1756–1763Reputable sourceWell documented
Global Supremacy: The Seven Years' War
On the timeline · around 1756–1763 ·
What happened
In a war fought across Europe, North America, the Caribbean, and India — often called the first true world war — Britain defeated France and its allies. At the Treaty of Paris in 1763 Britain took Canada and Florida and confirmed its dominance in India, emerging as the world's foremost colonial and naval power.
Why it matters
The Seven Years' War made Britain the dominant global empire. But the enormous war debt led it to tax its American colonists — sowing the discontent that would soon cost Britain those very colonies.