Revival of the Flanders War

Newcastle's domination of the cabinet reflected the political realities of the moment. First, he had the support of the King. As Granville had demonstrated, with royal support it was possible for any minister to stand apart from his colleagues in Cabinet. However, as Granville's fate also demonstrated, it was not enough. If a minister chose to stand separately, he had to command a majority in parliament. For this, party support was vital. Granville never achieved it, but, for a short period, Newcastle did. Newcastle could depend on the Broad Bottom alliance.

America was crucial to Newcastle's position. He insisted that Cape Breton would not be surrendered and Bedford was satisfied that the war in America had not been given up, but would be revived in 1747. Bedford was also pragmatic enough to see that the rebellion and the continued danger of French invasion could intervene and deflect resources from North America. Cape Breton united the New Allies to the Old Corps and stood in the way of peace. However much Pelham and Chesterfield wanted peace, only another campaign could shift the diplomatic balance while preserving the domestic political settlement.

Cumberland's victorious campaign against the Jacobites had raised him and the army to great heights. Even allowing for exaggerated relief by the destruction of a frightening army of Jacobites and deference to his royal person, high expectations about this young general were strongly held by people in Britain and Europe. The Brittany campaign had done nothing to dampen regard for the army and although the British contribution to the Confederate Army in Flanders had been small, it was asserted that it was British and German troops that had averted disaster at Roucoux. The animosity between British and Hanoverians that marked the 1743–1744 campaigns had disappeared. The King's troops, with Hessian auxiliaries, were now seen as a core around which a larger and more effective Confederate Army might take the field. Nevertheless, the key to the new plan lay not in Flanders but in Italy. The year 1746 had shown that French forces could be diverted from Flanders.