An Informal Franco-Dutch Alliance: Trade and Diplomacy Between the Mascarenes and the Cape, 1719-1769

Abstract

In the eighteenth century, possessions of the different European mercantilist companies rarely interacted, commercially or otherwise. For example, communication between the Dutch colony at the Cape and the French Mascarenes under the regime of the Compagnie des Indes was mostly fortuitous. However, when the French islands were in need of provisions during the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763), local authorities did not hesitate to establish a direct maritime connection with the Dutch Cape Colony in order to obtain wheat and wine. Throughout the conflict, the governors of the two colonies maintained a regular and friendly correspondence to ensure such a significant flow of provisions from the Cape to the Mascarenes that the latter became the Cape’s most important foreign trading partner.