|
English Colonies |
France vs England |
Fur Trade |
HBC | The Mississippi
| Le Petite Guerre
|
Containment | New
France | Preparations
| War |
Treaty of Paris
A popular theory of
the cold war between the Soviet Union and the United
States was know as containment. It was thought to have
original from George Kennan the American ambassador to
the Soviet Union just after the second world war, who
wrote a long message, known as the long telegram, of
warning to the State Department warning that unless the
Soviets were "contained", they would eventually dominate
the world.
Contrary to this view
were the French efforts of using this theory against the
British in the 1750's. If they could hold the English
Colonies to the east side of the Appalachian Mountains,
and establish a military defense line along the West
side of the mountains with interior lines of
transportation along the Mississippi, then they could
eventually occupy the rest of the vast North American
continent and become the dominant military, economic and
social influence in the new world.
The realization that
the English were coming and belated French efforts at
occupation, colonization and building alliances along
the Mississippi were almost overcome by brilliant
military strategy and almost finalized the defeat of
English efforts to win in North America. William Pitt,
the British Prime Minister realized that victory for the
English over the French would come not in Europe but in
the colonies around the world. He also recognized that
the key to defeating the French was by using British sea
power and sailing into the heart of the French Empire -
Quebec City. Once that city fell, the rest of New France
and the Mississippi empire would fall like dominos,
another metaphor used during the Cold War in southeast
Asia. |
