2nd Edition
The Global Seven Years War 1754–1763 Britain and France in a Great Power Contest
In this new edition of The Global Seven Years War, Daniel Baugh emphasizes the ways that sea power hindered French military preparations while also furnishing strategic opportunities. Special attention is paid to undertakings – always French – that failed to receive needed financial support.
From analysis of original sources, the volume provides stronger evidence for the role and wishes of Louis XV in determining the main outline of strategy. By 1758, the French government experienced significant money shortage, and emphasis has been placed on the most important consequences: how this impacted war-making and why it was so worrying, debilitating and difficult to solve. This edition explains why the Battle of Rossbach in 1757 was a turning point in the Anglo-French War, suggesting that Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick’s winter campaign revitalized the British war effort which was, before that time, a record of failures. With comprehensive discussion of events outside of Europe, the volume sets the conflict on a world stage.
One of the world’s leading naval historians, Baugh offers a detailed, evaluative and insightful narrative that makes this edition essential reading for students and scholars interested in military history, naval history, Anglo-French relations and the history of eighteenth-century Europe.
1. Introduction 2. Statesmen and regimes 3. Origins: the contested regions, 1748-54 4. Risking war, 1754–55 5. War without declaration: North America, 1755 6. Indecision in Europe: May to December 1755 7. French triumphs, British blunders, 1756 8. France’s European war plan, 1756–57 9. The tide turns, 1758 10. The Atlantic and North America, 1758 11. The West Indies and North America, 1759 12. The British victory at sea, 1759 13. Britain conquers afar, disunity looms at home 14. The chance of peace, 1761 15. Peacemaking 1762: concessions before conquests 16. Conclusion and aftermath
Biography
Daniel Baugh is Professor Emeritus of History, Cornell University. Born in Philadelphia, he received his Ph.D. from Cambridge University and is author of British Naval Administration in the Age of Walpole (1965). In 2011 he received the National Maritime Museum’s Caird Medal.
‘Daniel Baugh’s book is an excellent resource for anyone interested in the global dimensions of this pivotal conflict between Britain and France. Meticulously researched and based on an impressively wide range of evidence, Baugh’s engaging and accessible account charts the war across continents and oceans, offering penetrating insight and acute analysis of this global contest and its long-lasting ramifications.’
John Mcaleer, University of Southampton, UK
‘Especially strong on the global dimensions of the conflict, with in-depth attention to North America, the Caribbean, the high seas, and India, Baugh narrates the campaigns lucidly and examines the strategic, diplomatic, logistical, and financial contexts that shaped the war’s course. An accessible and lively introduction to the Seven Years’ War for students, the book engages experts with arguments on key points of interpretation. This new edition provides fuller attention to the role of Louis XV and to the crucial financial dimensions of the war. The best, one-volume account of the Seven Years’ War available today.’
John Shovlin, New York University, USA
