The War of Independence (1775-1783) in America is considered to be a revolution or, as it is also called, the American Revolutionary War, which pursued two goals: to win national independence and to destroy the obstacles that hindered the development of American capitalism. The main issue was the question of land. It was necessary to destroy the elements of feudalism in agriculture, to give the population free access to the western lands, to destroy the system of plantation slavery. Territorially, revolutionary actions took place on the East Coast of the United States, in Central America, on the East Coast and in central Canada.
Background of the war
England pursued a predatory policy on the territory of the American colonies. Thus, valuable raw materials, furs and cotton, were exported by merchants and entrepreneurs, and finished products were imported in exchange. In the colonies, bans were introduced on opening enterprises, on the production of fabrics, the manufacture of iron products, it was impossible to trade with neighboring countries. The English king issued a decree prohibiting the resettlement of colonists to the West in 1763. This measure caused great harm to planters, since plantations on depleted lands gave a smaller crop, and profits accordingly decreased. Small tenants, in turn, could not go to the West and equip farms. The last straw in a series of such "draconian" rules was the "Stamp Act", introduced in 1765 by the British government. The injustice of the stamp duty in relation to the Americans was that for the service of obtaining the rights of a notary in England it was necessary to pay 2 dollars, and in America - 10 dollars. Secondly, the introduction of this tax was beneficial only to England. If the former taxes were difficult, but at least went to the development of America's infrastructure, then the stamp duty replenished exclusively the English treasury.
The next circumstance was that the Americans did not have their own representative in the Parliament of England and could not take part in the discussion of the advisability of introducing certain taxes. When they began to levy taxes even on newspapers, the owners of the newspapers were already indignant. Thanks to Rhode Island Colonial Governor Stephen Hopkins and attorney James Otis, protests against the two laws were passed in the legislature. In New York, at the "Congress Against the Stamp Duty" in 1765, the Declaration of the Rights of the Colonies was adopted. In each of the colonies, reactionary "Sons of Liberty" groups appeared, which burned houses and effigies of British officials. Among the founders of the "Sons of Liberty" was the second president of America, John Adams. All these events led to the fact that in 1766 the "stamp" tax was canceled. But at the same time, the English Parliament reserved the right to continue to introduce new laws and regulations.
Patriots and Loyalists
These events divided the heterogeneous population of the colonists into two groups: "Patriots" - supporters of independence and "Loyalists" - opponents of American independence. The Patriots were mainly farmers, small traders and blacksmiths who lived in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, as well as planters in Virginia and South Carolina.
The ranks of the "Loyalists" included large merchants of port cities - Boston, Charleston, New York, fur traders and representatives of the administration. The "loyalists" did not accept the idea of an uprising and considered resistance to the English authorities as treason. They understood that under the circumstances the revolution was inevitable, they did not see it as pragmatic measures against the colonialists. They predicted chaos, mob power and tyranny. The groups were not divided along social lines, there were both the poor and the rich. The "Loyalists" included immigrants from among the Scottish settlers. After the war, about five hundred thousand loyalists remained on the territory of the thirteen colonies, 78 thousand fled to Canada, Britain, Florida and the West Indies.
A protest by American colonists was held in Boston Harbor. It is known in history as the Boston Tea Party. On May 10, 1773, the "Tea Law" was passed, which restored the full refund of the duties of the East India Company for the import of tea into England. This made it possible to sell tea not through an auction, but to a consignee assigned to the territory for a commission, which reduced the cost of tea. The organizers of the protest were afraid that the East India Company would get a state monopoly on the tea trade, and later it would spread to other goods.
On December 16, 1773, the colonists destroyed a cargo of tea that belonged to the English East India Company. Such an action was caused by two factors: the possible state monopolization of trade and the issue of infringement of the rights of representatives of the colonists in the Parliament of the country. The Boston Tea Party caused a political crisis.
First Continental Congress
September 5, 1774 in Philadelphia, in Carpentas Hall, a convention of deputies from 12 American colonies of Great Britain was held. The main issue for discussion was the laws adopted by the British government, limiting the independent development of the colonists. During the meetings, it was decided to seek greater freedoms for the colonies, including self-government. As a result, the "Declaration of Rights and Grievances" was issued, the main articles of which were a statement about the rights of the American colonies to "property, liberty and life." It also protested against the customs policy of England.
The result of the Continental Congress was the decision to declare a trade boycott of the British missions. On December 1, 1774, the sale of American goods to the British and the purchase of English goods by Americans were prohibited. Thus, a competent political confrontation led to the fact that in 1775 the number of imported goods decreased by 97% compared to 1774. The Second Continental Congress was scheduled for May 10, 1775.
The course of the war
The war began on April 17, 1775, when a British detachment of 700 people set out to capture the leaders of the American colonists, as well as to seize the weapons of the enemy. But the squad was ambushed. After some time, Congress filed a petition to King George III of England for protection from the arbitrariness of the British authorities, at the same time announced the mobilization of the militia, which was headed by George Washington.
In 1776, George sent a fleet to put down the rebellion. As a result, he regained New York. The deputies of the colonies responded by passing the Declaration of Independence on July 4 (Independence Day), 1776. For the first time, the Americans were victorious at the Battle of Saratoga.
On February 6, 1778, France made an alliance with the separatists. Britain responded by declaring war on France. Spain allied with France and the American separatists.
The 1778-1779 years of the war were marked by the victory of the British Clinton over the separatists in Georgia and South Carolina.
1780 - The Marquis of Rochambeau distracted Clinton with a battle near New York.
1780-1781 - The new British General Cornwallis successfully operated in North Carolina, but his troops were exhausted by guerrilla warfare. Therefore, he was forced to retreat to Virginia.
1781 - The combined American-French troops, having cut off the army of Cornwallis at Yorktown in Virginia on September 5, forced the British army of nine thousand to surrender on October 19.
From the end of 1781 and throughout 1782, naval battles took place.
The results of the war
One of the main results of the war should be considered the recognition by Great Britain on September 3, 1783 of the independence of America. Britain sat down at the negotiating table in Paris. During the period of hostilities, the United States received support from France, Spain, Holland, and also Russia. The independent American government ceded Florida to Spain, renounced the west bank of the Mississippi to France, and recognized British rights to Canada. The support of the American Republican separatists turned for France into its own revolution, in which veterans - "Americans" took an active part.
The War of Independence destroyed all obstacles in the development of industry and trade, opened up scope for free competition within the country, initiative, activity, and enterprise in economic life.
A significant achievement of the struggle for independence was the "Bill of Rights". It granted citizens the right to freedom of speech, assembly and choice of religion, inviolability of the person and home. But many poor people, Negroes, Indians, including women, did not receive the right to vote.
Vlad Gods
18.11.2011
Any state is based on mythology, on which the nation's idea of its place in the world is based and serves as a tool for its rallying. Myth is a conditional, surreal thing. Always based on naive faith and does not require proof. The process of mythologization of human history lies so deeply in the centuries that it is even impossible to identify where and when the first myth about the chosenness of a person as an individual, his clan, tribe and, finally, a nation appeared.
Over the course of history, the myth has several ways of development. I won't list them all, but only the most obvious ones. The first way - it becomes a beautiful fairy tale, on which every young generation is brought up - this includes, for example, the myths of Ancient Greece - bright instructive stories about a person's place in society and the world around them. Another way is when the myth becomes philosophy and it starts to influence the minds of mankind. An example here is the Bible. From the moment of its appearance in ancient times, it has become a fundamental factor in morality and morality for a large part of humanity. The third way - when the myth - becomes a "help to action" through a deliberately invented story, divorced from reality and based on an erroneous interpretation.
Why am I all this? And here's what. It was the myths that even in ancient times laid the foundation for the formation of a nation, explaining and justifying the meaning of its existence as this nation and guiding each new generation along the only true historical path. The older the nation, the more chances it has to combine all the above ways of development of myths and use them for their own benefit. And accordingly, the less time a nation exists, the simpler and "clumsier" ways of creating myths. The third way is the easiest and shortest. It is actively used in propaganda and, surprisingly, in every advertisement that forces us to make the only correct and necessary choice for us. And the more convincing the myth, the more of its supporters it attracts to itself.
Every myth has main character who gets all the glory. His task is to become an object for imitation and alignment with his chosenness. But the most important thing is his struggle. Fight for the right to exist and spread their ideas. If we translate it into a state scale, then here, of course, the struggle of the people for their independence comes to the fore. As in any other state, the basis of the statehood of Latvia is also the myth of the struggle for its own independence, which is talked about by all the first persons at all public holidays. If we turn to our realities, it becomes obvious that the history of the state of Latvia, due to its brevity of history, follows the beaten and shortest path: it is forced to create acceptable myths “on the go” and tries to convince others that the chosen path is predetermined by the fate.
If you follow a simple logic, then independence is the apotheosis of the struggle, where, among other things, the enemy is implied. And now ask any national patriot with whom, and most importantly who, fought for the independence of Latvia, if de facto it was declared on November 18, 1918. Can anyone name the exact date start this fight? Let's figure it out...
So, in the territory of Latvia in 1917. Goes First World War. Riga is under siege by German troops, they are about to occupy the capital of the province. The February Revolution has already passed, the Provisional Government is in power. All imperial Russia, in one great socialist impulse, grinds its capitalist past with a crunch. The April theses put forward by Lenin in the Baltic provinces found a gracious listener. Already by July 1917, the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party (LSDRP) gained the largest number of supporters in the territory of Latvia. Toward autumn, the party organized local government elections. Throughout the territory of Latvia, the LSDRP received the confident support of 2/3 of the entire population of the region. In mid-December (according to the old style) of the same year, the II Congress of Workers, Soldiers and Landless Deputies took place in Valmiera, liberated from the Germans, where it proclaimed itself the supreme authority of Latvia as an autonomous part of Soviet Russia. In the elections to the Constituent Assembly, the Social Democrats received 72% of the vote in Vidzeme, 51% in Latgale, and 96% in the Latvian rifle regiments.
The plans of the socialists were violated by the German army, which went on an active offensive. On August 21 (September 3), 1918, the Germans occupied Riga, and soon, violating the armistice agreement, the entire territory of Latvia. It must be said that one of the conditions for the armistice was the withdrawal in February 1918 of the Latvian rifle regiments from the territory of Latvia. Which, of course, influenced the outcome of the struggle for power of the social democrats. However, even under the conditions of German occupation in Riga on November 18-19, a conference of the LSDLP was held, where a decision was made on an armed uprising. Forces for this armed struggle were given by the fact that in Germany itself a revolution took place on November 4-5: the power of the Kaiser was overthrown, Germany became a republic. And then, on November 11, the Armistice Agreement between the Allied Powers and Germany came into force. Under the terms of this armistice, the German army lays down its arms in the West, but must remain on the Eastern Front to ensure internal order. In turn, Russia declared the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk invalid. Soon after the announcement of the uprising, pockets of struggle broke out throughout Latvia. The Germans were forced to retreat. The result of this liberation struggle was the formation of the Soviet government of Latvia, headed by Peter Stuchka. A couple of weeks later, on December 22, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR recognized the independence of Soviet Latvia.
At the very beginning of January 1919, an uprising of workers, organized by the Social Democrats, began in Riga, on January 3, the Latvian Red Riflemen entered Riga. And by mid-January, Soviet power was established throughout Latvia, with the exception of a small area near Liepaja, where the German authorities settled.
It was one scenario. But simultaneously with these events, there were other, no less large-scale and no less fateful events.
Speaking about the struggle of Latvians for independence, one important remark should be made. At times Russian Empire The Latvian intelligentsia never spoke in favor of the separation of Latvia from Russia and the creation of its own state. And even after the February Revolution, her proposals for sovereignty were very cautious: there were only proposals for the autonomy of Latvia within the boundaries of a single imperial Russia. And only after the October Revolution took place on December 22, 1917 (January 4, 1918), the first proposal was made by a group of leaders headed by the former mayor and commissioner of the Provisional Government Andrejs Krastkalns. This group, proclaiming itself the supreme power, decided to join Latvia to Germany. This petition was then used by the Austro-German delegation at the peace talks in Brest-Litovsk. However, two days later, an angry statement by the LSDRP followed that this proposal was not the will of the people and had no force. Mass demonstrations took place on the streets of Riga in support of the LSDRP.
Another attempt to separate Latvia from Russia took place in March 1918. The German occupying troops restored the Riga City Council, and on March 20, 1918, this Council turned to the Kaiser with a request to include the Baltic States in the German Empire. But that didn’t work either - again an attempt to tear off the territory from Russia failed
The third attempt to separate Latvia was made on November 18, 1918, led by K. Ulmanis. This event interests us more, since what happened in this case is most directly related to today. As you know, this day is celebrated as a public holiday - Independence Day of Latvia. And it was this event that was so mythologized that even the most scrupulous national patriots, perhaps, will not find the truth.
Short story. Under the conditions of occupation by German troops on November 17, 1918, the Latvian Provisional National Council and the Democratic Bloc agreed to the joint formation of a provisional parliament - the People's Council of Latvia. The Bolsheviks oriented toward Soviet Russia and pro-German-minded bourgeois politicians were not represented in it. Janis Čakste became chairman, and Karlis Ulmanis took over as prime minister of Latvia. The People's Council adopted a resolution on the formation of an independent and democratic republic. On November 18, 1918, the People's Council of Latvia proclaims the independent Republic of Latvia. On December 7, 1918, the Provisional Government entered into an agreement with August Winnig, authorized by Germany in the Baltic states, to create the so-called. Landeswehr consisting of 18 Latvian, 7 German and 1 Russian companies. At the end of the same month, 7 more companies were formed, of which 4 turned out to be "unreliable". Two of them soon rebelled against the government of Ulmanis and were massacred. On December 29, the Ulmanis government concluded an agreement with the German plenipotentiary in the Baltic states to grant Latvian citizenship to all foreigners who fought for the liberation of Latvia from Bolshevism for at least four weeks. By the way, the draft Declaration of Independence, which was proclaimed by the Ulmanis People's Council in the Russian Theater on November 18, 1918, was drawn up by the German commissioner A. Winnig.
The attitude of the Latvians to the new government of Ulmanis was not as unambiguous as the politicians of that time and the present one would like. In this case, it is best to rely on eyewitness accounts, and not the official history “for the people” created in the offices. Documents have been preserved that vividly characterize this government. In particular, the archives preserved the reports of the head of the American mission in the Baltics of the US delegation O.N. Solbert at the Paris Peace Conference on the political and military situation in Latvia on April 12 and 28, 1919. Describing the government of Ulmanis, he notes: “The current de facto government of Latvia is extremely weak and does not represent the Latvian people. It would be immediately overthrown if popular elections were held. It is a self-proclaimed government created by party leaders and people who took matters into their own hands in Riga and were subsequently driven out of the city by the Bolshevik offensive. It was recognized by Germany in December. The Baltic Germans and socialists also treat him with hostility, and only the bourgeoisie reluctantly supports him.
According to Solbert, the main problems of the Ulmanis government were that it consisted of 12 members and was exclusively Latvian. The Baltic Germans, Russians, Jews are not represented in it at all, and this will subsequently have a negative impact. In addition, this government does not have a mandate from the people, and that it can only be described as a governing body. It operates only on the basis of a special agreement with the German High Command, which recognized this government as formally sovereign. Also, according to the head of the mission, the only capable people in this government are Prime Minister Ulmanis and Minister of the Interior Valters. Looking ahead, I will say that after the defeat of Germany, the project "Independent Latvia" was taken up in their own interests by England and the United States.
It must be said that in mid-April 1919, the German leadership changed plans and appointed their trusted person to lead the territory. It was pastor Andrievs Niedra, who had been the leader of Latvia for several months (from April to June), for which he was subsequently condemned in Latvia in 1924 as "an enemy of the Latvian people." Thus, in Latvia at the beginning of 1919, formally, there were two governments independent of each other. The overthrown members of the Ulmanis government took refuge on board the Saratov ship, guarded by British and French warships, in the port of Liepaja.
Let's go back to the documents. Speaking about the Latvian army, the head of the American mission says that “the Latvian army, as a military factor, is insignificant,” and describing the mood in society, he notes: “... I know for certain that such a mood is widespread among the unemployed and landless that if they had to starve to death, they would rather do it under the Bolshevik regime, where they can rob the bourgeoisie and the rich."
So who still fought for the freedom of independent Latvia and with whom? In this case, the enemy was the people of Latvia and the government of P. Stuchka, legally elected by this people, supported by the Red Latvian Riflemen. In April 1919, they fought against them: 20 thousand Germans, 3.8 thousand Baltic Germans, 3 thousand Latvians and 300 Russians. The meager Latvian composition of the army, which later became the basis of the entire Latvian army, was replenished by forcibly mobilizing the inhabitants of the city of Liepaja and the Grobinsky district. In addition, after the defeat of Germany in November 1918, the Entente was able to throw the large military forces of the Western Front against Soviet Russia. At the Paris Peace Conference, the plan proposed by Marshal Foch was adopted, according to which the national armies of Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Poland were to launch an offensive against Russia. Red Latvian riflemen, surrounded on all sides, were forced to retreat. On May 22, 1919, they left Riga and retreated to Latgale. Soviet Latvia existed until January 1920. The Stučka government announced the cessation of activity and transferred its powers until the next Congress of Soviets of the Central Committee of the illegal Communist Party of Latvia.
In the autumn of 1919, the newly independent de facto Latvia was tested by fire. In September 1919, the former commander of the German corps in Latvia, Count Rüdiger von der Goltz, with the support of the leadership of the German Reichswehr, organized in German prisoner of war camps the recruitment and transfer to Latvia of prisoners of war soldiers and officers of the Russian army, who became part of the volunteer Western Army under the command of Colonel Pavel Bermondt - Avalov. The Western Army also included units of the formally liquidated German corps of von der Goltz and the White Guard detachments remaining in Latvia - by the end of September, there were just over 50 thousand people in the army. On September 20, Bermondt-Avalov announced that he assumed full power in the Baltic states and refused to obey the commander of the White armies in the North-West of Russia, General N. Yudenich.
In the early days of October 1919, Bermondt-Avalov's troops launched an offensive against Riga. The Latvian units held back their onslaught along the Western Dvina (Daugava) and by November 11, with the assistance of the Entente fleet and the Estonian army, the Bermontians were driven back from Riga. By the end of November, the territory of Latvia was completely liberated from them. Bermondt-Avalov fled to Germany. On November 28, 1919, Latvia declared war on Germany and already on December 16, under pressure from the Western powers, the German army left the territory of Latvia. May 5, 1920 Latvia and Germany conclude a peace treaty.
The new independent state of Latvia was not independent and was completely dependent on the major Western powers. For them, Latvia was a kind of cordon sanitaire, the purpose of which was to protect Western Europe from Soviet Russia. The Daily Herald wrote on November 19, 1919: “We hold in our hands the Baltic provinces - Poland and Finland ... The independence of these states is a conditional concept. None of them can do anything without our consent."
As for the independence of Latvia, until August 11, 1920, the Latvian state existed only de facto, and only after the conclusion of a peace treaty with Soviet Russia, where, among other things, the sovereignty of the new republic was recognized, did it become de jure. Thus, Russia became the first state to officially recognize the independence of Latvia. On January 26, 1921, the countries of the Friendly Agreement recognized the independence of Latvia: Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Belgium.
As for the popular thesis today that the Latvians used the right of the nation to self-determination in 1918, in fact this is nothing more than a beautiful wording, since the Ulmanis government was just a disenfranchised object of someone else's policy, but by no means a subject that was used in large political games first Germany, and then England and the USA.
Let's return to our beginning about myths... However, there is no need. This is where my words end. Just listen to what the rulers of Latvia have to say and compare...
American Revolutionary War(American Revolutionary War, American War of Independence), in American literature is often called the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) - a war between Great Britain and loyalists (adherents of the British crown) on the one hand and revolutionaries of 13 English colonies (patriots) - with the other, who declared their independence from Great Britain, as an independent union state, in 1776. Significant political and social changes in the life of the inhabitants of North America, caused by the war and the victory in it of supporters of independence, are referred to in American literature as the "American Revolution".
Background of the war
In 1765, the British government passed the Stamp Act through Parliament, according to which all commercial and other civil documents were subject to a stamp duty. At the same time, it was decided to station 10,000 British troops in America with the obligation of the Americans to provide him with housing, certain foodstuffs and furniture for the convenience of the soldiers. The Stamp Act was opened unfairly to Americans. So, for example, in order to obtain the rights of a notary in England, one had to pay 2 pounds sterling, and in America - 10. In addition, this was the first tax law that was intended specifically for England. Prior to this, taxes were used to develop the infrastructure of trade and industry and were generally understood by the population.
Representatives of the Americans did not take part in the discussion of the expediency of imposing taxes. The situation was aggravated by the introduction of a tax on newspapers, which caused dissatisfaction with the newspapers themselves. These circumstances caused extreme indignation, which found expression in rallies and which already had the significance of periodicals and non-periodicals in America (by the way, the brochures of the Massachusetts lawyer James Otis "Rights of the British Colonies" and the future governor of Rhode Island Hopkins "Colonists' Rights" proved that the right to tax should be in connection with the representation), as well as in various street riots (for example, a crowd broke into the house of the Anglophile writer Howard, who had a polemic with Hopkins, and ruined everything, Howard himself escaped with difficulty). There were solemn protests against these two laws in the legislative assemblies.
Course of the war, 1775 - 1783
On April 17, 1775, the first armed clash between British troops and American separatists took place. A British detachment (700 soldiers) under the command of Smith was sent to Concord (a suburb of Boston) to seize weapons from a cache belonging to the American separatists. However, the detachment was ambushed and retreated. A similar incident occurred in Lexington. British troops locked themselves in Boston. On June 17, they launched a sortie against the separatists on Bunker Hill, where a bloody battle took place. The separatists retreated, but the British garrison of Boston suffered heavy losses and refrained from further active action.
Meanwhile, on May 10, the Congress of 13 colonies gathered in Philadelphia, which, on the one hand, submitted a petition to King George III of England for protection from the arbitrariness of the colonial administration, and on the other, began to mobilize an armed militia, headed by George Washington. The king described the situation in the North American colonies as a rebellion (Rebellion).
Encouraged by inaction, the American separatists launched an invasion of Canada in the autumn, hoping for help from the anti-British French population of Quebec. However, British troops repulsed the invasion.
In the spring of 1776, the King sent a fleet of Hessian mercenaries to put down the uprising. British troops went on the offensive. In 1776, the British took back New York, and in 1777, as a result of the Battle of Brandywine, Philadelphia. Amid escalating violence, on July 4, 1776, the deputies of the colonies adopted a declaration of independence and the formation of the United States. At the Battle of Saratoga, the American separatists defeated the royal forces for the first time. France, hoping to weaken its long-time rival, supported the American separatists and entered into a Franco-American alliance on February 6, 1778. French volunteers were sent to America. In response, Great Britain declared war on France in 1778, but France and, accordingly, the American separatists, were supported by Spain.
In 1778-1779. British General Clinton successfully fought against the separatists in Georgia and South Carolina, and established complete control over them. However, after the landing of 6,000 French troops (Marquis of Rochambeau) on June 17, 1780 in Rhode Island, General Clinton hurried to New York to release it.
1779 - the American-French squadron of Commander John Paul Jones successfully operates off the coast of England.
1780-1781 the new British General Cornwallis operated successfully in North Carolina, but his troops were exhausted by guerrilla warfare. Therefore, he was forced to retreat to Virginia.
1781 - The 20,000th American-French army (Lafayette, Marquis of Rochambeau, George Washington) forced the 9,000th army of the British General Cornwallis to surrender on October 19 at Yorktown in Virginia, after the French fleet of Admiral de Grasse (28 ships) cut off British troops from the mother country on 5 September. The defeat at Yorktown was the heaviest blow for England, which predetermined the outcome of the war. The Battle of Yorktown was the last major battle on land, although the British army of 30,000 still held New York and a number of other cities (Savannah, Charleston).
Late 1781 - 1782 - there were several naval battles and a number of minor clashes on land.
The results of the war
When the main British troops in North America were lost, the war lost support in Britain itself. On March 20, 1782, Prime Minister Frederick North resigned after a vote of no confidence was passed against him. In April 1782, the House of Commons voted to end the war.
Britain sat down at the negotiating table in Paris. On November 30, 1782, an armistice was concluded, and on September 3, 1783, Great Britain recognized the independence of the United States. On November 25 of that year, the last British troops left New York.
The independent American government ceded Florida to Spain, renounced the west bank of the Mississippi to France, and recognized British rights to Canada. The support of the American Republican separatists turned for France into its own revolution, in which veterans - "Americans" took an active part.
Military casualties
Articles from Wikipedia- free encyclopedia.
On September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Versailles was signed. The treaty was concluded between Great Britain and 13 former North American colonies. Thus, Great Britain admitted its defeat in the war of 1775-1783. Recognized the independence of the United States.
The United States owes its success in establishing independence from Great Britain ... in a way to Great Britain itself. More precisely, the policy that the UK pursued. The desire of the British for overwhelming world influence of itself could not fail to meet the resistance of other powers. If the UK had not behaved so aggressively, things could have turned out differently. I draw your attention: not better - otherwise. Maybe support her European states, or at least did not resist.
But history, as you know, does not tolerate the subjunctive mood, so everything happened the way it happened: the decisive role in the success of the Americans was played by the position of European countries - Spain, France. And Russia.
France, hoping to weaken its longtime rival, supported the American separatists and entered into a Franco-American alliance in 1778, and then, after the recall of the British ambassador, declared war on the British. In 1779, France, and accordingly, the American separatists, was supported by Spain.
As for Russia, on September 1, 1775, the English King George III sent a personal message to Catherine II. Playing on the monarchical feelings of the empress, the king agreed to "accept", and in essence asked to send Russian soldiers "to suppress the uprising in the American colonies." The envoy of England in Petersburg received detailed instructions in order to achieve the sending of the 20,000th corps. Rumors about the extraordinary request of George III and the possible sending of Russian troops across the ocean caused serious concern in America and Western Europe.
But in St. Petersburg they were well aware of the actual state of affairs in North America. Already in the 60s and especially in the first half of the 70s of the 18th century, Russian diplomats abroad informed the tsarist government in detail and quite objectively about the development of the conflict between the American colonists and the mother country.
The calculations of the English king to support Russia did not materialize, and in a letter dated September 23 (October 4), 1775, Catherine replied with a polite but decisive refusal. “The size of the allowance (three million pounds sterling) and its destination not only change the meaning of my proposals,” wrote the Russian tsarina, “but even exceed the means that I can have at my disposal to render service to your majesty. I am just beginning to enjoy the world, and Your Majesty knows that my empire is in need of tranquility. Noting "the inconvenience that would arise from the use of such a significant corps in another hemisphere," Catherine II also hinted at the adverse consequences of such a combination of our forces solely to quell an uprising that was not supported by any of the foreign powers.
You must admit that protecting the interests of the English king in America would be an extremely strange initiative for a state that recently ended the war in Turkey and suffered from peasant uprisings led by Yemelyan Pugachev. Well, a wary attitude towards British politics in general is also an argument.
England's attempts to impose allied obligations on Russia were made more than once, however, Russia continued to maintain strict neutrality. Thus supporting the Americans in their revolutionary struggle.
If the British, and all other free or involuntary participants, knew in advance which state they are helping to come into being. And then, in a fairly short period of time, relations between the United States and its former mother country smoothly moved from open hostility to alliance...
The American Revolutionary War began on April 19, 1775 with skirmishes in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, and ended on June 28, 1783, when the British army stopped attacks on the French, who were helping the rebels in southern India. Apart from Vietnam, this was undoubtedly the longest war in the history of the United States. Leading world powers took part in it, some as belligerents, others as observers. In one way or another, the war affected all parts of the former British America, including not only the thirteen colonies of the east coast, but also Canada, the West Indies and the Atlantic. She put an end to one empire and gave rise to another.
Economy
The economic situation on the continent at that time was in a deplorable state. In 1765 the English Parliament approved the Stamp Act. This meant that citizens were required to pay tax on each transaction. At the same time, the Sons of Liberty organization appeared in Massachusetts, whose members advocated an end to English arbitrariness. The organization very quickly overgrown with associates. The dissatisfaction of the population was so fierce and put such pressure on the government that the Act was canceled a year after its adoption.
At the same time, a decree was issued according to which 10 thousand soldiers and officers of the English army were quartered in America. The Americans living there had to provide the military with everything they needed - from housing and food to furniture. In 1765, all commercial affairs were under the authority of the British, and the governors of the colonies who had previously dealt with them lost their powers.
After an extremely exhausting period, England, in addition to expanding its colonies, became overgrown with debts. To stabilize the financial situation, the British government arbitrarily increased taxes for the American population, without waiting for negotiations with local governors.
Restriction of freedom
The power of the British in America was practically unlimited - the search of dwellings, the examination of personal documents, the strictest censorship became common practice in the management environment. The population desperately tried to resist, threatening otherwise with non-payment of taxes, but in vain.
Industry
England's goal was to exploit the continent without developing it. The resource-rich country could become a serious competitor to the small and rainy Albion, so the British authorities completely seized control of the resources, forcing the planters to sell goods at negligible low prices and purchase at exorbitantly high prices. It was also forbidden to organize the production of metal processing and enter into commercial relations with any countries except England itself.
First bloodshed
March 1770 was remembered for sad events - English soldiers without warning began shelling the strikers and wounded and killed dozens of people. At the cost of these lives, the Americans convinced the government of the need to abolish all newly introduced duties. Only the tax on tea remained, preserved as a confirmation of the monopoly. In 1772, the "Sons of Liberty" created Correspondence Committees, which were called upon to ensure that the boycott of English goods did not stop in the country, to coordinate the work of the rebels and to communicate between members of the organization.
boston tea party
The authorities believed that with the abolition of most duties, sales would increase, and the discontent of the population would subside, but it was too late, the mechanism of the revolution was launched. In December 1773, three ships loaded with tea entered the port of Boston - England had the right to trade it in America without duties. Members of the Sons of Liberty boarded the ships and threw a fortune worth of tea from the ships into the sea. Soon after that, the British government nevertheless decided to pass all the laws against which the Americans were so on strike, and also enlisted the support of Canada, whose territory was significantly increased due to the lands written off in its favor, which other colonists claimed in order to increase the area of sowing. The revolution in America (like the vast majority of revolutions) was led by the working class - artisans, who make up the lion's share of the population.
The course of the war
On July 11, 1776, a number of provinces, whose Congress was dominated by conservatives, signed the Declaration of Independence, thus depriving their deputies of making any decisions on behalf of the provinces. The workers rejoiced.
In 1776, the British leave Boston, securing New York, which they will hold until the very end of the war.
In 1777 an army of patriots made an attempt to reach Canada, but to no avail. Fighting near Saratoga, the patriots were still able to win, which turned away luck from the British - France enters the war on the side of the Americans.
On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were adopted - the "embryo" of the American Constitution. The Articles became legal in all states on March 1, 1781. At the same time, the Continental Congress was disbanded, creating the Congress of the Confederation, headed by Samuel Adams.
By the end of the war, the British tried to regain the lost initiative by moving the main military operations to the southern lands, but there were fewer and fewer supporters of their methods and policies.
In 1781, at the siege of Yorktown, the Second English Army surrendered to the onslaught of the American-French troops. In fact, the defeat in this battle was the defeat of the entire war.
Treaty of Paris
Peace negotiations began in the spring of 1782. It turned out that France was fighting solely for the idea of the Americans to be independent, while they themselves had views of the territory near the Appalachians. Secretly from the French, they began to negotiate peace with the British.
William Petit, who served as Prime Minister of Britain, made concessions, giving the Americans all the land up to the Mississippi River and the opportunity to trade in England. English merchants, in turn, were allowed to return property left in the United States.
On September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed - the official recognition of America as an independent state, as well as provisions clarifying the border between the United States and Canada.