TheFrench Revolutionary Wars continued from 1794 betweenRevolutionary France and theFirst coalition.
The year opened with French forces in the process of attacking theDutch Republic in the middle of winter.[1] The Dutch people rallied to the French call and started theBatavian Revolution. City after city was occupied by the French.The Dutch fleet was captured, and the stadtholderWilliam V fled to be replaced by a popularBatavian Republic, which supported the revolutionary cause and signed theTreaty of The Hague on 16 May 1795, ceding the territories ofNorth Brabant andMaastricht to France.
With the Netherlands falling,Prussia also decided to leave the coalition, signing thePeace of Basel on 6 April, ceding the west bank of the Rhine to France.[2] This freed Prussia to finish the occupation ofPoland.
The French army in Spain advanced, advancing inCatalonia while takingBilbao andVitoria and marching towardCastile. By 10 July, Spain also decided to make peace, recognizing the revolutionary government and ceding the territory ofSanto Domingo, but returning to the pre-war borders in Europe.[2] This left the armies on thePyrenees free to march east and reinforce the armies on theAlps, and the combined army overranPiedmont.
Meanwhile,Britain's attempt to reinforce therebels in the Vendée by landing troops atQuiberon failed, and a conspiracy to overthrow the republican government from within ended whenNapoleon Bonaparte's garrisonused cannon to fire grapeshot into the attacking mob (which led to the establishment of theDirectory).[3]
On theRhine frontier, GeneralPichegru, negotiating with the exiledRoyalists, betrayed his army and forced the evacuation ofMannheim and the failure of the siege ofMainz byJourdan. This was a moderate setback to the position of the French.
In northern Italy victory at theBattle of Loano in November gave France access to the Italian peninsula.
| Preceded by | French Revolutionary Wars 1795 | Succeeded by |
