The Treaty of Amiens briefly ended the French Revolutionary Wars and remains the only general European peace between 1793 and 1814.
Key Facts
- Signed
- 25 March 1802
- Venue
- Hôtel de Ville, Amiens
- Peace duration
- Approximately one year (until 18 May 1803)
- British retention
- Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Trinidad
- French obligations
- Evacuate Naples and Egypt
- Britain ceded
- Most of its recent wartime conquests
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The War of the Second Coalition, fought since France's 1798 invasion of Egypt, had exhausted the major powers. Together with the Treaty of Lunéville (1801), which settled continental affairs, Britain and France sought a negotiated end to prolonged hostilities involving France, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
On 25 March 1802, Joseph Bonaparte and Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, signed the Definitive Treaty of Peace at the Hôtel de Ville in Amiens. Britain recognised the French Republic, surrendered most recent conquests, and retained Ceylon and Trinidad, while France agreed to evacuate Naples and Egypt.
The treaty produced the only general peace in Europe between 1793 and 1814, but it lasted barely a year. Tensions over French expansionism and British non-compliance with some terms led to renewed war on 18 May 1803, ushering in the Napoleonic Wars and a further decade of conflict across the continent.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
2 belligerents
Joseph Bonaparte.
Side B
1 belligerent
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis.