Page 208 - 1992 - XVIII Congresso Internazionale di Storia Militare

174 JAN CU1T6
During thc L 740s mc Prench army ha d been large and succcssful while che navy
had been small and fairly efficicm. from 1756 co L763 France looked ratber Jike
the junior partner compared ro her Ausrrian and Russian allies in tbe concinencal
srrugglc ngainst Prussia. On the seas, che enlargcd navy was roo small ro fighe che
British and the number of tra.ined officers and men had not .increased at rhe same
race as che number of warships.
Thc Frcnch defcars at sea and in rhe scruggle for colonies, especially in 1759,
were more or less inevitablc in a situarion whcre Britain made a decided commit·
mem; co this mariti me srruggle w h ile Spain decided co remai n oucside. The British
concencncion on che Ac.lantic is obvious from me huge shipbuilding program wh.ich
produced warsbips cocalling around 125000 rons from 1756 co 1760, increasing
che Bricish navy from around 275 000 cons in 175.5 to 3 7') 000 cons five years later.
This was with a widc margin tbe greacest shipbuilding program eve-r undenakcn
by any nation up co theo and the British navy grew co a.n unprecedenced size-. The
French navy in these years also had a greac shipbuilding program, not less chan
rwo thirds of me Brirish, bur as rh e French losr ships ar an increasing rare me- navy
did ooc expand. By 1760, a French navy of around 160000 rons faced a Brirish
navy tbar was two aod a haJf times as largc.

The Bourbon Family Alliance and che Disintegraùon of the First Bcirish :Empire
The Freorh defeacs ar sea and in America in che Late 17)0s might have led
to accepr British superiority and a French rerurn to conti.nenral power politics: Ger·
many, lra1y, rhc srruggle in the easr. Bur Versailles chose tO reduce hcr cominenml
commirmenr eveo further and rnake anocher efforr in che Arla.nric. During 1760.61
a large shipbuilding program was begun and an alliance wich Spain, tbe Bourbon
family alli ance, was iniriaced. Spain had obviously built ber large oavy for defen·
sive purposes aod rhis counuy scayed ourside mc war in tbc 17)0s. The facr char
powerful france coul.d rapidly lose ber American and East fndian colonies musr
bave caused con cero in a less powerful country with larger colonies. In an unusual·
ly ill-rimed arrempt ro turn rhe balance of power, Spain enrered the war againsc
Britain in 1762. As the Brirish already had a seasoned navy in full commission
they could srrike acche Spanish colonies before che Spanisb navy was fully mobi-
lized. By 1763 che ~ourbon powe.rs ha d ro admir defear and conclude a peace with
Grear Britain. That nacion now emerged as a greac Ac.lantic empire wich a large
and effìcienr navy co procect tbe lines of communkarioo witbio tbc empire.
Up ro 1770 the rwo Bourbon powers did nor regard che peace as more rhan
a uuce. 8oth rnade cremcndous efforcs in shipbuìlding. France launched ships totali·
ing 120000 rons fcom 176J ro J 770, Spain around 75 000 roos . .Br i taio during
rhe same pcriod Jauncbed around 120000 rons. The rcsuJr io a changed balance
of power was sigoificanc. In 1760 Bricain had 375000 cons of warships againsr
290000 cons of Bourbon ships. Ten years tacer che figuces were 350000 rons againsr