Colonial claims in North America, 1854.
Winston Churchill called the 7 Years War the “First World War.” While it was primarily a conflict between Great Britain and France, it also drew in the Prussian, Austrian, and Russian Empires. The war contained theaters in Europe, North America, Africa, India, and beyond, as Britain sought to hobble the French colonial empire using its navy.
Most of the nations involved, whether allied or opposed to Britain, record their own part in the war under more descriptive names. In the US it is commonly referred to as the “French and Indian War.” This conflict featured traditional European-style battles between French and British armies in North America, as well as North American tribes on both sides. It was also distinguished by guerrilla-style fighting throughout the borderlands of the colonial rivals.
In the spring of 1753 the French sent a colonial officer into the Ohio Valley to secure French forts that had long been disputed by British colonists and some of the local Native tribes. In the fall of 1753 Virginia’s governor ordered his provincial militia, led by 21 year old Major George Washington, to deliver a written order for the French to leave their territory. Washington did so while dining with the French commander at Fort Le Boeuf. He was unmoved and told Washington that France’s claim to the region was older and that he was not obliged to obey the order.
Washington took the message back to Virginia, but was soon dispatched back into the Ohio Country. An ambush on a French force led to international outrage and Washington’s famous surrender at Fort Necessity. The conflict intensified faultlines between European states, which led to a major political realignment known as the Diplomatic Revolution. Britain allied itself with Portugal and former French allies Prussia and Saxony. France, in turn, allied itself with Austria, Russia, and eventually Spain.
Britain ultimately won the war, reaped numerous French colonial territories, and established the dominance of its Naval infrastructure. However the costs of the war had put the Empire in serious debt. Over the next decade, as Britain sought to balance its books by taxing its colonies, separatist movements in North America gained steam and led to the American Revolution.
The Seven Years War was not declared until May 17, 1756, but the conflict had its roots in the French and Indian war in North America. For this reason Washington is often said to have set the war in motion with his attack on French forces in the Ohio Country. However, events may have exploded the way they did due to Washington’s Mingo ally Tanaghrisson killing the French commander Ensign Joseph Jumonville. Tanaghrisson executed him with a tomahawk to the skull.
Sources:
French and Indian War/7 Years War- Office of the Historian
Seven Years War- American Revolution Institute
Seven Years War and the Great Awakening- Crash Course
Tanaghrrison, the Half King- National Parks Service