Newcastle had hoped to prevent the outbreak of a major war in Europe by encircling France with hostile powers. He believed that would both deter them from attacking their neighbours and from sending reinforcements to North America. He thought that the only way war could happen now was if Frederick the Great unilaterally attacked Austria, but the clear disparity in numbers would make him a "madman" to do so. Newcastle hoped he had managed to avert war in Europe, but in 1756, Frederick invaded Saxony and Bohemia triggering the major European war that Newcastle had feared and failed to prevent. What had begun as a limited war in the Ohio Country between Britain and France now took on global proportions.