‘The Common Cause’: How Britain and its Allies Wages War in Western Germany During the Seven Years War, 1758-1763

This thesis will investigate the factors which enabled Britain and its allies to be successful in western Germany during the Seven Years War. The war in western Germany was fought by the Allied army against France and its Imperial German allies, and was conducted in conjunction with the Prussian army’s campaigns in central Europe. Rather than a chronological analysis, the thesis will look at the interplay of four major factors in why Britain and her allies were successful: diplomacy, intelligence, military and engineering. Starting with a diplomatic analysis, it will analyse the alliances Britain negotiated, including their careful maintenance through confessional rhetoric and monetary support, especially through difficult circumstances, such as Britain’s conflict with the Landgrave Frederick II. This thesis will also highlight how eighteenth-century intelligence networks were a lot more extensive and valuable than are commonly thought. Built upon networks of correspondence as well as agents in the field, the systems the British diplomats utilized were highly effective in procuring intelligence from their enemies and allies, and were the bedrock of British intelligence that would be continued throughout the eighteenth century. My arguments will also reassess several erroneous beliefs about warfare in the middle of the eighteenth century, highlighting how the Allied army attempted to utilize strategy that would be similar to armies of the later decades of the long-eighteenth century. The warfare that typified armies of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods did not materialize fully formed. Rather it was a progression, which had its roots in the warfare of the eighteenth century. The final factor this thesis will address is the role of engineers on campaign during this period, a branch of the military forces which have long been neglected, highlighting their valuable role in cartography, as well as their specialisms in building roads, bridges and field fortifications.