Historical background

 The aftermath of the French Revolution saw Britain and France embroiled in a prolonged conflict from 1793 to 1814. Throughout this tumultuous era, Ile de France (today's Mauritius), a French colony, emerged as a crucial strategic outpost in the Indian Ocean. Its position on the vital trade route connecting Europe with the East, around the Cape of Good Hope, made it indispensable for both European powers engaged in the lucrative spice and silk trade with China and India.

Operating from Ile de France, privateers, sanctioned by commissions of war and financed by affluent merchants in Port Louis and Bourbon, actively engaged in maritime warfare. Their primary target: ships of the East India Company. These audacious attacks resulted in considerable British losses, as captured vessels and their valuable cargoes were sold off in the colonies. Despite the relentless efforts of the British Navy to blockade the harbor and quell these French assaults, they proved unsuccessful until the island's eventual capture in 1810. The hostilities finally ceased in 1814 with the signing of the Treaty of Amiens.

Britain decided to keep Mauritius, reinstating its original Dutch name, recognizing the island's functional harbor and its pivotal role in maintaining control over the eastern sea routes. Bourbon, conversely, was returned to French governance. The new British administration immediately set about reorienting the island's economy towards extensive sugarcane cultivation, a venture entirely dependent on slave labor. This economic shift, however, created significant friction. French colonists, whose views on slavery diverged sharply from Great Britain's abolitionist stance, feared the impending loss of their enslaved workforce with the planned emancipation in 1835. Consequently, they frequently instigated civil unrest, hoping to revert to French rule.