Capture of Menorca

Background. Menorca, one of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean belonging to Spain, was first seized from Spain by Anglo-Dutch forces in 1708 during the War of the Spanish Succession. It remained a British possession until 1756, when French forces captured it during the Seven Years' War after repulsing a British relief attempt.

The 1781 Invasion. In 1781, Louis des Balbes de Berton de Crillon, 1st Duke of Mahón, invaded Menorca. During the invasion he ordered all Jews to leave the island within four days, an expulsion decree issued in the course of the campaign against the British-held island.

Capture and Cession. In 1782, Franco-Spanish forces captured Menorca during the American Revolutionary War. The following year, Britain formally ceded the island back to Spain under the 1783 Peace of Paris.

Later Reversals. The capture did not permanently settle the island's fate: the British captured Menorca again in 1798 during the French Revolutionary Wars, though they ceded it back to Spain in the 1802 Treaty of Amiens.