Earlier Permanent Settlement of New France

[Viriato]

By the summer of 1795, the fledgling French Republic was at war with not only itself, but with most of Western Europe. The invasion of the Netherlands was undertaken by the French Republicans ostensibly to assist the Patriots in their uprising against William V of Orange’s increasingly autocratic policies. In reality, the invasion as an attempt to establish a puppet state which would help the French Republic economically. As a centre of banking, it was hoped that Amsterdam could provide much needed capital to the republic, additionally it was hoped that the Dutch Navy could be used to break the blockade of France. With this in mind, on 21 October 1795, the National Assembly voted to assist the Patriots in overthrowing tyranny invaded the Netherlands. This was not without consequences, as it lead Great Britain into the ever growing coalition against France. To face the military threat, the National Assembly voted to summon a mass of army volunteers to the borders of France, with all able-bodied non-married men between ages 18 and 25 are required to serve in the army. The citizen armies marched on the Rhine and despite initial setbacks were able to gain a number of tactical victories against the Austro-Prussian forces under the leadership of the Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Though initially it performed poorly, by the summer of 1795 its sheer numerical superiority coupled with the excellence of the French artillery allowed it to win important battles against the enemies of the Republic.

It was not only against the foreigners that the Republican Army scored victories. On the domestic front, the royalists had been relegated to pockets of resistance in Brittany where the Chouans fought the Republican government along with the Vendée region, while the coastal fortresses and small islets along the coast of Brittany were all that remained under formal royal control. Belle Île remained under control of the royalist navy, and would be used to ferry thousands of refugees from the Vendée to New France. The capture of the fortress of Quiberon in September of 1795 by the royalists did worry the National Assembly however. The threat posed by the royalist navy along with the fear of a royalist invasion from New France is what in part led to the invasion of the Netherlands. It was hoped that capturing the Dutch Navy would allow the republic a greater sense of security. When this failed to materialize, efforts were put into improving coastal fortifications along with an attempt to revive the naval construction in the former royal dockyards of Brest and Le Havre. However, the French Republican Navy was reduced to around 20 ships and most were stuck at port due to a lack of officers and naval stores. However, after a defeat at Rochefort, the royalists used their troops to secure France's colonial empire to plan a major invasion of France itself.

In addition to the political upheaval it faced faced, the French Republic was rocked by economic turbulence as well. To deal with the initial economic crises, the government confiscated the former royal, noble and church lands, selling these land holdings in an effort to raise much needed foreign reserves. Silver and gold confiscated from church and the aristocracy was melted down to fund the ongoing war, along with iron and bronze adornments being stripped from palaces and churches to be melted down and used for cannons. The government used its increased land holdings to back the value of its paper money called assignats, but these were easily counterfeited and soon became worthless, leading inflation to spiral out of control. To combat food shortages and rampant inflation, the government implemented price controls as France became a command economy geared for war. Among the first acts, was the The Law of the Maximum was passed in November 1794, establishing price limits for basic goods and punishing price gouging and hoarding by death. The law met with limited success as the black market thrived and it would not be until 1797 that the last price controls were abolished. Prior to the revolution, the Roman Catholic Church was the main source of charity for the poor, and in the cities, particularly Paris this was now responsibility of government. The National Committee doled out bread and flour to the citizens of Paris, using much of its silver to pay bakers.

Merchants and shipbuilders from the Atlantic Ports of Bordeaux, Nantes, and Marseille were ruined as Britain joined the French Royal army in enforcing the naval blockade of the Republic. Colonial goods such as sugar and tobacco were now rare, and cotton and silk spinning came to a standstill, leaving thousands unemployed. Additionally, the abolition of traditional guilds led to increased competition in many trades, leading to the financial ruin of many lawyers, doctors, as these titles were now applied liberally. Some in the middle class, along with those connected with the new regime benefited from the nationalization of church and noble land holdings through real estate speculation. Others however, made fortunes by providing supplies to the army. Bankers in particular took on a more prominent role as the lack of credit led to a creation of new banks. Industrialists and financiers became the new aristocrats in France as they concentrated their wealth in Paris and became vital to the survival of the Republic. In a matter of years, French society had been transformed as the last remnants of the L'ancien régime withered away.

 

[Viriato]

After the installation of the republican government in France, the emigration of the nobility which had begun in 1791, had intensified with the departure of the royal family in 1793 and fall of Brest to the revolutionaries in 1794. Though the first émigrés had been members of the royal family, and those most associated with the absolutist regime, they were soon followed by members of the clergy, merchants, skilled tradesmen and peasants loyal to the king. The king's brother, the Comte d'Artois had been among the first to depart France for the safety of the Kingdom of Sardinia, where he went to live with his wife's family. Soon other prominent families began leaving for neighbouring states, particularly those in the Holy Roman Empire form where they could not only obtain news from France, but in some instances organise counter-revolutionary resistance. Initially most felt that the turbulence would be short-lived and that they would be able to return once the uprisings in Paris had been quelled. As the revolutionary armies grew in strength, some began to make their way to Great Britain where they felt safe from the armies of the republic. Others followed the king to Brest, departing with him to New France, with the largest numbers departing in August of 1793. By 1796, an estimated quarter of a million Frenchmen had left France, in one of the largest migrations of its history.

On 14 June 1793, just two weeks prior to his own departure, King Louis XVI issued an edict opening France's ports to the ships of friendly nations in an effort to ferry those who wished to leave to safety. This was met with reprisals on the part of the governing Committee of Public Safety which feared the émigrés forming armies against the republic. As a result, it sought to punish those who emigrated. Led by the radical Jacobins, the government used emigration as a pretext to not only nationalise the land of the émigrés, but to issue death sentences those who remained. This would lead to two years of terror as the republican government dealt harshly with opposition to its rule, using the guillotine as a means of executing its enemies. As the news of this terror spread, the ports of Brest, Lorient, Toulon, and Bordeaux became clogged with not only French ships, but also with British, Dutch, Spanish ships as well, as throngs of people sought to escape. Sea captains and sailors saw this as an opportunity to earn extra money by extorting what little possessions many had in return for safe passage. Initially many were brought to the Channel Islands and Britain itself. From there ferried on British and French ships to the New World, with the movement being a boon for British shipping. Others joined the flotilla of French Naval ships from Brest to New France that departed on 28 June 1793. The departure of the king only further exacerbated the panic as thousands made their way to the ports, which became prone centres of famine and misery. The despair increased as thousands waited for weeks at the fortress of Belle-Île, as its population swelled from 6,000 to nearly 25,000 during the summer of 1793.

Prior to the departure of the royal family, the shipment of many of their contents New France to new France had begun weeks earlier. Thousands of crates of art, silver, furnishings and tapestries taken from Versailles, the Tuileries, Compiegne, etc along with volumes of the royal library had made their way to the new world. The invaluable collections of the Louvre had been taken away from Paris after the city's capture by the Canadiens and brought to Rennes and later Brest. Many of the invaluable treasures of the French crown had been taken to the French ports for safekeeping in 1793. The decision to fill ships with the contents of the royal chateaux in June 1793 caused some criticism with many of the republicans claiming that it was the Queen's doing. Marie Antoinette was criticised for being more interested salvaging her furnishings and gowns than people. With the departure of the royal family, the already weak royalist forces began to falter, with Bordeaux falling to the Republicans a eight weeks later.

On 19 July 1793 the royal flotilla arrived at Plaissance, Terre-Neuve (Placentia, NFLD) to joyous crowds of well wishers. In Plaissance, King Louis XVI of France and Navarre would become the first European sovereign to set his foot on American soil. Greeted by Governor, the Vicomte de Noailles, it seemed to be the entire populace of the city of eight-thousand had come to see their king and queen. The festivities lasted days with a salute of guns from the fortress and various masses being held in Plaissance. The jubilant atmosphere contrasted with that they had left behind in Brest. The royal family remained at the fort of Plaissance for three weeks before preceding to Québec. The royal ships made their way to the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River, and onward to Quebec. As they approached Quebec, crowds of villagers lined the river to watch the spectacle unfurl. On 19 August 1793, the 120-gun Dauphin arrived at the docks of the capital to throngs of well-wishers acclaiming their sovereign. The bells of the churches of the city tolled as the royals were greeted by the Count of Provence, who since May had been acting as viceroy. The royal cortege, consisting of several gilded carriages brought from France accompanied by a horse guard then made its way from the lower city to the upper city and to the Citadel. Among those in the crowd were several British subjects from New England whom wrote about this "display of magnificence" in their memoirs.

The celebration of the arrival of the royal family lasted for days, with a Te Deum was sung in honour of the king at Quebec's cathedral. The king made an effort to attend masses with his family at various points throughout the city as part of a public relations campaign to portray himself as a pious man, and shed off the image of an aloof monarch. The king and his court settled into their new home, the Chateau Saint Louis, which had been served as the Viceregal Palace for a century. The rambling seventeenth century structure had been amplified and suffered various alterations through the years, but was smaller than Versailles or the Tuileries. With the arrival of the king, the Chateau would once again be redesigned as boiserie, artwork and furniture brought from France soon made the palace hold its own among the grandest of Europe. Among the artwork imported were collections of renaissance paintings by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, with his Mona Lisa having been among the paintings of the royal collection at the Louvre to have been transported to America. Though much of the collection remained housed at the citadel of Quebec. It would be there that the coronation regalia including the coronation crown of Louis XV was stored as this became the Garde Meuble du Roi or royal treasury. The royal library and its collection of volumes was also in Quebec having been transferred for safekeeping among them were several medical books housed at the Hotel-Dieu, an example which of how the city was to become a more prominent centre of learning and science. With the abundance of new people, art and fashion, Quebec soon became the Paris of America.

 

[Viriato]

Perhaps the most pivotal event in the modern history of New France, would be the arrival of the King of France to Quebec in 1793. The arrival of the King and his household was followed by the transplant of the the entire governing apparatus of the Ancien Regime from France, 3,300 miles west to New France. Quebec suddenly assumed the role previously enjoyed by Versailles. The arrival of their majesties in the New World had profound effect on the economy of New France as a whole. As mentioned earlier, Louis XVI's first acts was a decree opening the ports of New France to trade with friendly nations, and this would be followed by commercial treaties with various nations. The immediate result of this was the flood of British manufactured goods into New France. These were brought by British merchants, particularly from New England as they forged ties with French small-scale merchants, and many even took up residence in the major port cities of New France. Shortly thereafter, British textiles soon replaced those from Lyon, and nails, tools and other goods began arriving from Britain in ever large quantities.

Realizing the economic backwardness of New France when compared to Britain and her colonies, the king passed laws to promote trade and to establish manufacturing. Revenues were needed to build a navy and maintain the existing fleets, and only through commerce could the king fill his coffers. In an attempt to promote manufacturing, the king began liberally issue licences to manufacture goods in the colony. The importance of iron forges grew as their numbers increased. The manufacture of glass, brick kilns and lumber was also significant, particularly in Quebec where the arrival of the court led to a building boom. Attempts to stimulate the production of woollen textiles and a silk industry were less successful in the face of British imports, however. The production of luxury goods by craftsmen in small workshops in contrast was able to flourish. In France itself, the vacuum left by the exodus of nobility and clergy coupled with war on most European neighbours destroyed many craftsmen's livelihoods, leading many would to settle in Quebec and its environs. The king's brother, the Comte d'Artois established a porcelain factory with former workers from Sèvres and Limoges to produce hard-paste porcelain, with the new porcelain being highly sought after in Europe. Likewise a factory making rugs along with the tapestries was opened under royal patronage in Trois-Rivieres in 1798, using workers from the Gobelins and Aubusson factories. As a result of the revolution, workshops in France had closed or produced little goods, and the number of craftsmen arriving in New France increased until the end of the decade. Suppliers of luxury goods such as silversmiths, cabinet makers, dress makers and others connected to the nobility and church followed their customers into exile, giving Quebec a huge influx of skilled artisans and craftsmen. Another result of the arrival of the court would be the growth of the printing industry in Quebec. The number of printing presses in the colony grew as never before. Books became more readily available, and the number of newspapers soared. Despite these advances, the low literacy rate limited readership, as fewer than one-third of adults in the colony could sign their own names. This contrasted with British America where nearly 80% of white males were literate by the close of the 18th century.

The agricultural sector, long the mainstay of the economy of New France also drastic experienced changes during this period. The tobacco sector was hit hard as the tobacco planters of Lower Canada lost their primary export market, forcing many to turn to the production of wheat and maize. Others began selling tobacco to the British in Virginia where it was shipped through the Cumberland Gap on wagons and to Norfolk. Despite this, the loss of the French market was ruinous to many planters. In 1792, France had consumed 30,000 hogsheads of tobacco, about twice as much as New France, and exports to France would not recover for another twenty years. Hemp from south of La Belle Rivière region would did become an important substitute crop as it produced cotton bagging and rope, as did the raising of thoroughbred horses. Additionally, attempts to increase wine production by planting vineyards were undertaken. The consumption of wine dropped as the import of French wines became unavailable. Wines from Portugal, particularly Madeira imported by British merchants filled some of the gap, but new beverages grew in popularity. A type of whiskey (eau-de-vie) made from maize known became popular, as did rum imported from Saint-Domingue ad the West Indies.

In 1793 and 1794, crop failures in Louisiana, had lead to the replacement of indigo in many regions with with new crops. Cotton, first introduced around 1790 grew as demand for cotton in Britain increased. Though fewer than 800 bales exported in 1791, 34,000 would be exported a decade later, with most to Britain. The number French cotton merchants along the Mississippi grew, as they sold it to British merchants, whom exported the cotton to Liverpool. The French merchants earned commission of 2 1/2 % on sales and worked with larger British firms. British merchants were often providing financial backing for smaller French merchant houses, and supplying them with manufactured goods from Britain to sell. A complex web of international business grew as brokers bought goods in Britain and sent them to correspondents in New France where they also provided credit to planters. Planter assets went directly into purchasing more land and slaves, as goods were usually bought on credit and paid for with the next crop. The largest planters usually consigned their crop to a merchant house in New Orleans and borrowed heavily, allowing the British financiers to substitute those from Bordeaux. Within a short matter of years, flatboats filled the Mississippi River as they shipped raw cotton to New Orleans. Charleroi (Nashville), Natchez, New Orleans and Mobile had correspondent agents selling goods to planters as well.

The expansion of cotton had the effect of increasing the number of slaves imported into the colony. With the official number of slaves imported between 1791 and 1801 standing at 26,197. The majority came from Senegambia, usually by way of Saint-Domingue as the hub of France's slave trade moved from Bordeaux to Port-au-Prince. The most extensive seigneurial grants given by the crown in Louisiana during the first years after the king's arrival in New France. With many noble families close to the court having lost most sources of wealth, these grants were a way to grant these families an honourable source of income. The remaining Creek and Chickasaw Indians were dispossessed of their lands to expand cotton production and these were some of the most sought after grants. Many whom were able to obtain land-grants, become absentee landlords residing in Quebec, whist others turned to land speculation and sold their grants, often obtaining large profits.

Other areas were also granted as new seigneuries during the 1790s. The former Iroquois lands south of the Great Lakes, long sparsely settled were doled out to newcomers from Normandy and Brittany. It would be here that Buckwheat, barley, and rye was planted in large quantities. Further west, Louis François Joseph, Prince of Conti was granted a massive seigneurie several in the Rivière Rouge region. There he settled some 1,400 refugees, mostly from the Vendée where they would turn the region into one of the world's largest producers of flaxseed. The in turn flax would become valuable for use as sailcloth in outfitting the French Royal Navy. With the needs of the navy in mind, resin from pine trees in Louisiana was collected to make turpentine, however these were not initially able to meet the needs of the French Royal Navy and as a result, imports from North Carolina were imported, providing a lucrative industry for British settlers there.

The westward expansion towards the Pacific continued as new trading posts such as Fort-des-Prairies (Edmonton), which was founded in 1795. In 1797, the first Canadians made their way to the Pacific by Royal Expedition, reaching lands claimed for France by Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse in 1788. There would be conflicting claims over the region with Britain, Russia, Spain and France all claiming the Nootka Sound. Louis XVI was determined to settle the region and push French settlement westward so that New France would have access to the Pacific. Additionally, the agricultural settlement west of the Mississippi was beginning to grow, while the very first trading posts along the Rockies were established by intrepid fur traders.

An example of the new luxury goods crafted in New France, fauteuil from Quebec c1795 upholstered in locally woven needlework.

 

[Viriato]

An important part of the transformation of New France and particularly Quebec during the 1790s would be the arrival of large numbers of refugees from Metropolitan France. These newcomers were so numerous that by 1801, one in every three inhabitants of Quebec's 237,000 inhabitants had born in France. Though the royal family and the nobles were only a small portion of these immigrants, their imprint on the city was far more significant than their numbers. They brought with them new fashions and habits, and along with the artisans they patronised transformed the character of the city from a mediaeval provincial town to a great capital city.

Many of the nobles particularly those of the lower nobility arrived in New France with very little in terms of possessions, while others sold jewels and family art work in London before making their voyage to Quebec. Using the skills they possessed, noble women supported themselves by making lace, embroidering muslin dresses or making straw hats. Some nobles with more success established interior decorating firms or boutiques aimed at not only the local market. An increasing number of British visitors from the south for whom French styles of dress and decor remained the epitome of fashion began buying these goods, with many being sold in Boston, New York or Charleston. Other émigrés turned to teaching, this was particularly true of clergy members whom established several new schools aimed at the upper classes of the colony.

After their arrival in New France, many nobles were granted seigneuries as New France was still possessed ample tracts of unsettled land. Among them would be the forested land along the Rivière des Outaouais (Ottawa River) where the demand for lumber by the ship-building industry made many of the seigneuries profitable. Some nobles were fortunate enough to own sugar or coffee plantations in the Caribbean Islands and these nobles were able to use this revenue to establish a comfortable exile in Quebec and often in New Orleans. There were also a small number nobles whom had hosted members of the seingeurial elite visiting from France and whose hospitality was returned, becoming long-term visitors in many country estates. For the seigneurial and merchant elite of New France the arrival of the nobility presented an opportunity to gain status for their own families. The marriage of daughters of New France's seigneurial and merchant elite to titled but impoverished nobles became increasingly common. Often bringing with them large dowries, sometimes consisting of in land, these marriages were seen as mutually beneficial. Others still used their generosity towards the nobility, clergy members and the crown as an attempt to gain titles and honours for themselves.

The noble émigrés of course were joined by a much larger number of non-nobles, particularly merchants and craftsmen associated with the royal court or whose commerce depended on the colonies. Men like Jean-Henri Riesener, the Queen's favourite ébéniste was able to establish a successful cabinet-making warehouse in lower city of Quebec, exporting many of his pieces to the court of Europe. Robert-Joseph Auguste, the official silversmith to the crown, also established a shop in Quebec's Petit Champlain, carried on after his death by his son. The Augustes received commissions from various families in New France and Europe. Various coach-builders were also active during this period, many creating the gilt carriages and sleighs now housed in the Musee des Carrosses in Quebec.

The establishment of the royal court at the Château Saint-Louis located on the Upper Town of Quebec was followed by a large number of nobles acquiring or building their own homes near the now royal palace. The centre of power remained the upper town where the king and the clergy lived, while the lower town was populated mostly by the merchants and artisans. In their early years of arrival at court, Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette seemed like many of the other nobles to plan to only spend a short time in America. However, as the months turned into years, they began to plan to remain in the colony indefinitely. This was highlighted by the growing number of construction projects undertaken towards the close of the 18th century.

Upon arrival the king wanted to shape the perception of himself and his family, making overtures to appear pious and as a family man. He made it a point to dine daily with his brothers and their respective families, attend mass regularly and to take rides in the city with the queen. The goal was also to present a united front as a family, with the king as the father figure to his subjects. This did not mean however that the extravagance of the court was diminished. Within a few short years the old court of France had been recreated in Quebec. The growing economy of New France was indeed better suited to fund the lavishness of lifestyle of the royal family than France had been. As a result, the king could pay pensions and salaries to nearly 5,000 people associated with the court by 1803, with a sum of 6 million livres. The apparatus of the court planning of court remained intact and ceremonies under the direction of the First Gentlemen of the Bedchamber took on renewed importance. The Menus-Plaisirs du Roi within the Household of the King controlled ceremonies, which grew increasingly ostentatious, making Quebec a rival its contemporaries in Europe.

A sense of permanence about king's residence grew with time. This was reinforced by the deaths of Marie Thérèse of Savoy, Comtesse d'Artois in 1805, and that Marie Joséphine of Savoy the Comtesse de Provence in 1810. As a result of what seemed like a growing futility in regaining France, the king himself became more focused on shoring up his power base in what remained of his empire, while reconquering France seemed like be less of a possibility. That being said, the king and the queen quickly became accustomed to life in Quebec. After his arrival, the king commissioned the expansion of the Château Saint-Louis, by building a new wing in the Neo-Classical style to accommodate his court. The already sumptuous viceregal residence gained a new lustre when furnishings and art from Versailles, Compiègne and the Tuileries palaces adorned the various rooms of the sprawling chateau. It would be at the chateau where the majority of royal ceremonies would take place. One of the most politically significant would occur on 14 May 1797. Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, the third son of George III of Britain and Ireland paid an official visit to Louis XVI signing a treaty of friendship and alliance between his Most Christian Majesty and his Britannic Majesty. The Prince remained in Quebec for three weeks, and was feted with an dazzling spectacle of banquets, balls and concerts, meant to be a display the power of the French monarchy. The king also made a show of parading various regiments-in-exile, such as that of Flanders, Burgundy, and the Irish Guards.

When not in the city, the king and his family sought the refuge of the country, increasingly spent time at the Château Sainte-Foy, a country estate east of the city given to them by Louis-Auguste de Sillery, for whom his generosity was compensated with the title of Marquis de Sillery. The stone country house was small, but soon became a favourite of Louis XVI and the Dauphin whom enjoyed this new domain for hunting. Additionally, Louis XVI also built a forge and workshop there. Not content with the small country house, in 1797 the Queen commissioned the construction of a larger palace in the Neo-Palladian style. The palace was criticised in France for having a plaster facade painted "Maria Theresa Yellow" just like imperial palaces of Austria. The queen however, remained undaunted and the palace was completed in 1802, its interiors were filled with furnishings, tapestries and works of art, many of which had been transshipped from France. The gardens, like those of the Trianon before it were in the English style, dotted with picturesque pieces of classical-revival architecture, including various temples, bridges and ruins.

The arrival of the royal family also hallmarked an era of increased cultural significance for Quebec. The revolution had left most of the important royal academies of which the king was patron closed. As a result, he reestablished many in the city, with a focus on the arts and sciences. The Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture formally reestablished in 1795 in Quebec and in 1799 moved into a new building the the Royal Gallery, a museum designed to house many of the works of art taken from the Louvre. This gallery was the first to be opened to the the public with some 438 paintings and another 124 objets d'art. Among the invaluable paintings displayed were Andrea del Sarto's Charity and works by Raphael Titian, Veronese, Rembrandt, Poussin and Van Dyck. The Royal Gallery was part of a larger complex also housing the Académie française as it too was reestablished under royal patronage in Quebec. The Royal Academy of Architecture was also important in providing the city with new builders. The Royal Music and Royal Dance Academies too was established in Quebec, using the Saint-Luc Theatre, where operas and ballets were performed, however this was superseded by the construction of an Opera House, inaugurated in 1795. Opera was not limited to Quebec, however as New Orleans boasted an opera house in 1791. The queen also had a theatre built at her palace at Sainte-Foy, often performing in her own plays, much as she had done at Versailles.

The king was also instrumental in establishing new schools to form military cadets such as the Royal Artillery School and the Royal Naval Academy in New France. Schools established during this period were not limited to those under royal patronage, however. Boarding Schools proliferated during this period, catering to the upper classes and became a means to provide a livelihood for many of the exiled members of the clergy. Some schools also became a way in which the wealthy bourgeoisie could mingle with the nobility. The Collège Royal became among the most prestigious, promoting the learning of Latin, Ancient Greek, and Mathematics. In 1808, the University of Quebec was established, and within the following two decades, this would be followed by universities in Montreal, Detroit, Saint-Louis, New Orleans and Port-Royal.

 

[Viriato]

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

 

[Viriato]

Throughout 1794 and 1795, the United Provinces of the Netherlands had been in turmoil due to the events in France. The Republic's Stadtholder William V, Prince of Orange had been a staunch ally of Britain and Prussia and had invited an Anglo-Prussian army into the Republic to protect his country from the not only the French Republic, but from internal rebellion as well. Throughout the 18th century, the Republic had experienced a progressive decline in power, and even its position as the preeminent European trading power had been lost to Britain. This decline had led to growing opposition to the system of government along with criticism of William V to grow. By the 1780s, the Dutch Republic was on the verge of civil war as the "Orangists" whom supported the status quo were pitted against the "Patriots", whom wished to establish a democratic republic. Traditionally the Patriots had been backed by the Kingdom of France, not so much out of ideological sympathies, but rather as a way to lessen the grip of Britain and Prussia on the Republic. In 1787 when the Patriots organised an armed uprising against the government, it was largely with French backing. This was suppressed by Prussian Troops led by the Duke of Brunswick, however many patriot leaders had sought refuge in France, particularly in the city of Lille. The French Republic capitalised on this by encouraging their revolt, hoping to gain access to the Dutch Navy and its sailors, and therefore be able to challenge the French Royal Navy. The diplomats of Louis XVI for their part now entered into an alliance with William V, in an attempt to prevent the French Republic from gaining access to the Dutch Navy or its ports in Europe and overseas.

During the summer of 1794, Patriot uprising had occurred at Utrecht, but this was quickly suppressed by the Anglo-Prussian troops which were permanently stationed in the country. Hoping to spread the revolution across Europe and gain an important ally, on 8 November 1794, a French-backed Patriot force seized Nijmegen leading Britain and Prussia to invade the French Republic, in what was now a major escalation of the war. After facing the revolutionary armies however, the Anglo-Prussian forces coalition barely put up a fight as the Coalition forces plundered their way back to Hanover. The Orangists, backing William V still fought on, and were able to stave off the capitulation of Eindhoven for three weeks. However, the winter of 1795 would be one of the coldest on record, and taking advantage of the frozen rivers, on 10 January 1795 a French army crossed the Waal River, and the remnants of resistance withered away. The Prussians meanwhile entered into negotiations for peace with the French Republic.

Shortly after the entrance of French Troops, revolution began to spread throughout much of the Netherlands. In Amsterdam, the patriots overthrew the existing government and established a "Revolutionary Committee". This caused William V and his family to flee to Zeeland where much of the Dutch Navy was located, as this was one of the last areas firmly under his control. In Zeeland, a the French Royalist Navy had a convoy of ships and the ambassador of Louis XVI "persuaded" the Stadtholder that he should go to Denmark with the Dutch Fleet. William V's wife was the youngest sister of Christian VII, and the Royalist diplomats had already encouraged Prince-Regent, Frederick to act as caretaker for the Dutch and their colonial possessions. This diplomatic coup for the Kingdom of France had been agreed upon to deny both the French Republic and Great Britain the acquisition of the Dutch Navy and more importantly control over its colonies.

Initially, the French Royalist Navy had planned on occupying the Cape of Good Hope, along with Batavia and Ceylon, but they feared that this move could squander goodwill on behalf of Britain, and even lead the British to attack their forces. Evacuating the bulk of the Dutch fleet to Denmark was a move which was agreeable to the British Government because it would counterbalance the huge growth during the past decade of Russia's own Baltic Fleet, having more doubled in tonnage. Additionally, Frederick, the Prince-Regent of Denmark was King George III's nephew, and it was assumed that he would remain friendly to Britain. Therefore, when William V arrived in Copenhagen he surrendered his fleet to the Danish Admiralty, with instructions for the liquidation of the VOC and all of its possessions being placed temporarily under the Danish flag. This would be a move which would allow the continued functioning of the inter-Asian trade of the former Dutch possessions, particularly as they were able to draw on a large pool of sailors from the Kingdom of Norway.

The French Republic for its part had sought to acquire the Dutch Fleet, which was still Europe's fifth-largest in an attempt to challenge the French Royal Navy. Additionally, with the Dutch Navy in their control, they hoped to be able to gain access to naval stores from the Baltic to assist in the rebuilding of the Republican Navy. Victory was on the horizon, as the French forces overran the republic with little resistance. On 16 February 1795, the last major city, Groningen, capitulated to the Patriots and on 21 February the last Orangist resistance on the islands of Zeeland capitulated to the French Commander. The French for their part issued a proclamation that they were in the United Provinces to free their Dutch brothers from the tyranny of William V. A new republic was born in the Netherlands, now known as the Batavian Republic, which would be a unitary state rather than a federal republic.

A peace treaty between France and its sister Republic, was drafted and formally signed at The Hague on 16 May 1795. Though the Patriots sought to negotiate from a position of equality, it soon became clear that they would have little leverage over the peace negotiations. The French Republic exacted a 50 million guilder indemnity along a loan for another 50 million guilder at an interest rate of 3-4% to the French Republic. Additionally, in a secret article of the capitulation, French guards were to be placed on all Dutch vessels and fortresses and French ships were to have access to all Dutch ports along with Cape of Good Hope, Colombo and Trincomalee. The Batavian Republic was also to maintain an army of 32,000 men, to be placed at the disposal of the French Republic should the need arise.

Although considerable part of the Dutch Navy was lost, the French Republic could make use of the Dutch shipyards to build and equip men-of-war rapidly. France wanted to make use of Dutch sailors and their experience. Eight ships of the line and 12 frigates remained in the Dutch Navy, and the Batavian Republic's government promised to build 14 ships within a year and more afterwards. In October 1795, the Batavian Navy sent out a squadron in an attempt to recapture Dutch possessions, but the fleet was lost to the British. The Danish East India Company profited immensely from its new trading opportunities however, sharing the revenues with the exiled Stadtholder.

 

[Viriato]

Throughout 1795, the royalist government of France faced a number of setbacks diplomatically, once both the Ottoman Empire and Sweden sent diplomatic envoys to Paris, essentially recognising the French Republic as the legitimate government of France. In 1796, too Prussia signed a peace treaty with the French Republic, making it the first great power in Europe to recognise republic. The Prussians for their part, recognised the French Republic's frontiers at the Rhine and turned their focus eastwards, agreeing with Russia to partition Poland. With these Republican diplomatic achievements were matched with victories on the battlefield, the chances for a successful restoration of the king's authority in France grew bleaker. In Quebec, several of the émigrés had grown disheartened with Louis XVI. They saw the king’s expansion of the Château-Royal in Quebec as a sign of his growing complacency, and began to look to his younger brother, the Comte d'Artois for leadership. Many émigrés had grown restless living in what many considered a colonial backwater, and having lost their fortunes preferred to fight to return their holdings. To achieve a restoration in France, large numbers of young émigrés, enlisted in Royalist Army, fighting alongside the Austrians and British in Europe, while others joined the Royalist Navy. In May of 1796, the Comte d’Artois, and his son, the Duc de Berry sailed for England, ostensibly to negotiate with representatives of National Convention in Paris, but in reality they planned an invasion in France. While some half-hearted negotiations took place with the Prussians acting as intermediaries, the Comte d'Artois was unwilling to concede anything to the revolutionaries, particularly their call for an amnesty. His brother, the king had been obtuse, allowing Artois to negotiate, as he and his cohorts refused to entertain anything less than a restoration of the pre-revolutionary status quo. The British Government too wanted to roll back the borders of France to the pre-revolutionary situation and neither the Revolutionary Government, nor Artois were willing to entertain this. In the end, the Royalists coordinated an invasion force with the Royal Navy to land in the Vendée, a region where royalist sympathies were high and an active insurgency was still fighting against the French Republic.

In France itself, at the beginning of 1796, the possibility of a restoration of the monarchy had looked promising. The government of the National Convention, had granted a general amnesty to royalists in March of that year, and for many this seemed to be a sign of reconciliation. Many royalists now openly supported the restoration of Louis XVI, and those whom were more brazen, particularly in southern France began to wear white cockades. In November 1795, the Jacobin radicalists whom had dominated the government had been overthrown in a coup by a coalition of moderate Gironins, Federalists and Royalists. In the Vendee, a small royalist army with support of the British continued to fight against the government, and the government did make efforts to peacefully negotiate a cease-fire. The brutality of many of the royalist's tactics, however made some in Paris wary of any restoration, particularly as an outbreak of royalist violence against Jacobins in the south of France led to a "White Terror". In June 1796, the French Royalist Navy landed a force of 4,500 men at Quiberon Bay in the heart of the Vendée, creating further panic in Paris. While the army did manage to advance as far as Vannes, by July they were besieged at the Fortress of Penthièvre. To reinforce this army, the British sent a force of 4,000 men, along with the Comte d’Artois commanding a Royalist Force of 1,800 to Île d'Yeu. By August, the royalist army had increased to 35,000, and it seemed that Paris would fall to the royalists. The royalists, however were routed at Dreux on 15 September, with the Comte d'Artois, barely managing to escape to Lorient. From there he sailed with the remnants of his army to England and finally back to Quebec the following year. In Paris, however, the royalists had taken control over several arrondissements of the city, and outnumbered the National Guard of 5,000 by a ratio of 6:1. On 28 September 1796, under the leadership of a young Corsican General, Napoleon Bonaparte, the badly organised Royalists were disarmed by force, through the combination of heavy artillery and cavalry charges. The insurrection had led to the downfall of the National Convention, and its replacement with a military government under the leadership of a five-person committee, among them Napoleon Bonaparte.

Comte d'Artois c1795 by Henri Pierre Danloux