Ambassadorial and secret service reports on pre-revolutionary France, 1781-1786.

Format:

Website/Database

Series:

Archives unbound

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Great Britain. Foreign Office.

Great Britain.

Diplomatic and consular service, French--History--Sources.

Diplomatic and consular service, French.

France--Foreign relations--Great Britain--Sources.

France.

Great Britain--Foreign relations--France--Sources.

France--History--18th century--Sources.

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Other Title:

Gale archives unbound. Archives unbound. Ambassadorial and secret service reports on pre-revolutionary France, 1781-1786

Archives unbound. Ambassadorial and secret service reports on pre-revolutionary France, 1781-1786

Place of Publication:

Farmington Hills, Mich. : Gale, a Cengage Company, 2025.

Summary:

These Foreign Office reports (FO 27, Volumes 1-20) cover France as it neared the end of the old regime, with the French Revolution of 1789 looming on the horizon. While this was a period of relative stability in France, financial and agricultural difficulties were beginning to have an effect on the social and political situation domestically. Two treaties dominate the period: The Versailles Treaty of 1783 ending the American War of Independence, and the Eden-Vergennes 'Free Trade' Treaty of 1786, a temporary agreement between Great Britain and France to reduce tariffs and facilitate trade. However, France was not in a position to expand its economy. Financial support for the Americans in the 1776-1783 war, and successive crop failures, led to French bankruptcy in 1786 and the growth of tensions that were to explode in the riots of 1788. The records in this collection concentrate on the pre-revolutionary situation. Thomas Walpole, Richard Oswald, Alleyne Fitzherbert, Thomas Grenville, the Duke of Manchester, Anthony Storer, the Duke of Dorset, Daniel Hailes, George Crawford, and William Eden provide 'advices and intelligence' on both events in France and wider aspects of Anglo-French relations.

Notes:

Date range of documents: 1781-1786.

Reproduction of the originals from The National Archives (Kew, United Kingdom).

Online resource; title from home page (Gale Primary Sources, viewed October 2, 2025)

OCLC:

1536079489

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license