Treaty of Alliance between Spain and France | |
---|---|
Context | Spain joins the Anglo-French War (1778–1783) |
Signed | 12 April 1779 |
Location | Aranjuez, Spain |
Negotiators | |
Parties |
In the Treaty of Aranjuez (French: Traité d'Aranjuez; Spanish: Tratado de Aranjuez; 12 April 1779), Spain agreed to support France in its war with Britain. This was in return for assistance in recovering its former possessions of Menorca, Gibraltar, and Spanish Florida.
While Spain refused to become formally involved in the American Revolutionary War, they allowed goods to be shipped through Louisiana, avoiding the British blockade while their recapture of Florida denied the Royal Navy bases on the Gulf Coast. Outside North America, they regained Menorca but failed to take Gibraltar, despite a huge investment of men and money.
With the exception of Menorca and Florida, the 1783 treaties between Britain, France, and Spain largely returned the position to that prevailing before the war.