Seven Years' War (Cromwell the Great)

"Denn zu einem großen Manne gehört beides: Kleinigkeiten als Kleinigkeiten, und wichtige Dinge als wichtige Dinge zu behandeln. (Hamburgische Dramaturgie, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing)" The Seven Years' War was a global conflict fought between 1756 and 1763. It involved every European great power of the time and spanned five continents, affecting Europe, the Americas, West Africa, India, and the Philippines. The conflict split Europe into two coalitions, led by the Commonwealth (including Prussia, Portugal, Hanover, and other small German states) on one side and the Kingdom of France (including the Austrian-led Holy Roman Empire, the Russian Empire,  Spain, and Sweden) on the other.

Meanwhile, in India, some regional polities within the increasingly fragmented Mughal Empire, with the support of the French and Commonwealth, tried to carve conquests leading however to the dominance of the two main European powers.

The conflict also eclipse the category of great power of Sweden in favor of Prussia in the Baltic Sea.