AmericanConquestFightBackGermanCrete, 1941 Germanys Lightning Airborne Assault, Peter Antill, Operation Mercury, the German airborne assault on the island of Crete in May 1941, was the first. The American Revolution US History Scene. The American Revolution was by no means a purely American British conflict. The fight for American independence piqued the interest of Europes most powerful colonial powers. The result of this conflict would not only determine the fate of the thirteen North American colonies, but also alter the balance of colonial power throughout the world. Similar to how the colonies dissatisfaction with the British was years in the making, European involvement in the American Revolution came at the end of a century filled with intense imperial rivalry. In particular, the outbreak of armed conflict between the American colonies and Britain occurred only twelve years after the end of the Seven Years War 1. Setting the Table for Revolution The Seven Years WarThe Seven Years War was in its origin not an European war at all it was a war between England and France on Colonial questions with which the rest of Europe had nothing to do  Arthur Ropes, late nineteenth century British historian. The Seven Years War was in many ways the capstone conflict for an eighteenth century riddled with imperial competition. While the war spread throughout most of Europe, and across the entire globe, the causes of this conflict are very much rooted in Britain and Frances colonial rivalry. Microsoft Encarta Math Calculator Full Portable there. The Seven Years War was in many ways a continuation of the War of Austrian Succession 1. Despite gaining few tangible prizes, Britain emerged victorious from the War of Austrian Succession. The French Navy was weakened and the British had gained knowledge of the weaknesses in French North American holdings. With this confidence, Britain sought to resolve unsettled boundary disputes, concerning the Canadian and Ohio territories. Arthur R. Ropes, The Causes of The Seven Years War, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society Royal Historical Society 4, no. It was under these pretenses that the Seven Years War started. The British were joined by Prussia and Portugal, while the French were allied with Spain, Russia, Sweden, and Austriawho turned to France for support in stemming Prussian expansion. Outside of the North American theater, conflicts arose on the European continent itself, as well as in far away territories, such as French and British holdings in South Asia. The final page of the Treaty of Paris signed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay. But, what were the outcomes of the Seven Years War and how did it change the landscape of colonial power on the eve of the American Revolution  The war officially ended in 1. Treaty of Paris. Under the terms of this treaty, the losing sideFrance and Spainhad to turn over many of its North American territories to Britain. France gave many of its northern claims, while the Spanish ceded the Florida territory. The British now controlled all of North America east of the Mississippi River. In short, the most obvious outcome of the Seven Years War was that America remained British. Arthur R. Ropes, The Causes of The Seven Years War, 1. British victory, however, came with a heavy price tag. The war proved to be very costly and, by the end of the fighting, massive war debts led the British government to the verge of bankruptcy. Richard B. Sheridan, The British Credit Crisis of 1. The American Colonies, The Journal of Economic HistoryCambridge University Press 2. June 1. 96. 0 1. Additionally, the rapid expansion of the British Navy came at the cost of the British merchant fleet. In the name of the war effort, the British government oftentimes forcibly converted British merchant vessels into war ships. As a result, Britain emerged from the Seven Years War without the commercial trading capacity that it once had. Artist System By Lukas Rossi more. Larry Neal, Interpreting Power and Profit in Economic History A Case Study of the Seven Years War, The Journal of Economic History Cambridge University Press 3. March 1. 97. 7 2. The British now also had thousands of new subjects from the newly acquired French and Spanish territories to appease. In such an effort, King George III issued the Quebec Act in 1. The Act intended to sway the allegiance of the French speaking Canadians towards the British. In practice, though, the Quebec Act riled anti British sentiment amongst the American colonists who felt the Act was yet another example of British encroachment on American freedoms of religion and self rule. Joseph J Casino, Anti Popery in Colonial Pennslyvania, The Pennslyvania Magazine of History and Biography The Historical Society of Pennslyvania 1. AmericanConquestFightBack.jpg' alt='American Conquest Fight Back German' title='American Conquest Fight Back German' />UPDATED 22 March 2012 John Paul Vann American Hero. VIDEO Rare video of Vann at Kontum supervising the evacuation there to blunt the 1972 Easter Invasion by the NVA. July 1. 98. 1 2. In sum, the Seven Years War put in motion many of the driving forces behind European involvement in the American Revolution. As the outbreak of the Revolutionary War in 1. Britain was looking to consolidate its North American empire, France and Spain were trying to recover from a crushing defeat, and American colonists were furious with new British policies. Europes Imperial Motives. The Seven Years War teaches us that Europe had a lot at stake when it came to the fate of America. For that reason, when shots rang out at Lexington and Concord in 1. Americans and Britons were not the only people rushing to arms. Consider the motivations of some of eighteenth century Europes imperial powers, regarding involvement in the American Revolution France. Outside of Britain, France had the most at stake in the American Revolution. First, ever since the time of the Roman Empire, there had been a Anglo Franco rivalry. From the Norman conquest of Britain to the Hundred Years War, the British and French peoples were intense military, economic, and political rivals. The French were eager to see a British defeat, which would signal a break in Britains recent imperial domination and help restore French pride and prestige after their humiliating defeat in the Seven Years War. Secondly, the French still had colonial interests in the region such as Louisiana and American victory would help them secure those interests. Mortal Kombat 1 Ermac Mame Hack on this page. France still held many profitable, sugar producing islands in the Caribbean, such as Haiti and Guadeloupe. France prized these possessions so much that in the Treaty of Paris of 1. France willingly ceded their Canadian territories to the British under the promise that the small island of Guadeloupe would be returned to their control. French officials saw even greater potential in these small islands because American victory against Britain would open the Americas up to the import of French sugar and rum. Frederick H. Smith, Caribbean Rum A Social and Economic History Gainsville University Press of Florida, 2. There was also a third reason why the French actively took the side of the American colonistsa rather philosophical one. On the heels of the Enlightenment and on the eve of the French Revolution, there was widespread sympathy, in France, towards American calls for liberty and self determination. While the outbreak of revolution in France started nearly a decade after the end of fighting in the Americas, the ideals of the French Revolutionliberty, equality, and fraternitywere in many ways born in the American Revolution. The French people associated with the struggle of the Americans and considered it hypocritical not to support their cause.