The first world war was not that which began in 1914, but the so-called seven year's War which, in 1756, brought into being global conflict. The new factor which dramatically altered the course of history was British sea power. able to choose their battlegrounds, the British mounted a succession of daring amphibious attacks. with the support of the navy, a few thousand men dispossessed the French of their fledgling North American empire and saw them, and the Dutch, utterly vanquished in India. Attacks on Cuba and the Philippines crippled the Spanish Empire. Through feats of extraordinary courage and endurance, fighting merchant adventurers such as Robert Clive laid the foundations of an Indian empire.