Explain Britain’s victory over France in the French and Indian War (Seven Years’ War) and what conflicts followed this victory.
Answers
The Seven Years’ War (1756-1763) was a global conflict that spanned five continents, though it was known in America as the “French and Indian War.” After years of skirmishes between England and France in North America, England officially declared war on France in 1756, setting off what Winston Churchill later called “the first world war.” While the French, British, and Spanish battled over colonies in the New World, Frederick the Great of Prussia faced off against Austria, France, Russia and Sweden. The Seven Year’s War ended with two treaties. The Treaty of Hubertusburg granted Silesia to Prussia and enhanced Frederick the Great’s Power. The Treaty of Paris between France, Spain and Great Britain drew colonial lines largely in favor of the British, an outcome that would later influence the French to intervene in the war for American Independence.The French and Indian War
By the 1750s, the French had largely claimed Canada and the Great Lakes, while Great Britain clung to their 13 colonies on the Eastern seaboard. The frontier area around the upper Ohio River Valley soon became a hotbed of contention between British, French and Native American forces, with the Europeans eager to settle the area over their rivals. The initial armed conflicts did not go well for England; the French built Fort Duquesne and alongside their Native American allies, repeatedly defeated the British.
The war was officially sparked when 22-year-old George Washington was sent by the governor of Virginia as an envoy to the French, warning them to stay away from the area around today’s Pittsburgh. The French refused, and on the way home from his failed mission, Washington’s men became embroiled in a skirmish with a French encampment, where French ensign Joseph Coulon de Jumonville was killed. Rightly fearing reprisal, Washington ordered the construction of the aptly-named Fort Necessity. The Battle of Fort Necessity on July 3, 1754, (also known as the Battle of Great Meadows) resulted in General Washington’s first, and only surrender... and global war.
Washington would soon be followed in defeat by General Edward Braddock and Governor William Shirley of Massachusetts, both of whom failed to stop the French. In 1756, Britain's William Pitt decided to take a new tack and began strategically financing Prussia’s army as it took on France and its allies. Pitt also reimbursed the colonies for raising armies to beat back the French in North America.
British Victory in the French and Indian War
Pitt’s gambit worked. The first British victory at Louisburg in July of 1758 revived the sagging spirits of the army. They soon took Fort Frontenac from the French and in September of 1758, General John Forbes captured Fort Duquesne and rebuilt a British fort called Fort Pitt in its place in honor of William Pitt. From there, British forces marched to Quebec, beating French forces in the Battle of Quebec (also known as the Battle of the Plains of Abraham) in September 1759. Montreal fell in September of the following year.
The British under George III were not just fighting over territory in the Americas; they were simultaneously involved in maritime battles that tested the might of the British Navy. The French had to scrap an attempted invasion of Britain after losing the Battle of Lagos and the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759. In addition to the victories in Canada, Great Britain beat back French forces in Guadeloupe, Martinique, Havana, Manila, West Africa and India, wresting Pondicherry from the French on January 16, 1761.