<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> Great Britain was one of the major participants in the Seven Years' War which lasted between 1754 and 1763 . Britain emerged from the war as the world's leading colonial power, having gained a number of new territories at the Treaty of Paris in 1763 and established itself as the world's pre-eminent naval power . </P> <P> The war started poorly for Britain, which suffered many deaths from the plague and scurvy, and at the hands of France in North America during 1754--55; and in the loss of Menorca in 1756 . The same year Britain's major ally Austria switched sides and aligned itself with France; and Britain was hastily forced to conclude a new alliance with Frederick the Great's Prussia . For the next seven years these two nations were ranged against a growing number of enemy powers led by France . After a period of political instability, the rise of a government headed by the Duke of Newcastle and William Pitt the elder provided Britain with firmer leadership, enabling it to consolidate and achieve its war aims . </P>

Who enjoyed early success in the french and indian war