Basel, Treaty of (1795)
Basel, Treaty of (1795)
Treaty of Basel (1795), an agreement between France and Spain that restored to Spain peninsular territory lost during the Franco-Spanish War (1793–1795) and gave France Santo Domingo. Spain was ill prepared for war, and when defeat appeared inevitable, Manuel de Godoy led the way out, an effort which earned him the title "Prince of Peace." His justifications for making peace were economic difficulties, a shortage of troops, and lack of money—hardly novel conditions in eighteenth-century Spain. The treaty angered the British, who subsequently renewed a vigorous and damaging attack on Spanish shipping; in October 1796, Spain declared war on Great Britain. In 1797 the British navy imposed a total blockade on Cádiz and reduced the number of ships that arrived from 171 in 1796 to nine in 1797.
See alsoFrench-Latin American Relations; Godoy, Manuel; Santo Domingo.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Andrés Muriel, Historia de Carlos IV (1959): John Fisher, Commercial Relations Between Spain and Spanish America in the Era of Free Trade, 1778–1796 (1985).
Suzanne Hiles Burkholder