Seven Years War

Over the 16th and 17th centuries, there was the formation and consolidation of Modern European States, which had as the predominant political model the absolutismmonarchical and as an economic system the mercantilism. Many of these states also became overseas powers, that is, they conquered territories and built colonies outside the European continent. In the second half of the 18th century, most of these states came into conflict, producing a war of global proportions that became known as the Seven Years War (1756-1763).

The saturation point for the outbreak of war was the dispute, in the 1740s, between the then Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire over the region of Silesia, which lies between present-day Poland, Czech Republic and Germany. the Prussian king Frederick II he had assembled a very powerful army and was progressively demonstrating a pretense of expanding his kingdom, a fact that displeased neighboring Austria, which had similar interests.

In 1756, calls began Silesian Wars

, which led to a succession of battles between Austrians and Prussians. The main ones of these battles were the ones of kolin, region near the city of Prague, stage of the first great defeat of Frederick II, and of Leuthen, from which the Prussian king emerged victorious. As the disputes between Austria and Prussia became fiercer, alliances with other monarchies began to be made.

France began to support Austria against Prussia, and the latter received support from the British, who were already historic enemies of the French. Russia had two distinct positions in the war: initially, when it was ruled by the tsarina Elizabeth, stood against Prussia, then, when Peter the Great came to the throne as tsar, he began to support Frederick II, turning against Austria.

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The fact is that, from 1756 to 1757, the war, due to alliances, began to spread to other domains. French and English clashed on the island of Minorca, one of the strategic places of the Mediterranean Sea, on May 20, 1756. This episode became known as the Battle of Minorca and it is seen as the point of expansion of the war beyond the European domains, since the French colonies and British women in North America also came into conflict, following the war in the metropolises.

Portugal, which initially sided with the French and Austrians, together with the Spaniards, sought to remain isolated from the war until 1762, when it was confronted with explaining its position. As the Portuguese court had had profitable trade relations with England since 1703 and had been passing through several reforms operated by the Marquis of Pombal, the Portuguese preferred to change sides and support the England. This gesture took the Seven Years' War to South America as well, especially to the southern region of the Brazil, where there was the invasion of Rio Grande (now Rio Grande do Sul) by the Spaniards, allies of the French.

The war only ended on February 10, 1763, when the Treaty of Paris. Despite thousands of deaths and economic exhaustion, the Prussian state emerged victorious from the war, together with its English allies, both consolidating themselves as great powers, which remained until the time of the Napoleonic Wars, in the first two decades of the nineteenth century.

By Me. Cláudio Fernandes