Seven Years' War with whom Pitt formed an unlikely political partnership from 1757 A
coalition with Newcastle was formed in June 1757, and held power until October 1761. It brought together several various factions and was built around the partnership between Pitt and Newcastle, which a few months earlier had seemed impossible. The two men used
Lord Chesterfield as an intermediary and had managed to agree a division of powers that was acceptable to both. For the past few months Britain had been virtually leaderless, although Devonshire had remained formally prime minister, but now Pitt and Newcastle were ready to offer stronger direction to the country's strategy. By summer 1757 the British war effort over the previous three years had broadly been a failure. Britain's attempts to take the offensive in North America had ended in disaster, Menorca had been lost, and the
Duke of Cumberland's
Army of Observation was retreating across
Hanover following the
Battle of Hastenback. In October Cumberland was forced to conclude the
Convention of Klosterzeven, which would take Hanover out of the war. The
French Invasion of Hanover posed a threat to Britain's ally Prussia, which was now vulnerable to attack from the west by the French as well as facing attack from Austria,
Russia,
Saxony and Sweden. Although it was late in the campaigning season when he had come to power, Pitt set about trying to initiate a more assertive strategy. He conspired with a number of figures to persuade the Hanoverians to revoke the Klosterzevern Convention and re-enter the war on Britain's side, which they did in late 1757. He also put into practice a scheme of
Naval Descents that would make
amphibious landings on the French coast. The first of these, the
Raid on Rochefort, took place in September but was not a success. The centrepiece of the campaign in North America, an
expedition to capture Louisbourg, was aborted due to the presence of a large French fleet and a gale that scattered the British fleet.
1758 In 1758, Pitt began to put into practice a new strategy to win the Seven Years' War, which would involve tying down large numbers of French troops and resources in Germany, while Britain used its naval supremacy to launch expeditions to capture French forces around the globe. Following the capture of Emden he ordered the dispatch of the first British troops to the European continent under the
Duke of Marlborough, who joined
Brunswick's army. This was a dramatic reversal of his previous position, as he had recently been strongly opposed to any such commitment. Pitt had been lobbied by an American merchant
Thomas Cumming to launch an expedition against the French trading settlements in
West Africa. In April 1758
British forces captured the ill-defended fort of
Saint-Louis in
Senegal. The mission was so lucrative that Pitt sent out further expeditions to capture
Gorée and
Gambia later in the year. He also drew up plans to attack French islands in the
Caribbean the following year at the suggestion of a
Jamaican sugar planter
William Beckford. In North America, a
second British attempt to capture
Louisbourg succeeded. However, Pitt's pleasure over this was tempered by the subsequent news of a significant British defeat at the
Battle of Carillon. Toward the end of the year the
Forbes Expedition seized the site of
Fort Duquesne and began constructing the British-controlled Fort Pitt (which later grew into the city of Pittsburgh). This gave the British control of the
Ohio Country, which had been the principal cause of the war. In Europe, Brunswick's forces enjoyed a mixed year. Brunswick had crossed the
Rhine, but faced with being cut off he had retreated and blocked any potential French move toward Hanover with his victory at the
Battle of Krefeld. The year ended with something approaching a stalemate in Germany. Pitt had continued his naval descents during 1758, but the first had enjoyed only limited success and the second ended with near disaster at the
Battle of St Cast and no further descents were planned. Instead the troops and ships would be used as part of the coming expedition to the
French West Indies. The scheme of amphibious raids was the only one of Pitt's policies during the war that was broadly a failure, although it did help briefly relieve pressure on the German front by tying down French troops on coastal protection service.
Annus Mirabilis in 1759 In France a new leader, the
Duc de Choiseul, had recently come to power and 1759 offered a duel between their rival strategies. Pitt intended to continue with his plan of tying down French forces in Germany while continuing the assault on France's colonies. Choiseul hoped to repel the attacks in the colonies while seeking total victory in Europe. Pitt's war around the world was largely successful. While a British
invasion of Martinique failed, they
captured Guadeloupe shortly afterward. In India, a French
attempt to capture Madras was repulsed. In North America, British troops closed in on France's Canadian heartland. A British force under
James Wolfe moved up the
Saint Lawrence with the aim of capturing
Quebec. After initially
failing to penetrate the French defences at the
Montmorency Falls, Wolfe later led his men
to a victory to the west of the city allowing the British forces to capture Quebec. Choiseul had pinned much of his hopes on
a French invasion of Britain, which he hoped would knock Britain out of the war and make it surrender the colonies it had taken from France. Pitt had stripped the home islands of troops to send on his expeditions, leaving Britain guarded by poorly trained militia and giving an opportunity for the French if they could land in enough force. The French did build a large invasion force. However the French naval defeats at
Lagos and
Quiberon Bay forced Choiseul to abandon the invasion plans. France's other great hope, that their armies could make a breakthrough in Germany and invade Hanover, was thwarted at the
Battle of Minden. Britain ended the year victorious in every theatre of operations in which it was engaged, with Pitt receiving the credit for this.
1760–1761 Britain completed the
conquest of Canada in 1760 by capturing Montreal, which effectively brought the war to an end on mainland North America. Pitt's power had now reached its peak, but was soon under threat. The domestic political situation was altered dramatically when George II died in October 1760. He was succeeded by his grandson,
George III, who had once considered Pitt an ally but had become angered by Pitt's alliance with Newcastle and acceptance of the need for British intervention in Germanywhich George was strongly opposed to. The new king successfully lobbied for his favourite
Lord Bute to be given the post of
Northern Secretary. Bute was inclined to support a withdrawal from Germany, and to fight the war with France largely at sea and in the colonies. Pitt's plan for an expedition to capture
Belle Île was put into force in April 1761 and it was
captured after a siege. This provided yet a further blow to French prestige, as it was the first part of
Metropolitan France to be occupied. Pitt now expected France to offer terms, although he was prepared for a longer war if necessary. Envoys were exchanged, but neither side could reach an agreement. Pitt's refusal to grant the French a share in
Newfoundland proved the biggest obstacle to peace, as Pitt declared he would rather lose the use of his right arm than give the French a share there and later said he would rather give up the
Tower of London than Newfoundland. Newfoundland was at the time seen as possessing huge economic and strategic value because of the extensive fishing industry there. The war in Germany continued through 1761 with the French again attempting to overcome Brunswick and invade Hanover, but suffering a defeat at the
Battle of Villinghausen. Pitt had substantially increased the number of British troops serving with Brunswick, and he also planned further conquests in the West Indies. A strategy he hoped would compel the French to conclude a reasonable peace treaty.
Treaty of Paris To the preliminaries of the
peace concluded in February 1763 he offered an indignant resistance, considering the terms quite inadequate to the successes that had been gained by the country. When the treaty was discussed in parliament in December of the previous year, although suffering from a severe attack of gout, he was carried down to the House, and in a speech of three hours' duration, interrupted more than once by paroxysms of pain, he strongly protested against its various conditions. These conditions included the return of the sugar islands (but Britain retained
Dominica); trading stations in West Africa (won by Boscawen);
Pondicherry (
France's Indian colony); and fishing rights in
Newfoundland. Pitt's opposition arose through two heads: France had been given the means to become once more formidable at sea, whilst
Frederick of Prussia had been betrayed. Pitt believed that the task had been left half-finished and called for a final year of war which would crush French power for good. Pitt had long-held plans for further conquests which had been uncompleted. Newcastle, by contrast, sought peace but only if the war in Germany could be brought to an honourable and satisfactory conclusion (rather than Britain suddenly bailing out of it as Bute proposed). However the combined opposition of Newcastle and Pitt was not enough to prevent the Treaty passing comfortably in both Houses of Parliament. However, there were strong reasons for concluding the peace: the national debt had increased from £74.5million in 1755 to £133.25million in 1763, the year of the
peace. The requirement to pay down this debt, and the lack of French threat in Canada, were major movers in the subsequent
American War of Independence. The physical cause which rendered this effort so painful probably accounts for the infrequency of his appearances in parliament, as well as for much that is otherwise inexplicable in his subsequent conduct. In 1763, he spoke against the unpopular
tax on cider, imposed by his brother-in-law,
George Grenville, and his opposition, although unsuccessful in the House, helped to keep alive his popularity with the country, which cordially hated the
excise and all connected with it. When next year the question of
general warrants was raised in connexion with the case of
John Wilkes, Pitt vigorously maintained their illegality, thus defending at once the privileges of Parliament and the
freedom of the press. During 1765 he seems to have been totally
incapacitated for public business. In the following year he supported with great power the proposal of the
Rockingham administration for the repeal of the
Stamp Act, arguing that it was unconstitutional to impose taxes upon the colonies. He thus endorsed the contention of the colonists on the ground of principle, while the majority of those who acted with him contented themselves with resisting the disastrous taxation scheme on the ground of expediency. The Repeal (1766) of the Stamp Act, indeed, was only passed
pari passu with
another censuring the American
assemblies, and declaring the authority of the British parliament over the colonies "in all cases whatsoever". Thus the House of Commons repudiated in the most formal manner the principle Pitt laid down. His language in approval of the resistance of the colonists was unusually bold, and perhaps no one but himself could have employed it with impunity at a time when the freedom of debate was only imperfectly conceded. Pitt had not been long out of office when he was solicited to return to it, and the solicitations were more than once renewed. Unsuccessful overtures were made to him in 1763, and twice in 1765, in May and June—the negotiator in May being the king's uncle, the
Duke of Cumberland, who went down in person to
Hayes, Pitt's seat in
Kent. It is known that he had the opportunity of joining the Marquess of Rockingham's short-lived administration at any time on his own terms, and his conduct in declining an arrangement with that minister has been more generally condemned than any other step in his public life.
Leadership The
London Magazine of 1767 offered "Pitt, Pompadour, Prussia, Providence" as the reasons for Britain's success in the
Seven Years' War. Pitt's relation to all three was such as to entitle him to a large share in the credit of their deeds. He inspired trust in his chosen commanders by his indifference to rules of seniority—several of "Pitt's boys", like
Keppel, captor of
Gorée, were in their thirties—and by his clear orders. It was his discernment that selected Wolfe to lead the attack on
Quebec, and gave him the opportunity of dying a victor on the
heights of Abraham. He had personally less to do with the successes in India than with the other great enterprises that shed an undying lustre on his administration; but his generous praise in parliament encouraged
Robert Clive, and the forces that acted at the close of the struggle were animated by his indomitable spirit. 's victory at the
Battle of Plassey established the
East India Company as a military as well as a commercial power. Pitt's particular genius was to finance an army on the continent to drain French men and resources so that Britain might concentrate on what he held to be the vital spheres: Canada and the
West Indies; whilst Clive successfully defeated
Siraj ud-Daulah, (the last independent
Nawab of Bengal) at
Plassey (1757), securing India. The Continental campaign was carried on by
Cumberland, defeated at
Hastenbeck and forced to surrender at
Convention of Klosterzeven (1757) and thereafter by
Ferdinand of Brunswick, later victor at
Minden; Britain's Continental campaign had two major strands, firstly subsidising allies, particularly Frederick the Great, and second, financing an army to divert French resources from the colonial war and to also defend Hanover (which was the territory of the Kings of England at this time) Pitt was a leading imperialist in English history. He was the directing mind in the expansion of his country, and with him the beginning of empire is rightly associated. The
Seven Years' War might well, moreover, have been another
Thirty Years' War if Pitt had not furnished Frederick with an annual subsidy of £700,000, and in addition relieved him of the task of defending western Germany against France: this was the policy that allowed Pitt to boast of having "won Canada on the banks of the Rhine". Contemporary opinion was, of course, incompetent to estimate the permanent results gained for the country by the brilliant foreign policy of Pitt. It has long been generally agreed that by several of his most costly expeditions nothing was really won but glory: the policy of diversionary attacks on places like
Rochefort was memorably described as 'breaking windows with gold guineas'. It has even been said that the only permanent acquisition that England owed directly to him was her Canadian dominion; and, strictly speaking, this is true, it being admitted that the campaign by which the Indian empire was virtually won was not planned by him, although brought to a successful issue during his ministry. But material
aggrandisement, although the only tangible, was not the only real or lasting effect of a war policy. More could be gained by crushing a formidable rival than by conquering a province. The loss of her Canadian possessions was only one of a series of disasters suffered by France, which included the victories at sea of
Boscawen at
Lagos and
Hawke at
Quiberon Bay. Such defeats radically affected the future of Europe and the world. Deprived of her most valuable colonies both in the
East and in the
West, and thoroughly defeated on the continent, France's humiliation was the beginning of a new epoch in history. The war that Pitt guided and the eventual loss of the French is thought to have weakened France's military prestige, and has thus been thought to be one of the multitude of influences that slowly brought about the
French Revolution. It effectually deprived France of the lead in the councils of Europe which she had hitherto arrogated to herself, and so affected the whole course of continental politics. It is such far-reaching results as these, and not the mere acquisition of a single colony, however valuable, that constitute Pitt's claim to be considered as the most powerful minister that ever guided the foreign policy of England.
Resignation 's rise to power between 1760 and 1762 dramatically influenced the emphasis of Britain's war effort. Like the new king, Bute favoured an end to British involvement on the continent. George II died on 25 October 1760, and was succeeded by his grandson,
George III. The new king was inclined to view politics in personal terms and was taught to believe that "Pitt had the blackest of hearts". The new king had counsellors of his own, led by
Lord Bute. Bute soon joined the cabinet as a
Northern Secretary and Pitt and he were quickly in dispute over a number of issues. In 1761, Pitt had received information from his agents about a secret
Bourbon Family Compact by which the
Bourbons of France and Spain bound themselves in an offensive alliance against Britain. Spain was concerned that Britain's victories over France had left them too powerful, and were a threat in the long term to Spain's
own empire. Equally they may have believed that the British had become overstretched by fighting a global war and decided to try to seize
British possessions such as
Jamaica. A secret convention pledged that if Britain and France were still at war by 1 May 1762, Spain would enter the war on the French side. Pitt urged that such a clear threat should be met by a pre-emptive strike against Spain's navy and her colonies—with emphasis on speed to prevent Spain bringing the annual
Manila galleon safely to harbour. Bute and Newcastle refused to support such a move, as did the entire cabinet except
Temple, believing it would make Britain look the aggressor against Spain, potentially provoking other neutral nations to declare war on Britain. Pitt believed he had no choice but to leave a cabinet in which his advice on a vital question had been rejected and presented his resignation. Many of his cabinet colleagues secretly welcomed his departure as they believed his dominance and popularity were a threat to the Constitution. Pitt's brother-in-law
George Grenville was given a major role in government, angering Pitt who felt Grenville should have resigned with him. Pitt regarded Grenville's action as a betrayal and there was hostility between them for several years. After Pitt's resignation in October 1761, the King urged Pitt to accept a mark of royal favour. Accordingly, he obtained a pension of £3000 a year and his wife,
Lady Hester Grenville was created
Baroness Chatham in her own right—although Pitt refused to accept a title himself. Pitt assured the King that he would not go into direct opposition against the government. His conduct after his retirement was distinguished by a moderation and disinterestedness which, as
Edmund Burke remarked, "set a seal upon his character". The war with Spain, in which he had urged the cabinet to take the initiative, proved inevitable; but he scorned to use the occasion for "altercation and recrimination", and spoke in support of the government measures for carrying on the war. Twenty years after he had received a similar windfall from the Marlborough legacy,
Sir William Pynsent, Bt., a
Somerset baronet to whom he was personally quite unknown, left him his entire estate, worth about three thousand a year, in testimony of approval of his political career. == Prime Minister (1766–1768) ==