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When the Seven Years War broke out, obviously they had no idea how long it would last. What did Europeans call this war at first?

I know that in the North American Theater, it was called the French and Indian War. But I'm looking for the name of the war in Europe. What did Europeans call this war? Was it known by different names among the different empires?

EDIT: Also, it would be good to know when it generally became known as the Seven Years War.

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    23 May, 1618. The Defenestration of Prague triggers the outbreak of the Thirty Years War, and pretty soon everyone in Europe is all *facepalm and *headdesk because if they had only named it the Thirty Minute War it would have been over by now. -- The Great Ptolemaic Smackdown, part 6
    – Mason Wheeler
    May 10, 2016 at 15:22
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    Presumably during the war it would have been "the war".
    – T.E.D. ♦
    May 11, 2016 at 4:24
  • "It'll all be over by Christmas", I imagine.
    – HenryRootTwo
    May 11, 2016 at 10:05

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There were several names for the war depending on the belligerent. Here are a few:

  • Prussia and Austria: Dritter Schlesischer Krieg (third Sileasian war) (refers to Austria trying to reconquer Silesia)
  • France: La guerre de la Conquête (War of Conquest)
  • Britain: French and Indian War or Great War for the Empire
  • Sweden: Pommerska kriget (Pomeranian War) (refers to Sweden trying to recover territory in Pomerania lost in 1720)
  • India: Third Carnatic War (refers to the carnatic region)
  • Spain: Ocupación británica de Manila (British occupation of Manila) (refers to the invasion of the Phillipines in 1762)
  • Russia: Third Silesian war (according to @Michael)

As you can see, for the continental European powers this was mostly considered a regional war for a certain territory. Only for France and Britain this was a truly global conflict. Spain entered the war in 1762, shortly before its end. This is reflected in the name as well.

On the origin of the term "Seven Years War"

From @stevebird

A quick search of Google Books reveals a reference in the Critical Review of July 1787, which discusses Captain Tielke's history of the Prussian, Russian and Austrian conflicts of 1756 to 1763. The article refers to this history as "what has been styled, the seven years war". So the term was certainly in use within 20 years of the war itself

From @MichaelSeifert

[In Russia] it gained the name "Семиле́тняя война́" (Seven Years' War) in the 1780s

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    No clue. In 1844 the term was used in the "Barry Lyndon" novel. I'd guess some scholars callled it the seven years war pretty soon after it ended and as that term could be used to describe all the different conflicts going on, it quickly became the name everybody used.
    – Dulkan
    May 10, 2016 at 10:17
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    A quick search of Google Books reveals a reference in the Critical Review of July 1787, which discusses Captain Tielke's history of the Prussian, Russian and Austrian conflicts of 1756 to 1763. The article refers to this history as "what has been styled, the seven years war". So the term was certainly in use within 20 years of the war itself.
    – Steve Bird
    May 10, 2016 at 10:29
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    It's also probably worth noting that the "French and Indian War" title had been applied to a number of conflicts, of varying scale, between the English, French and their repective allied native American forces from the late 1600s.
    – Steve Bird
    May 10, 2016 at 10:34
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    Recommend you edit in @SteveBird Bird's note about reference in the critical review of July 1787.
    – KorvinStarmast
    May 10, 2016 at 14:31
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    @MichaelSeifert: that Russian Wikipedia page also mentions that that war was also called "третьей Силезской войной", or "third Silesian war", so it seems it was called in Russia by the same name as in Prussia and Austria.
    – Michael
    May 10, 2016 at 20:52

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