Francophilia and Political Failure: Lord Shelburne and Anglo-French Interactions, c. 1760–1789

Nigel Aston

doi:10.1177/0265691417723267

Abstract

This article draws attention to William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne’s (1737–1805) capacity for fostering a culture of mutual respect and constructive interaction in Anglo-French relations that had no contemporary equivalent, and explores his contacts with the French political world before the Revolution. For someone who was usually lambasted for sophistry and inconsistency, his career-long commitment to Anglo-French cordiality over three decades stands out, and his activities thus offer the historian a major case study in gallophilia, that neglected enlightened counterpart to its obverse: rooted antipathy to the French ‘other’. This paper argues that this apparently enlightened attitude played a significant and neglected role in explaining why an individual as gifted as Shelburne failed so conspicuously as a politician.

Highlights

The cosmopolitan statesman and sometime British Premier, William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne (1737-1805)[1] was a major presence in the international political culture of his age, but his career in public office ended prematurely, months before the promulgation of the Treaty of Versailles in 1783, a peace settlement that he had done much to design
After decades of neglect, Shelburne is again attracting specialist attention for his role in fostering progressive exchanges between nations. He was central to Andrew Stockley’s study of the negotiations with Vergennes and Raynal that led to the Versailles settlement; Richard Whatmore noticed his importance as a patron of the politically advanced Genevan exiles of the 1780s; and he figures heavily in Emmanuelle des Champs’s recent examination of Bentham and the French Revolution.[2]
As Shelburne studies develop momentum, what has so far not been reconsidered is the underlying question: why did an individual as gifted as Shelburne fail so conspicuously as a politician? This essay suggests much of the answer might lie in a policy preference that enhanced the potential for his detractors to abuse him, namely his francophilia, his controversial fostering of mutual understanding in pre-Revolutionary Anglo-French relations

Summary

Introduction

The cosmopolitan statesman and sometime British Premier, William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne (1737-1805)[1] was a major presence in the international political culture of his age, but his career in public office ended prematurely, months before the promulgation of the Treaty of Versailles in 1783, a peace settlement that he had done much to design.

Results

Conclusion