151. A Crisis of Confidence.
- Author
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Middleton, Richard
- Abstract
Historians have customarily asserted that Pitt began office with a coherent plan for the defeat of France. However, this was not the case, for the conduct of the war was barely mentioned in the ministerial negotiations and there is nothing in the Chatham correspondence to indicate that Pitt did not believe the war should continue as before, every effort being made in America consistent with the safety of the homeland and the security of the King's German territories. The aims of the ministry at this time were defensive. Cumberland had no orders to invade France, even if he had had the means. In North America the ministry only sought to recover the rights of the nation as defined by the Treaty of Utrecht, with possession of Nova Scotia, a frontier contiguous to the St Lawrence, and control of the Great Lakes. Admittedly, the futility of attacking every small fort rather than invading the St Lawrence had now been recognized. But permanent possession was not official policy, being a matter of future negotiation. Elsewhere, the ministry was committed to assisting the East India Company though those operations were too far away to be of much consideration. Otherwise its main concern was the deployment of the navy. Here too the emphasis was defensive, on the protection of the homeland, trade and overseas possessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 1985
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