Between the years 1740 and 1764 two major and separate wars occurred that changed the landscape of Europe for years to come. Both of these wars involved virtually all the major powers on the European continent at the time and had a worldwide impact. The first of these was the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748), fought over the issue of Maria Theresa's succession to the reigns of the House of Habsburg (McKay, 2006). This war includes a number of other wars; the War of Jenkins' Ear, the First Carnatic War in India, King George's War in North America, and the First and Second Silesian Wars. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The second of these was the Seven Years' War (1755-1764), which arose from conflict between Great Britain and France, when Great Britain attacked disputed positions in North America. The war became continental with the struggle between the growing power of Prussia and Austria within and outside the Holy Roman Empire in Central Europe (Christopher, Brinton & Wolff, 1955). Both of these wars meant that the continent was divided into two distinct alliance systems, which were involved in fighting both on the European continent and across the expanding colonial empires, where there were very different objectives. Both of these wars contributed to the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756, where there was a reversal of long-standing alliances on the European continent (Winks, 1988). The different objectives between continental fighting and maneuvering and fighting within the expanding colonial empires can be seen through both the War of the Australian Succession and the Seven Years' War. It can be observed that each side adopts two very different tactics due to the difference between continental and colonial combat. The French and their allies, for example, tended to let their colonies defend themselves, offering minimal help by sending limited or inexperienced troops, while training an effective and necessary national army (Pritchard, 2004). This tactical difference was due to a number of reasons, the most important of which was the fact that the English had a dominant navy which made it difficult to transport troops and supplies (Dull, 2007), as well as the fact that France had several and long land borders. which required an effective internal army for protection (Bomeman, 2007). To this end, France based its strategy on European conquests, tending to restore the status quo ante by returning European conquests to reconquer lost territories overseas (Lee, 1984). France conducted the same strategy during the Seven Years' War, although it did not work as successfully as the War of the Austrian Succession, where they were left with few countervailing European successes for their lost colonies (Lee, 1984). on the other hand, they tended to avoid large quantities of troops on the continent (Till, 2006), aiming to compensate for this disadvantage by allying themselves with a major continental power that had similar interests against Britain's enemies (particularly France). Interestingly, during the War of the Austrian Succession they were allied with Austria, but by the Seven Years' War they found themselves allied with Austria's enemy, Prussia (commonly called the Diplomatic Revolution). Britain would use its enormous financial power to finance its allies and promote its military might on the continent, as was particularly evident in the Seven Years' War with Prussia (Mahan, 2013). Britain sought to strengthen its own.