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Following George III\'s accession in 1760, there was a subtle change in policy and, in March 1762, secret peace negotiations were opened. When the final Treaty of Paris was signed in February 1763, Britain had acquired Quebec, Florida, Minorca and large additional parts of India and the West Indies. Although the war was undoubtedly costly in terms of lives and finance - the national debt almost doubled
to £133,000,000 - it meant, for almost the first time, that Britain was truly a \'world power\'. Unfortunately, in the next decade, it was not the heightened status but the depleted finances that proved crucial: as the British government attempted to cover its losses, by acts such as the Stamp Act of 1763, colonial tensions simply increased further.France and England/Britain had always had an uneasy relationship. In the mid-1750s, tensions continued to build between the two countries, specifically in relation to their dealings with the colonies. Britain declared war in May 1756 and the French retaliated by seizing British colonial bases. The conflict took place in a number of spheres - America, India, the Mediterranean and northern Europe.Notable events during the course of the war were Clive\'s victory at Plessey, India (1757), Wolfe\'s capture of Quebec, Canada (1759) and Hawkes\'s naval victory at Quiberon Bay (1759).
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