In the war , the trade interests of the British Empire were opposed to that of the Bourbons ( in France and Spain ) . The Hohenzollerns ( in Prussia ) and Habsburgs ( Holy Roman Emperors and archdukes in Austria ) confronted each other . The war was driven by the antagonism between the British Empire ( in personal union with Hanover ) and the Bourbons ( in France and Spain ) , resulting from overlapping interests in their colonial and trade empires , and by the antagonism between the Hohenzollerns ( in Prussia ) and Habsburgs ( Holy Roman Emperors and archdukes in Austria ) , resulting from territorial and hegemonial conflicts in the Holy Roman Empire .