ABSTRACT
In 1783 Britain emerged from the War of American Independence with its international reputation in tatters. Defeated in America, Britain had been obliged to recognize the independence of its former colonists and had secured little by way of compensation from its European enemies: France, Spain and the Dutch Republic. Shelburne's failure in 1782-3 expressed the fundamental problem of Britain's diplomacy throughout the age of the American Revolution. Foreign diplomats and their superiors struggled to understand the mysteries of the British constitution and with difficulty comprehended the problems which the existence of parliament could cause for the government of the day. During the two decades after 1763, Britain's foreign policy was dominated by relations with its traditional enemy, France, allied with the other major Bourbon power, Spain. A principal motive for the decision to confront American resistance by an immediate show of force was the recognition that Britain's position as a great power depended upon the suppression of any colonial rebellion.
