The French Navy and the Seven Years' War

1759 The Annus Horribilis

BOB — University of Nebraska Press / Page 131 / / French Navy and the Seven YearS’ War / Jonathan R. Dull 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 [First Page] [131], (1) Lines: 0 to 20 ——— 2.71pt PgVar ——— Normal Page PgEnds: TEX [131], (1) 6 1759 The Annus Horribilis new arrangements with austria and plans to invade britain Like William Pitt and Frederick II, Choiseul was arrogant, astute, ruthless, manipulative , sarcastic, and charismatic.1 He was single-minded in pursuing an honorable peace, but enormously flexible and creative in the means he chose. Technically he was not a chief minister, because Louis XV insisted on being his own chief minister. He enjoyed, however, greater power in the Council of the State than Pitt did in the inner cabinet, partly because Newcastle as first lord of the treasury was prime minister,albeit not fully in the modern understanding of the title.2 Choiseul,moreover,did not have to depend as did Pitt on his popularity with the public, because he enjoyed a firm base at court in the friendship of Madame de Pompadour and the trust of Louis XV and because he did not have to worry about elections. This was fortunate, as the French public distrusted Choiseul,whom it believed too pro-Austrian,even though in the last war he had fought against the Austrians in Bohemia, Italy, and the Austrian Netherlands.3 Bernis had told Choiseul on 20August that his task would be to avert France’s destruction by making peace.4 Bernis misjudged Louis XV, who told him on 9 October that no one wished peace more than he did, but he wished one that was solid and not dishonorable. 5 In exiling Bernis, Louis rejected the policy of making peace at any price and demonstrated a new resoluteness, perhaps because of the recent French victories in Germany, perhaps because he had begun to recover from the trauma of Damiens’ attack. Choiseul, as the king knew, felt the same way. On 2 December Choiseul told Starhemberg that he disagreed completely with Bernis about making peace now; thoughts of it should be put aside so the French government could occupy itself with finding the means to wage war. 6 Quickly he moved to end the peace feelers with Britain that the Danes had arranged. 7 As he told his ambassador to the Netherlands, it was BOB — University of Nebraska Press / Page 132 / / French Navy and the Seven YearS’ War / Jonathan R. Dull 132 The Annus Horribilis 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 [132], (2) Lines: 20 to 24 ——— 0.0pt PgVar ——— Normal Page PgEnds: TEX [132], (2) necessary to the dignity of the monarchy that the war be pursued with vigor and firmness, rather than pursuing vague and hazardous schemes of peace.8 Only thus could Britain be forced to accept reasonable peace terms. As Choiseul told his old friend Danish foreign minister Bernstorff, this would require patience and firmness; he boasted that he would not change his mind even if the British captured Brittany and Normandy.9 Choiseul criticized not only the fruitless peace initiatives of 1758 but also the attempt to defeat Britain through capturing Hanover. He claimed that France’s concentration on Germany had led it to neglect its own interests, particularly the defense of its colonies and commerce, for those of its allies, in which France was concerned only indirectly.10 Choiseul was prone to making sweeping statements to emphasize a point, and his comments on the importance of colonies and commerce11 have led some historians to see his ministry as beginning to widen the concerns of French diplomacy or even to turn away from Europe.12 This is untrue. Choiseul made such comments when he wished to win support for the war against Britain, but his views on French security did not differ from those of his predecessors or from those of Louis XV. Colonies contributed to French prosperity, prestige, and power. Moreover, the king’s honor and reputation demanded his defending them. France’s security, however, rested chiefly upon the defense of its borders, and this defense necessitated...