The French Navy and American independence : a study of arms and diplomacy, 1774-1787 / Jonathan R. Dull.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dull, Jonathan R., 1942- author.

Series:

Princeton legacy library.

Princeton Legacy Library

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Participation, French.

United States.

United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Naval operations.

France--Foreign relations--1774-1793.

France.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (459 pages) : illustrations, maps.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, 1975.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Military history is an essential component of wartime diplomatic history, Jonathan R. Dull contends, and this belief shapes his account of the French navy as the means by which French diplomacy helped to win American independence. The author discusses the place of long-range naval requirements in the French decision to aid the American colonists, the part played by naval rivalry in the transition from limited aid to full-scale war, and the ways naval considerations affected French wartime diplomacy. His book focuses on military strategy and diplomatic requirements in a setting in which military officers themselves did not participate directly in decision-making, but in which diplomats had to take continual account of military needs.Since military action is a means of accomplishing diplomatic goals, even military victory can prove hollow. The author examines the American war not as a successful exercise of French power, but rather as a tragic failure based on economic and political miscalculations. Among the questions he asks are: What relationship did the war bear to overall French diplomacy? What strains did the limited nature of the war impose on French diplomacy and war strategy? How did the results of the war relate to the objectives with which France entered the conflict?Originally published in 1976.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Glossary

Maps

CHAPTER ONE. 1774-The Inheritance of Louis XVI

CHAPTER TWO. /77 J - A n Empire at Peace, An Empire at War

CHAPTER THREE. 1776-The Beginning of Limited Intervention

CHAPTER FOUR. 7777-The Failure of Limited Intervention

CHAPTER FIVE. 1778- War without Spain

CHAPTER Six. 1779-War at the Center

CHAPTER SEVEN. 1780-War at the Periphery

CHAPTER EIGHT. 1781-The uAnnus Mirabilis"

CHAPTER NINE. 1782-Disintegration and Reprieve

CHAPTER TEN. 1783-1787-Epilogue

APPENDIX A. The Naval and Colonial Budget, 1776-1783

APPENDIX B. Ships of the Line, August 1774

APPENDIX C. Ships of the Line, Changes, 1775- February 1783

APPENDIX D. Frigates

APPENDIX E. Order of Battle, 1 July 1778

APPENDIX F. Order of Battle, 1 July 1779

APPENDIX G. Order of Battle, 1 July 1780

Appendix H. Order of Battle, 1 April 1781

APPENDIX I. Order of Battle, 1 April 1782

APPENDIX J. French Troops Sent to the Western Hemisphere, 1774-1782

APPENDIX K. Ships of the Line, 1 January 1181

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-691-64467-5

1-4008-6813-0

OCLC:

933516524