At first the British had
been successful in seizing the French forts in India (1778) and in
defeating (1781) the native ally of the French, Hyder Ali, the sultan
of Mysore. But in 1782 the tide was turned by the appearance of the
French admiral De Suffren, whose brilliant victories over a superior
British fleet gave the French temporary control of the Bay of Bengal.
[Sidenote: Defeat but not Ruin of Great Britain]
[Sidenote: Treaties of Paris and Versailles, 1783]
Unsuccessful in America, inglorious in India, expelled from Minorca,
unable to control Ireland, [Footnote: The Protestants in Ireland had
armed and organized volunteer forces, and threatened rebellion unless
Great Britain granted "home rule" to them. Great Britain yielded and in
1782 granted legislative autonomy to the Irish Parliament. See below,
p. 431.] and weary with war, England was very ready for peace, but not
entirely humbled, for was she not still secure in the British Channel,
victorious over the Dutch, triumphant in the Caribbean, unshaken in
India, and unmoved on Gibraltar? Defeat, but not humiliation, was the
keynote of the treaties (1783) which Great Britain concluded, one at
Paris with the United States, and one at Versailles with France and
Spain.
Pages:
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726