Who was King of England during the Seven Years' War?
Seven Years' War
Not only that, Austria now found herself estranged with the new developments within the empire itself. Beside the rise of Prussia, Augustus III, although ineffective, could muster an army not only from Saxony, but also Poland, since he was also the King of Poland as well as Elector of Saxony. Bavaria's growing power and independence was also apparent as it asserted more control on the deployment of its army, and managed to disengage from the war at its own will. Most importantly, with the now belligerent Hanover united personally under George III of Great Britain, It amassed a considerable power, and even brought Britain in, on future conflicts. This power dynamic was important to the future and the latter conflicts of the "Reich". The war also proved that Maria Theresa's reforms were still insufficient to compete with Prussia: unlike its enemy, the Austrians were almost bankrupt at the end of war. Hence, she dedicated the next two decades to the consolidation of her administration.
Great Britain in the Seven Years' War
Britain found itself bound by the Westminster Convention and entered the war on the Prussian side. Newcastle was deeply reluctant to do this, but he saw that a Prussian collapse would be disastrous to British and Hanoverian interests. The Anglo-Prussian Alliance was established, which saw large amounts of subsidy given to Prussia. Some supporters of George II were strong advocates of support for Prussia, as they saw it would be impossible to defend his realm of Hanover if they were to be defeated. Despite his initial dislike of Frederick, the King later moved towards this viewpoint.
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham
Pitt was a member of the British cabinet and its informal leader from 1756 to 1761 (with a brief interlude in 1757), during the Seven Years' War (known as the French and Indian War in the United States). He again led the ministry, holding the official title of Lord Privy Seal, between 1766 and 1768. Much of his power came from his brilliant oratory. He was out of power for most of his career and became well known for his attacks on the government, such as those on Walpole's corruption in the 1730s, Hanoverian subsidies in the 1740s, peace with France in the 1760s, and the uncompromising policy towards the American colonies in the 1770s.
George Keppel, 3rd Earl of Albemarle
General George Keppel, 3rd Earl of Albemarle KG PC (London, 8 April 1724 – 13 October 1772), styled Viscount Bury until 1754, was a British soldier and nobleman. He is best known for his capture of Havana in 1762 during the Seven Years' War.
History of the United Kingdom
The Seven Years' War, which began in 1756, was the first war waged on a global scale, fought in Europe, India, North America, the Caribbean, the Philippines and coastal Africa. The signing of the Treaty of Paris (1763) had important consequences for Britain and its empire. In North America, France's future as a colonial power there was effectively ended with the ceding of New France to Britain (leaving a sizeable French-speaking population under British control) and Louisiana to Spain. Spain ceded Florida to Britain. In India, the Carnatic War had left France still in control of its enclaves but with military restrictions and an obligation to support British client states, effectively leaving the future of India to Britain. The British victory over France in the Seven Years' War therefore left Britain as the world's dominant colonial power.
Lord Charles Hay
Lord Charles Hay (c. 1700 – 1 May 1760) was a soldier of the British Army who saw service in the Anglo-Spanish War, the Wars of the Polish and Austrian Successions, and the Seven Years' War. He combined this with a political career, sitting for a time as a member of parliament.
Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg
Kaunitz was the mastermind of the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756, which involved the dramatic shakeup of traditional military alliances in Europe. Austria went from an ally of Britain to an ally of France and Russia. Prussia became an ally of Britain, along with Hanover. The result was the basic lineup of forces in the Seven Years' War.
Charles O'Hara
During the Seven Years' War O'Hara served in Germany as an aide to the Marquess of Granby, the senior officer of the British contingent serving with the Duke of Brunswick's army. In 1762 he served under his father in Portugal in the same campaign with Charles Lee. He also saw service in Germany. Although a disciplinarian, he was extremely popular with the troops under his command.
Seven Years' War
The British prime minister, the Duke of Newcastle, was optimistic that the new series of alliances could prevent war from breaking out in Europe. However, a large French force was assembled at Toulon, and the French opened the campaign against the British with an attack on Menorca in the Mediterranean. A British attempt at relief was foiled at the Battle of Minorca, and the island was captured on 28 June (for which Admiral Byng was court-martialed and executed). Britain formally declared war on France on 17 May, nearly two years after fighting had broken out in the Ohio Country.
The Death of the Earl of Chatham
Lord Chatham was the architect of the British victory in the Seven Years' War (1757–1763), in which Britain won supremacy in America. Although sympathetic to American grievances and against the use of force to subdue the Americans, he was opposed to American independence.
History of the Philippines (1521–1898)
In August 1759, Charles III ascended the Spanish throne. At the time, Great Britain and France were at war, in what was later called the Seven Years' War. France, suffering a series of setbacks, successfully negotiated a treaty with Spain known as the Family Compact which was signed on 15 August 1761. By an ancillary secret convention, Spain was committed to making preparations for war against Britain.
Karl Friedrich, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
Karl Friedrich sided with Empress Maria Theresa of Austria against Prussia during the Seven Years' War. Until 1763 he served in the cavalry regiment as part of the troops of the Swabian Empire Circle. During the conflict, he mostly fought against Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, leader of the Prussian cavalry.
British Armed Forces
Since the formation of a Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 (later succeeded by the United Kingdom), the armed forces have seen action in a number of major wars involving the world's great powers, including the Seven Years' War, the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Repeatedly emerging victorious from conflicts has allowed Britain to establish itself as one of the world's leading military and economic powers.
France–United Kingdom relations
Several of the most famous Anglo-French battles took place during the Hundred Years' War: Crécy, Poitiers, Agincourt, Orléans, Patay, Formigny and Castillon. The English under King Henry VIII invaded and defeated France in 1544-46. Major sources of French pride stemmed from their leadership during the war. Bertrand du Guesclin was a brilliant tactician who forced the English out of the lands they had procured at the Treaty of Brétigny, a compromising treaty that most Frenchmen saw as a humiliation. Joan of Arc was another unifying figure who to this day represents a combination of religious fervour and French patriotism to all France. After her inspirational victory at Orléans and what many saw as Joan's martyrdom at the hands of Burgundians and Englishmen, Jean de Dunois eventually forced the English out of all of France except Calais, which was only lost in 1558. Apart from setting national identities, the Hundred Years' War was the root of the traditional rivalry and at times hatred between the two countries. During this era, the English lost their last territories in France, except Calais, which would remain in English hands for another 105 years, though the English monarchs continued to style themselves as Kings of France until 1800.
Seven Years' War
William Pitt the Elder, who entered the cabinet in 1756, had a grand vision for the war that made it entirely different from previous wars with France. As prime minister, Pitt committed Britain to a grand strategy of seizing the entire French Empire, especially its possessions in North America and India. Britain's main weapon was the Royal Navy, which could control the seas and bring as many invasion troops as were needed. He also planned to use colonial forces from the thirteen American colonies, working under the command of British regulars, to invade New France. In order to tie the French army down he subsidized his European allies. Pitt was head of the government from 1756 to 1761, and even after that the British continued his strategy. It proved completely successful. Pitt had a clear appreciation of the enormous value of imperial possessions, and realized the vulnerability of the French Empire.
Onontio
Onontio fell from power in 1763 with the conquest of New France by the British empire in the Seven Years' War. The British conquerors seemed unwilling or unable to fulfill the role of Onontio, which was, as a father, that of a mediator and provider rather than a conqueror. As a result, the natives of the Great Lakes rose up against British rule in Pontiac's Rebellion, attempting in part to restore Onontio to power. The native war effort was a failure militarily, but the British revised their policies and began to fulfill some of Onontio's duties. The new Anglo-Indian alliance proved beneficial to the British Empire in subsequent decades as the British were able to enlist native allies in struggles against the United States.
Great Britain in the Seven Years' War
Britain and France both had significant colonial possessions in India and had been battling for supremacy for a number of years. The British were represented by the British East India Company (EIC) who were permitted to raise troops. The collapse of the long-standing Mughal Empire brought the clash between the two states to a head, as each tried to gain sufficient power and territory to dominate the other. The 1754 Treaty of Pondicherry which ended the Second Carnatic War had brought a temporary truce to India, but it was soon under threat. A number of smaller Indian Princely states aligned with either Britain or France. One of the most assertive of these Princes was the pro-French Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, who resented the British presence in Calcutta. In 1756 he had succeeded his grandfather Alivardi Khan who had been a staunch British ally. By contrast he regarded the British East India Company as an encroaching threat.
Timeline of the Hundred Years' War
This is a timeline of the Hundred Years' War between England and France from 1337 to 1453 as well as some of the events leading up to the war. (The Hundred Years' War actually spanned for 116 years.)
The Battle of Castillon is generally considered the end of the Hundred Years' War as Henry VI's insanity and the Wars of the Roses left England in no position to wage war in France. However Calais remained an English possession until 1558 and the title of King of France was not omitted from the English royal style until 1 January 1801 ( after the Battle of Castillon).
Wall Ministry
When the Seven Years' War broke out, Spain did not join with its traditional ally France but maintained a strict neutrality. However, when Charles III took the throne in 1759 he wanted to pursue a more pro-French policy, while retaining the popular and experienced Wall as Chief Minister. By the end of 1761 Spain was at war with Britain which had, as Wall had predicted, disastrous consequences for the Spanish who suffered a number of embarrising military defeats to British forces (lost of La Havana and Manila). He stepped down in 1763 following the Treaty of Paris handing over power to Jerónimo Grimaldi.
Annus mirabilis
A series of victories by the British military in 1759 in North America, Europe, India, and in various naval engagements, is occasionally referred to as William Pitt's annus mirabilis, and was the decisive year of the Seven Years' War.
Wales in the Late Middle Ages
In the Wars of the Roses over the English throne, which began in 1455, both sides made considerable use of Welsh troops. The main figures in Wales were the two Earls of Pembroke, the Yorkist Earl William Herbert and the Lancastrian Jasper Tudor. In 1485 Jasper's nephew, Henry Tudor, landed in Wales with a small force to launch his bid for the throne of England. Henry was of Welsh descent, counting princes such as Rhys ap Gruffydd (The Lord Rhys) among his ancestors, and his cause gained much support in Wales. Henry defeated King Richard III of England at the Battle of Bosworth with an army containing many Welsh soldiers and gained the throne as King Henry VII of England.
William Amherst (British Army officer)
Lieutenant General William Amherst (5 February 1732, in Sevenoaks, Kent – 13 May 1781) was a British military commander. In 1762 during the Seven Years' War he led British forces that defeated a French expedition which had occurred earlier that year in St. John's, Newfoundland at the Battle of Signal Hill.
William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne
Lord Shelburne was born in Dublin in 1737 and spent his formative years in Ireland. After attending Oxford University he served in the British army during the Seven Years' War. He took part in the Raid on Rochefort and the Battle of Minden. As a reward for his conduct at the Battle of Kloster Kampen, Shelburne was appointed an aide-de-camp to George III. He became involved in politics, becoming a member of parliament in 1760. After his father's death in 1761 he inherited his title and was elevated to the House of Lords. He took an active role in politics. He served as President of the Board of Trade in the Grenville Ministry but resigned this position after only a few months and began to associate with the opposition leader William Pitt.
John Manners, Marquess of Granby
Manners served in the Seven Years' War as overall commander of the British troops on the battlefield and was subsequently rewarded with the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Forces. He was popular with his troops and many public houses are still named after him today.
Germany–United States relations
During the American Revolution (1775–1783) King Frederick the Great of Prussia strongly hated the British because they had abandoned him in 1761, during the Seven Years' War (1756–1763). He now favored France and impeded Britain's war effort in subtle ways, such as blocking the passage of Hessians soldiers. However, British trade was too important to lose and there was risk of attack from Austria, so he pursued a peace policy and maintained an official strict neutrality.
History of the United Kingdom
The first decades were marked by Jacobite risings which ended with defeat for the Stuart cause at Culloden in 1746. In 1763, victory in the Seven Years' War led to the growth of the First British Empire. With the defeat by the United States, France and Spain in the War of American Independence, Britain lost its 13 American colonies and rebuilt a Second British Empire based in Asia and Africa. As a result, British culture, and its technological, political, constitutional, and linguistic influence, became worldwide. Politically, the central event was the French Revolution and its Napoleonic aftermath from 1793 to 1815, which British elites saw as a profound threat, and worked energetically to form multiple coalitions that finally defeated Napoleon in 1815. The Tories, who came to power in 1783, remained in power (with a short interruption) until 1830. Forces of reform, often emanating from the Evangelical religious elements, opened decades of political reform that broadened the ballot, and opened the economy to free trade. The outstanding political leaders of the 19th century included Palmerston, Disraeli, Gladstone, and Salisbury. Culturally the Victorian era (Queen Victoria reigned 1837–1901) was a time of prosperity and dominant middle-class virtues when Britain dominated the world economy and maintained a generally peaceful century, 1815–1914. The First World War (1914–1918), in alliance with France, Russia and the United States, was a furious but ultimately successful total war with Germany. The resulting League of Nations was a favourite project in Interwar Britain. However, while the Empire remained strong, as did the London financial markets, the British industrial base began to slip behind Germany and especially the United States. Sentiments for peace were so strong that the nation supported appeasement of Hitler's Germany in the late 1930s, until the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939 opened the Second World War. In the Second World War 1939–45, France, the Soviet Union the U.S. joined Britain as the main Allied powers.
Henry VI of England
Henry inherited the long-running Hundred Years' War (1337–1453), in which his uncle Charles VII contested his claim to the French throne. He is the only English monarch to also have been crowned King of France (as Henry II), in 1431. His early reign, when several people were ruling for him, saw the pinnacle of English power in France, but subsequent military, diplomatic, and economic problems had seriously endangered the English cause by the time Henry was declared fit to rule in 1437. He found his realm in a difficult position, faced with setbacks in France and divisions among the nobility at home. Unlike his father, Henry is described as timid, shy, passive, well-intentioned, and averse to warfare and violence; he was also at times mentally unstable. His ineffective reign saw the gradual loss of the English lands in France. Partially in the hope of achieving peace, in 1445 Henry married Charles VII's niece, the ambitious and strong-willed Margaret of Anjou. The peace policy failed, leading to the murder of one of Henry's key advisers, and the war recommenced, with France taking the upper hand; by 1453, Calais was Henry's only remaining territory on the continent.
English Civil War
Charles I avoided calling a Parliament for the next decade, a period known as the "personal rule of Charles I", or the "Eleven Years' Tyranny". During this period, Charles's lack of money determined policies. First and foremost, to avoid Parliament, the King needed to avoid war. Charles made peace with France and Spain, effectively ending England's involvement in the Thirty Years' War. However, that in itself was far from enough to balance the Crown's finances.
Records of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom
Seven Years' War
Great Britain in the Seven Years' War
The British Prime Minister, the Duke of Newcastle, had acceded to the premiership in 1754 following the sudden death of his brother Henry Pelham, and led a government made up largely of Whigs. Newcastle had thirty years' experience as a Secretary of State and was a leading figure on the diplomatic scene. Despite enjoying a comfortable majority in the House of Commons he was extremely cautious and vulnerable to attacks led by men such as William Pitt, leader of the Patriot Party. Newcastle fervently believed that peace in Europe was possible so long as the "Old System" and the alliance with Austria prevailed and devoted much of his efforts to the continuance of this.
History of colonialism
After the conclusion of the Seven Years' War in 1763, Britain had emerged as the world's dominant power, but found itself mired in debt and struggling to finance the Navy and Army necessary to maintain a global empire. The British Parliament's attempt to raise taxes from North American colonists raised fears among the Americans that their rights as "Englishmen", and particularly their rights of self-government, were in danger.
William Tasker (poet)
Tasker thought the results of the Seven Years' War (1754–63) had only been the growth of corruption and luxury at home.
He wrote several poems on the Anglo-French War (1778–83) in which he represented the Earl of Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty, as being at the centre of a selfish and corrupt network.
Tasker saw the action by Admiral Augustus Keppel at the Battle of Ushant (1778) as a great victory, which he celebrated in his poem "Nereus's Prophecy: A Sea-Piece Sketched off Ushant" (1779).
The cover of this poem has a cartoon in which Sandwich and Hugh Palliser are showing hanging from a gallows, laden with emblems that show they are guilty, while a seated courtesan weeps over their fate.
In "A congratulatory Ode to Admiral Keppel" (1779) he wrote of Keppel, whom he saw as representing the interests of the honest trading community in England,
Kingdom of England
Edward III was the first English king to have a claim to the throne of France. His pursuit of the claim resulted in the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453), which pitted five kings of England of the House of Plantagenet against five kings of France of the Capetian House of Valois. Extensive naval raiding was carried out by all sides during the war, often involving privateers such as John Hawley of Dartmouth or the Castilian Pero Niño. Though the English won numerous victories, they were unable to overcome the numerical superiority of the French and their strategic use of gunpowder weapons. England was defeated at the Battle of Formigny in 1450 and finally at the Battle of Castillon in 1453, retaining only a single town in France, Calais.
Edward Braddock
Major General Edward Braddock (January 1695 – 13 July 1755) was a British officer and commander-in-chief for the Thirteen Colonies during the actions at the start of the French and Indian War (1754–1763), which is also known in Europe and Canada as the Seven Years' War (1756–1763). He is generally best remembered for his command of a disastrous expedition against the French-occupied Ohio River Valley in 1755, in which he lost his life. (Both Virginia and Pennsylvania claimed this territory by their Royal grants.)
Charles III of Spain
The Kingdom of Naples remained neutral during the Seven Years' War (1756–1763). The British Prime Minister, William Pitt wanted to create an Italian league where Naples and Sardinia would fight together against Austria, but Charles refused to participate. This choice was sharply criticised by the Neapolitan Ambassador in Turin, Domenico Caraccioli, who wrote:
"The position of Italian matters is not more beautiful; but it is worsened by the fact that the King of Naples and the King of Sardinia, adding troops to larger forces of the others, could oppose itself to the plans of their neighbours; to defend itself against the dangers of the peace of the enemies themselves they were in a way united, but they are separated by their different systems of gouvernement."
With the Republic of Genoa in relations are stretched: Pasquale Paoli, general of Corsican pro-independence rebels, was an officer of the Neapolitan army and the Genoese one suspected that he received assistance of the kingdom of Naples.
John Burgoyne
General John Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British army officer, dramatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1792. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several battles, most notably during the Portugal Campaign of 1762.
Catherine the Great
Catherine agreed to a commercial treaty with Great Britain in 1766, but stopped short of a full military alliance. Although she could see the benefits of Britain's friendship, she was wary of Britain's increased power following its victory in the Seven Years' War, which threatened the European balance of power.
List of Assassin's Creed characters
James Cook (1728–1779), was a Captain of the Royal Navy and master of the HMS Pembroke. During the Seven Years' War, he assisted the Templars and the British during their campaigns against the French and the Assassins, despite not knowing the true existence of the two orders due to his strict honesty which the Templars decided not to induct him or even tell him about their existence. He later assisted Shay Cormac and Haytham Kenway in locating the Precursor Temple in an effort to stop the Assassins. After Shay killed de la Verèndrye, the former gave the latter's maps in different locations which would eventually led Cook in discovering new lands for the British Empire, most notably Australia.
Charles VI of France
Charles VI's reign was marked by the continuing conflict with the English, known as the Hundred Years' War. An early attempt at peace occurred in 1396 when Charles' daughter, the almost seven-year-old Isabella of Valois, married the 29-year-old Richard II of England. By 1415, however, the feud between the French royal family and the House of Burgundy led to chaos and anarchy throughout France that Henry V of England was eager to take advantage of. Henry led an invasion that culminated in the defeat of the French army at the Battle of Agincourt in October.
Louis François, Prince of Conti
Although Conti did not secure the Polish throne, he did remain in the confidence of the king until 1755, when his influence was destroyed by the intrigues of the king's mistress, Madame de Pompadour. His relationship with Louis XV deteriorated so, that when the Seven Years' War broke out in 1756, Conti was refused the command of the army of the Rhine. Angry, he began opposing the royal government, which caused Louis to refer to him as, ""my cousin, the advocate"".
Maritime history
Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel was a British admiral who held sea commands during the Seven Years' War and the War of American Independence. During the final years of the latter conflict he served as First Lord of the Admiralty. During the Seven Years' War he saw constant service. He was in North America in 1755, on the coast of France in 1756, was detached on a cruise to reduce the French settlements on the west coast of Africa in 1758, and his ship "Torbay" (74) was the first to get into action in the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759. In 1757 he had formed part of the court martial which had condemned Admiral Byng, but was active among those who endeavoured to secure a pardon for him; but neither he nor those who had acted with him could produce any serious reason why the sentence should not be carried out. When Spain joined France in 1762 he was sent as second in command with Sir George Pocock in the expedition which took Havana. His health suffered from the fever which carried off an immense proportion of the soldiers and sailors, but the £25,000 of prize money which he received freed him from the unpleasant position of younger son of a family ruined by the extravagance of his father.
History of the foreign relations of the United Kingdom
Britain played a small role in the inconclusive but hard fought war that convulsed central Europe, while funding its ally Austria. The goal, as defined by foreign minister John Carteret was to limit the growth of French power, and protect Hanover, which was also ruled by King George II. In 1743 King George II led a 40,000-man British-Dutch-German army into the Rhine Valley. He was outmaneuvred by the French but he scored a narrow victory at the Battle of Dettingen. In the winter of 1743-44 the French planned to invade Britain in alliance with the Stuart pretender to George's throne; they were foiled by the Royal Navy. King George gave command to his son the Duke of Cumberland. He fared poorly and Britain pulled out of the war to deal with rebellion at home, where Cumberland gained fame by decisively suppressing the Jacobite Rising at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. Meanwhile, Britain did much better in North America, capturing the powerful Fortress of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) favoured France, which won the most victories. Britain returned the Fortress of Louisbourg to France and the French left the Austrian Netherlands (modern Belgium). Prussia and Savoy were the main winners, and Britain's ally Austria was a loser. The treaty left the main issues of control over territories in America and India unresolved, and was little more than an armed truce, and a prelude to the more important Seven Years' War.
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global conflict fought between 1756 and 1763. It involved every European great power of the time and spanned five continents, affecting Europe, the Americas, West Africa, India, and the Philippines. The conflict split Europe into two coalitions, led by the Kingdom of Great Britain (including the Kingdom of Prussia, the Kingdom of Portugal, the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and other small German states) on one side and the Kingdom of France (including the Austrian-led Holy Roman Empire), the Russian Empire (until 1762), the Kingdom of Spain, and the Swedish Empire on the other. Meanwhile, in India, some regional polities within the increasingly fragmented Mughal Empire, with the support of the French, tried to crush a British attempt to conquer Bengal. The war's extent has led some historians to describe it as "World War Zero", similar in scale to other world wars.
Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle
Generally praise for Britain's victory in the Seven Years' War has gone to Pitt rather than Newcastle, despite the fact it was he who officially headed the government. Traditionally, accounts of the war have portrayed Pitt as a visionary who won the war by reversing Newcastle's previous unwise policy of focusing on European affairs; Francis Parkman records correspondence between Pitt and his military administrators, and none between them and Newcastle. Others have defended Newcastle by contrasting his 'continental policy' with the Lord North's failure to gather European allies during the American War of Independence which led to Britain's eventual defeat in this conflict.
Two-front war
During the Seven Years' War, the Kingdom of Great Britain invaded New France, creating a two-front war with France.
11th Parliament of Great Britain
The Seven Years' War was fought for the duration of the Eleventh Parliament, and much of its legislation addressed the financing and conduct of the war.
History of the United Kingdom
George II (1727–1760) enhanced the stability of the constitutional system, with a government run by Sir Robert Walpole during the period 1730–42. He built up the First British Empire, strengthening the colonies in the Caribbean and North America. In coalition with the rising power Prussia, the United Kingdom defeated France in the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), and won full control of Canada.
Benjamin Keene
Sir Benjamin Keene, KB, (1697, King's Lynn, Norfolk, England – 1757, Madrid) was a British diplomat known for his service as British Ambassador to Spain. He strove to maintain good relations between the two countries, but was unable to prevent the War of Jenkins' Ear breaking out in 1739. He later successfully kept Spain neutral when the Seven Years' War broke out in 1756. At the height of his powers he wielded wide influence over events in Spain, and was in the confidence of leading Spanish statesmen.
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
The Portuguese prime minister Marquis of Pombal encouraged the occupation of territory which had already been awarded to the Spanish in the Treaty of Paris (1763), following the British defeat of France in the Seven Years' War. King Charles III quickly reacted to the advantageous conditions: France was bound to be an ally as a guarantor of the treaty, and Great Britain, due to its own colonial problems with revolution in the Thirteen Colonies in North America, maintained neutrality on the issues between Portugal and Spain.
Territorial evolution of the Caribbean
Britain captured Martinique and Grenada during the Seven Years' War, holding it from 1762 to 1763. becomes British.
The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on February 10, 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the Seven Years' War. In the treaty:Saint Vincent restored to French rule in 1779.The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ratified by the Congress of the Confederation on January 14, 1784 and by the King of Great Britain on April 9, 1784 (the ratification documents were exchanged in Paris on May 12, 1784), formally ended the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United States of America, which had rebelled against British rule starting in 1775. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of these see Peace of Paris (1783).
Great Britain in the Seven Years' War
Britain had been allied to Austria since 1731, and the co-operation between the two states had peaked during the War of the Austrian Succession when Maria Theresa had been able to retain her throne with British assistance. Since then the relationship had weakened —as Austria was dissatisfied with the terms negotiated by Britain for them at the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. Prussia had captured Silesia from Austria during the war and Austria wanted British help to recover it. Sensing that it would not be forthcoming, the Austrians approached their historical enemy France and made a defensive treaty with her—thereby dissolving the twenty-five year Anglo-Austrian Alliance.
History of England
With Henry VII's accession to the throne in 1485, the Wars of the Roses came to an end, and Tudors would continue to rule England for 118 years. Traditionally, the Battle of Bosworth Field is considered to mark the end of the Middle Ages in England, although Henry did not introduce any new concept of monarchy, and for most of his reign his hold on power was tenuous. He claimed the throne by conquest and God's judgement in battle. Parliament quickly recognized him as king, but the Yorkists were far from defeated. Nonetheless, he married Edward IV's eldest daughter Elizabeth in January 1486, thereby uniting the houses of York and Lancaster.
Louis Antoine de Bougainville
Shipped back to Europe along with the other French officers, all deprived of military honours by the victors, Bougainville was prohibited by the terms of surrender from any further active duty against the British. He spent the remaining years of the Seven Years' War (1761 to 1763) as a diplomat, helping to negotiate the Treaty of Paris. Under this France ceded most of New France east of the Mississippi River to the British Empire.
Second Hundred Years' War
After William III, the opposition of France and Britain shifted from religion to economy and trade: the two nations vied for colonial domination in the Americas and Asia. The Seven Years' War was one of the greatest and most decisive conflicts. France's alliance and backing of the colonists in the American Revolutionary War against Britain was successful in undermining British colonial hegemony in North America, but in turn debts from that conflict sowed the economic seeds of France's own revolution shortly thereafter.
House of Bourbon
Charles revived the Family Compact with France on 15 August 1761 and joined in the Seven Years' War against Britain in 1762; the reformist policies he had espoused in Naples were pursued with similar energy in Spain, where he completely overhauled the cumbersome bureaucracy of the state. As a French ally he opposed Britain during the American Revolution in June 1779, supplying large quantities of weapons and munitions to the rebels and keeping one third of all the British forces in the Americas occupied defending Florida and what is now Alabama, which were ultimately recaptured by Spain. Charles died in 1788.
William Mylne
His journey home during the winter of 1757-1758 was fraught with difficulty due to the weather, politics, and his own finances. The Seven Years' War had broken out between England and France, and their respective allies, forcing a journey through Germany. Mylne was obliged to burn all his papers to hide his British identity, and posed as an Italian to avoid being either arrested or pressed into military service. He travelled across the Alps by sledge, and through Germany by post coach, as the rivers were frozen and boat travel was impossible. He arrived in Rotterdam in February, suffering from cold and hunger. He described the experience, in a letter to Robert, as "one continuous ague of fears and fatigues".
Edward the Seventh
After a nearly 60-year wait, Bertie becomes King upon the death of his mother Queen Victoria, and announces that, contrary to the wish of his parents, who wished him to reign as King Albert Edward, he will reign as King Edward VII. There is much speculation as to whether he is up to the job. The King's nephew, the German Kaiser, proposes an Anglo-German alliance and the King supports it but several of his Ministers simply do not take him seriously. Although now Queen, Alix is having some trouble adjusting to their new life, refusing to live at Buckingham Palace and reluctant to leave Marlborough House, the home designated for the Prince of Wales, their son George. The King's sister, Vicky – the Kaiser's mother – is dying of cancer and soon after his ascension, he travels to Germany to see her; at Vicky's request, the King's secretary, Ponsonby, manages to smuggle her letters out of Germany. The King is frustrated when his coronation is postponed due to the Boer War. When it is finally scheduled, it must be postponed again as the King must undergo emergency surgery to remove his appendix just two days before the ceremony; the planned festivities for the populace proceed regardless. Finally, in a more modest ceremony, on August 9, 1902, Bertie and Alix are crowned.
Adam Stanisław Grabowski
During the Seven Years' War, Grabowski gave financial assistance to King August III and sought to protect Warmia from armies marching across her territory. In the face of mounting conflict between the Czartoryskis and the royal court, he declared in favor of the King and gradually withdrew from politics, maintaining his neutrality in a dispute between "Prussian patriots" and Pomeranian Governor "(Wojewoda)" Paweł Mostowski. During the 1763–64 interregnum, he recognized Stanisław August Poniatowski as king. In 1765 he sold his Warsaw palace for a national mint. At King Stanisław August's request, not long before his death in 1766 he accepted Ignacy Krasicki as his coadjutor with right of succession.
Financial costs of the Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756-1763) wrought great financial burdens on Great Britain, France, and Sweden. The costs of fighting a protracted war on several continents meant Britain's national debt almost doubled from 1756 to 1763, and this financial pressure which Britain tried to alleviate through new taxation in the Thirteen Colonies helped cause the American Revolution.
George Keppel, 3rd Earl of Albemarle
The European-American conflict known as the Seven Years’ War brought his course to participate in July 1762, with two of his cadet brothers, Augustus Keppel and William Keppel, in the attempts by the British Crown to conquest, through a naval expedition headed by Sir George Pocock, (1706–1792), promoted to Admiral in 1761, the Caribbean Island of Cuba, i.e. the invasion and occupation of Havana and west Cuba:
George Keppel had been previously in his military life commissioned an ensign in the Coldstream Guards in 1738, becoming a captain-lieutenant of the 1st Regiment of Dragoons in 1741, aged 17, and a captain-lieutenant of the Coldstreams on 7 April 1743. Appointed aide-de-camp to the Duke of Cumberland in February 1745, was promoted to captain and lieutenant-colonel on 27 May 1745. The next year, he was promoted colonel and made aide-de-camp to the King on 24 April 1746. He had fought at the Battle of Culloden with his father and carried the dispatch of Cumberland's success to London.
George Morrison (British Army officer)
Morrison led the construction of a series of roads in Scotland on the orders of Field Marshal George Wade. In 1757 he was commissioned as a Captain-Lieutenant and in 1758 he served in the Seven Years' War in which he led the destruction of a number of forts in France.
George II of Great Britain
In 1754, Pelham died, to be succeeded by his elder brother, the Duke of Newcastle. Hostility between France and Britain, particularly over the colonization of North America, continued. Fearing a French invasion of Hanover, George aligned himself with Prussia (ruled by his nephew, Frederick the Great), the enemy of Austria. Russia and France allied with their former enemy Austria. A French invasion of the British-held island of Minorca led to the outbreak of the Seven Years' War in 1756. Public disquiet over British failures at the start of the conflict led to the resignation of Newcastle and the appointment of the Duke of Devonshire as prime minister and William Pitt the Elder as Secretary of State for the Southern Department. In April the following year, George dismissed Pitt, in an attempt to construct an administration more to his liking. Over the succeeding three months attempts to form another stable ministerial combination failed. In June, James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave, held the seals of office for only four days. By the start of July, Pitt was recalled, and the Duke of Newcastle returned as prime minister. As Secretary of State, Pitt guided policy relating to the war. Great Britain, Hanover and Prussia and their allies Hesse-Kassel and Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel were pitted against other European powers, including France, Austria, Russia, Sweden and Saxony. The war involved multiple theatres from Europe to North America and India, where British dominance increased with the victories of Robert Clive over French forces and their allies at the Battle of Arcot and the Battle of Plassey.
France in the Seven Years' War
The Mughals led by Shah Alam II were joined by Jean Law and 200 Frenchmen and waged a campaign against the British during the Seven Years' War.
French–German enmity
In the course of the Seven Years' War and in view of the rising Kingdom of Prussia, which had concluded the neutrality Treaty of Westminster with the British Empire, the French under King Louis XV realigned their foreign policy. The Diplomatic Revolution instigated by the Austrian chancellor Wenzel Anton Kaunitz in 1756 ended the French-Habsburg enmity.
Elizabeth of Russia
The great event of Elizabeth's later years was the Seven Years' War. Elizabeth regarded the Convention of Westminster (16 January 1756) in which Great Britain and Prussia agreed to unite their forces to oppose the entry of or the passage through Germany of troops of every foreign power, as utterly subversive of the previous conventions between Great Britain and Russia. Elizabeth sided against Prussia over a personal dislike of Frederick the Great. She wanted him reduced within proper limits so that he might no longer be a danger to the empire. Elizabeth acceded to the Treaty of Versailles, thus entering into an alliance with France and Austria against Prussia. On 17 May 1757 the Russian army, 85,000 strong, advanced against Königsberg.
Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes
Vergennes hoped that by giving French aid to the American rebels, he would be able to weaken Britain's dominance of the international stage in the wake of their victory in the Seven Years' War. This produced mixed results as in spite of securing American independence France was able to extract little material gain from the war, while the costs of fighting damaged French national finances in the run up to the Revolution. He went on to be a dominant figure in French politics during the 1780s.
France in the Seven Years' War
France was one of the leading participants in the Seven Years' War which lasted between 1754 and 1763. France entered the war with the hope of achieving a lasting victory against Prussia, Britain and their German allies and with the hope of expanding its colonial possessions.(1)
Trevor Corry
1756 had seen the beginning of the Seven Years' War in which Britain was allied with the Prussians, some German states and, from 1762, the Portuguese. The opposing side was made up of France, Russia, Austria, Sweden, Saxony and, from 1762, Spain. In the summer of 1757 the Russians had invaded East Prussia. On 25 May 1757 Corry wrote to the Secretary of State saying there has been two or three Russian men of war of forty & fifty Guns each, cruising of this Harbour these eight days past – bringing up and searching all Vessels they meet with, (a thing never before known); 'tis imagined they intend making Prizes of Ships sailing under the Prussian Flag.
Spanish invasion of Portugal (1762)
During the Seven Years' War, a British fleet under Admiral Boscawen attacked a French fleet in Portuguese waters in front of Lagos, Algarve, in 1759. Three French ships were captured and two burned. Portugal, though an old ally of Britain, had stated her neutrality in this war and accordingly, the Portuguese prime minister Pombal demanded satisfaction from Great Britain. The British government apologized to the Portuguese king, José I, by sending a special delegation to Lisbon, yet the captured vessels were not returned, as demanded by France (Pombal had previously informed Pitt that he did not expect it). The Portuguese government materially assisted the French garrisons that had taken refuge in Lagos after the battle. The French king, Louis XV, thanked José I for all the assistance given to the French sailors, although claiming for the navies. The case seemed settled, but Spain and France would use it as a pretext to invade Portugal four years later.
Kingdom of Great Britain
The early years of the unified kingdom were marked by Jacobite risings which ended in defeat for the Stuart cause at Culloden in 1746. In 1763, victory in the Seven Years' War led to the dominance of the British Empire, which was to become the foremost global power for over a century and slowly grew to become the largest empire in history.
George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney
George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney, KB (14 May 1737 – 31 May 1806) was a British statesman, colonial administrator and diplomat. He is often remembered for his observation following Britain's success in the Seven Years War and subsequent territorial expansion at the Treaty of Paris that Britain now controlled "a vast Empire, on which the sun never sets".
Sir Thomas Adams, 6th Baronet
Sir Thomas Adams, 6th Baronet (bpt. 17 February 1738 – April 1770) was an officer in the Royal Navy who served during the Seven Years' War.
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was perhaps the first true world war, having taken place almost 160 years before World War I and influenced many major events later around the globe. The war restructured not only the European political order, but also affected events all around the world, paving the way for the beginning of later British world supremacy in the 19th century, the rise of Prussia in Germany (eventually replacing Austria as the leading German State), the beginning of tensions in British North America, as well as a clear sign of France's eventual turmoil. It was characterised in Europe by sieges and the arson of towns as well as open battles with heavy losses.
Joseph Louis Cook
Cook lived in the Mohawk village of Kahnawake. He fought with the Mohawk nation on the side of the French against the British colonists in the French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years' War. A friend and minister, Eleazer Williams, later wrote that Cook was at the battle against the Braddock expedition in 1755 (the Braddock party included the young George Washington), and served under General Montcalm at the Battle of Fort Oswego in 1756. The same year, he was wounded in a skirmish with Rogers' Rangers near Fort Ticonderoga.
Louis Georges Érasme de Contades
Louis Georges Érasme de Contades (1704–1795) was the 6th Marquis de Contades and Seigneur de Montgeoffroi. He was a Marshal of France and a major battlefield commander during the Seven Years' War. He notably commanded the French forces at the 1759 Battle of Minden.
Kingdom of England
The completion of the conquest of Wales by Edward I in 1284 put Wales under the control of the English crown. Edward III (reigned 1327–1377) transformed the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe; his reign also saw vital developments in legislation and government—in particular the evolution of the English parliament. From the 1340s the kings of England also laid claim to the crown of France, but after the Hundred Years' War and the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses in 1455, the English were no longer in any position to pursue their French claims and lost all their land on the continent, except for Calais. After the turmoils of the Wars of the Roses, the Tudor dynasty ruled during the English Renaissance and again extended English monarchical power beyond England proper, achieving the full union of England and the Principality of Wales in 1542. Henry VIII oversaw the English Reformation, and his daughter Elizabeth I (reigned 1558–1603) the Elizabethan Religious Settlement, meanwhile establishing England as a great power and laying the foundations of the British Empire by claiming possessions in the New World.
1759 in Great Britain
Events from the year 1759 in Great Britain. This year was dubbed an "Annus Mirabilis" due to a succession of military victories in the Seven Years' War against French-led opponents.
Seven Years' War
Conflict between Great Britain and France broke out in 1754–1756 when the British attacked disputed French positions in North America, starting with a British ambush of a small French force at the Battle of Jumonville Glen on 28 May 1754, and extended across the colonial boundaries and the seizure of hundreds of French merchant ships at sea. Meanwhile, rising power Prussia was struggling with Austria for dominance within and outside the Holy Roman Empire in central Europe. In 1756, the major powers "switched partners".
Enlightenment in Spain
Although the Seven Years' War had broken out in 1756, Spain had managed to remain strictly neutral under the ministry of Ricardo Wall, who continued to lead Spain's government in the early years of Charles III. Charles, however, bore a grudge against the English and as the war became increasingly desperate for France, he went against his chief minister's wishes and intervened on France's behalf in 1762. Spain fared poorly in the war, and the British briefly occupied Havana and Manila within a year. Florida was ceded to the British and Spain recognized British control over Menorca and Gibraltar in 1763, although the vast territory of Louisiana was given to Spain to compensate her for her losses. After the Treaty of Paris (1763), however, Spain could focus on internal development.
Trevor Corry
In February 1763, the two Treaties of Hubertusburg and Paris brought an end to the Seven Years' War. The Polish King, August III, died in October 1763 and was replaced by the young Polish nobleman, Stanisław II Augustus. On 30 May 1764 Corry predicted that the peace between Prussia and Russia "will certainly be the means of establishing Graff Paniatofsky on the Polish Throne without occasioning any disturbances in that Kingdome & the more sensible Poles must think this a lucky step, in preventing much bloodshed & confusion to their country." Corry said this was "not without opposition from many of the Polish Nobles ... all has been pretty quiet in that Kingdom & those Nobles who have been disgusted 'tis thought will be obliged to acquiesce in what has happend".
Sir Peter Parker, 1st Baronet
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Peter Parker, 1st Baronet (1721 – 21 December 1811) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer, he was deployed with a squadron under Admiral Edward Vernon to the West Indies at the start of the War of Jenkins' Ear. He saw action again at the Battle of Toulon during the War of the Austrian Succession. As captain of the fourth-rate HMS "Bristol" he took part in the Invasion of Guadeloupe during the Seven Years' War.
Great Britain in the Seven Years' War
Great Britain was one of the major participants in the Seven Years' War which lasted between 1754 and 1763, although warfare in the European Theatre involving countries other than Britain and France only commenced in 1756 (hence the name "Seven Years' War"). Britain emerged from the war as the world's leading colonial power, having gained a number of new territories at the Treaty of Paris in 1763 and established itself as the world's pre-eminent naval power.
Almeida, Portugal
During the Seven Years' War (1754 to 1763) which involved most of the great powers of Europe, Spain with the help of France launched an attack on Portugal due to its alliance with Great Britain. As a result of the invasion Almeida was captured by Spain in 1762.
Peter Taylor (paymaster)
Peter Taylor (1714–1777) was a British administrator and politician who made a fortune as paymaster during the Seven Years' War and sat in the House of Commons between 1765 and 1777.
Russia
The reign of Peter I's daughter Elizabeth in 1741–62 saw Russia's participation in the Seven Years' War (1756–63). During this conflict Russia annexed East Prussia for a while and even took Berlin. However, upon Elisabeth's death, all these conquests were returned to the Kingdom of Prussia by pro-Prussian Peter III of Russia.
Ambrosio de Funes Villalpando
Villalpando entered the Spanish Army, and in 1760 was appointed to represent Spain at the court of Russia. In July 1763, after Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years' War, it also signed the Treaty of Paris with Spain, settling control of territories in North America. France ceded its territories east of the Mississippi River to Britain, and West Louisiana (and Caribbean islands) to Spain. The count of Ricla took possession of the island of Cuba in the name of the king of Spain as governor and captain general.
Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough
He is best known for his service in the early part of the Seven Years' War. He led the Raid on St Malo, a naval descent against the French coastal port. Following the Capture of Emden he led the British expeditionary force sent to join Ferdinand of Brunswick's Army of Observation on Continental Europe but died in 1758, leaving command to John Manners, Marquess of Granby.
Great Britain in the Seven Years' War
The central plank of France's war against Britain in 1759 was a plan to invade Britain, authored by the French chief minister Duc de Choiseul. It was subject to several changes, but the core was that more than 50,000 French troops would cross the English Channel from Le Havre in flat-bottomed boats and land at Portsmouth on the British coast. Aided by a Jacobite rebellion – they would then advance on London and force a peace agreement on the British, extracting various concessions and knocking them out of the war. The British became aware through their agents of the scheme and drew up a plan to mobilise their forces in case of the invasion. In an effort to set back the invasion, a British raid was launched against Le Havre which destroyed numerous flat-boats and supplies. In spite of this, the plans continued to progress and by autumn the French were poised to launch their invasion.
Joan of Arc
The Hundred Years' War continued for twenty-two years after her death. Charles VII retained legitimacy as the king of France in spite of a rival coronation held for Henry VI at Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris on 16 December 1431, the boy's tenth birthday. Before England could rebuild its military leadership and force of longbowmen lost in 1429, the country lost its alliance with Burgundy when the Treaty of Arras was signed in 1435. The Duke of Bedford died the same year and Henry VI became the youngest king of England to rule without a regent. His weak leadership was probably the most important factor in ending the conflict. Kelly DeVries argues that Joan of Arc's aggressive use of artillery and frontal assaults influenced French tactics for the rest of the war.
Battles of the Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War, 1754–1763, spanned five continents, affecting Europe, the Americas, West Africa, India, and the Philippines.
Great Britain in the Seven Years' War
Through careful diplomacy and the influence of a pro-British Spanish prime minister Ricardo Wall, Spain had remained neutral through most of the war. However, with the accession of Charles III to the throne Spanish foreign policy began to change. Charles was alarmed by the British conquest of the French Empire in North America, and feared his own empire would be Pitt's next target. He concluded the Bourbon Family Compact with France, offering them practical support.
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham
In 1758 Pitt began to put into practice a new strategy to win the Seven Years' War, which would involve tying down large numbers of French troops and resources in Germany, while Britain used its naval supremacy to launch expeditions to capture French forces around the globe. Following the Capture of Emden he ordered the dispatch of the first British troops to the European continent under the Duke of Marlborough, who joined Brunswick's army. This was a dramatic reversal of his previous position, as he had recently been strongly opposed to any such commitment.
Henry VII of England
Henry VII (; 28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was the King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 to his death on 21 April 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor.
Axel von Fersen the Elder
In the Seven Years' War Fersen distinguished himself during the operations round Usedom and Wollin in 1759, when he inflicted serious loss on the Prussians. But it is as a politician that he is best known. At the Riksdag of 1755–1756 he was elected lantmarskalk, or marshal of the diet, until the revolution of 1772, led the Hat party. In 1756 he defeated the projects of the court for increasing the royal power; but, after the disasters of the Seven Years' War, returned to court.
Mary Rose
In the late 15th century, England was a relatively insignificant state on the periphery of Europe. The great victories against France in the Hundred Years' War were in the past; only the small enclave of Calais in northern France remained of the vast continental holdings of the English kings. The War of the Roses—the civil war between the houses of York and Lancaster—had ended with Henry VII's establishment of the House of Tudor, the new ruling dynasty of England. The ambitious naval policies of Henry V were not continued by his successors, and from 1422 to 1509 only six ships were built for the crown. The marriage alliance between Anne of Brittany and Charles VIII of France in 1491, and his successor Louis XII in 1499, left England with a weakened strategic position on its southern flank. Despite this, Henry VII managed to maintain a comparatively long period of peace and a small but powerful core of a navy.
Joseph Brant
Johnson, as superintendent of Indian Affairs, had the task of persuading the Iroquois Six Nations to fight in the Seven Years' War on the side of the British Crown, despite their own inclinations towards neutrality, and on 21 June 1755 called a conference at Fort Johnson with the Iroquois chiefs and clan mothers to ask them to fight in the war, and offered them many gifts. As a 12-year-old, Brant attended the conference, though his role was only as an observer who was there to learn the ways of diplomacy. At the Battle of Lake George, Johnson led a force of British Army troops raised in New York together with Iroquois against the French, where he won a costly victory. As the Iroquois disliked taking heavy losses in war owing to their small population, the Battle of Lake George which had cost the Iroquois many dead set off a deep period of mourning across Kanienkeh and much of the Six Nations leadership swung behind a policy of neutrality again. Johnson was to be sorely tried during the next years as the Crown pressed him to get the Iroquois to fight again while most the Six Nations made it clear that they wanted no more fighting. Kanagradunckwa was one of the few Mohawk chiefs who favored continuing to fight in the war, which won him much gratitude from Johnson.
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of conflicts waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Plantagenet, rulers of the Kingdom of England, against the French House of Valois, over the right to rule the Kingdom of France. Each side drew many allies into the war. It was one of the most notable conflicts of the Middle Ages, in which five generations of kings from two rival dynasties fought for the throne of the largest kingdom in Western Europe. The war marked both the height of chivalry and its subsequent decline, and the development of strong national identities in both countries.
James O'Hara, 2nd Baron Tyrawley
Field Marshal James O'Hara, 2nd Baron Tyrawley and 1st Baron Kilmaine, PC (1682 – 14 July 1774), was an Irish officer in the British Army. After serving as a junior officer in Spain and the Low Countries during the War of the Spanish Succession, he went on to become British ambassador to Lisbon establishing a close relationship with King John V there. He undertook a tour as British ambassador to Saint Petersburg before becoming Governor of Gibraltar where he set about improving the fortifications. He was briefly commander of British troops in Portugal during the Seven Years' War but was replaced within a few months. During his military career he was colonel of eight different regiments.
Pitt–Newcastle ministry
The Pitt–Newcastle ministry governed the Kingdom of Great Britain between 1757 and 1762, at the height of the Seven Years' War. It was headed by Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, who was serving in his second term as Prime Minister. The most influential and famous figure in the government however was William Pitt, who served as Secretary of State.
Seven Years' War
In 1762 two new countries entered the war. Britain declared war against Spain on 4 January 1762; Spain reacted by issuing its own declaration of war against Britain on 18 January. Portugal followed by joining the war on Britain's side. Spain, aided by the French, launched an invasion of Portugal and succeeded in capturing Almeida. The arrival of British reinforcements stalled a further Spanish advance, and in the Battle of Valencia de Alcántara British-Portuguese forces overran a major Spanish supply base. The invaders were stopped on the heights in front of Abrantes (called "the pass to Lisbon") where the Anglo-Portuguese were entrenched. Eventually the Anglo-Portuguese army, aided by guerrillas and practicing a scorched earth strategy, chased the greatly reduced Franco-Spanish army back to Spain, recovering almost all the lost towns, among them the Spanish headquarters in Castelo Branco full of wounded and sick that had been left behind.
The History of England (Hume)
This history, written during the Seven Years' War, starts (Vol. 3) with the final overthrow and extinction of the old Plantagenet royal family by the Anglo-Welsh Henry Tudor; and his success in gaining acceptance for what was a weak hereditary claim. Robert Adamson tells us that this was the point where Adam Smith wanted Hume to begin the history. There follows the reign of Henry VIII, and his break with Rome; the English Reformation under his ill-starred son Edward VI; and the attempt at counter-reformation by his daughter "bloody" Mary I.