Fourth Anglo-Dutch War - Ceasefire and Treaty of Paris

Ceasefire and Treaty of Paris

The Republic did not form a formal military alliance with France and her allies before the end of the war. A treaty of amity and commerce was however concluded with the Americans in October 1782, after John Adams, who succeeded Henry Laurens, had managed to obtain diplomatic recognition of the American republic from the States-General in April 1782. The Republic was the second European power (after France, but before Spain) to recognize the United States. Adams also succeeded in raising a substantial loan for the Americans on the still-significant Dutch capital market.

The Republic involved itself in the peace congress that the French foreign minister Vergennes organized, negotiating separately with the British commissioners. The Dutch demands were not supported by the French and this put them into an untenable position when the French and their allies went ahead with the signing of the general peace. The Dutch therefore were forced to sign a preliminary peace just before that general treaty was signed. The Republic joined the armistice between Britain and France in January 1783. The signing of the Treaty of Paris (1784) made Negapatnam, in India, a British colony. Ceylon was returned by the French. The British gained the right of free trade with part of the Dutch East Indies, which had been a major war aim for British merchants. The French also returned the other Dutch colonies they had recaptured from the British, including the ones in the West Indies (like St. Eustatius that had been taken by Admiral Rodney in February 1781, but was retaken by the French Admiral De Grasse on 27 November 1781)