Colonialism

&

the “Second Hundred Years’ War”

But now, for something completely different . . . .

• Anglo-Dutch warfare in the late 1600s– Fought for mercantile advantage– Dutch hated British “Navigation Acts”– Most significant outcome of these wars was the

Dutch’s loss of the port city of New Amsterdam to Brits.

– Renamed New York

First, the big picture• The Big Picture:

– Colonies had, by the 17th century, been incorporated into the economies of Western European countries. Mercantilism had come to mean the domination of trade.

–Thus colonialism and the overseas trade became inextricably bound up with issues of continental power and advantage that had been characteristic of the dynastic-state system since its beginning.

“Second Hundred Years’ War”

– No one of these wars was a duel between France and

England, but in each of them one or more of the other European powers were engaged.

•The Big Pic:

–Between 1689 and 1815--series of wars fought on an increasingly global scale to determine power relations on the continent. Wars are known collectively as the Second Hundred Years' War.

The Big Picture: War objectives• England considered the objective of these wars

to be the – defense of Protestantism and English liberties

through . . . the containment of French continental ambitions, the balance

of power, and global trade dominance.

For you juniors and seniors: do these objectives sound familiar? Do they harken back to the 2nd half of the 20th c?

France’s war objectives

• France's objectives were

– also global trade dominance,

– continental power

– to expand its borders into the Low Countries and along the Rhine.

Early Colonialism and Empires• Superior technology, not culture is key to

Europe’s power

• Spain, France and Great Britain dominate the mercantile trade of the 18th c.

• Colonial struggles are linked to balance of power on continent: England and France

Second Hundred Year’s War 1687-1815

• Causes: balance of power; commercial and colonial competition– Nine Year’s War 1687-1695(League of Augsburg)

(parallel colonial war in N. America between France and England (King William’s War)

• Ends when belligerents become exhausted/stalemate

• Treaty (Peace) of Ryswick 1697—thwarts France’s attempted expansion into Germany

More of the Wars• War of the Spanish Succession

• Hapsburg and Bourbon houses claim throne of Spain. England sides w/Austrian Hapsburgs – France exhausted, sues for peace – in the American colonies (Queen Anne's War) – Treaty of Utrecht

There followed thirty years of "peaceThese 18th c. wars are fought largely “by professional armies and navies, civilian populations were rarely drawn deeply into the conflicts” .

Back at it . . .BEST. WAR NAME. EVER!

• War of Jenkins’s Ear 1739– Anglo-Spanish War

– Where: West Indies

– What: Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 lead to conflict btwn Spanish and British colonial interests. Brits tried to smuggle more goods into SP. trading posts than allowed.

– Who Won? Unclear

– Result: opened up warfare on continent and in colonies

War of the Austrian Succession (1744-1748)

• Austrian Charles VI dies (1740) Pragmatic Sanction—ensures heir takes throne

• Maria Theresa take throne • Frederick II seized Austrian province of Silesia• Prussia, France, Spain and Bavaria v. Austria, Great Britain

and Netherlands• England drawn in to preserve balance of power between

Austria and France.• Of course, there was an attendant colonial war too: France

v. GB. In N. America and India too.• Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle: not really a peace, but a truce

The Diplomatic Revolution (1756)

• Uneasy peace

• Simultaneous shift in alliances: Prussian now an ally of Great Britain. Defensive position

• Before Gr. Brit and Austria were allies

• This development makes possible an alliance between France and Austria

Damn Prussians: The Seven Year’s War [or the First World War (?)]

• Has both continental and colonial conflicts (from 1756-1763)

• Frederick the Great invades Saxony (Austrian ally). Maria Therese of Austria would love Silesia back too.

• Frederick the Great (II) with British financial aid versus Austria, France, Sweden, and Russia– Russia signs peace w/ Fred. One less enemy– Peace of Hubertusburg: Nothing really changes.

Silesia still Prussian. Prussia a GREAT POWER!

Meanwhile in the colonies…• William Pitt the Elder: fight the war in the colonies, not

on the continent • Pitt's goal in North America: take out the French in St.

Lawrence and Mississippi Valley • Orchestrates, as Sec of State the dominance of GB• N. America and India• Treaty of Paris (1763): Great Britain a world power; GB

acquires French Canada and land btw Appalachian Mtns and the Mississippi River. Spain still in Latin America; Fr. gives Spain New Orleans and LA territory West of Ms. R.

Results of the Seven Years’ War• England and France left heavily in debt, attempts

to get out of debt lead to two revolutions

• France needs top to bottom restructuring: That top part’s gonna be painful

• England: Gotta get the money from somewhere. But where? Hmmm….colonies? All that new land means new frontier which needs protecting, too, which costs money. No more salutary neglect.

American Revolution

• American Revolution (1775-1783)

• French and Dutch back colonists to lessen British power

• British in heavy debt from previous wars

Still to come

• French Revolution (1789-1797): French farther in debt from American Revolution

• Napoleonic Wars (1797-1815)