Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Charles Gravier, comte

Count

A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...

de Vergennes (20 December 1717 – 13 February 1787) was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

statesman

Statesman

A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...

and diplomat

Diplomat

A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...

. He served as Foreign Minister

Foreign minister

A Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...

from 1774 during the reign of Louis XVI

Louis XVI of France

Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....

, notably during the American War of Independence.

Vergennes rose through the ranks of the diplomatic service during postings in Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

and Germany before receiving the important post of Envoy to the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

in 1755. While there he oversaw complex negotiations that resulted from the Diplomatic Revolution

Diplomatic Revolution

The Diplomatic Revolution of 1756 is a term applied to the reversal of longstanding diplomatic alliances which were upheld until the War of the Austrian Succession and then reversed in the Seven Years' War; the shift has also been known as "the great change of partners"...

before being recalled in 1768. After assisting a pro-French faction to take power in Sweden, he returned home and was promoted to foreign minister.

Vergennes hoped that by giving French aid to the American rebels, he would be able to weaken Britain's dominance of the international stage in the wake of their victory in the Seven Years War

Great Britain in the Seven Years War

The Kingdom of Great Britain was one of the major participants in the Seven Years' War which lasted between 1756 and 1763. Britain emerged from the war as the world's leading colonial power having gained a number of new territories at the Treaty of Paris in 1763 and established itself as the...

. This produced mixed results as in spite of securing American independence France was able to extract little material gain from the war, while the costs of fighting damaged French national finances in the run up to the Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

. He went on to be a dominant figure in French politics during the 1780s.

Early life

Charles Gravier was born in Dijon

Dijon

Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....

, France in 1719. His family were members of the country aristocracy. He spent his youth in a townhouse at Dijon and on the family's country estates. He had an elder brother Jean Gravier, marquis de Vergennes, born in 1718, who eventually inherited the family estates. His mother died when he was three, and his father subsequently remarried. Vergennes received his education from Jesuits in Dijon. In 1739, at the age of twenty, he accepted an offer to go to Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

as an assistant to Théodore Chevignard de Chavigny who was mutually referred to as his "uncle", but was in fact a more distant relative. Chavigny was an experienced diplomat and secret agent

Secret Agent

Secret Agent is a British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on two stories in Ashenden: Or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham. The film starred John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young...

who had been made ambassador to Portugal

Portugal

Portugal and Bavaria

The objective of Chavigny and Vergennes in Lisbon was to keep Portugal from entering the War of the Austrian Succession

War of the Austrian Succession

The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...

on the side of Britain, a task that proved relatively easy as the Portuguese had little interest in joining the war. In 1743 Vergennes accompanied his uncle to the court of Charves VII

Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles VII Albert a member of the Wittelsbach family, was Prince-elector of Bavaria from 1726 and Holy Roman Emperor from 24 January 1742 until his death in 1745...

who was the ruler of Bavaria

Electorate of Bavaria

The Electorate of Bavaria was an independent hereditary electorate of the Holy Roman Empire from 1623 to 1806, when it was succeeded by the Kingdom of Bavaria....

and also held the title of Holy Roman Emperor

Holy Roman Emperor

The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...

. Charles VII was a key ally of the French in the ongoing war against Austria, and they were charged with keeping him in the war by assauging his concerns which they accomplished successfully. They next were instrumental in the agreement of the Union of Frankfurt, a pact involving several German rulers to uphold Charles VII's interests. after Charles VII's sudden death in 1745, they strove to help his successor Maxamilian III but were unable to prevent him from losing his capital at Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

and making peace with the Austrians at the Treaty of Füssen

Treaty of Füssen

The Peace of Füssen was a peace treaty signed at Füssen, Bavaria, between the Electorate of Bavaria and Habsburg Austria. Signed on 22 April 1745, it ended the participation of Bavaria on the French side in the War of the Austrian Succession.-Background:...

. In November 1745 Chavigny was relieved of his post, and returned to France accompanied by Vergennes. The following year they returned to Portugal to take up their previous posts there where they remained until 1749, unsuccessfully trying to negotiate a commercial treaty.

Congress of Hanover

After their return home, Vergennes and his uncle were now in favour with the French Foreign Minister Puiseulx

Louis Philogène Brûlart, vicomte de Puisieulx

Louis Philogène Brulart, Marquis de Puysieulx , Comte de Sillery was a French foreign minister.He was the son of Carloman Philogène Brulart, Comte de Sillery and Mary-Louise Bigot....

. When Chavigny met Louis XV

Louis XV of France

Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...

at Versailles

Versailles

Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...

, he lobbied for Vergennes to be given an appointment. In 1750 Vergennes was appointed as Ambassador to the Electorate of Trier

Archbishopric of Trier

The Archbishopric of Trier was a Roman Catholic diocese in Germany, that existed from Carolingian times until the end of the Holy Roman Empire. Its suffragans were the dioceses of Metz, Toul and Verdun. Since the 9th century the Archbishops of Trier were simultaneously princes and since the 11th...

, one of the smaller German electorates. Vergennes faced an immediate challenge, as the British were planning to have an Austrian candidate Archduke Joseph

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor

Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...

elected as King of the Romans

King of the Romans

King of the Romans was the title used by the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire following his election to the office by the princes of the Kingdom of Germany...

, a position that designated the next Holy Roman Emperor. The Austrians had supplied the Emperor's for centuries until 1740, when Charles VII of Bavaria had been elected triggering the War of the Austrian Succession. The title eventually came back under Austrian control, and in 1748 the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle

Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)

The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748 ended the War of the Austrian Succession following a congress assembled at the Imperial Free City of Aachen—Aix-la-Chapelle in French—in the west of the Holy Roman Empire, on 24 April 1748...

was agreed bringing peace.

The British strategy was directed by the Duke of Newcastle, the Northern Secretary and brother of the Prime Minister. Newcastle hoped the election would prevent a recurrence of the recent war, by guaranteeing continued Austrian dominance in Germany. The French saw the proposal as part of a scheme by the British to boost their own power in Germany. Vergennes appointment was designed to frustrate the British plan, and Trier was considered a good strategic spot for this mission. He worked at getting the ruler of Trier to withhold his vote from Joseph, while mobilising wider resistance.

In 1752 an attempt to settle the matter, Newcastle travelled to Hanover where a special Congress

Congress of Hanover

The Congress of Hanover took place in the Electorate of Hanover in 1752. It was convened by the British government who wished to agree up a schedule for the election of the next Holy Roman Emperor. All of the eight voting German electors were invited to attend, as was a representative of France...

was convened. In April 1752 Vergennes was appointed as envoy to George II of Great Britain

George II of Great Britain

George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...

in his separate role as Elector of Hanover. His task was to uphold French interests at the Congress, either by delaying the election or preventing it entirely. To enable this, France championed the claims of the French-allied Palatine

Palatine

A palatine or palatinus is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times...

for payment of money they claimed against Austria and Britain insisting it be settled before the election took place. The British eventually agreed to a settlement, but Austria refused to accept this, creating a rift between the two countries which endangered the Anglo-Austrian Alliance

Anglo-Austrian Alliance

The Anglo-Austrian Alliance connected the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Habsburg monarchy during the first half of the 18th century. It was largely the work of the British statesman Duke of Newcastle, who considered an alliance with Austria crucial to prevent the further expansion of French...

. Newcastle was ultimately forced to dissolve the Congress and abandon the election.

The Congress was regarded as a diplomatic triumph for Vergennes and he received praise from Newcastle for his skills. To counter a last attempt by Austria to get an agreement, Vergennes was sent to the Palatine in January 1753 where he secured confirmation that they would stick to France's strategy. He then returned to Trier where he spent fourteen quiet months before he was given his next posting. His time in Germany shaped his views on diplomacy. He was critical of the British tendency of bowing to public opinion

Public opinion

Public opinion is the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs held by the adult population. Public opinion can also be defined as the complex collection of opinions of many different people and the sum of all their views....

because of their democracy, and he was concerned by the rising power of Russia.

Ottoman Empire

His successful advocacy of French interests in Germany led him to believe his next posting would be as Ambassador to Bavaria. Instead he was sent to the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

in 1755, first as minister plenipotentiary

Diplomatic rank

Diplomatic rank is the system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. Over time it has been formalized on an international basis.-Ranks:...

, then as full ambassador. The reason for Vergennes' original lesser rank was because sending a new ambassador was a time-consuming elaborate ceremony and there was a sense of urgency because of the death of the previous ambassador. Before he left France he was inducted into the Secret du Roi

Secret du Roi

For a period of over twenty years, King Louis XV split his diplomacy into official and secret channels. The secret channels became collectively known as the King's Secret , established in 1745...

.

Vergennes arrived in Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

as the Seven Years War was brewing and a new monarch Osman III

Osman III

Osman III or Othman IIIText not available was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1754 to 1757.-Biography:...

had recently come to the throne. The Ottomans were traditional allies of the French and were a major trading partner, but the weakening of Ottoman power and the growth of Russia threatened the old system. Despite their close ties the two states had no formal alliance. In his official orders Vergennes was ordered not to agree any treaty, but he received secret instructions from the King to agree a treaty if it supported the King's schemes in Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...

. His task was to try and persuade the Ottomans to counter the Russian threat to Poland, working in conjunction with Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

. The Diplomatic Revolution

Diplomatic Revolution

of 1756, turned this scheme upside down as France became friendly to and then allied to Austria and Russia and an enemy of Prussia. This forced Vergennes to reverse his anti-Russian rhetoric. The Ottoman leadership were angered by the new Franco-Austrian Alliance

Franco-Austrian Alliance

The Franco-Austrian Alliance was a diplomatic and military alliance between France and Austria that was first established in 1756 following the First Treaty of Versailles which lasted for much of the remainder of the century until it was abandoned during the French Revolution.The Alliance had its...

which they saw as hostile towards them. Vergennes spent the next few years trying to repair relations and persuade the Turks not to attack either Austria or Russia, as they were being urged to do by Prussian envoys.

Towards the end of the Seven Years War, Vergennes tackled several new problems. A dramatic reversal of Russian policies following the succession of Peter III

Peter III of Russia

Peter III was Emperor of Russia for six months in 1762. He was very pro-Prussian, which made him an unpopular leader. He was supposedly assassinated as a result of a conspiracy led by his wife, who succeeded him to the throne as Catherine II.-Early life and character:Peter was born in Kiel, in...

forced Vergennes to return to his previous policy of encouraging anti-Russian sentiment, only to change again when Peter was overthrown by his wife Catherine. Vergennes also had to deal with the consequences of the theft of the Sultan's flagship

Flagship

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

by Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

prisoners, who took it to Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

. The Sultant threatened to build up a large fleet and invade the island, potentially provoking a major war in the Meditarranean in which France would have to defend Malta in spite of the global war it was already fighting. Eventually a compromise was agreed in which the French negotiated the return of the ship, but not the prisoners, to the Sultan.

The Treaty of Paris

Treaty of Paris (1763)

The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...

in 1763, brought an end to the war but France was forced to cede significant territory to the British easing some of the strains on Vergennes. However, he was left personally disappointed by the decline in French prestige. He was also alarmed by the weakening of French influence in Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

which in 1764 elected Stanislas Poniatowski, a Russian-backed candidate, as its King after it became apparent that France was powerless to prevent it. Vergennes' efforts to convince the Ottomans to intervene in the election were undermined by a failure to settle on a single French candidate for the throne and both France and the Turks were eventually forced to acknowledge Stanislas as King. As he was a lover of Catherine the Great, it was believed that Poland would become a satellite

Satellite

In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....

of Russia, or the two states might even be merged together.

Recall

In 1768, he was recalled, ostensibly because he married the widow Anne Duvivier, (1730–1798), but more probably because the Duc de Choiseul

Étienne François, duc de Choiseul

Étienne-François, comte de Stainville, duc de Choiseul was a French military officer, diplomat and statesman. Between 1758 and 1761, and 1766 and 1770, he was Foreign Minister of France and had a strong influence on France's global strategy throughout the period...

thought him not competent to provoke a war between Imperial Russia and the Ottomans which Choiseul hoped for. Choiseul wanted to weaken the power of Russia as he believed they were becoming too strong in the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

. Choiseul regarded the best way of doing that as provoking a costly war between them and the Ottomans. Although he thought the strategy unwise, Vergennes continuously advocated war in Constantinople by trying to convince that Ottomans that war was the only way to check Russia's rising power.

Choiseul's marriage had taken place without the King's consent which was a requirement for French ambassadors. In France Vergennes encountered strong disapproval for his marriage and was aware that he returned home in disgrace. In spite of his doubts, Vergennes was successful in persuading the Ottomans to declare war against Russia, and in 1768 the Russo-Turkish War broke out. It eventually ended in a decisive victory for the Russians, who gained new territory, and further eroded Ottoman power. Despite his opposition to the policy, Vergennes still took credit in France for having fulfilled his orders to provoke a war. During this period Vergennes and Choiseul developed a mutual dislike of each other.

Sweden

After Choiseul's dismissal in 1770, Vergennes was sent to Sweden

Enlightened Absolute Monarchy in Sweden

- Gustav III :Adolf Frederick of Sweden died on February 12, 1771. The elections held on the demise of the Crown resulted in a Gustav's partial victory for the Caps, especially among the lower orders; but in the estate of the peasantry their majority was merely nominal, while the mass of the...

with instructions to help the pro-French party of The Hats

Hats (party)

The Hats were a Swedish political faction active during the Age of Liberty . Their name derives from the tricorne hat worn by officers and gentlemen. They vied for power with the Caps. The Hats, who ruled Sweden from 1738 to 1765, advocated an alliance with France and an assertive foreign policy,...

with advice and money. The coup by which King Gustav III

Gustav III of Sweden

Gustav III was King of Sweden from 1771 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Adolph Frederick and Queen Louise Ulrica of Sweden, she a sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia....

secured power (19 August 1772) was a major diplomatic triumph for France and brought to an end the Swedish Age of Liberty.

Appointment

With the accession of King Louis XVI

Louis XVI of France

Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....

in 1774, Vergennes became foreign minister. His policy was guided by the conviction that the power of the states on the periphery of Europe, namely Great Britain and Russia, was increasing, and ought to be diminished. When he was appointed to the job, he had spent almost the entirety of the previous thirty five years abroad in diplomatic service. He readily admitted that he had lost touch with developments in France, and was mocked by some political opponents as a "foreigner". Despite this he was able to view France's foreign affairs with a more abstract nature, taking in the wider European context.

American War of Independence

Vergennes' rivalry with the British, and his desire to avenge the disasters of the Seven Years' War

Seven Years' War

The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...

, led to his support of the Thirteen Colonies

Thirteen Colonies

The Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...

in the American War of Independence, a step which would help, ultimately, bring about the French Revolution

French Revolution

of 1789. As early as 1765 he had predicted that the loss of the French threat in North America would lead ultimately to the Americans "striking off their chains". In 1775 the first fighting had broken out and in July 1776 the colonists declared independence

United States Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...

Entry into the war

Long before France's open entry into the war Vergennes approved of the Pierre Beaumarchais

Pierre Beaumarchais

Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais was a French playwright, watchmaker, inventor, musician, diplomat, fugitive, spy, publisher, arms dealer, satirist, financier, and revolutionary ....

's plan for secret French assistance. Supplies, arms, ammunition and volunteers were given to the American rebels from early 1776. The weakness of the British naval blockade off the American coast allowed large amounts to be smuggled through. In 1777, he informed the Thirteen Colonies' commissioners that France acknowledged the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, and was willing to form an offensive and defensive alliance with the new state. His haste to agree an alliance with the Americans was driven by his fear that the British and the colonists were about to reconcile in the wake of the Battle of Saratoga

Battle of Saratoga

The Battles of Saratoga conclusively decided the fate of British General John Burgoyne's army in the American War of Independence and are generally regarded as a turning point in the war. The battles were fought eighteen days apart on the same ground, south of Saratoga, New York...

, possibly followed by a joint attack on France.

Vergennes had long-planned to enter the war jointly with Spain, but Charles III of Spain

Charles III of Spain

Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...

was more interested in mediating the dispute and was concerned about encouraging colonial revolts. In spite of this Vergennes pressed ahead with his alliance, in agreement with the American envoy Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin

Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...

, which would almost certainly lead to war with Britain. In the wake of the Franco-American agreement, the Americans rejected British peace offers made by the Carlisle Peace Commission

Carlisle Peace Commission

The Carlisle Peace Commission was a group of British negotiators who were sent to North America in 1778, during the American War of Independence, with an offer to the rebellious Thirteen Colonies, who had declared themselves to be the United States, of self-rule within the British Empire...

Strategy

Despite the optimism that had surrounded France's entry into the war, France failed to make an immediate impact to the ongoing war in America. A fleet under Admiral d'Estaing

Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing

Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, comte d'Estaing was a French general, and admiral. He began his service as a soldier in the War of the Austrian Succession, briefly spending time as a prisoner of war of the British during the Seven Years' War...

sailed to assist the rebels, but was involved in failed attacks in Rhode Island

Battle of Rhode Island

The Battle of Rhode Island, also known as the Battle of Quaker Hill and the Siege of Newport, took place on August 29, 1778. Continental Army and militia forces under the command of General John Sullivan were withdrawing to the northern part of Aquidneck Island after abandoning their siege of...

and Savannah

Siege of Savannah

The Siege of Savannah or the Second Battle of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia, had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell. The siege itself consisted of a joint...

. This, amongst other things, placed significant strains on Franco-American relations. In spite of this, Vergennes continued to send large amounts of money to keep the war effort afloat. Meanwhile the British regained the initiative with their Southern Strategy

Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War

The Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War was the central area of operations in North America in the second half of the American Revolutionary War. During the first three years of the conflict, the primary military encounters had been in the north, focused on campaigns around the...

.

Spain's entry into the war in 1779 gave the Allies a considerably larger joint fleet than the British Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

, but in spite of this an attempted invasion of Britain

Armada of 1779

The Armada of 1779 was an exceptionally large joint French and Spanish fleet intended, with the aid of a feint by the American Continental Navy, to facilitate an invasion of Britain, as part of the wider American War of Independence, and in application of the Franco-American alliance...

miscarried. This seriously undermined Vergennes' plans as he had anticipated a swift and simple war, which now promised to be considerably more difficult and expensive than he had hoped.

League of Armed Neutrality

Vergennes sought by a series of negotiations to secure the armed neutrality of the Northern European states

First League of Armed Neutrality

The first League of Armed Neutrality was an alliance of European naval powers between 1780 and 1783 which was intended to protect neutral shipping against the British Royal Navy's wartime policy of unlimited search of neutral shipping for French contraband...

, eventually carried out by Catherine II of Russia

Catherine II of Russia

Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...

. A direct result of this was Britain's declaration of war against the Dutch Republic

Fourth Anglo-Dutch War

The Fourth Anglo–Dutch War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. The war, tangentially related to the American Revolutionary War, broke out over British and Dutch disagreements on the legality and conduct of Dutch trade with Britain's enemies in that...

in an attempt to keep the Dutch from joining the League. This was frustrating to Vergennes as he saw the Dutch as being more valuable as neutrals, as they could supply France through the British blockade, than as allies. He briefly entertained the hope that the British war against the Dutch would provoke the Russians to enter the war against them, but Catherine declined to act. The Dutch entry into the war placed further strains on the French treasury, as they searched for finances to support the Dutch war effort.

He acted as an intermediary in the War of the Bavarian Succession between Austria and Prussia, which he feared could trigger a major European war, wrecking his strategy of sending French and Spanish forces to the Americas to fight the British there by draggomg resources and troops to Central Europe. The conflict was ended relatively peacefully by the Treaty of Teschen

Treaty of Teschen

The Treaty of Teschen was signed on May 13, 1779, in Cieszyn , Austrian Silesia, between Austria and Prussia, which officially ended the War of the Bavarian Succession sparked by the death of Elector Maximilian III Joseph...

, of which France was a guarantor. Vergennes's strategy of trying to prevent Britain from gaining allies from the European great powers was a success, and the British were forced to fight the entire war without a significant ally, in sharp contrast to previous wars.

Yorktown

The first French expedition to America under d'Estaing returned to France in 1780. The following year another fleet was despatched under Admiral de Grasse while the Expédition Particulière

Expédition Particulière

Expédition Particulière was the code name given by the French government for the plan to sail French land forces to North America to support the American rebel forces against Britain in the American Revolutionary War. In English they were known as the Special Expedition.The expedition of 5,000...

, a sizable force of French soldiers under the comte de Rochambeau

Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau

Marshal of France Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau was a French nobleman and general who participated in the American Revolutionary War as the commander-in-chief of the French Expeditionary Force which came to help the American Continental Army...

, arrived in America in July 1780. In October 1781 the French force played a key role in the surrender of a British army at Yorktown

Siege of Yorktown

The Siege of Yorktown, Battle of Yorktown, or Surrender of Yorktown in 1781 was a decisive victory by a combined assault of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis...

. In spite of the large British military presence in America and continued possession of several major cities, the British parliament passed a resolution in early 1782 suspending further offensives against the Americans, although this did not apply to their other enemies in other theatres.

1782

After the success at Yorktown, the French fleet had gone to the West Indies as part of a plan to invade Britain's colony of Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

. In April 1782 at the Battle of the Saintes

Battle of the Saintes

The Battle of the Saintes took place over 4 days, 9 April 1782 – 12 April 1782, during the American War of Independence, and was a victory of a British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney over a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse forcing the French and Spanish to abandon a planned...

, the French fleet suffered a major defeat and de Grasse was captured by the British. In both France and Britain this was seen as restoring British control of the seas. Since 1779, Allied forces had laid siege

Great Siege of Gibraltar

The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the American War of Independence. This was the largest action fought during the war in terms of numbers, particularly the Grand Assault of 18 September 1782...

to the British base at Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

. In 1782, a major Franco-Spanish attack on Gibraltar failed and it was relieved shortly afterwards. This presented a major problem to Vergennes as the treaty of alliance with the Spanish had committed the French to keep fighting until Gibraltar was under Spanish control and could potentially extend the war indefinitely.

These two defeats undermined the French confidence that had greeted Yorktown, and Vergennes was increasingly pessimistic about allied prospects during the coming year. By this stage, peace negotiations were well underway.

During 1782, Vergennes also committed French troops to put down a democratic revolution in the Republic of Geneva that had broken out the previous year.

Treaty of Paris

During the negotiations leading up to the Treaty of Paris

Treaty of Paris (1783)

The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of...

, Vergennes tried to balance the conflicting interests of France, Spain and the United States. He was largely unsympathetic to the Dutch, believing that their disappointing effort in the war did not justify him championing their aims at the peace table. He also played a major role in persuading Spain to accept a peace agreement which did not give them Gibraltar

Gibraltar

, without which it was likely the war would have been prolonged at least a further year: something French national finances could not afford.

By 1782 Vergennes was growing increasingly frustrated by what he regarded as the inability of the United States to justify the large sums of money that France had given to them, remarking to the Marquis de Lafayette, who had recently returned from America, "I am not marvelously pleased with the country that you have just left. I find it barely active and very demanding". Although he continued to enjoy a warm relationship with Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin

, the American peace commissioners John Jay

John Jay

John Jay was an American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat, a Founding Father of the United States, and the first Chief Justice of the United States ....

and John Adams

John Adams

John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...

distrusted the motives of Vergennes and France and began their own separate peace talks with British envoys.

When Vergennes discovered in November 1782 that the Americans had concluded a separate peace with the British, he felt betrayed, as its had previously been agreed that a joint peace would be negotiated between them. In light of the generous terms that Britain had granted to the United States, although they had refused to cede Canada, Vergennes remarked "The English buy peace rather than make it."

France's own peace terms with Britain were finalised in January 1783. Worried that another year of war would result in further British victories, Vergennes was keen to reach an agreement. France received Tobago

Tobago

Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...

, several trading posts in Africa and the end of restrictions on Dunkirk. Vergennes claimed that France's limited gains justified his position that their participation had been disinterested. He was criticised for this by Marquis de Castries

Charles Eugène Gabriel de La Croix, marquis de Castries

Charles Eugène Gabriel de La Croix de Castries, marquis de Castries, baron des États de Languedoc, comte de Charlus, baron de Castelnau et de Montjouvent, seigneur de Puylaurens et de Lézignan was a French marshal...

, who believed that most of the war's burdens had been on France while most of the benefits were for her allies.

Last years

Foreign policy

Despite claiming victory from the American War of Independence, France's foreign situation began to decline rapidly in the years after 1783. French resources were increasingly strained and unable to support Versailles' traditional role in Europe. This was heightened during the Dutch Crisis of 1787 when France was unable to prevent the intervention of Prussian troops to crush the French-allied Patriots

Patriots (faction)

The Patriots were a political faction in the Dutch Republic in the second half of the 18th century. They were led by Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, gaining power from November 1782....

in the Dutch Republic

Dutch Republic

The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...

. This diplomatic retreat was a contributing factor to the French Revolution.

Vergennes encouraged King Louis to sponsor expeditions to Indochina

Indochina

The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...

, which laid the building blocks of the French conquest during the next century that created French Indochina

French Indochina

French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....

Domestic politics

In domestic affairs, Vergennes remained a conservative

Conservatism

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

, carrying out intrigues to have Jacques Necker

Jacques Necker

Jacques Necker was a French statesman of Swiss birth and finance minister of Louis XVI, a post he held in the lead-up to the French Revolution in 1789.-Early life:...

removed. He regarded Necker, a foreign Protestant

Protestantism

Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...

, as a dangerous innovator, and secret republican

Republicanism

Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...

and was wary of his Anglophile views. In 1781, Vergennes became chief of the council of finance, and, in 1783, he supported the nomination of Charles Alexandre de Calonne

Charles Alexandre de Calonne

Charles Alexandre, vicomte de Calonne was a French statesman, best known for his involvement in the French Revolution.-Rise to prominence:...

as Controller-General.

Vergennes died just before the meeting of the Assembly of Notables

Assembly of Notables

The Assembly of Notables was a group of notables invited by the King of France to consult on matters of state.-History:Assemblies of Notables had met in 1583, 1596–97, 1617, 1626, 1787, and 1788. Like the Estates General, they served a consultative purpose only...

which he is said to have suggested to Louis XVI. The opening of the Assembly was delayed several times in order for him to be able to attend after he had grown ill from overwork, but on 13 February 1787 he died. When Louis XVI was told the news he broke down in tears and described Vergennes as "the only friend I could count on, the one minister who never deceived me".

After his death in 1787, the situation deteriorated leading to the outbreak of the French Revolution

French Revolution

in 1789. In January 1793 the King was executed and France was soon at war with many of its neighbours. In The Terror

Reign of Terror

The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...

that followed many of Vergennes' contempories were imprisoned and killed.

Legacy and popular culture

He has often been portrayed by Americans as a visionary, because of his support for American independence. However this support for a republican insurrection, and the enormous cost France incurred in the war, are generally considered the cause of the French Revolution

French Revolution

, which brought down the French monarchy, and the system he served.

He was played by Guillaume Gallienne

Guillaume Gallienne

Guillaume Gallienne is French actor who has been a member of the Comédie-Française company from 1998. He made his film debut 1992 in Tableau d'honneur and he has starred in Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola....

in the 2006 film Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette (2006 film)
Marie Antoinette is a 2006 biographical film, written and directed by Sofia Coppola. It is very loosely based on the life of the Queen consort in the years leading up to the French Revolution. It won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design...

.

The city of Vergennes, Vermont

Vergennes, Vermont

Vergennes is a city located in the northwest quadrant of Addison County, Vermont, in the United States. Bordered by the towns of Ferrisburgh, Panton and Waltham, as of the 2000 census the city population was 2,741. It is the smallest of Vermont's nine cities in terms of population...

was named after him as suggested by Ethan Allen

Ethan Allen

Ethan Allen was a farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, and American Revolutionary War patriot, hero, and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of the U.S...

Early life

Portugal and Bavaria

Congress of Hanover

Ottoman Empire

Recall

Sweden

Appointment

American War of Independence

Entry into the war

Strategy

League of Armed Neutrality

Yorktown

1782

Treaty of Paris

Last years

Foreign policy

Domestic politics

Legacy and popular culture

See also

Other sources