After losing his control over France, Louis XVI was determined to remain in control over his vast domains overseas. Though the king had managed to transfer his court to his largest dominion, this by no means assured control over the rest of his territories. Before the revolution, France's territories consisted in the Mediterranean of the Kingdom of Morea, the Duchy of Candia, the Island of Corsica and the Kingdom of Egypt. With the exception of Corsica, that had been purchased from the Republic of Genoa, all had been acquired during the 18th century though conquest from the Ottoman Empire. In Corsica, insurgent activity against the French had been ongoing since 1768, while in Egypt the French maintained a large army of occupation, and the territory had not been full pacified by 1793.
The Kingdom of Morea under the Ottoman administration taxation had been lenient and the efficacy of the French bureaucracy had made their rule amongst the Kingdom's 200,000 inhabitants. In Crete, where one-third of the island's 200,000 inhabitants were Turks the French government had implemented policies favouring the Turkish minority in an attempt to control the Greek majority. Additionally, efforts to impose control by the Catholic Church over Orthodox churches had made French rule unpopular. As a result, by 1791 Morea was in open rebellion against the Kingdom of France. Encouraged by republican propaganda, nationalist leaders emerged, and saw this as their chance to establish an Independent Greek Republic. This followed by a revolt on the island of Crete in 1793, whereby a delegation was sent to France to request assistance. Republican instigators and propaganda had arrived from France and the attempts of the French Royalist Navy to quell the rebellion were costly. By 1795, the French Royalist Navy in the Mediterranean was spread thin attempting to maintain a blockade of southern France. This resulted in the evacuation of the Royalist Governor from Patras, and the Hellenic Republic was proclaimed at Argos on April 17, 1795 and began receiving aid from the French Republic. In Crete, the revolt was less successful and confined to the mountains of the interior, but was nevertheless a drain on resources.
Not wanting to have these territories fall in the hands of the French Republicans, the king was also not in favour of ceding them to the British. After discussions with the Russian Ambassador in Quebec, a treaty was agreed upon whereby the rebel territories were ceded to Russia. In a secret treaty agreed upon on April 1796, the Kingdom of France ceded the Kingdom of Morea, Duchy of Candia and its dependencies to Russia. Catherine II, long hoping to establish a Greek State under Russian auspices, sent a large naval force to occupy the islands. The move shocked Britain and led to protests on behalf of the British Government. Russia in turn promised to aid restore the King of France to fight against the French Republic and to recognise French Sovereignty over Nootka Sound on the Pacific. Importantly, the Russians agreed to supply the French Royalists with 25,000 soldiers for Egypt, however these were slow in arriving and before they could arrive, a French Republican army had already arrived via Malta, capturing those islands from the Knights of Saint John along the way. In 1797, the Russian commander who was supposed to relieve Egypt, and instead occupied the Ionian Islands claiming that after the Invasion of Venice these were under threat.
Additionally, the Russians provoked a war with the Ottomans using the pretext that they were allied to the French Republic and that by fighting the Ottomans they were doing their part as allies of the Kingdom of France. Whilst it was true that the Ottomans received an ambassador of the French Republic at Constantinople, the Russians claimed that the Turks were aiding the French Republic. When word reached Quebec, the King was furious, as he felt that the Russians were using his war for their own means. Britain too was incensed at the Russians in their expansion against the Ottomans, but at the same time did not want to risk having the Russians enter into an alliance with the French Republic. To prevent Egypt from falling into the hands of the French Republican government, Britain sent a fleet under the command of Admiral Hood to secure Egypt, capturing Malta first in February 1799, before proceeding for Alexandria.
Meanwhile, in Corsica the King was only able to hold the island with the cooperation of nationalist leader Pascuale Paoli. The representative of the king came to an agreement with Paoli whereby an autonomous Kingdom of Corsica was proclaimed. But even this too proved fragile as Republican support was strong in parts of the island, additionally Paoli had managed to alienate many Corsicans. On 17 September 1798, the Royalist forces abandoned their last stronghold on the island due to civil war between republicans and Paoli's forces. Paoli and a band of his supporters departed Corsica with the French Royalist fleet, settling in New Orleans.
In the French domains in the West Indies and Cayenne, the Royalist French Navy had an easier task of maintaining French authority, particularly with the backing of the creole elites. In Saint-Domingue, the French Royalist Navy kept its largest squadron of ships along with several thousand troops from Canada. The island was the wealthiest French colony and the Republican Government had hoped to capture the island by encouraging the slave population to revolt. However, many émigrés whom had acted as absentee landowners settled on the island, reinforcing the reactionary attitude amongst the island's Europeans. In other islands too, there were émigrés whom established themselves as well. Despite this, in Saint-Domingue a slave revolt in 1798 based on republican principles of liberty and equality had to be suppressed, with several of the leaders having been executed and some two-hundred, mostly mulatto conspirators being deported to Devil's Island in French Guiana.
In Africa and India where there were even fewer French settlers, it was far easier to maintain the authority of the French monarchy. The highly profitable trade of the
Compagnie des Indes shifted from Bordeaux to Quebec, and many of the company's directors moved as well. The French Republican Navy did send out some ships to the Indian Ocean to engage in piracy, but these were captured. In India itself, the Kingdom of Mysore became a formal protectorate of the Kingdom of France, with Pondicherry providing arms for the Sultan to expand his territory at the expense of the Marathas. The island of Bourbon and Isle de France along with the smaller Seychelles experienced a boom during this period becoming major suppliers of sugar in the Indian Ocean.
The Government Palace in Pondicherry, seat of power for
Compagnie des Indes
I'd not complain if it annexes Florida (and re-settle Caroline symbolically), Texas, and California.
