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|
 Second League of Armed Neutrality 1800 | |
| Type | Alliance |
|---|---|
| Context | War of the Second Coalition |
TheSecond League of Armed Neutrality or theLeague of the North was analliance of the northEuropeannaval powersDenmark–Norway,Prussia,Sweden, andRussia. It was founded during theWar of the Second Coalition byPaul I of Russia in 1801. A revival of theFirst League of Armed Neutrality, like the first league it was intended to prevent neutral shipping from being inspected for French contraband by theRoyal Navy. The league collapsed in 1801 after Paul was assassinated.
The Second League was intended to counter theRoyal Navy's wartime policy of unlimited search ofneutralshipping for Frenchcontraband, which had been adopted in an attempt to cut off military supplies and other trade to theFirst French Republic. As the league made no mention of French interference with neutral shipping, the British considered it a pro-French alliance, and sent a fleet into the Baltic underHyde Parker andHoratio Nelson, along with occupying theDanish West Indies between March 1801[1] and April 1802.[citation needed] Nelson led an attack on the Danish navy inBattle of Copenhagen, defeating the Danes.
In retaliation for the attack on Copenhagen,Prussia invadedHanover in April 1801. Paul's assassination in March 1801 and the accession ofAlexander I as Tsar of Russia led to a change of policy and the alliance collapsed. Anglo-Danish negotiations after the Battle of Copenhagen were quickly resolved once the Danes received news of Paul's assassination. Russia would later join the British in a coalition against Napoleonic France.
The prospect of a third league of armed neutrality potentially including Britain and France was briefly proposed in the 1860s, during theAmerican Civil War, following theTrent Incident in which theUnion navy stopped a British vessel and removed twoConfederate diplomats. Ultimately, the two countries did not form a league but maintained the principle of the freedom of the seas, and both remained neutral.[citation needed]
St. Martin was next attacked; this island was in joint occupation of French and Dutch. The fleet stood into Little Cole Bay on the morning of the 24th March … compelled Fort Ansterdam to surrender before the close of the day, and thus completed the conquest of that island … the fleet proceeded to St. Thomas, St. John's, and San Crœx, all of which islands surrendered without resistance.
Media related toSecond League of Armed Neutrality at Wikimedia Commons| Preceded by Battle of Hohenlinden | French Revolution: Revolutionary campaigns Second League of Armed Neutrality | Succeeded by Treaty of Lunéville |
