ABSTRACT
The greatest and most costly war Britain had yet fought came upon her almost unawares. On 17 February 1792 Pitt announced reduced defence expenditure during his budget speech to the Commons, asserting 'unquestionably there never was a time in the history of this country, when, from the situation in Europe, we might more reasonably expect fifteen years of peace than at the present moment'. 1 On 1 February 1793 the French National Convention declared war on Britain. That Pitt was prepared to prophesy lasting peace as late as 1792 strongly suggests that he did not envisage the eventual war as a holy crusade against Jacobinism and democrac~ True to British traditions in foreign policy no action was taken as first Prussia and then Austria declared war on revolutionary France during 1792. Even the September Massacres, the declaration of a French republic and the arrest and execution of Louis XVI were not regarded as pretexts for war in themselves. Pitt fully shared contemporary horror at these events, but maintained that Britain's interests would not be served by interference in the affairs of a foreign power. He was much more exercised by the French Army's unexpected victory over the Austrians at Jemappes in November 1792 which opened up all her Belgian territories to French occupation. The action was rapidly followed by the freeing of the Scheldt estuary to navigation by foreign ships and a rhetorical flourish offering French 'fraternity and assistance' to all peoples seeking to break the yoke of monarchy and tyranny The French Revolution was now for export.
