The Anglo-Prussian Convention was agreed on 11 April 1758 between Great Britain and the Kingdom of Prussia and formalised the alliance between them that had effectively existed since the Convention of Westminster in 1756.
Both kingdoms agreed not to negotiate a separate peace. [1] Britain promised to pay the Prussians a subsidy in gold (£670,000 a year, larger than any wartime subsidies that Britain had ever given to an ally). [2] In exchange, Britain hoped that the Prussians would supply infantry and cavalry to the German Army of Observation, commanded by Ferdinand of Brunswick, to defend the Electorate of Hanover and neighbouring territories. Nicholas Magens and George Amyand supplied the money. [3]
It was also agreed that the British would provide a garrison for the port of Emden, which had been in 1757 re-captured from French and Austrian forces by the Allies. That was a significant development, as Britain had refused to deploy troops on the Continent, and the Secretary of State, William Pitt had dismissed the prospect just months before.
Neither Britain or Prussia could foresee the actual length of the conflict or the ultimate intra-alliance frictions that were to arise. Both sides believed at first that the war would not extend past one or two campaigns. [4]
The Alliance between the two states lasted until 30 April 1762, when it was dissolved by John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute in acrimony. [5] King George III supported Bute and George Grenville, against the Duke of Newcastle and Pitt. [6]
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him Chatham or William Pitt the Elder to distinguish him from his son William Pitt the Younger, who was also a prime minister. Pitt was also known as the Great Commoner, because of his long-standing refusal to accept a title until 1766.
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute,, styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British nobleman who served as the Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1762 to 1763 under George III. He became the first Tory to hold the position and was arguably the last important royal favourite in British politics. He was the first prime minister from Scotland following the Acts of Union in 1707. He was also elected as the first president of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland when it was founded in 1780.
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The Third Silesian War was a war between Prussia and Austria that lasted from 1756 to 1763 and confirmed Prussia's control of the region of Silesia. The war was fought mainly in Silesia, Bohemia and Upper Saxony and formed one theatre of the Seven Years' War. It was the last of three Silesian Wars fought between Frederick the Great's Prussia and Maria Theresa's Austria in the mid-18th century, all three of which ended in Prussian control of Silesia.
The Convention of Klosterzeven was a convention signed on 10 September 1757 at Klosterzeven between France and the Electorate of Hanover during the Seven Years' War that led to Hanover's withdrawal from the war and partial occupation by French forces. It came in the wake of the Battle of Hastenbeck on 26 July in which Hanover had suffered a devastating defeat. Following the battle the Army of Observation had retreated northwards until it had reached Stade.
Great Britain was one of the major participants in the Seven Years' War, which in fact lasted nine years, between 1754 and 1763. British involvement in the conflict began in 1754 in what became known as the French and Indian War. However the warfare in the European theater involving countries other than Britain and France commenced in 1756. Britain emerged from the war as the world's leading colonial power, having gained all of New France in North America, ending France's role as a colonial power there. Following Spain's entry in the war in alliance with France in the third Family Compact, Britain captured the major Spanish ports of Havana, Cuba and Manila, in the Philippines in 1762, and agreed to return them in exchange for Spanish Florida. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 formally ended the conflict and Britain established itself as the world's pre-eminent naval power.
The Anglo-Prussian Alliance was a military alliance created by the Westminster Convention between Great Britain and Prussia that lasted formally between 1756 and 1762, during the Seven Years' War. The alliance allowed Britain to concentrate most of its efforts against the colonial possessions of the French-led coalition while Prussia bore the brunt of the fighting in Europe. The alliance ended in the final months of the conflict, but strong ties remained between both kingdoms.
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Karl Wolfgang Schweizer is a historian specialising in eighteenth century European history.