Brecher provides an unprecedentedly full-scale analysis of the political, military, social, and economic conditions of mid-18th-century France and its North American colony, New France. That analysis also examines the direct connection between those internal conditions and the results for France of the war that ended in 1763. In doing so, Brecher assesses France's military strategy and major battles in Europe and America, as well as the diplomatic goals Versailles set for itself in the conduct of the war. Further, he describes why France concurred in leaving not only Canada, but also the vast Louisiana territory, to be divided between England and France's belated wartime ally, Bourbon Spain. Finally, Brecher explains the longer-term implications of the war for North American development and for the future of France.
Stacy Bergstrom Haldi explains how wars are most likely to escalate when the effects of warfare are limited. The author demonstrates that total wars during the modern era were very violent and were far less likely to spread, yet the cost of warfare is falling making future conflicts more likely to spread.
During the third quarter of the eighteenth century, the European states-system was transformed by the military rise of Prussia and Russia. Eastern Europe became pre-eminent and during the 1770s, Poland was partitioned for the first time by its three neighbors, and two--Russia and Austria--also seized territory from the Ottoman empire. Europe's political center of gravity moved sharply eastwards, and by the later 1770s Russia was emerging as the leading continental state. Based on sources in six countries, this study provides the first survey of these crucial events.
This unique resource describes and evaluates ten of the most important events in British history between 1689 and the present. A full chapter is devoted to each event. Every chapter includes an introduction presenting factual information in a clear, concise, chronological order, and a longer interpretive essay exploring both the short term and far reaching ramifications of the event.
Warfare on three continents, empire building, and revolution--political, agricultural, and industrial--dominate 18th-century world history. In Europe royal dynasties formed, fought major wars that carved up the map of Europe and the Americas, and began the great colonial expansion that dominated the next century. But the 18th century also ushered in the Enlightenment, which fired the imagination of Europeans, and the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutions, which changed society and work forever. To help students better understand the major developments of the 18th century and their impact on 19th- and 20th-century history, this unique resource offers detailed description and expert analysis of the 18th century's most important events: Peter the Great's Reform of Russia; the War of the Spanish Succession; the First British Empire; the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War; the Enlightenment; the Agricultural Revolution; the American Revolution; the Industrial Revolution; the Slave Trade; and the French Revolution.