Beethoven began composing this symphony, the last of his "heroic" series (which includes No. 3 and No. 5) in 1811 and finished in the Spring of 1812. It premiered on December 8, 1813. The public liked it enormously even though some critics didn't.
To give you an idea about what was going on in 1812, nearly all of Europe, including the Germanies (there wasn't just one Germany at that time) was engaged in an on-again/off-again war with France and Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon would try - and fail - later that year to conquer Russia) and the United States of America was about to become involved in the War of 1812 against the British (related to the European situation). George, the Prince of Wales, had been made Regent of Great Britain due to his father, King George III's mental disability. The South American colonies were trying to gain independence from Spain. Jane Austen published Sense and Sensibility. George Gordon, Lord Byron, published Childe Harold's Pilgrimage.
My favorite part of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 is the second movement in A minor. Here is the Stuffed Animal
Symphony Orchestra playing the Allegretto 