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THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR AND THE FALL OF NEW FRANCE

1756-1763

• Overview of the War

• This war was essentially a world war

, taking place in North America, Europe, the

Caribbean, South America, West Africa, India and the Philippines

• Rising powers Britain and Prussia, as well as the Iroquois Confederacy, Portugal and some minor German states fought France, Austria, Spain, Russia and Sweden, the Algonkians and other minor German states

  as the "French and Indian War" in the USA
  Origins of the War

• Many of the origins of the war were in North America

• The British and French both claimed the fertile Ohio Valley.
  Many New England colonists wanted to expand west
  When France started building a fort there, British soldiers, led by
  George Washingtonattacked

& The British lost that battle to France and their Aboriginal allies

The Mohawks

_attacked the French and their Aboriginal allies further north

Britain sent more reinforcements to North America

Eastern North America in 1755

Start of the War in Europe

* British ally_Prussia

led by King Frederick II (the Great), saw that a larger war was

inevitable and attacked traditional enemy Saxony to get at Austria (on the other side of Saxony)

• Austria responded by attacking Prussia, then France, Russia and Sweden attacked Prussia

• Frederick used superior military tactics and British money to be successful

  The battle of Leuthen

  Prussia was surrounded by enemies, Frederick was already known as a military genius, and he needed more big victories

  He had 36,000 men against Austria's 60-80,000 mean at Leuthen

  He used a faint attack and skirmishers to distract, while his main army was hidden behind a hill into a line firing in Austria's side He used horse artillery

  Prussia won with 6,500 casualties vs. Austria's 20,000 casualties:

  Frederick now had more time to rebuild his army capture of Louisbourg

• Britain decided they would have to take the fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island in order to sail into the St. Lawrence River

• In 1758, British General Tames wroife with support from New England soldiers conquered the fort and the tide of the war in North America changed

• Problems in New France

• The governor of New France, the Marqus de vaudren _(born in Canada) and the military commander General Montcalm, disagreed on tactics

• Vaudreuil said Montcalm didn't understand Canadian ways of fighting. They would cancel each others orders

• Because the
  Habitants
  supplies became short.

were busy fighting, they could not farm and food and supplies came short

The British Queen attack

* In 1759, the British anchored outside Quebec

They had difficulty finding a way up the steep cliffs on the edge of the St. Lawrence River

A scouting party, led by a young officer named James cook

found a trail up

the cliff

The British decided to send their army up the trail at night

The Battle of the

Plains of Abraham

Montcalm awoke to see 4,500 British soldiers lined on the Plains of Abraham Not wanting to wait out a siege, he led his army out to meet them The Canadian militia charged, but fired too early

* Wolfe held British fire until the French were 40m away and then devastated them with "the most perfect volley ever fired."

The surrender of New France

General Wolfe died on the battlefield and General Montcalm died of his injuries in Quebec Quebec soon surrendered

onTrea

was taken the next year

French control was lost in Canada

Results of the War

% In 1763, Britain and Prussia won

* During peace negotiations, the British offered to give back New France in exchange for some sugar producing islands in the Caribbean Sea, France refused and thus Canada became a British colony

∞ The British agreed to

respect

* The British Empire started its _

Catholicism in Canada

as the most powerful force in the world

Prussia became stronger