Treaty of Amiens
The War of the Second Coalition began with early victories for the coalition forces in Egypt, Italy, and Germany. France soon turned the tide with decisive wins at Marengo and Hohenlinden. Austria, Russia, and Naples sued for peace following these defeats. Austria signed the Treaty of Lunéville to end its involvement. Horatio Nelson's victory at Copenhagen on the 2nd of April 1801 halted the League of Armed Neutrality. This led to a negotiated ceasefire that set the stage for further talks.
Napoleon Bonaparte first proposed truce terms to British foreign secretary Lord Grenville as early as 1799. Grenville and Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger rejected these proposals due to their distrust of Bonaparte. Pitt resigned in February 1801 over domestic issues. Henry Addington replaced him as Prime Minister. Britain faced the danger of war with Russia at this time. Robert Jenkinson, Lord Hawkesbury, opened communications with Louis Guillaume Otto. Otto was the French commissary for prisoners of war in London.
Hawkesbury sent diplomat Anthony Merry to Paris to open a second line of communication. He met with Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, the French foreign minister. By mid-September, written negotiations had progressed enough to draft a preliminary agreement. On the 30th of September, they signed this agreement in London. The news spread across Europe with joy. Celebrations included pamphlets, poems, and odes in multiple languages. Actors depicted the treaty in theaters. Britain saw illuminations and fireworks. People hoped peace would lead to lower grain prices and market revival.
Cornwallis arrived in France on the 9th of December 1796 to negotiate final terms. The Batavian Republic appointed Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck to represent them. The Dutch role lacked respect from the French side. They viewed the Dutch government as a vanquished client. Joseph Bonaparte did not immediately agree to their terms regarding Ceylon and the Cape Colony. Napoleon traveled to Lyon in January 1802 to accept the presidency of the Italian Republic. This act violated the Treaty of Lunéville which guaranteed independence for client republics.
The final agreement required Britain to return most captured Dutch Guiana to the Batavian Republic. Britain also had to withdraw forces from Egypt. Spain agreed to British rule over Trinidad. The Batavian Republic ceded Ceylon to Britain. France withdrew its forces from the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples. Malta, Gozo, and Comino were restored to the Knights Hospitaller. Gibraltar remained under British control. Menorca was returned to Spain. The House of Orange-Nassau received compensation for losses in the Netherlands.
Two days after signing, all four parties signed an addendum acknowledging language issues. The treaty was published only in English and French. The omission of individual titles was declared unintentional. The Dutch and French representatives signed a separate convention clarifying financial responsibility. Preliminaries were signed in London on the 1st of October 1801. King George III proclaimed the cessation of hostilities on the 12th of October.
Upper-class British visitors flocked to Paris during the second half of 1802. William Herschel conferred with colleagues at the Observatoire. The third French Exposition des produits de l'industrie française took place in the Louvre courtyard from 18 to the 24th of September 1802. Bonaparte delighted in the admiration shown by numerous foreigners visiting Paris. Charles James Fox received a personal tour from minister Jean-Antoine Chaptal. Visitors saw Italian paintings and Roman sculptures collected from Italy under the Treaty of Tolentino.
J.M.W. Turner filled sketchbooks with what he observed inside the Louvre. Four Greek Horses of St Mark from Venice could now be viewed in an inner courtyard. William Hazlitt arrived in Paris on the 16th of October 1802. He spent three months studying and copying Italian masters. From London, Russian Semyon Vorontsov noted that gentlemen made extravagant purchases. One fool named Demidov ordered a porcelain dinner service where every plate cost 16 gold louis. Helmina von Chézy collected impressions for the journal Französische Miscellen.
French émigrés returned to France under relaxed restrictions. Wax artist Marie Tussaud came to London and established an exhibition similar to her Paris display. Balloonist André-Jacques Garnerin staged displays in London. He made a balloon flight from London to Colchester in 45 minutes. The Spanish economy began to recover after being badly affected by war. Spain remained diplomatically caught between Britain and France despite these economic improvements.
Britain ended the uneasy truce when it declared war on France in May 1803. Britons felt insulted when Napoleon stated their country deserved no voice in European affairs. King George III was an elector of the Holy Roman Empire. Russia decided that intervention in Switzerland indicated Napoleon sought no peaceful resolution. Frederick Kagan argued Britain was irritated by Napoleon's assertion of control over Switzerland. Frank McLynn claimed Britain went to war due to economic motives and national neuroses.
Napoleon's effective annexation of the Cisalpine Republic violated the Treaty of Lunéville. Tsar Alexander had congratulated Bonaparte for withdrawing from places like Switzerland. However, sending French troops into the Helvetic Republic increased belief that he could not be trusted. Bonaparte met British protests with belligerent statements denying Britain's right to involvement on the continent. He demanded censorship of anti-French British press and expulsion of French expatriates. These demands were perceived as affronts to British sovereignty.
Bonaparte organized a naval expedition to regain control over revolutionary Haiti. He also moved to occupy French Louisiana. Britain refused to remove troops from Egypt or Malta as agreed. In January 1803, Horace Sebastiani published a report observing how easily France might capture Egypt. This alarmed most European powers. In February 1803, Bonaparte threatened war if Malta was not evacuated. The Russian ambassador Arkadiy Ivanovich Morkov reported these encounters to St. Petersburg. Alexander began collecting troops on the Baltic coast in late March.
Britain declared war on France on the 18th of May 1803. On the 17th of May 1803, before the official declaration, the Royal Navy captured all French and Dutch merchant ships in Britain. They seized more than two million pounds of commodities and took crews as prisoners. On the 22nd of May, the First Consul ordered arrest of all British males between ages 18 and 60 in France and Italy. Napoleon claimed 10,000 British prisoners were taken, but documents showed only 1,181. Last imprisoned civilians returned home after his abdication in 1814.
Addington proved ineffective as Prime Minister during wartime. He was replaced on the 10th of May 1804 by William Pitt who formed the Third Coalition. Pitt faced failed assassination attempts on Bonaparte's life by Cadoudal and Pichegru. Napoleon assembled armies on the French coast to invade Great Britain. Austria and Russia prepared to invade France instead. The Grande Armée defeated Austria at Ulm the day before the Battle of Trafalgar. Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz destroyed the Third Coalition.
In 1806, Britain retook the Cape Colony from the Batavian Republic. Napoleon abolished that republic later that year for the Kingdom of Holland ruled by Louis Bonaparte. On the 9th of July 1810, France officially annexed the Netherlands. The Napoleonic Wars raged across Europe for the following 12 years.
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Common questions
When was the Treaty of Amiens signed?
The preliminary agreement for the Treaty of Amiens was signed in London on the 30th of September 1801. The final treaty was proclaimed by King George III on the 12th of October 1801.
Who negotiated the Treaty of Amiens for Britain and France?
Henry Addington served as Prime Minister while Robert Jenkinson, Lord Hawkesbury, opened communications with Louis Guillaume Otto. Anthony Merry represented Britain in Paris to meet Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, the French foreign minister.
What territories did Britain return or acquire under the Treaty of Amiens?
Britain returned most captured Dutch Guiana to the Batavian Republic and withdrew forces from Egypt. The Batavian Republic ceded Ceylon to Britain while Spain agreed to British rule over Trinidad.
Why did the Treaty of Amiens fail and when did war resume?
Napoleon violated the Treaty of Lunéville by annexing the Cisalpine Republic and sending troops into Switzerland. Britain declared war on France on the 18th of May 1803 after Napoleon threatened military action regarding Malta.
How long did peace last between Britain and France during the Treaty of Amiens?
Peace lasted from the proclamation of hostilities cessation on the 12th of October 1801 until Britain declared war on the 18th of May 1803. This period of uneasy truce ended less than two years after negotiations began.