Second Treaty of Basel

Background. The Peace of Basel of 1795 comprised three treaties concluded by France during the French Revolution, with François de Barthélemy representing the Republic. The first, with Prussia, was signed on 5 April 1795 after discussions begun in 1794; the second, with Spain, followed on 22 July, and a third with Hesse-Kassel on 28 August concluded the stage of the French Revolutionary Wars against the First Coalition.

Terms of the Franco-Spanish Treaty. Under the second treaty, signed on 22 July 1795, Spain ceded the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo to France in exchange for keeping Gipuzkoa. Spain was represented by Domingo de Iriarte, who signed the treaty in the mansion of Ochs, the Holsteinerhof, with the French arriving at night to sign.

Aftermath and Significance. The treaties with Prussia and Spain broke the alliance between the French Republic's two main opponents of the First Coalition, enabling France through diplomatic cunning to placate and divide its enemies one by one. France later ceded its de jure claim over the eastern part of Hispaniola back to Spain in the 1814 Treaty of Paris.