spain wanted a rematch with great britain. they had come out very badly in the seven years' war which had ended in 1763 with britain ascendant and france losing canada and spain losing florida. now, france and spain were already closely aligned by both family and military ties. it was called the bourbon family compact. and both nations wanted revenge against britain. but they had different goals. france wanted to regain its position at the center of the balance of power in europe. spain wanted to regain gibraltar and drive the british from the gulf of mexico. and both nations had predicted that the american revolution would happen long before the americans themselves knew that it would. in 767 -- 1767, the french foreign minister said only the future american revolution will consign england to a state of weakness. and so they knew that this revolt of the american colonies that was certain to happen in the future would weaken britain. and is so they would send spies and observers like the barren dekalb -- baron dekalb to see that happen. >> you can watch this and other programs on line at booktv.org. >> you're watching booktv on c-span2 with top nonfiction books and authors