The confrontation with Spain unfolded while revolutionary disorder left France unable to provide its usual support. Pitt mobilized the Royal Navy and demanded British trading access throughout Spanish territories, a demand close to a declaration of war. Spain conceded rather than fight Britain without effective French backing. Coercive naval diplomacy depends on the opponent's alliances and political isolation as much as on the fleet placed at sea.
Chapter · 23:16-24:49
The Nootka crisis converts mobilization into trade concessions
With France in revolutionary disarray, Pitt used Royal Navy mobilization to force Spain to concede unusually broad British trading rights.