Context
The French Revolution ended in Napoleon's taking of executive and legislative power in his coup of 18 Brumaire 1799, whilst France was immersed in the War of the Second Coalition.
Following the signature of the Peace of Basel, which put an end to the War of the Pyrenees between France and Spain, both countries maintained a military alliance embodied in the signing of the Second Treaty of San Ildefonso on 1796, which committed either party to go to war against a third country if attacked. It was this alliance that led to Spain's entry into the war against Great Britain, leading to the loss of Trinidad and Menorca in 1798 and the attacks on Ferrol and Cadiz in 1800. Spain's financial system was facing serious trouble—from 1780 banknotes were circulating as legal currency, as a new form of government bonds invented by Francisco Cabarrús. The British attacks on Spain's colonies and her convoys back from America, along with Britain's commercial blockade, added to an already worsening economic situation, with the national debt increasing eightfold between 1793 and 1798. Charles IV and Maria Luisa of Parma ruled Spain, with Manuel Godoy as prime minister.
Read more about this topic: Third Treaty Of San Ildefonso
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