Provisional Convention between Portugal and Spain2.1106 Convention between Spain and
England
Alliance Members:Spain and England
Signed On:May 25, 1793, in the city of Aranjuez (Spain)
Alliance Type:Defense Pact (Type I)
Source:Consolidated Treaty Series,vol. 52, p. 41.
SUMMARY
France had already been at war with the Holy Roman Empire when
the execution of the Bourbon king, Louis XVI, in January 1793
incensed the rest of Europe. Great Britain and Spain, which also
claimed a monarch from the House of Bourbon, decided to wage war
against France, resulting in a series of treaties between the two states.
The May 25 treaty in Aranjuez was the result of years of negotiations
pertaining to issues of commerce and duties. After the execution of
Louis XVI, talks between the two sides accelerated, culminating in an
alliance dealing with issues of mutual commerce, defense, and offense
against the French. The alliance signed brought Spain and Great
Britain into the Wars of the First Coalition.
Spain’s foray in war was brief, and its defeat in the War of the Pyrenees
and subsequent peace signed at Basel turned the Spanish into an ally
of the French, forcing Spain, the former ally, to fight against the
British.
Description of Terms
Both Great Britain and Spain pledged to do all they could to
restore tranquility. Because France declared an unjust war on
England, Spain promised to make common cause with England
in this war.
Warships of both states would give protection to the trading
ships of both states without distinction, and all warships would
be allowed in the other state’s ports. No French ships would be
allowed in the ports of the allies. The allies pledged to advise all
neutral states against protecting French commerce. The allies
pledged not to stop the war (except from common accord) until
all the territory that belonged to them before the war was
restored. If one of the allies were attacked, the other ally would
consider it an attack on its own state.
2.1107 Convention between Great Britain and
the Two Sicilies
Alliance Members:Great Britain and the Two Sicilies
Signed On:July 12, 1793, in the city of Naples
Alliance Type:Defense Pact (Type I)
Source:Consolidated Treaty Series,vol. 52, p. 77.
SUMMARY
When it signed this alliance with Great Britain in 1793, the kingdom
of the Two Sicilies joined the First Coalition against France following
the execution of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Sicilian involvement
in the First Coalition was short-lived, and a peace was reached with
France in 1796.
In 1798, the kingdom of the Two Sicilies again decided to enter the
war against revolutionary France and, along with Austrian forces,
renewed hostilities against France in the Italian theater. The French
quickly routed the troops from Rome, however, causing Ferdinand IV,
the king of the Two Sicilies, to evacuate to Naples. The resulting con-
fusion and chaos led to the January 1799 formation of the ephemeral
French client state of the Parthenopaean Republic. Seven months later,
King Ferdinand IV returned from Naples and purged the elements
responsible for the formation of the client state.Description of Terms
England and the Two Sicilies pledged to join the fight against
France. The allies guaranteed each other’s territory and com-
mitted to not make a separate peace with France. The Two
Sicilies promised to give 6,000 men and twelve warships of dif-
ferent sizes, mainly to be used in the Mediterranean. England
would pay for the men’s transportation and food. England
would also keep warships in the Mediterranean as long as the
situation required.
The Two Sicilies would prohibit its private trade with
France, closing its ports to French merchants, while also open-
ing all its ports to English ships. If England were no longer able
to make war against France, the Two Sicilies would become a
neutral party.2.1108 Provisional Convention between Portu-
gal and Spain
Alliance Members:Portugal and Spain
Signed On:July 15, 1793, in the city of Madrid
Alliance Type:Defense Pact (Type I)
Source:Consolidated Treaty Series,vol. 52, p. 97.SUMMARY
During the First Coalition of the French Revolutionary Wars, France
declared war on Spain and tried to secure neutrality from Portugal. In
response, Portugal formed a defensive alliance with Spain, pitting the
Portuguese against revolutionary France in the War of the Pyrenees.
Portugal, a weaker state in Europe at the time, secured British naval
assistance for its campaign in the Mediterranean.
Spain fell rather quickly to the French, resulting in the Peace of Basel
in 1795 between the two. In 1796 Spain and France formed an
alliance against Britain and Portugal, which was followed by a Span-
ish declaration of war against the British. Rather than face the
prospects of a costly war against superior foes, Portugal opted for a
secret peace resolution with France. Unbeknownst to the British, the
Portuguese minister in Paris negotiated a treaty with France in 1797,
vowing neutrality during the war and closing Portuguese ports to
British commerce, but the Portuguese court rejected this treaty.
Nevertheless, Britain remained suspicious of its ally, and ultimately
Portugal was forced by France to sign a peace treaty after the French
invaded in 1801.Description of Terms
The treaty committed both parties in an offensive and defensive