As it says on the tin, mostly, but:
WI: Smallpox or a carriage accident or murder or handwaviumitis kills Empress Elizabeth of Russia in 1755 and Peter III comes to power just before an aborted (in TTL) Diplomatic Revolution?
France and Prussia maintain or renew their alliance just as a Prussophile gains the throne of Russia. Austria and Prussia are on a timer for war and Great Britain and France are already escalating their own colonial conflict. Austria and Britain are both less than pleased by the circumstances, but with Hanover vulnerable and with no more time for Austria to buildup before someone pulls the trigger they...
1. Could the Austro-British alliance fire the first shot on the continent in this scenario?
2. Would Peter choose to stay out of the war for a few years before entering on the Franco-Prussian side? Or might Russia enter the war immediately on the Franco-Prussian side from 1756?
3. Spain naturally goes with France, but how soon?
4. What is likely to happen with Sweden? Portugal? The lesser German states?
5. Any additional thoughts or ideas?