The Seven Years War was technically a victory for Frederick the Great and Prussia, but it was a very close thing. Any one of many possible events - Tsarina Elizabeth living longer and keeping Russia in the war, better coordination between the French, Austrians, and Russians, or Frederick getting killed in a battle as he commanded his army - could have doomed Prussia to almost total defeat. What if that actually happened?
Fredericks Prussia had been so troublesome, from the point of view of his enemies, that the peace following a thorough Prussian defeat would probably have been much more harsh than was usual in 18th century European warfare. Austria would have taken Silesia, and parts of Prussias other territories would have been divided up among various other German states. East Prussia itself might have been taken away and given, perhaps, to Poland, leaving only the old Electorate of Brandenburg under the Hohenzollerns. There would be no more major threats to the balance of power from THAT direction.
What would happen with Britain and Hanover? With Prussia gone, would the French, perhaps with Austrian or even Russian help, take all of Hanover and divide it up? Would Britain have been willing to conclude a peace in which they gave Canada back to France or made other colonial concessions in return for the restoration of Hanover? Or, if George III had already become King, would he and Pitt have both supported a policy where Britain would let Hanover be dismembered but keep all of their overseas conquests and defy the French to take them back if they could? Could a separate overseas war between France and Spain on one side and Britain on the other have continued to go on for years after the war in Europe ended?
In eastern Europe, would Austria and Russia quickly move from being allies to rivals? Would those two empires have each tried to make weak Poland into a dependent satellite? Would Russia seek to annex a large part of Poland, and Austria would try to prop up the Poles against the Russians? Could Poland have survived longer as an independent state, or would Russia and Austria have agreed on a 2-way partition of Poland instead of the 3-way partition of OTL?
Fredericks Prussia had been so troublesome, from the point of view of his enemies, that the peace following a thorough Prussian defeat would probably have been much more harsh than was usual in 18th century European warfare. Austria would have taken Silesia, and parts of Prussias other territories would have been divided up among various other German states. East Prussia itself might have been taken away and given, perhaps, to Poland, leaving only the old Electorate of Brandenburg under the Hohenzollerns. There would be no more major threats to the balance of power from THAT direction.
What would happen with Britain and Hanover? With Prussia gone, would the French, perhaps with Austrian or even Russian help, take all of Hanover and divide it up? Would Britain have been willing to conclude a peace in which they gave Canada back to France or made other colonial concessions in return for the restoration of Hanover? Or, if George III had already become King, would he and Pitt have both supported a policy where Britain would let Hanover be dismembered but keep all of their overseas conquests and defy the French to take them back if they could? Could a separate overseas war between France and Spain on one side and Britain on the other have continued to go on for years after the war in Europe ended?
In eastern Europe, would Austria and Russia quickly move from being allies to rivals? Would those two empires have each tried to make weak Poland into a dependent satellite? Would Russia seek to annex a large part of Poland, and Austria would try to prop up the Poles against the Russians? Could Poland have survived longer as an independent state, or would Russia and Austria have agreed on a 2-way partition of Poland instead of the 3-way partition of OTL?