Talk:Affair of Fielding and Bylandt

Did the Dutch Republic really joined the First League of Neutrals ?

This article says it did: "It also contributed to the formation of the First League of Armed Neutrality to which the Dutch acceded in December of 1780." However, in the article about the First League of Armed Neutrality (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_League_of_Armed_Neutrality) states that the Dutch tried to join but couldn't before England declare war in January 1781: "The Netherlands planned to join the League in January 1781, but Britain found out before the treaty could be signed and declared war after it had captured a Dutch ship bearing what the British called contraband. The Netherlands could not thus join a league of neutrals." I have no direct access to the sources cited in both articles, but hopefully a better informed contributor will solve this contradiction. Evargalo (talk) 13:28, 23 August 2022 (UTC)

I think this is a fair point. I have edited the lede to say that "the Dutch tried to accede". Incidentally, the "contraband" mentioned in First League of Armed Neutrality in the ship that the British captured was actually the American diplomat Henry Laurens Ereunetes (talk) 20:22, 27 May 2023 (UTC)