Paris, Treaty of

Paris, Treaty of,

The Treaty of 1763

The Treaty of Paris of Feb. 10, 1763, was signed by Great Britain, France, and Spain. Together with the treaty of HubertusburgHubertusburg, Peace of
, 1763, treaty signed on Feb. 15 between Austria and Prussia at the end of the Seven Years War. It was signed at Hubertusburg, Saxony (in present-day E Germany), a castle (built 1721–33) then used as a hunting lodge by the electors of Saxony.
..... Click the link for more information. , it terminated the Seven Years WarSeven Years War,
1756–63, worldwide war fought in Europe, North America, and India between France, Austria, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, and (after 1762) Spain on the one side and Prussia, Great Britain, and Hanover on the other.
..... Click the link for more information. . France lost its possessions on the North American continent by ceding Canada and all its territories east of the Mississippi to Great Britain, and by ceding W Louisiana to its ally, Spain, in compensation for Florida, which Spain yielded to Great Britain. France retained the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon and recovered Guadeloupe and Martinique in the West Indies from Great Britain, in exchange for which it ceded Grenada and the Grenadines to the English.

In East India the French were permitted to return to their posts, but they were forbidden to maintain troops or build forts in Bengal; India thus virtually passed to Great Britain. In Africa France yielded Senegal to Great Britain. Cuba and the Philippines were restored to Spain. In Europe the French and Spanish returned Minorca to Great Britain, and France withdrew its troops from Germany. From this treaty dated the colonial and maritime supremacy of Great Britain.

The Treaty of 1783

By the Treaty of Paris of Sept. 3, 1783, Great Britain formally acknowledged the independence of the United States, and the warring European powers, Britain against France and Spain, with the Dutch as armed neutrals, effected a large-scale peace settlement. The preliminary Anglo-American articles (which went unchanged) were signed on Nov. 30, 1782, after months of tortuous negotiations, in which the chief American plenipotentiaries, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay, acquitted themselves so well that their achievement has been labeled "the greatest triumph in the history of American diplomacy."

France and Spain signed separate preliminary articles with Great Britain on Jan. 20, 1783, and the Dutch and British signed theirs on Sept. 2, 1783. These preliminary agreements (except the Anglo-Dutch one, which was not ratified by both powers until June, 1784) were signed as definitive treaties on Sept. 3, 1783.

The Anglo-American settlement fixed the boundaries of the United States. In the Northeast the line extended from the source of the St. Croix River due north to the highlands separating the rivers flowing to the Atlantic from those draining into the St. Lawrence River, thence with the highlands to lat. 45°N, and then along the 45th parallel to the St. Lawrence. From there the northern boundary followed a line midway through contiguous rivers and lakes (especially the Great Lakes) to the northwest corner of the Lake of the Woods, thence "due west" to the sources of the Mississippi (which were not then known).

The Mississippi, south to lat. 31°N, was made the western boundary. On the south the line followed the 31st parallel E to the Chattahoochee River and its junction with the Flint River, then took a straight line to the mouth of the St. Marys River, and from there to the Atlantic. The navigation of the Mississippi was to be open to the citizens of both nations.

Another section of the treaty granted Americans fishing rights off Newfoundland and the privilege of curing fish in the uninhabited parts of Labrador, Nova Scotia, and the Magdalen Islands, but not in Newfoundland. A third part provided that creditors of either side would be unimpeded in the collection of lawful debts. In a fourth section the American government promised to recommend to the several states that they repeal their confiscation laws, provide for restitution of confiscated property to British subjects, and take no further proceedings against the Loyalists.

In the treaty with France, Britain relinquished the restrictions that had been imposed on the French naval port of Dunkirk, but aside from minor adjustments in the West Indies and Africa, the territorial dispositions made in the Treaty of Paris of 1763 were generally continued. Spain, however, in its treaty with Britain, reacquired the Floridas in America and the island of Minorca in the Mediterranean, while the British retained Gibraltar.

The Treaty of 1814

The Treaty of Paris of May 30, 1814, was concluded between France on the one hand and Great Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia on the other after the first abdication of Napoleon INapoleon I
, 1769–1821, emperor of the French, b. Ajaccio, Corsica, known as "the Little Corporal." Early Life

The son of Carlo and Letizia Bonaparte (or Buonaparte; see under Bonaparte, family), young Napoleon was sent (1779) to French military schools at
..... Click the link for more information. . France was confined to its boundaries of 1792. No indemnity was exacted, and England returned all the French colonies save Tobago, St. Lucia, and Mauritius. Britain also kept Malta. A general conference was to be called for the territorial settlement in Europe (see Vienna, Congress ofVienna, Congress of,
Sept., 1814–June, 1815, one of the most important international conferences in European history, called to remake Europe after the downfall of Napoleon I.
..... Click the link for more information. ). The leniency of the treaty to defeated France was chiefly due to the diplomatic skill of TalleyrandTalleyrand or Talleyrand-Périgord, Charles Maurice de
, 1754–1838, French statesman and diplomat.
..... Click the link for more information. , who had engineered the restoration of Louis XVIIILouis XVIII,
1755–1824, king of France (1814–24), brother of King Louis XVI. Known as the comte de Provence, he fled (1791) to Koblenz from the French Revolution and intrigued to bring about foreign intervention against the revolutionaries.
..... Click the link for more information.  on the French throne.

The Treaty of 1815

After Napoleon's return, his defeat at Waterloo, and his second abdication, a new peace treaty was signed at Paris on Nov. 20, 1815. This treaty was much sterner than the one of the previous year. France was reduced to the boundary of 1790, was required to pay 700 million francs in reparations, and was made to pay for the maintenance of an Allied army of occupation in NE France, which was to remain for a maximum of five years. All the provisions of the treaty of 1814 not expressly revoked were to remain binding, as was the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna. On the same day Great Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia renewed the Quadruple AllianceQuadruple Alliance,
any of several European alliances. The Quadruple Alliance of 1718 was formed by Great Britain, France, the Holy Roman emperor, and the Netherlands when Philip V of Spain, guided by Cardinal Alberoni, sought by force to nullify the peace settlements reached
..... Click the link for more information. .

Other Treaties

For the Treaty of Paris of 1856, see Paris, Congress ofParis, Congress of,
1856, conference held by representatives of France, Great Britain, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), Sardinia, Russia, Austria, and Prussia to negotiate the peace after the Crimean War. In the Treaty of Paris (Mar.
..... Click the link for more information. . For the Treaty of Paris of 1898, see Spanish-American WarSpanish-American War,
1898, brief conflict between Spain and the United States arising out of Spanish policies in Cuba. It was, to a large degree, brought about by the efforts of U.S. expansionists.
..... Click the link for more information. . After World War I several treaties were signed in 1919 and 1920 in or near Paris (see Versailles, Treaty ofVersailles, Treaty of,
any of several treaties signed in the palace of Versailles, France. For the Treaty of Versailles of 1783, which ended the American Revolution, see Paris, Treaty of, 1783.
..... Click the link for more information. ; Saint-Germain, Treaty ofSaint-Germain, Treaty of
, any of several treaties signed at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, France. 1 The Treaty of Saint-Germain of 1570 terminated the first phase of the French religious wars (see Religion, Wars of).
..... Click the link for more information. ; Neuilly, Treaty ofNeuilly, Treaty of
, 1919, peace treaty concluded between the Allies and Bulgaria after World War I. It was signed at Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Bulgaria ceded part of W Thrace to Greece and several border areas to Yugoslavia; S Dobruja was confirmed in Romanian possession.
..... Click the link for more information. ; Trianon, Treaty ofTrianon, Treaty of,
1920, agreement following World War I in which the Allies disposed of Hungarian territories. The internal chaos in Hungary that followed the dissolution (1918) of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy delayed the signing of a peace treaty with the Allies of World War
..... Click the link for more information. ; Sèvres, Treaty ofSèvres, Treaty of,
1920, peace treaty concluded after World War I at Sèvres, France, between the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), on the one hand, and the Allies (excluding Russia and the United States) on the other.
..... Click the link for more information. ). Again, after World War II, peace treaties were signed in Paris in 1947 between the Allies and ItalyItaly
, Ital. Italia, officially Italian Republic, republic (2015 est. pop. 59,504,000), 116,303 sq mi (301,225 sq km), S Europe. It borders on France in the northwest, the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west, the Ionian Sea in the south, the Adriatic Sea in
..... Click the link for more information. , RomaniaRomania
or Rumania
, republic (2015 est. pop. 19,877,000), 91,699 sq mi (237,500 sq km), SE Europe. It borders on Hungary in the northwest, on Serbia in the southwest, on Bulgaria in the south, on the Black Sea in the southeast, on Moldova in the northeast, and on
..... Click the link for more information. , HungaryHungary,
Hung. Magyarország, republic (2015 est. pop. 9,784,000), 35,919 sq mi (93,030 sq km), central Europe. Hungary borders on Slovakia in the north, on Ukraine in the northeast, on Romania in the east, on Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia in the south, and on
..... Click the link for more information. , BulgariaBulgaria
, Bulgarian Balgarija, officially Republic of Bulgaria, republic (2015 est. pop. 7,177,000), 42,823 sq mi (110,912 sq km), SE Europe, on the E Balkan Peninsula.
..... Click the link for more information. , and FinlandFinland,
Finnish Suomi , officially Republic of Finland, republic (2015 est. pop. 5,482,000), 130,119 sq mi (337,009 sq km), N Europe. It borders on the Gulf of Bothnia and Sweden in the west, on Norway in the north, on Russia in the east, and on the Gulf of Finland and
..... Click the link for more information. . Each treaty is a separate document.