b02_0277 - 20 Francs Émile Gentil Spécimen GUADELOUPE 1946 P.33s

GUADELOUPE

Guadeloupe was discovered by Christopher Columbus during his second voyage in 1493. Occupied by the French from 1636, Colbert acquired it in 1664 and ceded it to the Compagnie des Indes Occidentales. Guadeloupe became a Crown colony in 1674 then was occupied several times by the English between 1756 and 1802. Returned to France by the Peace of Amiens in 1802, it was occupied again in 1810 and remained English until 1813, date it was exchanged to Sweden. Returned to France by the Treaties of Paris in 1814 and 1815, it was not recovered by the royal power until 1816.