Deux diplomates et un consul

Abstract

The names of the diplomats Conrad-Alexandre Gérard, Anne-César de La Luzerne and the consul Hector Saint-John de Crèvecœur are closely linked to the birth and development of diplomatic and consular relations between France and the United States of America. Each with different training, they illustrate the success of French diplomacy that had once again gone on the offence, determined to profit from the American colonies revolt to weaken its old adversary, Great Britain, and take revenge for the disastrous Treaty of Paris of 1763. The instructions given to its representatives by the royal government are also testament to the preoccupations, at once political and economic, that determined the sovereign’s conduct and that of his ministers.

Keywords

• Conrad-Alexandre Gérard
• Anne-César de La Luzerne
• Hector Saint-John de Crèvecœur
• Charles Gravier de Vergennes
• War of American Independence
• Treaty of Paris (1763)