British Foreign Office

[Serenissima]

William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

[Snacks]

Greetings from the Kingdom of Denmark and the court of his highness, Crown Prince Regent Frederick.

In light of the recent events in the Baltic region which have led to the withdrawal of Russia from the Second Coalition, and the justified concern regarding hostility against neutral trade, his highness finds it prudent to make an inquiry as to the nature of British aims for the area and suggest that it would be in the best interest of all parties in the reason for discussion between Britain and the member states of the League of Armed Neutrality.

While Denmark-Norway and by virtue of its founding the League as a whole refuse to accept the practice of harassing our trading vessels, his highness wishes to believe that the British Crown no more wants to become embroiled in a war with the League than he or the sovereigns of Denmark-Norway's fellow members wish to become involved in the current European war. If he is correct, then surely it is possibly to come to an understanding peaceably.

His highness eagerly awaits the British reply and until then expresses his warmest regards to his majesty George III and best wishes for his people.

[Serenissima]

Great Britain has no desire for conflict with Denmark-Norway, nor other members of the 'League', and we bear no hostility towards your nations. However, we do not find its policy to be in accordance with the laws and customs of the sea, any more than the policies previous 'League' had been during the last war. While peaceable trade has the right to continue to its destination, vessels carrying weapons, or other supplies that may be of use to a belligerent's war effort are, quite legitimately, considered to be and seized as contraband. Your own League has not disputed this fact, and yet insists on dealing in absolutes.

The causes of the present situation are twofold. Firstly, many vessels have been found to have been transporting contraband goods to France in particular, in clear violation of neutrality. Secondly, the protection of neutral flags has been abused by vessels of many belligerent enemy nations, such as France and Spain, in an effort to avoid the rightful taking of their cargo as Prize by claiming false nationality. Necessarily, therefore, these two causes do much to damage the rights and privileges previously accorded to neutrals, and the actions of our Navy are only a response to the dishonourable actions of those that would see all legitimate trade tarred with the same brush.

As a result, much to our regret, a policy of search and release has had to be implemented once again by the Board of Admiralty, in order to guard against and prevent these twin abuses of the protection granted by neutrality. Previous efforts merely to trust in affirmations and declarations made by captains that they were not carrying contraband proved insufficient to stem the flow of these goods into the ports of our enemies, when these declarations - even sworn oaths - so often proved false. These preventative measures have had to be taken not only to ensure the safeguard of the sea for all legitimate shipping and commerce, but to preserve Europe's very civilisation from the guillotine.

We do not believe that any honest ship has anything to fear from being searched at sea - if it carries only its true manifest cargo of non-contraband goods - and that therefore the 'interference' is a minor inconvenience at best, particularly when compared to the threat of the French ambitions to conquer Europe and establish puppet governments, as has already occurred in several nations. Those claiming neutrality in this conflict would do well to examine their position; for by aiding the French in this endeavour, they surely only accelerate the chance for their own fate to be the same as that of the 'sister republics', established by and answerable to French force of arms.

Great Britain remains open to any discussion or proposal which would uphold the rights of neutral commerce, while also maintaining the laws and customs of the sea with regard to ensuring no contraband may be delivered to enemy belligerents. The policy of the 'League' to insist upon the absolute inviolability of the neutral flag, however, is not only impractical, but casts severe doubt and risk upon the very concept of neutrality and the protection that it affords. We are certain that this is not the result that the Kingdom of Denmark nor other members desires from their policies and actions, and as such, we too hope that a fair and reasonable understanding may be reached.

[Smyg]

Although we continue to condemn the lack of religious freedom and legal equality that Catholic Christians continue to face across the British Empire, His Holiness wishes to thank the British Government for their recent push for reform. God smile upon you today, just this once.

[Huojin]

Messieurs, we in Paris have been shocked by the latest news from London.

Imagine our surprise when the British government, supposed rationalists and clear thinkers - now alone in their fruitless war of aggression against France and her allies; now aligned against their greatest fear in all the world, a united Europe; now wondering what path might see them clear of this most terrible of routes... has decided not that honourable peace should be contemplated, but rather that perpetual warfare should be their determined agenda.

Where might this news have come to us from? Not merely by word of our own diplomats and agents, whose duty it ever is in times of war to maintain a balanced view, and to seek out a resolution at every turn - but by the honoured and mostly highly esteemed emissaries of His Holiness in Rome! Fulfilling their holy duty in seeking peace and reconciliation in the world between conflicting powers, their words were laced with shock and despair as they relayed to their counterparts in the government of the Republic the intransigence and stubbornness of Britain. We in France have been less surprised - for even as all the powers of Europe and the world have come to acknowledge France's positions and rights, the English government alone has maintained its warlike disposition and commitment to diplomatic recklessness. Only these politicians of ill-repute have marked themselves as enemies of the free peoples of France and of Europe in their determination to see the world riven in war for ceaseless years to come.

But even we did not think they had such poor and lowly regard for their own citizens. It seems that the British government has such hate burning in its heart that the peoples of Europe are no longer sufficient fodder for their flames - they must now make their own people into kindling for the inferno, pouring life and livelihood into endless war for no gain - only bitterness. That any man, let alone a group of men could have seen sense in such a plan, and could commit his nation to this course is astounding in the extreme. Not to mention the burdens of your income tax, so heinously imposed on a populous that seeks victories, yes... but peace also.

We call on the people of Great Britain, from the streets of the cities and from the fields, to the highest chambers of Parliament, to rally against such a foolish course - for a government which will brook no thought of a peace save one that suits them entirely is a government that deserves not one more day of power.

[Serenissima]

Our response to the French Government and the First Consul is simple. We are not the initiators of this war, nor are we the tyrants who have staked their claim on dominion over all Europeans by bathing their lands in innocent blood - not only their own blood during the Terror, where the government showed its disregard for all common decency, but in every place, such as Italy, that their touch has come upon. All who oppose this new order from France are to be exterminated, in the eyes of the French rulers, and are unworthy of life for not submitting to the rule of men appointed by France and with hands soaked in the blood of their fellow countrymen, whom they slaughtered in order to reach a position of power and be acknowledged by Bonaparte as ruler. It is only when there is resistance to this tyranny that men can be free - and we are swift to note that there was no talk of peace other than by conquest, murder and fire when it was France that was the victor, but now that France is encountering setbacks to their plans to dominate Europe, and sending tens of thousands of men to flee or die in battle, they are swift to speak of 'peace with honour'.

Neither Britain's government, nor its people, have any desire for an eternal war - but neither shall we forget that we are the defenders of the rights of European peoples against foreign tyrants, nor that the 'allies' of France are those nations who have been conquered and established by the point of the bayonet and built up on the mountains of corpses, who trample upon all civilisation and seek only power for themselves. So far, we have had no indication from France that they seek to alter this state of affairs - even now, in the last months, they conquer yet another nation, seize private property, exile its populace and set up a government in their own image, subservient in every detail to the whims of a Corsican artilleryman. No- it is France that seeks peace only on its own terms - a peace that would leave Europe under the French heel, that seeks recognition of wholesale slaughter and anarchy as grounds for legitimacy for its puppet regimes.

If France is serious about peace, then we are willing to go out on a limb, and propose the following to begin with, to show that we, too, are serious about finding a just peace that recognises the ancient rights of the European race and civilisation: that there should be a personal meeting between William Pitt, Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury, and Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of France, in neutral territory, half-way between the shores of England and the shores of France. There, any agreement made can be truly binding, between the two heads of government concerned, and treated with the appropriate gravity, rather than being approached by the representatives of a nation that does not even control its own affairs. We are willing to discuss peace, a serious peace - let this be the proof. There are accomodations and compromises we are willing to make - but let it not be forgotten what France truly stands for in these discussions.

[Huojin]

Yet more lies spill from the tongue of perfidious Albion. For this is an aggressive war entirely of their making, when they assembled the nations of Europe to rally in a coalition against France. They cannot win a battle, and so they seek to pour poison into the ears of the Continent. We are not all so easily swayed by your talk of tyranny, we who have suffered under the injustices of oppressive regimes and have won our freedom and that of Europe.

That the British government expects otherwise than for nations to seek victory by force of arms in the first and diplomacy in the second, two combined routes that all civilised nations adhere to, marks her surely as having taken leave of her senses. France has ever been ready to discuss peace with Britain, one which would see the fire that they set upon Europe finally extinguished in favour of the peace that all sane men seek. The very idea that all reasonable discussions such as diplomats might make over the course of a war are not only refused but outright spat upon - for do you deny that the envoys of Britain have uttered that phrase perpetual warfare - is ludicrous in the extreme.

More ludicrous still, the idea that the discussion of the merest possibilities of peace must be precluded by a total cessation of military operations! Has perfidious Albion taken leave of all its senses? Such is not the done thing, nor has been in all the ages of Europe. That peace might be discussed even while wars are raging is, perhaps, one of the highest virtues of mankind in a time of bloodshed. And that Britain would so callously devote itself to spurning all that that embodies speaks volumes to her sincerity in her desire for peace.

For at no stage - no stage - has any serious attempt at discussion of the matter been ever entertained by British diplomats when raised by French diplomats. On the contrary, they have committed their nation to bloodshed and war and made clear that they seek no peace whatsoever with France and with Europe. Deny this, if you can. Your offers of 'discussions in a neutral territory' speak of little but empty gesture, when all the world sees plainly the truth.

[Luc]

Luís Pinto de Sousa Coutinho - Leader of the Lisbon Provisional Junta

As it is know to the whole of Europe, I, together with other members of the Portuguese government, decided to depose the traitor, John of Braganza, and install a new government in Portugal. For long the Prince-Regent, with extreme inability, ruled over our empire, constantly making decisions that shattered centuries of tradition (such as the breaking of the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of alliance) and drove our nation evermore closer to complete foreign control. To oppose that, we rose, to reform Portugal and restore it to its previous grandeur. However, we fear that John and his French puppetmasters will not take long to mobilize against us. Thus, we ask for the help of the British Government during these times of struggle, so that we can overcome the challenges that currently face us.

[Serenissima]

Luís Pinto de Sousa Coutinho - Leader of the Lisbon Provisional Junta

As it is know to the whole of Europe, I, together with other members of the Portuguese government, decided to depose the traitor, John of Braganza, and install a new government in Portugal. For long the Prince-Regent, with extreme inability, ruled over our empire, constantly making decisions that shattered centuries of tradition (such as the breaking of the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of alliance) and drove our nation evermore closer to complete foreign control. To oppose that, we rose, to reform Portugal and restore it to its previous grandeur. However, we fear that John and his French puppetmasters will not take long to mobilize against us. Thus, we ask for the help of the British Government during these times of struggle, so that we can overcome the challenges that currently face us.

Naturally, we continue to uphold our centuries-long alliance, having never desired any hostility or breach of friendship with the great nation of Portugal, and been shocked to hear of the madness and treason of your Prince-Regent. Long may our two nations continue to live in amity, peace, and brotherhood.

[Tellos]

From: the State department of the United States of America
To: The Forigen minsitry of the Kingdom of great Britain.


Good evenign to you sir, we have recently spoken after a...miunderstanding with the Spanish empire who now claim control over all of the western side of the american conintant. We have no real record of nay largely reconized treaty we wondered if perhaps the offices of the Brtish government and his majesty King George the III and Prime minsiter Pitt of the British Parliment might have more up to date records reguarding this situation?

[Serenissima]

The only treaty we are aware of concerning this matter is the Nootka Conventions, which in their most recent form forbids any nation from establishing permanent colonies or territories in Nootka Sound or further north - which has recently been violated by Russia. We are aware of Spanish claims that their territory extends to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, but the United Kingdom contends that the Spanish claim can only be considered to reach so far north as San Francisco Bay. Nevertheless, there is no treaty that we are aware of - and certainly not one that we can consider binding upon us - that is as you describe, though we cannot speak to the nature of any secret bilateral agreements that Spain may have concluded on an individual basis with another power.

[scorpion]

Anglo-Russian Agreement on North American Territories

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mi ... 806519&z=5

I. Russia withdraws territorial claims in North America south and east of Yakutat Bay, with the exceptions listed below. Territory to the north and west of Yakutat Bay is to be recognised as Russian territory. The United Kingdom recognises all Russian territorial claims in North America under the defined scope of this treaty, and the Russian Empire recognises all British territorial claims in North America under the defined scope of this treaty.

II. Glacier Bay, Chichagof Island and Baranof Island are to be Russian territory. The border between British North America and Russian North America is to proceed directly in a straight line from the furthest north extremity of Mud Bay to the furthest west point of the British Northwest Territory. The area between Admiralty Island and Baranof Island is the water border.

III. The areas of Nootka Sound and the Alexander Archipelago are to be accessible to Russian traders, hunters, and fishermen, while the same applies for British fishermen, traders and hunters in all Russian territories south and east of Yakutat Bay.

IV. The Russian Empire recognises and declares its support for British territorial claims to the Pacific Coast as far south as the Bay of San Francisco.

V. The United Kingdom and the Russian Empire pledge to aid and assist one another's subjects in what emergency or need they may encounter in North America against famine, outside threat, or foreign invasion that aims to claim any of the Territories defined within this treaty.

[Serenissima]

Signed,
Alleyne FitzHerbert, 1st Baron St Helens
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom to the Russian Empire

[scorpion]

Signed,Paul I of Russia

[Serenissima]

Treaty of Lowestoft

In the interests of ensuring Peace and Amity between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Batavian Republic (cis-devant the United Provinces), subsequent to the most unfortunate War that has beset the aforementioned Powers in recent years, the following Articles have been agreed and signed at Lowestoft on the Thirtieth of January, 1801:

I. Both sides will implement an immediate cessation of hostilities. There shall be peace, friendship, and good understanding between the Batavian Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The contracting parties shall use their utmost efforts to preserve a perfect harmony between their respective countries, without permitting any act of hostility whatever by sea or by land.

II. All the prisoners made on one side and the other, as well by land as by sea, and the hostages carried off, or delivered up during the war, and up to the present day, shall be restored without ransom in six weeks at the latest, to be reckoned from the day when the ratifications of the present treaty are exchanged, and on paying the debts which they shall have contracted during their captivity. Each of the contracting parties shall respectively discharge the advances which shall have been made by any of the contracting parties, for the support and maintenance of prisoners in the countries where they have been detained.

III. The islands of Aruba and Curacao, occupied in the course of the War, are to be restored to the authority and sovereignty of the Batavian Republic by the United Kingdom, with British forces withdrawn by the end of March 1801. The rights of the British subjects in these colonies and territories shall be maintained under the system of Privileged Neutrality, keeping their lands and property so long as they obey the law. The island of Bonaire, currently under the occupation of His Britannic Majesty's Royal Navy, is to be ceded and guaranteed, in full property and sovereignty, to His Britannic Majesty. The rights of the Dutch subjects in Bonaire shall be maintained under the system of Privileged Neutrality, keeping their lands and property so long as they obey the law.

IV. The Batavian Republic cedes, transfers and guarantees, in full property and sovereignty, to His Britannic Majesty, all the possessions, protectorates and establishments on the island of Ceylon, which previous to the war belonged to the United Provinces and to the Dutch East India Company. All treaties between local rulers on the island of Ceylon and the Dutch East India Company are hereby transferred to the responsibility and authority of the Honourable British East India Company.

V. The lowland territory of the Cape of Good Hope, including the port of Cape Town, being inhabited by settlers of both British and Dutch origin and previously the private property of the Dutch East India Company, shall be ceded and guaranteed, in full property and sovereignty, to His Britannic Majesty by the Batavian Republic. The border the British Cape Colony and the Dutch Zuid-Afrika shall be set at the summits of the Cedarberg, Skurweberg, Langeberg, Swartberg and Tsitsikamma Mountains, and encompass between the extremities of Lambert's Bay to the north and Algoa Bay to the east.

VI. The ships of every kind belonging to the Batavian Republic, shall be in times of peace allowed to enter the said ports around the Cape of Good Hope, and there to purchase what provisions they may stand in need of heretofore, without being liable to pay any other imposts than such as the United Kingdom compels the ships of its own nation to pay. Likewise, newly-arrived Dutch settlers heading inland shall be permitted to transit through the Cape of Good Hope on their way to the territory of Dutch Zuid-Afrika, in order to provide for the rights of those seeking to make a new life on the plains.

VII. Neither the Batavian Republic nor the United Kingdom shall make any Policy, Edict or Law that restricts the freedom of Commerce and Trade with one another. British ships shall be welcomed in Dutch ports, to carry out any Lawful Business, and vice versa, Dutch ships shall be welcomed in British ports to carry out any Lawful Business. All the sequestrations laid on either side on funds, revenues, and credits, of what nature soever they may be, belonging to any of the contracting powers, or to their citizens or subjects, shall be taken off immediately after the signature of this definitive treaty. The decision of all chains among the individuals of the respective nations, for debts, property, effects, or rights, of any nature whatsoever, which should, according to received usages, and the law of nations, shall be referred to the competent tribunals: in all those cases speedy and complete justice shall be done in the countries wherein those claims shall be respectively preferred.

VIII. To prevent all grounds of complaint and disputes which might arise on account of Captures which may have been made at Sea subsequent to the signing of the Treaty, is reciprocally agreed that the ships and property which may have been taken in the English Channel, and in the North Sea, after a space of twelve days, reckoning from the exchange of the ratifications of the Articles, shall be restored on the one side and the other; that the term shall be one month for the space, from the English Channel and the North Seas, as far as the Canary Islands inclusively, as well in the ocean as in the Mediterranean; two months from the Canary Islands to the equator; and, finally six months in all other parts of the world, without any further exceptions or distinction of time or place.

IX. The present treaty shall be ratified by the contracting parties, as soon as possible, and the ratifications shall be exchanged in due form in Amsterdam and London.