[citation needed] On 21 January 1793, the National Convention of France executed Louis XVI by guillotine, enraging the other monarchs of Europe.

Emboldened, the French government decreed annexation of the territory (modern Belgium), provoking a diplomatic break with Great Britain.

The French were led by Jacques François Dugommier, and the Anglo-Spanish defenders were commanded by admirals Juan de Lángara, Federico Gravina, Samuel Hood and General Charles O'Hara.

The Allies abandoned the port after a young officer of artillery, Napoleon Bonaparte, brought the fleet's anchorage under cannon fire.

At the outbreak of war, King Charles IV of Spain appointed Captain General Antonio Ricardos to command the Army of Catalonia in the eastern Pyrenees.

[3] In despair, the elderly French commander in charge of Roussillon, Mathieu Henri Marchant de La Houlière, committed suicide.

[7] A 5,000-man Portuguese division led by John Forbes joined Ricardos in time to defeat d'Aoust at the Battle of Villelongue-dels-Monts on 7 December.

At the Battle of Boulou, from 29 April to 1 May, Dugommier drove de la Union's army south of the border and forced the Spanish to abandon all their artillery and trains.

[17] On 5 February 1794, at the Battle of Sans Culottes Camp, the French successfully defended a fortified hilltop position near Hendaye against 13,000 Spanish infantry and 700 cavalry and artillery led by José Urrutia y de las Casas.

[18] On 3 June, a 2,300-man French brigade commanded by Lavictoire stormed the Casa Fuerte position at Izpegi Pass (Col d'Ispeguy) 13.5 km west of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port.

On 23 June, Captain General Ventura Caro with 8,000 infantry and 500 cavalry and artillery tried unsuccessfully to oust a French force from a fortified position atop Mont Calvaire.

Jacques Léonard Muller commanded the army at the time, but Moncey exercised tactical control of operations during the Battle of the Baztan Valley.

The French then followed the Bidasoa river northward in late July to seize the heights of San Marcial and the town of Hondarribia (Fuenterrabia), near the coast.

Moncey followed the exploit by capturing San Sebastián without resistance on 3 August, with an additional 1,700 Spanish soldiers and 90 cannon falling into French hands.

[22][23] On 14 August 1794, the General Assembly of Gipuzkoa reunited in the coastal town of Getaria with the support of the San Sebastián bourgeoisie, followed by tense negotiations with senior officials of the French army.

Besides embracing the French revolutionary ideas, the council made a formal petition: detachment from the Kingdom of Spain, respect for the region specific laws, allegiance of Gipuzkoa to France, free Catholic practice and a set of rules for the management of war-related circumstances.

Given the circumstances, another assembly was held in Mondragón on 13 September in which the attending regional representatives decided this time to support Ferdinand VII[25] and mustered an autonomous provincial militia against the French army.

The news of the declaration issued in Getaria by the Gipuzkoan representatives spread like fire to Madrid and sparked outrage in Spanish ruling circles and press, which lashed out at the Basque province and its inhabitants.

The 46,000-man French army drove back 13,000 Spanish troops under the command of Pedro Téllez-Girón, 9th Duke of Osuna, with 4,000 casualties and the loss of 50 cannon.

[23][27] A final clash occurred at Bergara on 7 November in which the French inflicted losses of 150 killed and 200 men and one cannon captured on a 4,000-man division led by Cayetano Pignatelli, 3rd Marquis of Rubí.

[28] The town was sacked, but a detachment of the territorial militia, led by Gabriel Mendizabal, who was to be promoted to general during the Peninsular War, managed to recapture it.

Notwithstanding that provision, at least the city council of San Sebastián was arrested and put to a court-martial trial in Pamplona that was held as of February 1796.