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- Title
ROGUE DIPLOMACY: SARTINE, SAINT-LUBIN AND THE FRENCH ATTEMPT TO RECOVER 'LOST INDIA', 1776-80.
- Authors
MARGERISON, KENNETH
- Abstract
In 1776, eager to recover the French position in India 'lost' to the British in the Seven Years' War but lacking the financial resources necessary to conduct a successful military campaign, the naval minister, Sartine, employed a rogue adventurer, Saint-Lubin, to conclude an alliance with the powerful Marathas who were willing to finance a French military intervention to contest British power in India. Sartine's plan developed just as the foreign minister, Vergennes, began to consider French involvement in the American Revolution to weaken British colonial power. Sartine hoped to expand this effort by challenging Britain in India as well, despite Vergennes's opposition to such a venture in 1776. Saint-Lubin's unorthodox mission to India reveals the desperate nature of Sartine's strategy, the dysfunctional decision-making process in the French ministry and France's inability to mount a global challenge to British colonial power due to its limited financial resources.
- Subjects
SARTINE, Gabriel de, 1729-1801; SEVEN Years' War, 1756-1763; BRITISH colonies; BRITISH occupation of India, 1765-1947; FRENCH history
- Publication
French History, 2016, Vol 30, Issue 4, p477
- ISSN
0269-1191
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/fh/crw056