February 1, 1793

War of the First Coalition

French Republic declares war on Great Britain and the Dutch Republic

The decree named two officeholders — the king of England and the stadtholder of the United Provinces — rather than declaring war on their peoples.

1 February 1793: the Convention declares

After hearing its general-defence committee's report, the National Convention declared on 1 February 1793, in the name of the French nation, that the Republic was at war with the king of England and the stadtholder of the United Provinces.

France issued the declaration, not Britain. A surviving printed copy is catalogued as National Convention Decree No. 368.

The grievances

The decree listed Britain's refusal to recognise republican representatives, its restrictions on French trade and citizens, its support for émigrés, its military preparations, and activity near the Scheldt.

The decree also cited Britain's order that the French representative, François Bernard de Chauvelin, leave the country. After news of Louis XVI's execution, Britain had given him eight days to leave.

Three articles, and a navy

The declaration ran to three operative articles. Beyond announcing war, it directed the provisional executive council to deploy the necessary forces and authorised it to use the Republic's naval forces as the security of the state required.

Spain is often folded into this date and does not belong there. The Convention issued its separate declaration concerning Spain on 7 March.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources 2 audit passes

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet, rewritten from that sheet, then audited against it by a different model. How the pipeline works →

What the sources leave uncertain

The decree’s language named the “king of England” and the “stadtholder of the United Provinces.” Modern summaries conventionally describe this as war against Great Britain and the Dutch Republic.
The execution of Louis XVI intensified the crisis and preceded Chauvelin’s expulsion, but scholarship cautions against treating regicide as the sole cause of the Anglo-French war.