The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict, "a struggle for global primacy between Britain and France", which also had a major effect on the Spanish Empire. Long-standing colonial rivalries between Britain against France and Spain in North America and the Caribbean islands were fought on a grand scale with consequential results.

Causes and Origins of the War:

1. Territorial Expansion in the new world: The French and Indian War began over the specific issue of whether the upper Ohio River valley was a part of the British Empire, and therefore open for trade and settlement by Virginians and Pennsylvanians, or part of the French Empire.
2. Economics: Fur trade in the colonies
3. Political: Balance of power in Europe