SEVEN YEARS' WAR 



5319 



SEVEN YEARS' WAR 



Ephesus, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the 

 Colossus of Rhodes and the Pharos, or light- 

 house at Alexandria. 



Seven Modern Wonders. The present age is 

 one of supremacy in science rather than in art, 

 and the wonders of the modern world are its 

 great inventions and discoveries. Leading 

 scientists have agreed that the seven most 

 marvelous scientific discoveries are the wireless 

 telegraph, telephone, flying machine, radium, 

 antiseptics and antitoxins, the X-ray and spec- 

 trum analysis. These are called the "Seven 

 Modern Wonders." 



The wireless telegraph, invented by Gu- 

 glielmo Marconi, an Italian, is the only means 

 of communication with ships at sea, and all 

 modern steamships and warships are equipped 

 with wireless outfits. No means of communi- 

 cation has proved of more general convenience 

 than the telephone, invented by Reis of Ger- 

 many and Gray and Bell of the United States. 

 The aeroplane, invented by the Wright broth- 

 ers of Ohio, demonstrated its value during the 

 War of the Nations, and all modem military 

 departments have these air crafts in their serv- 

 ice. There has been no innovation of greater 

 benefit to mankind or of more importance in 

 surgery than the discovery of antiseptics by 

 Sir Joseph Lister. Antitoxins, radium and the 

 X-ray are all aids to the physician and sur- 

 geon in treating human ills. Radium was dis- 

 covered by Pierre and Marie Curie, and the 

 X-ray was the discovery of Roentgen. Spec- 

 trum analysis, of importance in the analysis 

 of the light of stars, chemicals and metals, was 

 discovered by Sir Isaac Newton. E.B.P. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred for 

 more detailed information to the following arti- 

 cles in these volumes: 

 Antiseptic, subhead 



In Medicine 

 Antitoxin 

 Colossus 

 Diana, subhead Temple 



of Diana 

 Flying Machine 

 Hanging Gardens of 



Babylon 



Mausoleum 

 Pharos 

 Pyramids 

 Radium 

 Roentgen Rays 

 Spectrum Analysis 

 Telegraph, subtitle 



Wireless Telegraph 

 Telephone 



SEVEN YEARS' WAR, a struggle between 

 Prussia and other European powers which broke 

 out in 1753. Frederick II of Prussia had seized 

 some years before the province of Silesia and 

 had made good his hold on it in the S.lesian 

 wars. Although the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle 

 confirmed him in his possession of it, Maria 

 Theresa had never given up the hope of re- 

 gaining it and had done her utmost to form 



strong alliances against Frederick. Russia 

 joined her readily and looked forward to re- 

 ceiving a part of the conquered Prussian ter- 

 ritory at the close of the war. To bring about 

 an alliance with France, the hereditary enemy 

 of Austria, was a difficult matter, but Maria 

 Theresa, under the guidance of her minister 

 Kaunitz, wrote a letter to Madame de Pompa- 

 dour, the mistress of the French king, and so- 

 licited an alliance; and the conclusion of an 

 agreement between Prussia and Great Britain, 

 with whom France was at that time at war in 

 the United States, decided the French to aid 

 Austria. 



Frederick the Great, acquainted with all the 

 moves of his enemies, determined to strike 

 first, and in August, 1756, entered Saxony, 

 whose elector he knew sympathized with Aus- 

 tria. He defeated an Austrian army sent to 

 the aid of Saxony, compelled the Saxon army 

 to surrender and made himself master of the 

 entire country. By the beginning of 1757, how- 

 ever, matters looked black for Prussia. Sweden 

 had joined the allies, and thus practically the 

 whole of Europe w r as united against Frederick, 

 who had as his only ally England, from whom 

 at that time he was receiving little help. A 

 subsidy was paid him by England, but the army 

 of English and Hanoverians which had been 

 sent to his aid was small and badly officered. 

 Frederick marched into Bohemia, won a bat- 

 tle before Prague and began a siege of the 

 town, but was defeated at Kolin in June and 

 driven back into Saxony. The English com- 

 mander was shortly afterward defeated by the 

 French and forced to make a virtual surren- 

 der, which, however, the British government 

 refused to acknowledge. Later in the same 

 year, Frederick won a victory over the French 

 at Rossbach and one over the Austrians at 

 Leuthen and made himself master again of al- 

 most the whole province of Silesia, which had 

 been retaken by Austria. 



When the campaign of 1758 opened, Fred- 

 erick's position was somewhat more favorable. 

 He had gained favor and prestige through his 

 conduct of the earlier stages of the war, and 

 on the accession of William Pitt to power in 

 England a policy of more active aid to Prussia 

 was adopted. A new army was organized un- 

 der Ferdinand of Brunswick, who during the 

 remainder of the war won several victories and 

 was of great help to Frederick. The contest 

 began in 1758 by a defeat of the Russians, and 

 though Frederick was himself shortly afterward 

 beaten he managed to retain possession of both 



