Franco-British war 1763-1776

ar-pharazon

Banned
This is my first post so please go easy on me.

So after the seven years war there was a period of twelve years of peace between the UK and France with war not breaking out again until the French intervened in support of the American colonies.

What could have precipitated a war during this period? Who would have won at least on the continent?
 
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Or retake it I guess?

Would the Corsican crisis have provoked a full scale war though?
Surely. Even if war is declared over a small island, it is still a war.
Now, a "Corsican War" could have interesting repercussions in the already very restive Thirteen Colonies.
 
Wouldn't Austria be a French ally? And Prussia a British one? Or the reverse? Given my knowledge of the whole diplomatic Revolution thing is a little fuzzy.
Prussia isn't about to do squat for the British that soon after the seven years war, especially for some island in the med
 
Not for some island but if the war expanded to just another seven years war and struggle for supremacy in Europe maybe?
The war took a massive toll on Prussia and they weren't happy with the Brits by the war's end, they'll sit it out if they can.
 
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Maybe I was thinking it would have maybe a rally round the mother country effect though?
If the british promise political concessions to the colonists being conscripted and actually carry them out after the war (which i think is, unfortunately, unlikely), then i can maybe see such colonists putting their national grievances aside for a second. But i'm afraid such "distraction" effect doesn't work when the war is happening over some remote island in the Mediterranean that the americans don't care about; Corsica's acquisition would be for the advantage of Britain, not the colonies.
 
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I see and if this were to expedite the American Revolution how would it change the situation on the ground?
If the Americans and French don't immediately embrace, the UK could potentially drop the Corsican matter (and perhaps some other concessions) in exchange for the French and Spanish agreeing to give the UK a free hand to deal with its rebellious colony. That however is unlikely, as in OTL's Revolutionary War the French were not only fully aware of how much they could hurt the British Empire by supporting the rebels, but many even saw it as a way to regain their former colonies.
 
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