Charles Gravier count de Vergennes

Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes

Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes (December 20, 1717—February 13, 1787) was a French statesman and diplomat.

Biography

Born in Dijon, France, he was introduced to the profession of diplomacy by his uncle, Théodore Chevignard de Chavigny, under whom he obtained his first appointment, to Portugal. His successful advocacy of French interests as envoy to the Electorate of Trier, in 1750, and the following years led to his being sent to the Ottoman Empire in 1755, first as minister plenipotentiary, then as ambassador (see French Ambassador to Turkey). In 1768, he was recalled, ostensibly because he married the widow Anne Duvivier,^[1] (1730-1798), but really because the Duc de Choiseul thought him not competent enough to provoke a war between Imperial Russia and the Ottomans. After Choiseul's dismissal, he was sent to Sweden with instructions to help the pro-French party of The Hats with advice and money. The coup by which King Gustav III secured power (August 19, 1772) was a major diplomatic triumph for France.

With the accession of King Louis XVI, Vergennes became foreign minister. His policy was guided by the conviction that the power of the states on the periphery of Europe, namely Great Britain and Russia, was increasing, and ought to be diminished.

His rivalry with the British, and his desire to avenge the disasters of the Seven Years' War, led to his support of the Thirteen Colonies in the American War of Independence, a step which would help bring about the French Revolution of 1789. Vergennes sought by a series of negotiations to secure the armed neutrality of the Northern European states, eventually carried out by Catherine II of Russia; at the same time, Vergennes approved of the Pierre Beaumarchais's support for secret French assistance, as arms and volunteers supplied to the Americans. In 1777, he informed the Thirteen Colonies' commissioners that France acknowledged the United States, and was willing to form an offensive and defensive alliance with the new state. Vergennes also encouraged King Louis to sponsor expeditions to Indochina, which laid the building blocks of the French conquest during the next century (see French Indochina).

In domestic affairs, Vergennes remained a conservative, carrying out intrigues to have Jacques Necker removed - he regarded Necker as a dangerous innovator, a republican, a foreigner and a Protestant. In 1781, he became chief of the council of finance, and, in 1783, he supported the nomination of Charles Alexandre de Calonne as Controller-General. Vergennes died just before the meeting of the Assembly of Notables which he is said to have suggested to Louis XVI.

Notes

References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

• 1911 Britannica In turn, it cites as references:
  • P. Fauchelle, La Diplomatie française et la Ligue des neutres 1780 (1776—83) (Paris, 1893).
  • John Jay, The Peace Negotiations of 1782—83 as illustrated by the Confidential Papers of Shelburne and Vergennes (New York, 1888).
  • L. Bonneville de Marsangy, Le Chevalier de Vergennes, son ambassade a Constantinople (Paris, 1894) and Le Chevalier de Vergennes, son ambassade en Suède (Paris, 1898).
• Marie de Testa, Antoine Gautier, "Deux grandes dynasties de drogmans, les Fonton et les Testa", in Drogmans et diplomates européens auprès de la Porte ottomane, éditions ISIS, Istanbul, 2003, pp. 129-147.
• A. Gautier, "Anne Duvivier, comtesse de Vergennes (1730-1798), ambassadrice de France à Constantinople", in Le Bulletin, Association des anciens élèves, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO), November 2005, pp.43-60.

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