The Emergence of the Eastern Powers, 1756–1775

H. M. Scott

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2001
• Print ISBN: 9780521792691
• eBook ISBN: 9780511031854
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: European History
• Index: History

Throughout the nineteenth century, international relations in Europe were dominated by five great powers - Britain, France, Russia, Austria and Prussia. The creation of this system has been located traditionally in the long struggle with revolutionary and Napoleonic France. By contrast, this study demonstrates that its origins lie half a century earlier. During the third quarter of the eighteenth century, the European states-system was transformed by the military rise of Russia and Prussia in the Seven Years War of 1756–63. Eastern Europe became pre-eminent, and during the 1770s Poland was partitioned for the first time, while Russia and Austria also seized territory from the Ottoman empire. Europe's centre of gravity moved sharply eastwards, and by the later 1770s Russia was emerging as the leading continental power. This study, based upon manuscript and printed sources from six countries, provides a comprehensive analysis of these crucial events.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Series-title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Maps and genealogical table
• Acknowledgements
• Dates and place names
• Abbreviations
• INTRODUCTION The eighteenth-century European states system and its transformations
• 1 The rise of the eastern powers
• 2 The Seven Years War and the European states system
• 3 The domestic legacies of the Seven Years War
• 4 The stabilisation of Europe, 1763–1766
• 5 Diplomacy and the eastern powers
• 6 From peace to war, 1766–1768
• 7 The partition of Europe, 1768–1772
• 8 The advance of Russia, 1772–1775
• CONCLUSION Russia and the emergence of the eastern powers
• Bibliography
• Index