The historical
context:
The French Navy after the Napoleonic wars
By Jean BINCK
Soon after the Napoleonic wars, the French navy found itself in a disastrous situation. The Treaty of May 1814, agreed in the framework of the Vienna Congress, had foreseen that all French vessels in foreign harbours would be shared out with a ratio of 2/3 for France and 1/3 for the country to which the harbour belonged. All Dutch vessels, i.e. the captured Texel fleet, were to be returned to the Kingdom of the Netherlands [1].
Many of the 71
battleships and 41 frigates remaining in the French navy were in poor
condition. They had been made in a hurry during the war, using ill-matched and
poorly seasoned wood. Furthermore, the catastrophic financial situation of
France did not allow for the provision of sufficient money for the maintenance
of the fleet. In 1817, only 14 battleships and 29 frigates were still seaworthy [2].
The situation
was no better for the naval officers themselves. The higher ranking posts were
claimed by inexperienced monarchists, returned from twenty years of exile.
Seven hundred officers,
including the oldest royalists and mistrusted officers from Napoleon's
navy, were driven to retirement or dismissed [2].
It was quite a
challenge for the Naval Ministry to organise the reconstruction of the fleet in
these conditions.
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Lieutenant de vaisseaux by Lasalle
(1840) |
Capitaine & Lieutenant de
vaisseaux by Lalaisse (1850) |
The French conquest of Algeria in 1830 and the decisive role of the navy were events of major importance for the future of the French naval force. It became obvious to the French government, and the new liberal King Louis-Philippe, that no colonial and foreign policies were possible without a strong Navy. However, the influence of the Prince de Joinville, a brilliant naval officer and son of King Louis-Philippe, contributed to the revival of the French naval power.
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A naval officer leading a
landing party in the French colonies in
1840. (Painting by Detaille) |
Sources:
[1] DE CLERCQ M.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs) – Recueil des traités de la France 1808-1815 – Paris 1880.
[2] DE
LA GRAVIERE Jurien – Souvenirs d’un Amiral – Paris 1872. (memoirs of the
Vice-Admiral Jurien de la Gravière, French naval officer from 1793 to 1848)