Editing William Pitt the Younger (section)

====Foreign affairs====
Pitt sought European alliances to restrict French influence, forming the [[Triple Alliance (1788)|Triple Alliance]] with [[Prussia]] and [[Dutch Republic|Holland]] in 1788.{{sfn|Black|1994|p={{page needed|date=January 2021}}}} During the [[Nootka Sound Controversy]] in 1790, Pitt took advantage of the alliance to force Spain to give up its claim to exclusive control over the western coast of North and South America. The Alliance, however, failed to produce any other important benefits for Great Britain.{{sfn|Turner|2003|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Hm0SQ_sRpCMC&pg=PA155 149–155]}}

Pitt was alarmed at Russian expansion in the 1780s at the expense of the [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref>[[John Holland Rose|Holland Rose, John]], ''William Pitt and National Revival'' (1911) pp. 589-607.</ref> The relations between Russia and Britain were disturbed during the [[Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792)|Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792]] by Pitt's subscription to the view of the Prussian government that the Triple Alliance could not with impunity allow the [[Balance of power (international relations)|balance of power]] in Eastern Europe to be disturbed. In peace talks with the Ottomans, Russia refused to return the key [[Ochakiv|Ochakov]] fortress. Pitt wanted to threaten military retaliation. However Russia's ambassador [[Semyon Vorontsov]] organised Pitt's enemies and launched a public opinion campaign. Pitt had become alarmed at the opposition to his Russian policy in parliament, [[Edmund Burke|Burke]] and [[Charles James Fox|Fox]] both uttering powerful speeches against the restoration of Ochakov to the Turks. Pitt won the vote so narrowly that he gave up.{{sfn|Black|1994|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=zgbjPESz3dcC&pg=PA290 290]}}{{sfn|Ehrman|1969 |loc=Vol. 2|p=xx}} The outbreak of the [[French Revolution]] and its attendant wars temporarily united Britain and Russia in an ideological alliance against French republicanism.