Prelude[edit]

French victory over the Austrians and Russians at the Second Battle of

Zürich
Britain was irritated by several French actions following the Treaty of
Amiens. Bonaparte had annexed Piedmont and Elba, made himself
President of the Italian Republic, a state in northern Italy that France had
set up, and failed to evacuate Holland, as it had agreed to do in the
treaty. France continued to interfere with British trade despite peace
having been made and complained about Britain harbouring certain
individuals and not cracking down on the anti-French press. [56]:220–239 In
fighting, Napoleon focused on penetration, gaining a central position,
and surrounding small groups of enemy forces. [57] To Napoleon,
penetration meant "You engage, and then you wait and see." Central
Positioning aimed to divide enemy forces into weaker smaller groups.
Malta had been captured by Britain during the war and was subject to a
complex arrangement in the 10th article of the Treaty of Amiens where it
was to be restored to the Knights of St. John with a Neapolitan garrison
and placed under the guarantee of third powers. The weakening of the
Knights of St. John by the confiscation of their assets in France and
Spain along with delays in obtaining guarantees prevented the British
from evacuating it after three months as stipulated in the treaty. [56]:239–247
The British victory over the French at the Battle of Alexandria, resulted in
the end of Napoleon's military presence in Egypt.
The Helvetic Republic had been set up by France when it invaded
Switzerland in 1798. France had withdrawn its troops, but violent strife
broke out against the government, which many Swiss saw as overly
centralised. Bonaparte reoccupied the country in October 1802
and imposed a compromise settlement. This caused widespread outrage
in Britain, which protested that this was a violation of the Treaty of
Lunéville. Although continental powers were unprepared to act, the
British decided to send an agent to help the Swiss obtain supplies, and
also ordered their military not to return Cape Colony to Holland as they
had committed to do in the Treaty of Amiens. [56]:248–252
Swiss resistance collapsed before anything could be accomplished, and
after a month Britain countermanded the orders not to restore Cape
Colony. At the same time Russia finally joined the guarantee with
regards to Malta. Concerned that there would be hostilities when
Bonaparte found out that Cape Colony had been retained, the British
began to procrastinate on the evacuation of Malta. [56]:252–258 In January
1803 a government paper in France published a report from a
commercial agent which noted the ease with which Egypt could be
conquered. The British seized on this to demand satisfaction and
security before evacuating Malta, which was a convenient stepping
stone to Egypt. France disclaimed any desire to seize Egypt and asked
what sort of satisfaction was required but the British were unable to give
a response.[56]:258–264 There was still no thought of going to war; Prime
Minister Addington publicly affirmed that Britain was in a state of peace.
[56]:265

In early March 1803 the Addington ministry received word that Cape
Colony had been re-occupied by the British army in accordance with the
orders which had subsequently been countermanded. On 8 March they
ordered military preparations to guard against possible French
retaliation, and justified them by falsely claiming that it was only in
response to French preparations and that they were conducting serious
negotiations with France. In a few days it was known that Cape Colony
had been surrendered in accordance with the counter-orders, but it was
too late. Bonaparte berated the British ambassador in front of 200
spectators over the military preparations.[56]:264–268
The Addington ministry realised they would face an inquiry over their
false reasons for the military preparations, and during April
unsuccessfully attempted to secure the support of William Pitt the
Younger to shield them from damage.[56]:277 In the same month the
ministry issued an ultimatum to France demanding the retention of Malta
for at least ten years, the permanent acquisition of the island
of Lampedusa from the Kingdom of Sicily, and the evacuation of
Holland. They also offered to recognise French gains in Italy if they
evacuated Switzerland and compensated the King of Sardinia for his
territorial losses. France offered to place Malta in the hands of Russia to
satisfy British concerns, pull out of Holland when Malta was evacuated,
and form a convention to give satisfaction to Britain on other issues. The
British falsely denied that Russia had made an offer and their
ambassador left Paris.[56]:268–278 Desperate to avoid war, Bonaparte sent a
secret offer where he agreed to let Britain retain Malta if France could
occupy the Otranto peninsula in Naples.[58] All efforts were futile and
Britain declared war on 18 May 1803.
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