Treaty of Amiens

The prevention of disturbances in Europe and financial reforms and commercial expansion were the main aims of their policy.

at its outset pitt had welcomed the revolution and decided that it was a matter which concerned france alone both he and fox failed to appreciate the fact that a new situation had been created engrossed in plans for the restoration of the english finances for the improvement of ireland and for the strengthening of the constitution pitt thought that the french would be entirely occupied for some years in restoring order and good government and that england would thus gain a valuable period of peace which he might use not only to gain security and happiness but also for national aggrandisement till the end of seventeen ninety two the english government refused to join austria and prussia in the policy of pilnitz and observed a strict neutrality but after the appropriation of savoy by the french and their occupation of the austrian netherlands in november seventeen ninety two followed by the opening of the scheldt and the decrees of november nineteenth and december fifteenth the situation became altered and pitt's policy of neutrality was shaken holland was in danger of immediate invasion and holland was a member of the triple alliance of seventeen eighty eight it was impossible for england to leave holland to its fate and war became inevitable in december seventeen ninety two the french impeached their king for treason to the nation and after a mere mockery of a trial he was guillotined the terrible end of the weak but well-meaning louis roused a feeling of horror throughout england and though pitt remained sincerely desirous of continuing his reforms all hope of peace was destroyed when on february first the french government declared war on england Between February 1793 and the Peace of Amiens, Pitt twice succeeded in uniting Europe against France, whilst at the same time he seized every opportunity of trying to bring about peace.

During these years the English arms were uniformly successful at sea and unsuccessful on land.

The first half of 1793 saw Europe united against the revolutionists.

the French armies were to be withdrawn from Naples, Rome, and Portugal, and England recognized Bonaparte as first consul.

It was hoped that there would be no renewal of war with France.

X. England and Napoleon, 1802-1815. before the year eighteen o two was over it became evident that bonaparte had no intention of accepting the peace of amiens as a final settlement in the autumn he annexed piedmont and parma he compelled holland and north italy to prohibit the importation of english merchandise and occupied switzerland with his troops Furious at the refusal of the English to evacuate Malta, he insulted our envoy, Lord Whitworth, in Paris.

He demanded that the English government should suppress some London newspapers by which he had been attacked and that French emigrants should be expelled from England.

Yeah

... with the signature of the Peace of Amiens.

Mm.

Uh, and so Napoleon-

Mm

...

the Danish, uh, lot, right? So, uh, in this context, the fragile Peace of Amiens is looking like a sham.

And so in 1803, once again, Britain declares war on France, and this, listeners, is the official start of the Napoleonic Wars.

This is, according to my notes, and I think it makes sense, lines up.

It's 1800 to 1803, which is through the Peace of Amiens.

We never pronounce things right, Dave.

Apologies to the French.

And Napoleon, of course, has been lining up his ships in the Channel, hoping for an opportunity to invade England for many years.

And come the Peace of Amiens, when the English are coming over the channel to look at the art collections that Napoleon has looted from Italy, they also come and see one of the treasures that Napoleon has had moved from Bayeux, which is...

the tapestry because they too are interested in seeing this illustration of this pivotal moment as they see it in their own national history.

Napoleon sees it as a kind of exemplar of what he would hope to achieve.

But the clouds were already threatening to blot out the sunshine of that ideal home as the king's character deteriorated and his court degenerated into a circle of vicious and self-indulgent gamesters, without a moral principle or a serious thought among them.

It was as he was on the point of starting for France with Wolsey, in order to bring about the Peace of Amiens in 1527, that More would first hear of the king's pretended scruples concerning his marriage with Queen Catherine.

We know that he and the cardinal spent a night at the Bishop of Rochester's palace when Wolsey did his best to bring over the holy John Fisher to the king's view, and we may safely conclude that Bishop Fisher was strengthened in his condemnation of it by the uprightness and sound principles of Sir Thomas More.

Two years later, Wolsey's failure to secure the divorce for the master he had tried to serve better than his god had left him a ruined man and the chancellor's seal had been handed to More as his successor.

And the panic was everywhere, wasn't it? Like there was this brief pause in the fight.

I think it was called the Peace of Amiens.

And a lot of British citizens naturally traveled to France.

Right.

The Directory, 1795-9, and the Consulate.

Down to the Peace of Amiens.

Part 1.

Napoleon, as we have seen, became conspicuous by his defence of the Directory on October 5, 1795, or 13th Vendemeyer, by the revolutionary calendar, and for twenty-five years onwards.

meanwhile after campo formio it was plainly apparent that the enemy of france was great britain napoleon recognising this fact wished to undertake an invasion of england however after investigation he found that it would be impracticable though he actually caused himself to be set at the head of an army of england the idea was not new already there had been two attempted invasions in december seventeen ninety six twenty five thousand men under general oash had set out for ireland for a raid which proved entirely unsuccessful the ships of one division reached bantry bay where they anchored and then as speedily left having done nothing again in the following february twelve hundred men landed in pembrokeshire with no better luck they surrendered within two days it is instructive to notice that great britain owed her safety then as now to the supremacy of her fleet this superiority had been demonstrated by her victories at st vincent and camperdown over the spanish and dutch fleets respectively in seventeen ninety seven these two victories had successfully prevented the junction of two enemy fleets which were under the control of france we shall see how great britain's naval supremacy was also to wreck napoleon's next scheme for her subjugation when he had given up the idea of actual invasion for the time being in favour of cutting connection between great britain india and the far east thus crippling our trade and hurting our empire with this aim in view napoleon now planned an attack on egypt with the object of eventually controlling the shortest route to india it was given out to the world at large that his egyptian campaign was undertaken to punish the beys who it was alleged had ill-treated french merchants napoleon himself however in an address to his army gave the best possible epitome of the reasons for the war he said soldiers you are about to undertake a conquest the effects of which on civilization and commerce are incalculable The blow you are about to give to England will be the best aimed and the most sensibly felt that she can receive until the time when you can give her her death blow.

That is, of course, until circumstances make an invasion possible.

section nine of the political history of france by muriel o davis this librivox recording is in the public domain read by pamela nagami chapter four the directory seventeen ninety five to nine and the consulate down to the peace of amiens part two The campaign began well.

Napoleon landed successfully in Egypt, having taken the island of Malta on his way, which up to this time belonged to the Knights of St. John.

So this is the closeout of the Revolutionary Wars part of the French conflict.

And then in the middle of the First Barbary War, we pick up with Napoleon in 1803 after the Treaty of Amiens, or the Peace of Amiens.

And so...

The British are there, and in fact, they have a tremendous amount of naval buildup going on in the Mediterranean, which can be good for the Americans because it means the naval stores are there.

He's like, these relationships have to work for us.

We have to be able to navigate these waters and get the stuff we need from Great Britain without letting them take advantage of us.

And in particular, he's frustrated by the fact that now the peace of Amiens is over.

So the Royal Navy is like back at it for real.

In December 1792, the French impeached their king for treason to the nation, and after a mere mockery of a trial, he was guillotined.

the terrible end of the weak but well-meaning louis roused a feeling of horror throughout england and though pitt remained sincerely desirous of continuing his reforms all hope of peace was destroyed when on february first the french government declared war on england Between February 1793 and the Peace of Amiens, Pitt twice succeeded in uniting Europe against France, whilst at the same time he seized every opportunity of trying to bring about peace.

During these years the English arms were uniformly successful at sea and unsuccessful on land.

the first half of seventeen ninety three saw europe united against the revolutionists england spain holland austria prussia and sardinia had apparently the same object in view and concerted action on the part of the allies would have overcome the french resistance Dumouriez was defeated at Nierwinden, Belgium was retaken by the Austrians, Mainz, Valenciennes and Toulon fell into the hands of the Allies.

the French armies were to be withdrawn from Naples, Rome, and Portugal, and England recognized Bonaparte as first consul.

It was hoped that there would be no renewal of war with France.

section fourteen of the making of the british empire by arthur hassell this librivox recording is in the public domain chapter x england and napoleon before the year eighteen o two was over it became evident that bonaparte had no intention of accepting the peace of amiens as a final settlement in the autumn he annexed piedmont and parma he compelled holland and north italy to prohibit the importation of english merchandise and occupied switzerland with his troops Furious at the refusal of the English to evacuate Malta, he insulted our envoy, Lord Whitworth, in Paris.

He demanded that the English government should suppress some London newspapers by which he had been attacked, and that French emigrants should be expelled from England.