Description
Book SynopsisBased on hitherto unused manuscript material, War, Politics and Diplomacy examines the origin, development and collapse of the Anglo-Prussian alliance against the complex backdrop of European politics during the Seven Years War (1756-63). Unlike earlier books in the field, this study views the alliance not as a static entity but as a flexible, dynamic instrument of statecraft ever responsive to military and diplomatic shifts. By examining, for the first time, the disintegration of the alliance in a light of preceding intra-alliance relations, Karl W. Schweizer demonstrates that its failure was certain from the conditions of its formation, the progress of the war, and above all, from the disparate aims and interests of the two partners, England and Prussia. This new approach to the history of the alliance produces a fundamentally different interpretation of its overall development, a disbelief in its prospect of survival after the war and hence a modified evaluation of the role played by the principal statesmen involved.
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 Acknowledgements Chapter 3 Introduction Chapter 4 The European Setting Chapter 5 Anglo-Prussian Relations After the Convention of Westminister: 1756-1758 Chapter 6 The Subsidy Treaty Chapter 7 Britain and Prussia 1758-1761 Chapter 8 Bute and the 1761 Peace Negotiations with France Chapter 9 Bute and the Anglo-Prussian Subsidy Talks, November 1761-January 1762 Chapter 10 Bute, Newcastle and the Hague Overtures Chapter 11 England, Prussia and Russia, January-March 1762 Chapter 12 The Bedford and Bunbury Motions, February 5, 1762 Chapter 13 The Galitzin Letter Chapter 14 The End of the Subsidy Treaty Chapter 15 Epilogue Chapter 16 Conclusions Chapter 17 Appendixes Chapter 18 Endnotes Chapter 19 Bibliography Chapter 20 Index Chapter 21 About the Author
