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The war did not begin well for the British. The British Government sent [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0199845328/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0199845328&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=2ad7b476f8a23747bd3854f3a9e46716 General Edward Braddock] to the colonies as commander in chief of British North American forces. Still, he alienated potential Indian allies, and colonial leaders failed to cooperate with him. On July 13, 1755, Braddock died after being mortally wounded in an ambush on a failed expedition to capture Fort Duquesne in present-day Pittsburgh. The war in North America settled into a stalemate for the next several years. In Europe, the French scored an important naval victory and captured Minorca's British possession in the Mediterranean in 1756. However, after 1757 the war began to turn in favor of Great Britain. British forces defeated French forces in India, and in 1759 British armies invaded and conquered Canada.

Facing defeat in North America and a tenuous Europe position, the French Government attempted to engage the British in peace negotiations. Still, British Minister William Pitt (the elder), Secretary for Southern Affairs, sought the French cession of Canada and commercial concessions that the French Government found unacceptable. After these negotiations failed, Spanish King Charles III offered to come to his cousin, French King Louis XV, and their representatives signed an alliance known as the Family Compact on August 15, 1761. The terms of the agreement stated that Spain would declare war on Great Britain if the war did not end before May 1, 1762. Originally intended to pressure the British into a peace agreement, the Family Compact ultimately reinvigorated the French will to continue the war. It caused the British Government to declare war on Spain on January 4, 1762, after bitter infighting among King George III’s ministers.

====Negotiating the Treaty of Paris====