a relief army came the siege was abandoned and the battle of Kolin took place. It was a disaster for Prussia and they retreated back into Saxony.
    One of Frederick's only advantage was the terrible communications his enemies had. France began to march towards Hanover, the Swedes landed in Pomerania, and Russia began its march west. France took.
    In 1758, the Russian invasion died out by slow progress and the inability to act when Frederick wasn't watching. A new Commander was placed in charge and invaded East Prussia. They gained a foot hold but were unable to continue an advance due to weather conditions.
    Several more battles occurred, but most of them from 1756-1760. The remaining years went slowly, as every participant was suffering from mass casualties and a strain of resources. In 1762, the Czarina died and a new Czar came to power. He and the Swedes quickly signed a peace treaty and gave back all of their conquered land. From then, Austria participated in one last battle and lost, and the French were pushed back across the Rhine.

    (Britain)
    Britain was the chief victor of this war. They took advantage of France's interest in invading Prussia. Britain conducted series of raids on the French coast, which accomplish little other than diverting troops to the area. In 1757, France invaded Minorca, one of the Northern Balearic Islands. That was their only acquisition. For the British, General James Wolfe conquered Quebec and the rest of Canada. Senegal in West Africa was captured, and the French lost all their claims in India. France put up a little fight on their frontiers and at sea. Montcalm had successfully captured a couple of British forts in America, but he died at Abraham heights trying to defend Quebec. For the ladder half of the war, Spain attack Britain's close ally, Portugal. Britain responded by conquering a number of Spanish territory in the Americas, since they did not have to deal with the French anymore.

I hope this has helped. My sources were my History book from school, and an encyclopedia.