sentence-transformers/squad huggingface dataset:
Passage: 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: How much success did France have in adding European territory with this approach?

Question: In treaty negotiations, what trades did France hope to make.
Passage: 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?
Passage: 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 was Pitt's primary military advantage?

Question: What locations did Pitt want from France?

Question: How did Pitt plan to augment the British regular troops?

Question: How did Pitt's strategy affect Britain's future plans?
Passage: 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?
Passage: 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?
Passage: 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
Passage: 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 was the result of the fury of Europe?

Question: What characteristic of Saxony caused Europe to be mad?
Passage: 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 Britain Protect Hanover?

Question: How did the British support Prussia?

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?

Question: Who led the force to defend Hanover?
Passage: 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: Where did the Austrians retreat in May of 1757?

Question: What were casualties like in the 1757 battle in Prague?

Question: Who led the Prussian assault on Prague in 1757

Question: Why did Frederick reduce his manpower at Prague?

Question: How did Austrian Marshall Daun reverse the situation at Prague?
Passage: Later that summer, the Russians invaded Memel with 75,000 troops. Memel had one of the strongest fortresses in Prussia. However, after five days of artillery bombardment the Russian army was able to storm it. The Russians then used Memel as a base to invade East Prussia and defeated a smaller Prussian force in the fiercely contested Battle of Gross-Jägersdorf on 30 August 1757. However, it was not yet able to take Königsberg and retreated soon afterward. Still, it was a new threat to Prussia. Not only was Frederick forced to break off his invasion of Bohemia, he was now forced to withdraw further into Prussian-controlled territory. His defeats on the battlefield brought still more opportunist nations into the war. Sweden declared war on Prussia and invaded Pomerania with 17,000 men. Sweden felt this small army was all that was needed to occupy Pomerania and felt the Swedish army would not need to engage with the Prussians because the Prussians were occupied on so many other fronts.

Question: What led to the defeat of the Prussians at Memel?

Question: How did the Russians used the captured Memel?

Question: What caused the Russians based in Memel to be successful deeper into Prussia?

Question: What was Frederick's response to the Russian invasion?

Question: What additional country felt emboldened to invade Prussia?
Passage: Things were looking grim for Prussia now, with the Austrians mobilising to attack Prussian-controlled soil and a French army under Soubise approaching from the west. However, in November and December of 1757, the whole situation in Germany was reversed. First, Frederick devastated Prince Soubise's French force at the Battle of Rossbach on 5 November 1757 and then routed a vastly superior Austrian force at the Battle of Leuthen on 5 December 1757 With these victories, Frederick once again established himself as Europe's premier general and his men as Europe's most accomplished soldiers. In spite of this, the Prussians were now facing the prospect of four major powers attacking on four fronts (France from the West, Austria from the South, Russia from the East and Sweden from the North). Meanwhile, a combined force from a number of smaller German states such as Bavaria had been established under Austrian leadership, thus threatening Prussian control of Saxony.

Question: What were reasons that the late 1757 time frame looked bad for Prussia?

Question: What was the initial result of the French invasion?

Question: What was the result of the Austrian invasion?

Question: Name the four opponents of Prussia.

Question: What German areas were beginning to oppose Prussia?
Passage: This problem was compounded when the main Hanoverian army under Cumberland was defeated at the Battle of Hastenbeck and forced to surrender entirely at the Convention of Klosterzeven following a French Invasion of Hanover. The Convention removed Hanover and Brunswick from the war, leaving the Western approach to Prussian territory extremely vulnerable. Frederick sent urgent requests to Britain for more substantial assistance, as he was now without any outside military support for his forces in Germany.

Question: What Hanoverian leader lost the Battle of Hastenbeck?

Question: What country won the battle at Hanover?

Question: How would one describe the future participation of Hanover?

Question: How did Frederick respond to the defeat at Hanover?
Passage: Calculating that no further Russian advance was likely until 1758, Frederick moved the bulk of his eastern forces to Pomerania under the command of Marshal Lehwaldt where they were to repel the Swedish invasion. In short order, the Prussian army drove the Swedes back, occupied most of Swedish Pomerania, and blockaded its capital Stralsund. George II of Great Britain, on the advice of his British ministers, revoked the Convention of Klosterzeven, and Hanover reentered the war. Over the winter the new commander of the Hanoverian forces, Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, regrouped his army and launched a series of offensives that drove the French back across the River Rhine. The British had suffered further defeats in North America, particularly at Fort William Henry. At home, however, stability had been established. Since 1756, successive governments led by Newcastle and Pitt had fallen. In August 1757, the two men agreed to a political partnership and formed a coalition government that gave new, firmer direction to the war effort. The new strategy emphasised both Newcastle's commitment to British involvement on the Continent, particularly in defence of Germany, and William Pitt's determination to use naval power to seize French colonies around the globe. This "dual strategy" would dominate British policy for the next five years.

Question: Why did Ferdinand feel comfortable withdrawing troops from the eastern front?

Question: What was the result of Prussian resistance to Sweden?

Question: What area of Sweden was occupied by Prussia?

Question: What favorable developments occurred for Prussia in Hanover?

Question: What political development shaped the policy of the British?
Passage: Between 10 and 17 October 1757, a Hungarian general, Count András Hadik, serving in the Austrian army, executed what may be the most famous hussar action in history. When the Prussian King Frederick was marching south with his powerful armies, the Hungarian general unexpectedly swung his force of 5,000, mostly hussars, around the Prussians and occupied part of their capital, Berlin, for one night. The city was spared for a negotiated ransom of 200,000 thalers. When Frederick heard about this humiliating occupation, he immediately sent a larger force to free the city. Hadik, however, left the city with his Hussars and safely reached the Austrian lines. Subsequently, Hadik was promoted to the rank of Marshal in the Austrian army.

Question: What Hungarian general humiliated the Prussians?

Question: What city did Hadik occupy?

Question: How was Berlin spared?

Question: How did Hadik respond to the Frederick force?

Question: What was Frederick's response to the occupation by Hadik?
Passage: In early 1758, Frederick launched an invasion of Moravia, and laid siege to Olmütz (now Olomouc, Czech Republic). Following an Austrian victory at the Battle of Domstadtl that wiped out a supply convoy destined for Olmütz, Frederick broke off the siege and withdrew from Moravia. It marked the end of his final attempt to launch a major invasion of Austrian territory. East Prussia had been occupied by Russian forces over the winter and would remain under their control until 1762, although Frederick did not see the Russians as an immediate threat and instead entertained hopes of first fighting a decisive battle against Austria that would knock them out of the war.

Question: Where did Frederick invade in 1758

Question: What city did Frederick lay siege to?

Question: What turned the battle for Olmutz against Frederick?

Question: How did Frederick respond to the loss of a supply convoy?
Passage: In April 1758, the British concluded the Anglo-Prussian Convention with Frederick in which they committed to pay him an annual subsidy of £670,000. Britain also dispatched 9,000 troops to reinforce Ferdinand's Hanoverian army, the first British troop commitment on the continent and a reversal in the policy of Pitt. Ferdinand had succeeded in driving the French from Hanover and Westphalia and re-captured the port of Emden in March 1758 before crossing the Rhine with his own forces, which caused alarm in France. Despite Ferdinand's victory over the French at the Battle of Krefeld and the brief occupation of Düsseldorf, he was compelled by the successful manoeuvering of larger French forces to withdraw across the Rhine.

Question: What was the annual financial commitment by Britain to Frederick?

Question: How did Britain assist the defense of Hanover?

Question: What caused alarm in France?

Question: Who did Ferdinand repel from Ha nover?

Question: Did Ferdinand permanently occupy France?
Passage: By this point Frederick was increasingly concerned by the Russian advance from the east and marched to counter it. Just east of the Oder in Brandenburg-Neumark, at the Battle of Zorndorf (now Sarbinowo, Poland), a Prussian army of 35,000 men under Frederick on Aug. 25, 1758, fought a Russian army of 43,000 commanded by Count William Fermor. Both sides suffered heavy casualties – the Prussians 12,800, the Russians 18,000 – but the Russians withdrew, and Frederick claimed victory. In the undecided Battle of Tornow on 25 September, a Swedish army repulsed six assaults by a Prussian army but did not push on Berlin following the Battle of Fehrbellin.

Question: How did Frederick respond to the Russian occupation of east Prussia?

Question: How large a force did Frederick send against the occupying Russians?

Question: How many Russians were in defense?

Question: Which army withdrew?

Question: What country was Prussia fighting on another front?
Passage: The war was continuing indecisively when on 14 October Marshal Daun's Austrians surprised the main Prussian army at the Battle of Hochkirch in Saxony. Frederick lost much of his artillery but retreated in good order, helped by dense woods. The Austrians had ultimately made little progress in the campaign in Saxony despite Hochkirch and had failed to achieve a decisive breakthrough. After a thwarted attempt to take Dresden, Daun's troops were forced to withdraw to Austrian territory for the winter, so that Saxony remained under Prussian occupation. At the same time, the Russians failed in an attempt to take Kolberg in Pomerania (now Kołobrzeg, Poland) from the Prussians.

Question: What Austrian General surprised the Prussian at Hochkirch?

Question: What was the major loss for Prussia at Hochkirch?

Question: Why was Frederick able to retreat successfully?

Question: What was the result of the victory for the Austrians?

Question: How did the Austrian troops spend the winter?
Passage: The year 1759 saw several Prussian defeats. At the Battle of Kay, or Paltzig, the Russian Count Saltykov with 47,000 Russians defeated 26,000 Prussians commanded by General Carl Heinrich von Wedel. Though the Hanoverians defeated an army of 60,000 French at Minden, Austrian general Daun forced the surrender of an entire Prussian corps of 13,000 in the Battle of Maxen. Frederick himself lost half his army in the Battle of Kunersdorf (now Kunowice Poland), the worst defeat in his military career and one that drove him to the brink of abdication and thoughts of suicide. The disaster resulted partly from his misjudgment of the Russians, who had already demonstrated their strength at Zorndorf and at Gross-Jägersdorf (now Motornoye, Russia), and partly from good cooperation between the Russian and Austrian forces.

Question: How did the Prussian army perform in 1759/

Question: How would one characterize the encounter with the Russian army in 1757?

Question: What was the result of the Battle of Maxen?

Question: What happened at Minden in 1757?

Question: What happened to Frederick's army at the Battle at Kunersdorf?
Passage: The French planned to invade the British Isles during 1759 by accumulating troops near the mouth of the Loire and concentrating their Brest and Toulon fleets. However, two sea defeats prevented this. In August, the Mediterranean fleet under Jean-François de La Clue-Sabran was scattered by a larger British fleet under Edward Boscawen at the Battle of Lagos. In the Battle of Quiberon Bay on 20 November, the British admiral Edward Hawke with 23 ships of the line caught the French Brest fleet with 21 ships of the line under Marshal de Conflans and sank, captured, or forced many of them aground, putting an end to the French plans.

Question: Where was the planned invasion of Britain by France?

Question: How did the French plan to transport their troops to Britain for the invasion?

Question: What happened to the French Mediterranean fleet?

Question: What happened to the French Brest fleet?

Question: With the loss of the two fleets, how did the French get their troops to Britain for the invasion?
Passage: Despite this, the Austrians, under the command of General Laudon, captured Glatz (now Kłodzko, Poland) in Silesia. In the Battle of Liegnitz Frederick scored a strong victory despite being outnumbered three to one. The Russians under General Saltykov and Austrians under General Lacy briefly occupied his capital, Berlin, in October, but could not hold it for long. The end of that year saw Frederick once more victorious, defeating the able Daun in the Battle of Torgau; but he suffered very heavy casualties, and the Austrians retreated in good order.

Question: Identify a success of the Austrians?

Question: Where is Glatz

Question: What was outstanding about Frederick's victory in the Battle of Liegnitz?

Question: Why was Frederick's defeat of Daun so costly?

Question: Who led the Russian occupation of Berlin?