Treaty of Paris (1763) - Dunkirk Question

Dunkirk Question

During the negotiations that led to the treaty, a major issue of dispute between Britain and France had been over the status of the fortifications of the French coastal settlement of Dunkirk. The British had long feared that it would be used as a staging post to launch a French invasion of Britain. Under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 they had forced France to concede extreme limits on the fortifications there. The 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle had allowed more generous terms, and France had constructed greater defences for the town.

By the Treaty Britain forced France to accept the earlier 1713 conditions and demolish the fortifications they had constructed since then. This would be a continuing source of resentment to France, who would eventually have this clause overturned in the Treaty of Paris (1783) which brought an end to the American Revolutionary War.