By the separate
treaty of Basel (1795), Prussia gave France a free hand on the left
bank of the Rhine and turned her attention to securing compensation at
the expense of Poland, William V, the Orange stadholder of Holland, was
deposed and his country transformed into the Batavian Republic, allied
with France. French troops were in full possession of the Austrian
Netherlands and all other territories up to the Rhine. The life-long
ambition of Louis XIV appeared to have been realized by the new France
in two brief years. Only Great Britain, Austria, and Sardinia remained
in arms against the republic.
[Sidenote: Suppression of Domestic Insurrection]
The foreign successes of the republic seem all the more wonderful when
it is remembered that at the same time serious revolts had to be
suppressed within France. Opposition to Carnot's drafting of soldiers
was utilized by reactionary agitators to stir up an insurrection of the
peasants in La Vendee in order to restore the monarchy and to
reestablish the Roman Catholic Church.
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