<P> The Seven Years' War is regarded as a critical moment in the history of Anglo - French relations, which laid the foundations for the dominance of the British Empire during the next two and a half centuries . </P> <P> As American Patriot dissatisfaction with British policies grew to rebellion in 1774 - 75, the French saw an opportunity to undermine British power . When the American War of Independence broke out in 1775, the French began sending covert supplies and intelligence to the American rebels . </P> <P> In 1778, France, hoping to capitalise on the British defeat at Saratoga, recognized the United States of America . Negotiating with Benjamin Franklin in Paris, they formed a military alliance . France in 1779 persuaded its Spanish allies to declare war on Britain . France despatched troops to fight alongside the Americans, and besieged Gibraltar with Spain . Plans were drawn up, but never put into action, to launch an invasion of England . The threat forced Britain to keep many troops in Britain that were needed in America . The British were further required to withdraw forces from the American mainland to protect their more valuable possessions in the West Indies . While the French were initially unable to break the string of British victories, the combined actions of American and French forces, and a key victory by a French fleet over a British rescue fleet, forced the British into a decisive surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781 . For a brief period after 1781 Britain's naval superiority was threatened subdued by an alliance between France and Spain . However, the British recovered, defeated the main French fleet in April 1782, and kept control of Gibraltar . In 1783 the Treaty of Paris gave the new nation control over most of the region east of the Mississippi River; Spain gained Florida from Britain and retained control of the vast Louisiana Territory; France received little except a huge debt . </P> <P> The crippling debts incurred by France during the war, and the cost of rebuilding the French navy during the 1780s caused a financial crisis, leading directly to the French Revolution of 1789 . </P>

When did the war between france and england end