Why did the Franco-British relations became strained?

Answer 1

Both sides remained fundamentally unsatisfied with the terms of the Peace of Amiens and the other settlement they signed in 1801 and 1802.

Great Britain had good reasons for being dissatisfied with the international situation in being after the Treaty of Amiens, that is:

1- it became soon evident that Napoleon was resolute to bar the British influence on the continent by all means, open or hidden;

2 - Great Britain tried to negotiate a new commercial treaty between the two countries, but the proposal had been rejected by France;

3 - France kept de facto the control over Antwerp and the Scheldt Estuary'were two vital places for the British security, which Great Britain, since from the medieval times, couldn't "tolerate" of being dominated or easily bound to fall under the rule of a potentially hostile country;

4 - claiming various excuses Napoleon carried out between 1801 and 1802 the occupation or the veiled control, one after the other, of Piedmont, the Elba, Parma, Switzerland and the Netherlands. In so doing he made Great Britain aware that Napoleon's territorial ambitions were far for being satisfied and that attitude was leading to set up a real threat to the British trade markets on the continent;

5 - thanks to the somewhat lenient condition of peace afforded, France was restored to its rank of naval power in the Mediterranean and as a colonial power especially in the Caribbean. That opened the gate to Napoleon's initiatives in those fields, like the military expedition to Haiti, the sell of the Louisiana territories to the United States, the renewed French aims towards the Syria and last but not least the announced French expedition to India which hurt the relevant British interests and raised the friction between the two countries.

In March 1803, the situation evolved to an escalation that would led to the war, despite the sincere tentatives of the French Minister of the Foreign Affairs Talleyrand to find out a compromise which would save the peace:

- on May 10,1803, the British Prime Minister Addington, well aware that Napoleon was not yet ready for the war sent a virtual ultimatum to France;

- the French government reacted by the mobilization of 160,000 men to be deployed on the coast of the English Channel;

- Great Britain ordered the "embargo" upon all French ships standing in the British ports;

- Napoleon replied ordering all British subjects resident in France and its satellite countries or in transit through were to be arrested;

- On may 15 1803, France declared war on Great Britain, firing the first shots against a British frigate, when a French convoy in the Channel met her by chance.