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The '''Franco-American alliance''' refers to the 1778 alliance between
[[Louis XVI]]'s [[France]] and the [[United States]], during the
[[American Revolutionary War]].  It was a military pact in which
France provided arms and money, and engaged in full-scale war with
Britain.  The Netherlands and Spain later joined as allies of France;
Britain had no allies.  The French alliance was possible once the
Americans captured a British invasion army at [[Saratoga Campaign|
Saratoga]] in October 1777, demonstrating the viability of the
American cause.  The alliance became controversial after 1793 when
Britain and France again went to war and the U.S. declared itself
neutral. Relations between France and the U.S. worsened as the U.S.
moved closer to Britain in the [[Jay Treaty]] of 1795, leading to an
undeclared [[Quasi War]]. The alliance was defunct by 1794 and
formally ended in 1800.

==Background==
France had been left deeply alarmed by the [[Great Britain in the
Seven Years War|British success in the Seven Years War]] which they
feared gave the British naval [[hegemony]]. From 1763 both France, and
their allies [[Spain]], began to rebuild their navies and prepare for
a future war in which they would construct an alliance to overwhelm
and invade Britain. As Britain's troubles with its American colonies
intensified during the 1760s and eventually led to open rebellion in
1775 - France began to anticipate the American rebels joining such an
alliance.

In September 1775 the [[Continental Congress]] described foreign
assistance as "undoubtedly attainable" and began to seek supplies and
assistance from European powers hostile to Britain. The French
leadership sought the "humiliation of England" and began giving covert
aid to the rebels. The American [[United States declaration of
independence|declaration of independence]] was advocated by some as
necessary in order to secure European support against
Britain.<ref>Simms p.600-02</ref> [[Silas Deane]], an American envoy
in Paris, proposed a major anti-British alliance