Congress of Breda

The Congress of Breda often also known as the Breda peace talks were a series of negotiations between representatives of Great Britain and France in the Dutch city of Breda that took place between 1746 and 1748.

They were designed to bring an end to the Austrian War of Succession and laid the foundations for the ultimate peace settlement at the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. They were not official peace talks and lacked the participation of the other warring European states.

The War of the Austrian Succession had been raging since 1740 in one form or another, but Britain and France formally went to war with each other only in 1744. There was a strong antiwar faction in Britain, which grew in strength after a number of military setbacks.

Equally, France had those who advocated peace because the war was draining French resources and money. Talks were arranged and agreed to be held by representatives of the two states in the Dutch Republic, which was, in practice, allied to Britain but officially neutral.

The British were represented by Lord Sandwich and the French by the Marquis de Puisieulx. Sandwich and the British delegation set up their headquarters in the pavilion of Breda Castle which was lent to them by their ally, William IV, Prince of Orange for the duration of the talks. Their instructions from the Duke of Newcastle were to prolong the talks until a significant British victory on the battlefield allowed them to negotiate from a position of strength. Although the French entered the talks following a string of victories, they had been beset by a financial crisis and wanted to bring the war to a swift conclusion.

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