Introduction

The causes of the Seven Years' War are rooted in the outcome of an earlier conflict, the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48). The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which brought this war to an end, had done nothing to assuage the anger of Austria over the loss to Prussia of the wealthy province of Silesia. Nor had it been able to contain the conflicting colonial ambitions of France and Britain, which provoked continued skirmishing well beyond the official cessation of hostilities. The Seven Years' War was, therefore, essentially a continuation of the War of the Austrian Succession, but it was different from its predecessor in two significant ways.