Descent into war
In November 1792, the National Convention issued a decree offering 'assistance to all peoples who want to recover their liberty' with the aid of the Revolutionary armies.
But France misjudged the political situation. By 1793, war had broken out across the continent.
The French Revolutionary armies lived off the countryside and needed continuous territorial expansion to sustain them. The momentum of the Revolution depended on war and the war needed the Revolution.
Britain saw the expansion of Revolutionary power into the Low Countries as a threat and declared war on France in February 1793. The Royal Navy was Britain's main defensive force against invasion. Its first major action against the French was in 1794, in a battle known as the 'Glorious First of June'.
In unsettled times, radical activity spread throughout Britain, and all signs of unrest were seen as signals of potential revolution. For example, some argued that the Nore Mutiny (1797) was evidence of radical sympathies penetrating the Royal Navy.