Pregledni rad
English-French Conflict in America in the Course of the Seven-Years War
Duško Marušić
; Split, Hrvatska
Sažetak
The article deals with one of the most significant conflicts of European major powers in the eighteenth century, which surpassed its European context. Therefore, the conflict is styled in scholarship as the First world war, because it took place, besides on the European soil, also in North America and Asia. In this work, the emphasis is placed on the events on the American soil, because previous research mainly focused on the battles and processes in Europe because they had the most direct impact on political developments in these countries.
The most important phase of the conflict between England and France in North America was the French-Indian war (known in Europe under the term Seven-Years War). That conflict started when one group of the Virginians has send scouts over the Appalachian Mountains to the upper valley of the Ohio River for trade with the Indians and to purchase land. The French responded by building a series of small forts in the Upper Ohio. Young George Washington, send on the front of a group of Virginian civil guard in the year of 1754, came too late to stop the building of Fort Duquesne on the branch of the Ohio River, in the place of the future town of Pittsburgh. The French refused to evacuate and the war started, although it was not officially proclaimed in the course of the following two years.
All the major European powers were soon drawn into the war. At first, things went badly for the Englishmen in America and elsewhere. The army of General Edward Braddock was defeated a few miles from Fort Duquesne, which has opened up the entire frontier to French and Indian strikes that lasted for several following years. It seemed that the English did not have any general strategies, and the colonies could not be compelled to contribute loyally and enthusiastically to the war effort. Representatives of the eight colonies, which met at the so-called Congress in Albany in 1754, approved a far-sighted plan of Benjamin Franklin for inter-colonial defence and unity, but that first plan for a voluntary union failed to gain the support of the king or the colonial assemblies. However, his ideas were not lost for future generations of rebels, who would again, in the course of the imperial crisis that followed after the war with France, be dealing with the plans of making a stronger union.
The situation dramatically changed in 1757, when determined William Pitt took charge over English war efforts. By setting a conquest of Canada as an ultimate goal, Pitt organised a series of offensives that reached its climax by taking Quebec in 1759. As the outcome, England received French Canada and Spanish Florida, as well as India and other areas. The French Louisiana passed into the possession of Spaniards.
Ključne riječi
England; France; the Seven-Years War
Hrčak ID:
105332
URI
Datum izdavanja:
8.7.2013.
Posjeta: 5.294 *