Treaty of Defensive Alliance between France and Spain
2.1062 Treaty of Defensive Alliance between
France and Spain
Alliance Members:France and Spain
Signed On:March 27, 1721, in the city of Madrid
Alliance Type:Defense Pact (Type I)
Source:Consolidated Treaty Series,vol. 31, p. 287.
SUMMARY
Following the culmination of the War of the Quadruple Alliance by
the Treaty of The Hague, France and Spain signed a defensive alliance
on March 27, 1721. Both sides agreed to terms that guaranteed that
one side would warn the other of any danger that could lead both
sides to another war.
The terms of the alliance were largely negotiated in secrecy, eliciting
great astonishment from the British when news of the pact went pub-
lic. To allay England’s curiosity that the French would take such a bold
step without English consent, Guillaume Dubois, who negotiated the
peace between parties leading to the March 27 alliance, offered to sub-
stitute the alliance with another one with full English participation.
This new pact involving the English was signed on June 13, 1721.
Description of Terms
The alliance members pledged a good and sincere friendship,
and both sides promised to alert the other alliance member in
the case of any danger. If either party was attacked against the
conditions of the treaties of Utrecht, Bade, and London, there
would be mutual aid until the trouble ended or until reparation
for the damages were paid. Spain and France agreed to invite
other powers into the treaty as they judged necessary.
If one country was attacked, the other had two months to
provide 10,000 infantrymen and 5,000 cavalry men or dra-
goons, and those numbers would be augmented if needed.
Spain and France pledged to protect the Duke of Parma.
2.1063 Treaty of Defensive Alliance among
France, Great Britain, and Spain
Alliance Members:France, Great Britain, and Spain
Signed On:June 13, 1721, in the city of Madrid
Alliance Type:Defense Pact (Type I)
Source:Consolidated Treaty Series,vol. 31, p. 317.
Additional Citations:A Collection of All the Treaties of Peace, Alliance,
and Commerce Between Great Britain and Other Powers,vol. 1,
p. 268–274.
SUMMARY
France and Spain brokered a secret treaty on March 27, 1721, agreeing
to mutually support each other and warn the counterpart of any
forthcoming issue that could entangle both sides in another war. How-
ever, upon learning about the pact, Great Britain was alarmed that
both states would take such action without British consent.
To appease Great Britain, Guillaume Dubois, the French statesman
who brokered the pact between France and Spain, offered to substitute
the March 27 pact with another one that had full British participation.
The terms of the June 13 alliance were very similar to the March 27
pact, with the only major change being the inclusion of Great Britain
as a third member. All sides agreed to a defensive alliance, where each
party to the alliance would inform other members of any danger that
could lead to war.Alliance Text
THE differences that have happened betwixt their Britannick
and moft Chriftian Mejefties on the one part, and his Catholic
Majefty on the other, having not a little impaired the friendfhip
which they always fhewed to one another, it has been a long
time their ardent wifh to re-eftablifh the good correspondence
and fincerc amity which ought to prevail among them, and
which will always be the ftrongeft fupport of the greatnefs to
which God has raifed them, and the fureft means to pre-ferve
the public tranquillity, as well as the happinefs and mutual
advantages of their fubjects ; and it is with a view to cement and
corroborate, if poffible, thefe difpofitions, which are as con-
ducive to the mutual glory and fecurity of their crowns, as they
are conformable to the welfare and tranquillity of all Europe,
that their Britannick, moft Chriftian, and Catholic Majefties
have refolved to unite in fo ftrict a manner, that they may act
hereafter as if they had only the fame view, and the fame intereft
: and for this end the moft ferene King of Great Britain, &c. hav-
ing given full powers to treat in his name, to William Stanhope,
Efq. colonel of a regiment of dragoons, a member of the parlia-
ment of Great Britain, and ambaffador extraordinary from his
Britannick Majefty to the court of the Catholic King ; the moft
ferene the moft Chriftian King having given full powers for the
fame end, to John Baptift Lewis Andrault de Langeron, Mar-
quifs de Maulevrier, lieutenant-general of his armies, com-
mander and grand croix of the military order of St. Louis, his
envoy extraordinary to his Catholic Majefty ; and the moft fer-
ene King of Spain having likewife granted his full powers for the
fame end to Don Jofeph Grimaldo, knight of the order of St.
Jago, governor of Rueira and Auzechal, a member of the council
of the Indies, and his firft fecretary of ftate and the difpatches ;
they have agreed on the following articles.
I. There fhall be hereafter and for ever a ftrict union and a
fincere and lafting friendfhip between the moft ferene King of
Great Britain, the moft ferene the moft Chriftian King, and the
moft ferene King of Spain, their kingdoms and their fubjects,
and inhabitants of the countries under their dominion; fo that
the injuries or damages fuffered during the war, to which an
end has been put by the acceffion of the moft ferene King of
Spain to the treaties of London, dated the 2d of Auguft 1718,
fhall be buried in eternal oblivion, and that for the future each
fhall take the fame care of one another’s fafety as of his own,
and not only inform his ally of the danger that may threaten
him, but alfo oppofe with all his power the injuries that may be
done him.