France in the Seven Years' War: Difference between revisions

'''France''' was one of the leading participants '''in the [[Seven Years' War]]''', which in fact lasted nine years between 1754 and 1763. [[Kingdom of France|France]] entered the war with the hope of achieving a lasting victory against [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]], [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]], and their German allies and with the hope of expanding its colonial possessions.(1)

While the first few years of war proved successful for the French, in 1759 the situation reversed and they suffered defeats on several continents. In an effort to reverse their losses, France finished an alliance with their neighbor, [[History of Spain (1700–1810)|Spain]], in 1761. In spite of this the French continued to suffer defeats throughout 1762 eventually forcing them to sue for peace. The 1763 [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]] confirmed the loss of French possessions in North America and Asia to the British. France also finished the war with very heavy debts, which they struggled to repay for the remainder of the 18th century which later led to the [[French Revolution]] in 1789 and the [[Haitian Revolution]] in 1791.

In the mid-18th century, France was an [[absolute monarchy]]: all power resided with the King. [[Louis XV]] was a weak personality easily manipulated by his advisors and confidants. Chief amongst them was [[Madame de Pompadour]], his mistress who exercised enormous influence over appointments and matters of grand strategy. Other advisors rose and fell with rapid succession, continuing the lack of the stability which had plagued the monarchy in the early 18th century.

While the war began in North America, in 1756 France became drawn into a major war in Europe. Allied to [[Austria]], [[Sweden]] and [[Russia]] the French tried to defeat the Prussians who had only the British as major allies. Despite repeated attempts between 1757 and 1762, the French and their allies failed to win the conclusive victory against Prussia despite a constant war of attrition. They were partly frustrated by an army led by the [[Ferdinand of Brunswick|Duke of Brunswick]] made up of British forces and troops from the smaller German states which operated in [[Westwestern Germany]].

By this stage France's finances were in a poor state, despite the efforts of [[Étienne de Silhouette|Silhouette]] to keep down expenditure, and France was only kept afloat by a major loan from neutral [[Spain]]. Despite the Spanish government's official policy of neutrality, they were slowly shifting towards supporting an outright pro-French position, encouraged by Choiseul. In December 1761, war finally broke out between Britain and Spain -– but the Spanish involvement did not provide the relief to the French that had been hoped. Instead French troops were needed to bolster Spanish efforts to invade [[Portugal]], and became bogged down there.<ref>Anderson, pp. 497–98</ref> Spain also suffered defeats in [[Cuba]] and the [[Philippines]] in 1762, and by the end of the year both Spain and France were urgently seeking peace.<ref>Anderson, pp. 498–502</ref>

France began asserting control over the [[Ohio Country]] as early as 1749, issuing warnings and threats to British colonial traders active in the region. When the French began constructing a series of forts in the [[Ohio River]] watershed in 1753, the British responded with claims and demands of their own. In 17541753, [[George Washington]] sparked the beginning of the war with an [[Battle of Jumonville Glen|attack on a French scouting party]] near present-day [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]]. When they learned that the British were planning to send [[regular army]] troops to the area for the 1755 campaign, the French sent a large body of troops to [[New France]] before the British could blockade their ports. These troops, combined with a strong alliances with native tribes and poor British military administration, gave France a string of victories from 1755 to 1757; its only significant loss was [[Acadia]], whose remaining territories fell into British hands after the 1755 [[Battle of Fort Beauséjour]], inaugurating the [[expulsion of the Acadians]]. France was able to maintain control of the Ohio Country as well as the strategically important [[Great Lakes]]. After their initial successes in North America, however, France began to starve the theatre of forces and supplies, preferring to concentrate on the war in Europe rather than risk large numbers of troops on expeditions across the British-dominated Atlantic Ocean.

{{Main|Carnatic Wars#Third Carnatic War (1756–1763)}}

The French position in India had been severely weakened following the [[Second Carnatic War]], which had ended in 1754 with the [[Treaty of Pondicherry]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Harvey|1998|pp=104–05|ref=none}}</ref> In spite of this they held several strong trading posts, particularly that at [[Puducherry|Pondicherry]] and they maintained relations with several major Indian Princes who were also enemies of the British.

The French war in India started badly, with the loss of the [[Battle of Chandalore|Chandalore]] which saw the last French trading post in [[Bengal]] destroyed.<ref>{{Harvnb|Harvey|1998|pp=185–91|ref=none}}</ref> A major French force under the [[Comte De Lally]] was despatched from Europe, and it threatened to turn the balance in India. However, an [[Siege of Madras|attempt to seize Madras]] failed, while Lally's force was unable to prevent the eventual British capture of Pondicherry and a comprehensive British victory in India. In the wake of Britain's domination of India, they were able to launch an expedition from Madras to the [[Philippines]] which [[Battle of Manila (1762)|captured Manila]] from France's ally Spain -– further weakening the Bourbon position in Asia.

The Mughals led by [[Shah Alam II]] were joined by [[Jean Law de Lauriston|Jean Law]] and 200 Frenchmen and waged a campaign against the British during the [[Seven Years' War]].<ref name="O`malley">{{cite book|author=L.S.S. O`malley|title=Bihar and Orissa District Gazetteers Patna|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a-QaOP5nK-MC&pg=PA32|accessdateaccess-date=30 March 2012|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-7268-121-0|pages=32–|year=1924}}</ref> Jean Law's Memoire: ''Mémoires sur quelques affaires de l’Empire Mogol 1756-1761'' contains detailed information about the campaign of the [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Shah Alam II]] and his [[France|French]] allies against the [[British East India Company]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRK1x3GSmYk|title=YouTube|website=www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead Youtube links|date=February 2022}}</ref>

File:Shah-alam-ii-mughal-emperor-of-india-reviewing-the-east-india-companys-troops-1781-1894 1247854.jpg|Jean Law's Memoire: ''Mémoires sur quelques affaires de l’Empire Mogol 1756-1761'' contains detailed information about the campaign of the [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Shah Alam II]] and his [[France|French]] allies against the [[British East India Company]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRK1x3GSmYk|title=YouTube|website=www.youtube.com}}</ref>

{{further|CaptureBritish capture of Senegal}}

[[File:Portrait painting of Étienne François de Choiseul (1719-1785) Duke of Choiseul by Louis Michel van Loo (Versailles).jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Étienne François, duc de Choiseul|Choiseul]] took much of the blame for the French defeat in the war, although he later masterminded French successes in the [[American War of Independence]].]]

The French defeat had a devastating impact on French political life, and a number of senior figures were forced out of public office. Realizing the deficiency in the French navy, Louis XV began a massive rebuilding programmeprogram to match British naval strength. Choiseul drew up a long-term plan to gain victory over the British which was partially put into action during the [[American War of Independence]] after France joined the conflict in 1778, as did its ally [[Spain and the American Revolutionary War|Spain]].

* Anderson, Fred. ''Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-17661754–1766''. Faber and Faber, 2001.

* Anderson, Fred and Cayton, Andrew. ''The Dominion of War: Empire and Liberty in North America 1500-20001500–2000''. Penguin Books, 2005.

* Longmate, Norman. ''Island Fortress: The Defence of Great Britain, 1603-19451603–1945''. Harper Collins, 1993.