Earlier European wars could be framed as contests for position within Europe. In the Seven Years' War, states competed for control, resources, and leverage across the wider world. The aim was to mobilise worldwide resources and turn them into military power, extending beyond the extraction of colonial wealth. The argument also links this outlook to economic systems that mortgage present resources in pursuit of future power. Later sea-power theorists such as Julian Corbett and Alfred Thayer Mahan looked back to the war when thinking about world conflict and maritime reach.
Chapter · 23:23-27:25
From European rivalry to control of the world
The war's prize expanded beyond European advantage to the ability to mobilize and shape a worldwide system.