Warfare 1763–91

With a few, small-scale exceptions, 1763-91 was not a period of warfare in western Europe. This was also the case with central Europe, other than for the short and inconclusive War of the Bavarian Succession (1778-9). The period commonly suffers from relatively little attention, being seen principally in terms of new developments, particularly in France, that prefigured the warfare of the revolutionary period. It is, however, instructive also to consider the warfare of these years in northern and, more especially, eastern Europe; and to assess the first of the “revolutionary” struggles, the War of Amer ican Independence (1775-83). In combination, these reveal that this period was one of considerable importance.