derek-thomas/squad-v1.1-t5-question-generation huggingface dataset:
The War of the Austrian Succession had seen the belligerents aligned on a time-honoured basis. France’s traditional enemies, Great Britain and Austria, had coalesced just as they had done against Louis XIV. Prussia, the leading anti-Austrian state in Germany, had been supported by France. Neither group, however, found much reason to be satisfied with its partnership: British subsidies to Austria had produced nothing of much help to the British, while the British military effort had not saved Silesia for Austria. Prussia, having secured Silesia, had come to terms with Austria in disregard of French interests. Even so, France had concluded a defensive alliance with Prussia in 1747, and the maintenance of the Anglo-Austrian alignment after 1748 was deemed essential by the Duke of Newcastle, British secretary of state in the ministry of his brother Henry Pelham. The collapse of that system and the aligning of France with Austria and of Great Britain with Prussia constituted what is known as the “diplomatic revolution” or the “reversal of alliances.”

Question: Who was the traditional partner with Great Britain at the beginning of the conflict? Question: What was the major gain by Great Britain by having Austria as it ally? Question: What was gained or lost by Austria? Question: Did the loss of Silesia by Austria intensify its battle with Prussia? Question: What alliances were formed in the "diplomatic reversal"?
In 1756 Austria was making military preparations for war with Prussia and pursuing an alliance with Russia for this purpose. On June 2, 1746, Austria and Russia concluded a defensive alliance that covered their own territory and Poland against attack by Prussia or the Ottoman Empire. They also agreed to a secret clause that promised the restoration of Silesia and the countship of Glatz (now Kłodzko, Poland) to Austria in the event of hostilities with Prussia. Their real desire, however, was to destroy Frederick’s power altogether, reducing his sway to his electorate of Brandenburg and giving East Prussia to Poland, an exchange that would be accompanied by the cession of the Polish Duchy of Courland to Russia. Aleksey Petrovich, Graf (count) Bestuzhev-Ryumin, grand chancellor of Russia under Empress Elizabeth, was hostile to both France and Prussia, but he could not persuade Austrian statesman Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz to commit to offensive designs against Prussia so long as Prussia was able to rely on French support.

Question: What Russian-Austrian agreement preceded the Seven Years War that started in 1755-56? Question: According to the Russian-Austrian pact of 1746, what would happen to Silesia in the event of hostilities with Prussia? Question: What other area was mentioned regarding Prussian dominion in the Russian-Austrian pact? Question: What individual was the main target of the pact? Question: Why couldn't Petrovich persuade Austria to invade Prussia?
The Hanoverian king George II of Great Britain was passionately devoted to his family’s continental holdings, but his commitments in Germany were counterbalanced by the demands of the British colonies overseas. If war against France for colonial expansion was to be resumed, then Hanover had to be secured against Franco-Prussian attack. France was very much interested in colonial expansion and was willing to exploit the vulnerability of Hanover in war against Great Britain, but it had no desire to divert forces to central Europe for Prussia's interest.

Question: What was the house of king George II? Question: Name two diverse geographies that king George II had to protect. Question: What was Britain's obligation to Hanover if colonial expansion via war with France was to be resumed? Question: Why would France want to invade Hanover? Question: How anxious was France to assist Prussia to take over Hanover?
French policy was, moreover, complicated by the existence of the le Secret du roi—a system of private diplomacy conducted by King Louis XV. Unbeknownst to his foreign minister, Louis had established a network of agents throughout Europe with the goal of pursuing personal political objectives that were often at odds with France’s publicly stated policies. Louis’s goals for le Secret du roi included an attempt to win the Polish crown for his kinsman Louis François de Bourbon, prince de Conti, and the maintenance of Poland, Sweden, and Turkey as French client states in opposition to Russian and Austrian interests.

Question: What French official was kept in the dark about le Secret du roi? Question: What was the objective of le Secret du roi? Question: Who did King Louis XV want on the Polish throne? Question: What countries did King Louis XV want keep in his sphere of influence to thwart the interests of Russia? Question: What was King Louis XV's secret ambition for Sweden and Turkey?
Frederick saw Saxony and Polish west Prussia as potential fields for expansion but could not expect French support if he started an aggressive war for them. If he joined the French against the British in the hope of annexing Hanover, he might fall victim to an Austro-Russian attack. The hereditary elector of Saxony, Augustus III, was also elective King of Poland as Augustus III, but the two territories were physically separated by Brandenburg and Silesia. Neither state could pose as a great power. Saxony was merely a buffer between Prussia and Austrian Bohemia, whereas Poland, despite its union with the ancient lands of Lithuania, was prey to pro-French and pro-Russian factions. A Prussian scheme for compensating Frederick Augustus with Bohemia in exchange for Saxony obviously presupposed further spoliation of Austria.

Question: What two geographies did Frederick want for Prussia? Question: What country would refuse support if Frederick wen to war for Saxony and west Prussia? Question: What was his concern about trying take Hanover from the British? Question: What kept Augustus III from consolidating Saxony and Poland? Question: Who was Poland's ancient ally?
In the attempt to satisfy Austria at the time, Britain gave their electoral vote in Hanover for the candidacy of Maria Theresa's son, Joseph, as the Holy Roman Emperor, much to the dismay of Frederick and Prussia. Not only that, Britain would soon join the Austro-Russian alliance, but complications arose. Britain's basic framework for the alliance itself was to protect Hanover's interests against France. While at the same time, Kaunitz kept approaching the French in the hope of establishing such alliance with Austria. Not only that, France had no intention to ally with Russia, who meddled with their affairs in Austria's succession war, years earlier, and saw the complete dismemberment of Prussia as unacceptable to the stability of Central Europe.

Question: What country was pleased that Britain used its Hanover vote to elect Joseph as Te Holy Roman Emperor? Question: What country and person were displeased that Britain used it Hanover vote to elect Joseph as the Holy Roman Emporer? Question: What was a major objective of Britain in joining the Austro-Russian alliance? Question: What was Kaunitz's objective with the French? Question: What was the French view about the dismemberment of Prussia?
Years later, Kaunitz kept trying to establish France's alliance with Austria. He tried as hard as he could for Austria to not get entangled in Hanover's political affairs, and was even willing to trade Austrian Netherlands for France's aid in recapturing Silesia. Frustrated by this decision and by the Dutch Republic's insistence on neutrality, Britain soon turned to Russia. On September 30, 1755, Britain pledged financial aid to Russia in order to station 50,000 troops on the Livonian-Lithunian border, so they could defend Britain's interests in Hanover immediately. Besthuzev, assuming the preparation was directed against Prussia, was more than happy to obey the request of the British. Unbeknownst to the other powers, King George II also made overtures to the Prussian king; Frederick, who began fearing the Austro-Russian intentions, and was excited to welcome a rapprochement with Britain. On January 16, 1756, the Convention of Westminster was signed wherein Britain and Prussia promised to aid one another in order to achieve lasting peace and stability in Europe.

Question: What was Kaunitz of Austria willing to trade for French help in capturing Silesia? Question: What did Russia use Britain's money for? Question: Why was Beshuzev happy to put the troops on the Livonian-Lithunian border? Question: When was the Convention of Westminster signed? Question: What countries teamed together at the Convention of Westminster?
The carefully coded word in the agreement proved no less catalytic for the other European powers. The results were absolute chaos. Empress Elizabeth of Russia was outraged at the duplicity of Britain's position. Not only that France was so enraged, and terrified, by the sudden betrayal of its only ally. Austria, particularly Kaunitz, used this situation to their utmost advantage. The now-isolated France was forced to accede to the Austro-Russian alliance or face ruin. Thereafter, on May 1, 1756, the First Treaty of Versailles was signed, in which both nations pledged 24.000 troops to defend each other in the case of an attack. This diplomatic revolution proved to be an important cause of the war; although both treaties were self-defensive in nature, the actions of both coalitions made the war virtually inevitable.

Question: What was the response of Empress Elizabeth of Russia to the English-Prussian agreement? Question: Why was France mad at the British-Prussian agreement? Question: Who were the parties to the treaty of Versailles? Question: France was now in a desperate position, what did they do? Question: How many troops did Austria and France pledge to defend each other?
The most important French fort planned was intended to occupy a position at "the Forks" where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet to form the Ohio River (present day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). Peaceful British attempts to halt this fort construction were unsuccessful, and the French proceeded to build the fort they named Fort Duquesne. British colonial militia from Virginia were then sent to drive them out. Led by George Washington, they ambushed a small French force at Jumonville Glen on 28 May 1754 killing ten, including commander Jumonville. The French retaliated by attacking Washington's army at Fort Necessity on 3 July 1754 and forced Washington to surrender.

Question: Where did the French build Fort Duquesne? Question: What city is now located where Fort Duquesne was built? Question: Were the British successful in stopping the building of Fort Duquesne? Question: Who led the British militia to drive the French out of Fort Duquesne? Question: Where did the French for General George Washington's surrender?
News of this arrived in Europe, where Britain and France unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate a solution. The two nations eventually dispatched regular troops to North America to enforce their claims. The first British action was the assault on Acadia on 16 June 1755 in the Battle of Fort Beauséjour, which was immediately followed by their expulsion of the Acadians. In July British Major General Edward Braddock led about 2,000 army troops and provincial militia on an expedition to retake Fort Duquesne, but the expedition ended in disastrous defeat. In further action, Admiral Edward Boscawen fired on the French ship Alcide on 8 June 1755, capturing it and two troop ships. In September 1755, French and British troops met in the inconclusive Battle of Lake George.

Question: Which country dispatched regular troops to North America? Question: Who led the British assault on Ft. Duquesne? Question: What was the result of the British attack on Ft Duquesne? Question: What was the result of the naval encounter between Britain and France? Question: Who won the Battle of Lake George?
For much of the eighteenth century, France approached its wars in the same way. It would let colonies defend themselves or would offer only minimal help (sending them limited numbers of troops or inexperienced soldiers), anticipating that fights for the colonies would most likely be lost anyway. This strategy was to a degree forced upon France: geography, coupled with the superiority of the British navy, made it difficult for the French navy to provide significant supplies and support to French colonies. Similarly, several long land borders made an effective domestic army imperative for any French ruler. Given these military necessities, the French government, unsurprisingly, based its strategy overwhelmingly on the army in Europe: it would keep most of its army on the continent, hoping for victories closer to home. The plan was to fight to the end of hostilities and then, in treaty negotiations, to trade territorial acquisitions in Europe to regain lost overseas possessions. This approach did not serve France well in the war, as the colonies were indeed lost, but although much of the European war went well, by its end France had few counterbalancing European successes.

Question: How much effort did France put into wars to defend its colonies? Question: Identify a major factor in this feckless strategy by France of not defending its colonies with enthusiasm? Question: Why did the French rulers need a large domestic army? Question: In treaty negotiations, what trades did France hope to make. Question: How much success did France have in adding European territory with this approach?
The British—by inclination as well as for practical reasons—had tended to avoid large-scale commitments of troops on the Continent. They sought to offset the disadvantage of this in Europe by allying themselves with one or more Continental powers whose interests were antithetical to those of their enemies, particularly France.:15–16 By subsidising the armies of continental allies, Britain could turn London's enormous financial power to military advantage. In the Seven Years' War, the British chose as their principal partner the greatest general of the day, Frederick the Great of Prussia, then the rising power in central Europe, and paid Frederick substantial subsidies for his campaigns.:106 This was accomplished in the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756, in which Britain ended its long-standing alliance with Austria in favor of Prussia, leaving Austria to side with France. In marked contrast to France, Britain strove to prosecute the war actively in the colonies, taking full advantage of its naval power. :64–66 The British pursued a dual strategy – naval blockade and bombardment of enemy ports, and rapid movement of troops by sea. They harassed enemy shipping and attacked enemy colonies, frequently using colonists from nearby British colonies in the effort.

Question: How did the British avoid having large contingents of troops in continental Europe? Question: Identify an advantage that Britain had during the Seven Year's War. Question: Who led the armies supporting British interests in central Europe? Question: What country was driven into an alliance with France by the British pairing with Prussia? Question: How did the British behave in defending their colonies compared to the French approach?
William Pitt, who entered the cabinet in 1756, had a grand vision for the war that made it entirely different from previous wars with France. As prime minister Pitt committed Britain to a grand strategy of seizing the entire French Empire, especially its possessions in North America and India. Britain's main weapon was the Royal Navy, which could control the seas and bring as many invasion troops as were needed. He also planned to use colonial forces from the Thirteen American colonies, working under the command of British regulars, to invade new France. In order to tie the French army down he subsidized his European allies. Pitt Head of the government from 1756 to 1761, and even after that the British continued his strategy. It proved completely successful. Pitt had a clear appreciation of the enormous value of imperial possessions, and realized how vulnerable was the French Empire.

Question: What was the grand strategy of prime minister William Pitt? Question: What locations did Pitt want from France? Question: What was Pitt's primary military advantage? Question: How did Pitt plan to augment the British regular troops? Question: How did Pitt's strategy affect Britain's future plans?
The British Prime Minister, the Duke of Newcastle, was optimistic that the new series of alliances could prevent war from breaking out in Europe. However, a large French force was assembled at Toulon, and the French opened the campaign against the British by an attack on Minorca in the Mediterranean. A British attempt at relief was foiled at the Battle of Minorca, and the island was captured on 28 June (for which Admiral Byng was court-martialed and executed). War between Britain and France had been formally declared on 18 May nearly two years after fighting had broken out in the Ohio Country.

Question: What was the reason that the British Prime Minister thought that ware in Europe could be prevented? Question: What country initiated conflict? Question: What was the result for Admiral Byng? Question: When was war declared between Britain and France? Question: How did the timing of the declaration of war compare to the conflicts in North America between Britain and France?
Frederick II of Prussia had received reports of the clashes in North America and had formed an alliance with Great Britain. On 29 August 1756, he led Prussian troops across the border of Saxony, one of the small German states in league with Austria. He intended this as a bold pre-emption of an anticipated Austro-French invasion of Silesia. He had three goals in his new war on Austria. First, he would seize Saxony and eliminate it as a threat to Prussia, then using the Saxon army and treasury to aid the Prussian war effort. His second goal was to advance into Bohemia where he might set up winter quarters at Austria's expense. Thirdly, he wanted to invade Moravia from Silesia, seize the fortress at Olmütz, and advance on Vienna to force an end to the war.

Question: How did Frederick II of Prussia respond to news of British and French clashes in North America? Question: What country was Saxony aligned with? Question: Fpr what possession of Prussia was the Saxony invasion a distraction? Question: What was one goal of the invasion of Saxony? Question: What was another goal of the invasion of Saxony?
Accordingly, leaving Field Marshal Count Kurt von Schwerin in Silesia with 25,000 soldiers to guard against incursions from Moravia or Hungary, and leaving Field Marshal Hans von Lehwaldt in East Prussia to guard against Russian invasion from the east, Frederick set off with his army for Saxony. The Prussian army marched in three columns. On the right was a column of about 15,000 men under the command of Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick. On the left was a column of 18,000 men under the command of the Duke of Brunswick-Bevern. In the centre was Frederick II, himself with Field Marshal James Keith commanding a corps of 30,000 troops. Ferdinand of Brunswick was to close in on the town of Chemnitz. The Duke of Brunswick-Bevern was to traverse Lusatia to close in on Bautzen. Meanwhile, Frederick and Field Marshal Keith would make for Dresden.

Question: How did Frederick protect Silesia when he went to invade Saxony? Question: How did Frederick protect East Prussia when he went to invade Saxony? Question: Describe the command of Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick. Question: Describe the command of the Duke ofBrunswich-Bevern. Question: Describe the command of Field Marshall James Keith
The Saxon and Austrian armies were unprepared, and their forces were scattered. Frederick occupied Dresden with little or no opposition from the Saxons. At the Battle of Lobositz on 1 October 1756, Frederick prevented the isolated Saxon army from being reinforced by an Austrian army under General Browne. The Prussians then occupied Saxony; after the Siege of Pirna, the Saxon army surrendered in October 1756, and was forcibly incorporated into the Prussian army. The attack on neutral Saxony caused outrage across Europe and led to the strengthening of the anti-Prussian coalition. The only significant Austrian success was the partial occupation of Silesia. Far from being easy, Frederick's early successes proved indecisive and very costly for Prussia's smaller army. This led him to remark that he did not fight the same Austrians as he had during the previous war.

Question: How much resistance did Frederick encounter in Saxon? Question: What reinforcements were the Saxons expecting? Question: What happened to the Saxon army? Question: What characteristic of Saxony caused Europe to be mad? Question: What was the result of the fury of Europe?
Britain had been surprised by the sudden Prussian offensive but now began shipping supplies and ₤670,000 (equivalent to ₤89.9 million in 2015) to its new ally. A combined force of allied German states was organised by the British to protect Hanover from French invasion, under the command of the Duke of Cumberland. The British attempted to persuade the Dutch Republic to join the alliance, but the request was rejected, as the Dutch wished to remain fully neutral. Despite the huge disparity in numbers, the year had been successful for the Prussian-led forces on the continent, in contrast to disappointing British campaigns in North America.

Question: How did the British support Prussia? Question: How did Britain Protect Hanover? Question: Who led the force to defend Hanover? Question: Why did the Dutch reject Britain's offer to join the alliance? Question: Who had done better, the Prussians in Europe or the Brits in North America?
In early 1757, Frederick II again took the initiative by marching into the Kingdom of Bohemia, hoping to inflict a decisive defeat on Austrian forces. After winning the bloody Battle of Prague on 6 May 1757, in which both forces suffered major casualties, the Prussians forced the Austrians back into the fortifications of Prague. The Prussian army then laid siege to the city. Following the battle at Prague, Frederick took 5,000 troops from the siege at Prague and sent them to reinforce the 19,000-man army under the Duke of Brunswick-Bevern at Kolin in Bohemia. Austrian Marshal Daun arrived too late to participate in the battle of Prague, but picked up 16,000 men who had escaped from the battle. With this army he slowly moved to relieve Prague. The Prussian army was too weak to simultaneously besiege Prague and keep Daun away, and Frederick was forced to attack prepared positions. The resulting Battle of Kolin was a sharp defeat for Frederick, his first military defeat. His losses further forced him to lift the siege and withdraw from Bohemia altogether.

Question: Who led the Prussian assault on Prague in 1757 Question: What were casualties like in the 1757 battle in Prague? Question: Where did the Austrians retreat in May of 1757? Question: Why did Frederick reduce his manpower at Prague? Question: How did Austrian Marshall Daun reverse the situation at Prague?