Treaty of Amiens ends the War of the Second Coalition
- When
- 1802
- Where
- Hôtel de Ville; British Government
- Episodes
- 2
The Treaty of Amiens, signed on 25 March 1802 in Amiens, formally ended the War of the Second Coalition and the French Revolutionary Wars. Negotiated by Joseph Bonaparte and Charles Cornwallis, the agreement established a brief period of general peace in Europe. British Prime Minister Henry Addington secured the treaty despite unfavorable terms, using the interval to rebuild military strength before hostilities resumed in 1803.
Episodes
- Addington's Peace Terms
Prime Minister Addington secured an unfavorable peace in 1802 and used the resulting interval to rebuild British strength.
- Signing of the Treaty of Amiens
Joseph Bonaparte and Charles Cornwallis signed the definitive peace treaty in Amiens on 25 March 1802, ending the Second Coalition.
Background and detail
Signing and Terms. The Treaty of Amiens was signed on 25 March 1802 at the Hôtel de Ville in Amiens. Joseph Bonaparte and Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, executed the document as a "Definitive Treaty of Peace." The agreement marked the end of the Second Coalition, which had waged war since the 1798 invasion of Egypt. Although the terms did not favor Britain, the treaty established a necessary diplomatic framework for the cessation of hostilities.
Immediate Aftermath. The peace resulting from the Treaty of Amiens lasted only one year, ending in May 1803. It was the sole period of general peace in Europe between 1793 and 1814. During this interval, British Prime Minister Henry Addington utilized the time to rebuild British strength. Consequently, when fighting renewed in spring 1803, the Royal Navy quickly regained control of the seas, setting the stage for the subsequent conflict.
People involved
- Joseph Bonaparte · Signatory for the French Republic
- Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis · Signatory for the United Kingdom
- Henry Addington · British Prime Minister
- Napoleon Bonaparte · French First Consul at the time of the treaty
Sources
- Treaty of Amiens Wikipedia
- Henry Addington Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-13
- War of the Second Coalition Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-18
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.