Treaty of Basel (July 22, 1795)

From Hispanopedia
Godoy Presenting Peace to Charles IV by José Aparicio, 1796, Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando.

The Treaty of Basel between the French Republic and the Monarchy of Charles IV of Spain was signed on July 22, 1795, in the Swiss town of Basel. It ended the War of the Convention between the two countries, which had begun in March 1793 and had been a disaster for the Spanish Monarchy, since the Basque Provinces and part of Catalonia ended up occupied by French troops. This treaty was signed after the peace between France and Prussia agreed in April of that same year.

History

François Barthélemy.

The military disaster and the pitiful state of the Royal Treasury (the costs of the war had caused a serious deficit),[1] together with the emergence of "Catalanist" and "Basquist" sentiments in the "provinces" where the fighting was taking place, forced Manuel Godoy to open peace negotiations. On the French side there was also weariness with the war, and the fall of Robespierre in July 1794 and the rise to power of the moderate republicans, or Thermidorians, opened a new stage in the Republic. After some unsuccessful initial contacts, the negotiations took place in Basel, where François Barthélemy, representative of the French Republic to the Helvetic Confederation, resided. There came Domingo de Iriarte, ambassador of the Monarchy of Charles IV at the court of Warsaw, who had known Barthélemy since his time at the embassy in Paris in 1791. This friendship greatly facilitated reaching an agreement, which was also helped by the death in prison of the Dauphin Louis XVII on June 8, 1795, since Charles IV had demanded his release as a condition for peace. Thus the two plenipotentiaries finally signed, on July 22, 1795, the Treaty of Basel, which put an end to the War of the Convention.[2]

Under its terms, Spain obtained the return of all the territory occupied by the French south of the Pyrenees, but in exchange had to cede to France its part of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, although it kept Louisiana, which the French had also claimed. This part of the treaty could not be carried out because of the Haitian Revolution, and Spain retained this possession (present-day Dominican Republic) until the invasion from Haiti by Toussaint Louverture in January 1801.

A secret clause resolved another controversial issue: the release of the sister of the late Dauphin and daughter of Louis XVI (Marie-Thérèse of France), who would be handed over to the Emperor of Austria. Another secret article stipulated:[3]

For five consecutive years from the ratification of the present treaty the French Republic may have extracted from Spain mares and stallions of Andalusia, and ewes and rams of merino stock, in the number of fifty stallions, one hundred and fifty mares, one thousand ewes and one hundred rams per year

On the other hand, the Treaty opened the door to improving relations between the Monarchy of Spain and the French Republic, because its Article 1 spoke not only of peace but of "friendship and good understanding between the King of Spain and the French Republic," and another article even mentioned the signing of a "new treaty of commerce," although this never came to light.[3] According to the historian Enrique Giménez, "the modesty of the French demands" was due to the fact that "the Republic sought reconciliation with Spain and to renew the alliance that had united the two neighboring powers during the 18th century against the common British enemy."[4]

As a reward for the success of the treaty, Manuel Godoy, First Secretary of State and of the Office, received from the King and Queen the title of "Prince of the Peace," something that went against the tradition of the Hispanic Monarchy, which only granted the title of prince to the heir to the throne (in this case the firstborn son of the King and Queen, Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias).[3]

References

  1. ↑ Giménez López 1996, p. 116: "According to Miguel Artola, the conflict produced a Treasury deficit of 2,767 million reales, which could not be reduced despite the extraordinary contributions that were put in place... and the donations and advances from the Church... The provinces near the border with France bore the greatest sacrifices during the war with the Convention. In Catalonia and Gipuzkoa the population had to provide food, lodging and baggage to the troops, stirring up foralist demands in Navarre and the Basque Country and a diffuse Catalanist sentiment on the eastern front."
  2. ↑ Giménez López 1996, pp. 58–60.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Giménez López 1996, p. 61.
  4. ↑ Giménez López 1996, pp. 61–62.

Bibliography

  • Giménez López, Enrique (1996). El fin del Antiguo Régimen. El reinado de Carlos IV (in español). Madrid: Historia 16-Temas de Hoy. ISBN 84-7679-298-0.

See also

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