The war sits beside earlier colonial fighting, including the North American conflict that predated the formal European declaration. Overseas companies and their local forces could remain in conflict even when metropolitan governments were formally at peace. France, Austria, Saxony, Sweden, and Russia opposed a coalition centred on Prussia, Hanover, and Britain, while Portugal, Spain, and trading companies entered parts of the struggle. The connected theatres matter more than the familiar Silesian trigger alone.
Chapter · 3:19-11:29
Why the Seven Years' War was global
The opening map shows why fighting in Europe, North America, India, and at sea makes the Seven Years' War a useful - if complicated - global case study.