France having signed the Treaty of Lunéville in February 1801, confirming the possession of the left bank of the Rhine and the Austrian Netherlands and thus obtaining a new status of continental arbiter, England found itself politically isolated. Since the dismissal of William Pitt in March, she has yearned for peace.
Negotiations opened in London, led for France by the Minister Plenipotentiary Louis-Guillaume Otto, and Lord Hawkesbury for England. A preliminary agreement was reached after six months of tensions and exchanges between the two governments. It was signed on October 1, 1801, the date which marked the start of negotiations for a definitive treaty. England would return to France and its allies Spain and Holland, all the territories conquered since 1793 except Ceylon and Trinidad; France would evacuate Naples and the Papal States, as well as Egypt which would return to the Sublime Porte. Malta would be returned to the Knights of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. The case of prisoners of war would be to be deliberated at a later date. The fate of catches at sea, made after the signing of the preliminaries, is also planned. A separate and secret article is added on the evacuation of Otranto by French troops as soon as Malta is evacuated by English troops. A congress then opened in France, in Amiens, on December 5, to prepare the definitive treaty, with Lord Cornwallis representing England and Joseph Bonaparte for France. Schimmelpenninck negotiates for Holland and the ambassador Don José de Azara for Spain.
Endless discussions
The congress takes the form of conferences between the different parties. Each of them gives rise to the drafting of a protocol transmitted with the requests to the respective governments, then discussed in the following conferences, according to the responses provided. They sometimes only concern the drafting of a single article of the treaty. A conference is devoted to the points on which everyone agrees, and to the specific requests of each of the diplomats. Should salute to the sea be abolished or maintained? What are we doing for Saint Pierre and Miquelon? What about the neutrality of fishermen in times of war?
On March 6, 1802, the state of the discussions was as follows: of the twenty-one articles of the final treaty, eighteen were considered final and were therefore not discussed. But three remain unresolved. This conference of March 6 is special since in the preliminary it is noted that "the undersigned [Joseph Bonaparte] excluded from this project anything which could have prolonged the discussions"... Even the translations give rise to discussions, as do the versions of the protocol depending on the signatory! There is a Swiss version and a Neapolitan version, both with variations in certain articles. Point 12 of article x, which concerns in particular the garrisons stationed in Malta, is a stumbling block. Do we need 2,000 Neapolitans as the English want? Or the Swiss as the French recommend? Several projects are presented simultaneously to resolve the case of Malta, but none suits the government. On March 19, the text was finally drawn up with notes and observations from the two plenipotentiaries relating to the conformity of one or the other article, to a word to be changed… The most surprising mention remains this: “Articles xiii, xiv, xv, xvii: words that differ in translation; of no importance”!
A treaty that resolves nothing
The final treaty was signed on March 27, in pain, by England, France, Spain, and Holland. This diplomatic success of Bonaparte buries ten years of conflict, but a period of tensions sets in despite the "peace, friendship and good understanding" supposed to reign between all the signatories from Article 1, which insists on the "maintenance of good harmony,” avoiding “any kind of hostility by land or sea, for any cause or under any pretext whatsoever.” The clauses of the treaty are clear and partly repeat the text of the preliminaries: each nation releases the prisoners of war within six weeks and the accounts for their maintenance are settled. England must return to France all territories taken or conquered (including Senegal, Martinique, and its Indian trading posts) and the limits of Guyana are very precisely fixed. France evacuates Naples and the Roman territories. Depending on the territories returned to one or the other nation, everything must be done within six months at most. The longest and most precise article, detailed in thirteen points, concerns Malta, which England must evacuate and return to the knights, and which is reorganized. However, it remains under English influence, because under the supervision of Naples, a British ally. Territorially, France remains master on the continent, and England sovereign at sea.
Article viii restores the Sublime Porte in all its possessions and territories “maintained in their integrity as they were before the war”. Moreover, although named in several articles, particularly in the 19th century, she is not a signatory of the treaty, but named "ally of H.M. Briton" and the treaty is "common to the Sublime Ottoman Porte". By this, we must understand a warning to the French, and a reminder of Egypt, whose evacuation gave rise to many negotiations between March and August 1801 before the signing of the preliminaries. Each signatory must ratify the treaty within thirty days at most. In France, this will be done on April 18.
On each side of the Channel, a break is necessary. With all the disputed points unresolved, the treaty contains the roots of the next conflict. Both countries know it: it is only a truce. Expectations are high, but we spy on each other. Bonaparte's policy worried England, which took a dim view of the occupation of Switzerland, and the events in Italy, and barely tolerated the Santo Domingo expedition.
Espionage and bad faith
The year 1802, rich in internal developments (Concordat, consulate for life, constitution of the year x) saw its first tensions appear in July with the publication in English newspapers of articles hostile to France. Otto protests through diplomatic channels, highlighting the first clause of the treaty. In retaliation, Bonaparte had Fouché ban English newspapers on French soil on the following August 13. Tension increased when, on September 11, France annexed Piedmont and formed six departments. Although Piedmont is not explicitly named in the treaty, the affair is irritating. Worse still, the Act of Mediation signed on September 30 put Switzerland under French domination, dividing it into nineteen cantons. Finally, France did not evacuate Holland, to the great dismay of England: Utrecht, Antwerp, and Vlissingen are still occupied. The evacuation of Holland by the French is a direct reference to the first two articles of the Hague Convention of August 29, 1801, signed between France and Holland: French troops will remain as auxiliaries in the service of Batavia "until the conclusion of peace with England”. Bonaparte did not evacuate on the pretext that the treaty had not been signed with England, especially since he had learned that Holland wanted to take into its pay 5,000 Batavian emigrants who had been in the pay of England. He never had the intention of doing so: the orders sent to General Victor on April 27, just one month after the signing of the treaty, mention a continuous occupation of Holland until the sailing of the expedition to Louisiana, which never took place. On the other hand, England is not evacuating Egypt or Malta...
In England, the situation is also tense. On October 20, Talleyrand sent Hawkesbury a note that remained unheeded, virtually ordering him to withdraw English troops from Malta. At the same time, Beauvoisin, a squadron leader, was sent on a secret espionage mission to England and Scotland, from where he sent numerous reports: hatred of the French, pamphlets, public opinion on all subjects of dissension... On November 4, Talleyrand wrote to Andréossy and Otto that England was asked not to interfere in the affairs of the continent. As for the "hostile provisions" of the English government, they are extremely displeasing: seditious newspapers, the protection granted to the Bourbons... Andréossy therefore goes to London. His mission was delicate, especially since two weeks later the government intercepted a letter reporting a vast espionage plan on the part of France: “[Citizen Bonvoisin] will send all the pamphlets which are printed against us, and finally will seize the different opportunities to know England perfectly. He will look for different pretexts to travel the whole coast, from the Thames to beyond Plymouth, the Gulf of Bristol, Edinburgh, and the coasts of Scotland. » On November 13, upon the arrival in France of the British ambassador, Lord Withworth, Bonaparte spoke with him about the evacuation of Malta on December 5 but without conclusive results. This is not surprising: on November 25, he asked Talleyrand to send to Martinique, Tobago, Santo Domingo, Cayenne, and Saint Lucia five hundred copies of the Argus, a newspaper hostile to the English and written in English by a Briton acquired by the ideas of the Revolution, to disseminate them in English places.
Everything accelerated on January 30, 1803: the publication in the Moniteur of the report by Sébastiani, a quasi-official spy sent on a mission to Egypt the previous September, had the effect of a bolt from the blue. The young general details the state of Egypt, of the English armies still in post, and affirms that it would be easy to conquer it with only 6,000 men... This diplomatic firework outrages Lord Hawkesbury who sees it as an attempt to ruin the interests of British traders. Retaliation does not take long.
Breakup
On February 15, England informed France that it intended to keep Malta to compensate for the annexation of Piedmont by France. On the 18th, France officially protested, arguing that there were no clauses on Piedmont in the Treaty of Amiens, and calling on England to evacuate Malta. The British procrastinated, waiting for the appointment of a grand master (he was appointed on February 9) as well as “the guarantees of the powers designated in the treaty” (they were given) but… did not evacuate. As soon as he was appointed, Grand Master Tommasi demanded the evacuation of Malta by the English. Bonaparte, meanwhile, secretly requested reports on the state of the flotilla in the various ports.
On March 2, England formally refused to evacuate, on the pretext that the delay of certain powers in recognizing the independence of the island authorized them to keep it in storage. On the 8th, King George III affirmed that France was rearming in secret. He announced his intention to hire militias for the defense of the kingdom, under the pretext of “the formidable armaments which are being made in the ports of France and Holland”. A note sent to the French government “explains” the king’s statement. On the 11th, Bonaparte signed an order to rearm the flotilla, which was to be started “without publicity” in Cherbourg and Dunkirk. On the 15th, he wrote to Decrès, Minister of the Navy: “I ask you, citizen Minister, to give me a note on this question: what is the means, in the current position and in the case of a maritime war, to make as much harm as possible to English trade? » On the 18th, the King of England asked for subsidies to wage war against France.
Then, on the 25th, Bonaparte gave orders to Berthier, Minister of War, for the defense of the coasts but above all, ordered him to act as discreetly as possible “without haste and without causing alarm”. Finally, on the 28th, France responded to England and refuted everything outright: “The First Consul made no preparations. There were, at the time of the message, only two frigates in the harbors of Holland, and the harbor of Dunkirk, only three corvettes. » Nothing of Bonaparte's invasion plans is mentioned nor of the port states he has requested since February. But he uses the Sébastiani report as justification: "The publicity of his report was at the same time a refutation and a reparation that the French army had the right to expect", thus referring to publications hostile to France. In support of the French denials, there is a dispatch dated March 18 from the British ambassador stating that as of mid-March, arming in the ports has not yet begun...
In the meantime, French and Dutch maritime space was violated by English cruises that came to see the port armaments. Talleyrand's protests of March 25 had their response a week later: the British government knew nothing! The frigates followed the orders of their officers, who acted on their initiative. On April 26, England therefore announced that it wanted to leave its troops in Malta for the next ten years, requested that France cede the island of Lampedusa (which it did not own…), and, for good measure, that she evacuate Holland, all within seven days. Lord Withworth verbally presents all this as “his government’s ultimatum.” On May 2, France rejected the British ultimatum and received the ambassador's request for a passport to return to England on the same day. On the 10th, the ambassador still in office then proposed an agreement just as unacceptable as the ultimatum: France must evacuate Switzerland and Holland, then accept the occupation of Malta by the English, which Talleyrand refused, without even speaking of non-opposition to the cession of the island of Lampedusa by the king of the Two Sicilies. On the 12th, the ambassadors were recalled. The next day, Bonaparte wrote that “war has not yet been declared” but he clarified four days later to the prince regent of Portugal that “war is about to rekindle between France and England”.
The break was consummated on May 16 by the embargo decreed by England on French and Dutch ships. 1,200 ships and more than 200 million francs of goods were seized in the ports. Three days later, the first French ship was taken at sea, de facto rekindling hostilities. War was officially declared on May 20. Bonaparte prepared to invade England and had twenty-four letters of marque established by Decrès to “take advantage of all opportunities […] and do all possible harm to English commerce” (1). In reality, the construction of the invasion flotilla has been in effect for two months already...
Ultimately, the fragile balance of October 1801 rested on the good faith of the signatories and their desire to execute the clauses of the treaty. The non-evacuation of Malta and Holland alone constituted reasons for tension. Bonaparte notably respected the treaty to the letter while unbalancing the forces through annexations and occupations of the continent, thus worrying the British government. The unresolved issues not included in the treaty were silent signs of a conflict just waiting to resurface. The spy missions and seditious publications, the omissions and lies were clear signs that the treaty had only served to prepare for war.
(1) The letters of marque authorized shipowners and individuals to arm in race for, in time of war exclusively, to take and seize the ships of the nation against which they were at war. Corsairs designated both ships and captains with letters of marque.
The case of Malta
If the main articles of the preliminary agreement agree with both nations, the case of Malta remains contentious. Sensitive point, the island is an obligatory stopover on the road to Egypt. A strategic pivot, it was taken by the French on June 11, 1798, recaptured by the English two years later... An incredible number of meetings and conferences (fifteen in all) took place between January 12 and March 9 to resolve this case. on the smallest details. For example, should we speak French or English? No one wants to give in, neither will be used there. “A Maltese language” is established. It is even proposed to demolish the fortifications with the unstated aim of removing all military status from the island.
Unanswered questions…
However, everything is not resolved, since certain questions remain pending between France and England. What happened to France's continental conquests such as the port of Antwerp and, more broadly, Belgium? The left bank of the Rhine? Another subject of concern: is the occupation of Switzerland. Peace settles and with it distrust. On both sides, the economic situation is precarious; France has not reconstituted its navy destroyed in Egypt, and Bonaparte needs this peace to strengthen the early days of the Consulate and carry out his continental policy. On the British side, the government has a lot to do with riots, famine, and unemployment due to the reduction in manufacturing activity.
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