2G - The international context: the part played by France, diplomacy and sea power
Learn how the War of Independence became an international conflict and why assistance from France and Spain mattered. Follow the connection between diplomacy, military credibility and sea power, while distinguishing European states' own interests from the revolutionaries' aims.
Diplomacy before alliance
Congress needed foreign support because Britain's established resources exceeded its own. Securing supplies and loans was urgent; gaining recognition could also turn a rebellion into a state treated as a legitimate diplomatic partner. This required more than announcing the justice of the cause. European governments judged whether assistance would serve their interests and whether the Americans were likely to survive.
France had reasons to weaken Britain after defeat in the Seven Years War. It had lost important North American territory in 1763 and wanted to reduce British power. Supporting a republican movement did not require the French monarchy to accept republican principles for France. Strategic rivalry could align governments with very different political systems.
French assistance initially remained covert. Arms and other supplies reached the Americans through commercial arrangements, including the enterprise associated with Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais. Silas Deane sought aid in France in 1776. After independence Congress sent commissioners including Benjamin Franklin, whose reputation and careful presentation helped win support. Diplomacy combined personal influence with a credible account of American prospects. Early assistance and negotiations.
Open alliance would bring France into war with Britain, so the French foreign minister, Vergennes, hesitated when American defeats made the enterprise look dangerous. Covert help could keep resistance alive while postponing the costs of a formal commitment. American diplomatic success therefore depended partly on military events over which the diplomats had limited control.
Saratoga and French commitment
The surrender of Burgoyne's army at Saratoga on 17 October 1777 altered the diplomatic calculation. It demonstrated that a major British force could be defeated and that American resistance could persist. France also feared that Britain might reconcile with the colonies, closing the opportunity to weaken its rival. Military credibility and diplomatic competition worked together.
On 6 February 1778, France and the United States signed treaties of Amity and Commerce and Alliance. The commercial treaty recognised the United States and provided for trading relations. The alliance committed the partners to the struggle against Britain and barred a separate peace. Recognition mattered because a major European power now publicly treated American independence as legitimate. The French commitment.
French help included money, arms, ammunition, troops and naval forces. These supplied capabilities Congress could not easily create. Rochambeau's army arrived in 1780, enabling more extensive combined operations. Lafayette, a French volunteer in American service, also contributed before and after the formal alliance; he should not be confused with the commander of the later French expeditionary army.
The alliance imposed obligations as well as providing aid. Americans could not assume France would accept every territorial or commercial demand in peace negotiations. Allies shared the aim of defeating Britain, but they remained separate states with distinct priorities. That tension became especially important when the peace settlement was negotiated.
Sea power and a global war
French entry changed the geography of Britain's war. It now had to protect the British Isles, Caribbean possessions and other overseas interests as well as operations in North America. Naval strength could no longer be considered only in relation to the small American navy. Ships committed elsewhere were unavailable for reinforcement and supply along the American coast.
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