When Washington began his presidency in April 1789, France had been a strong ally with the United States, and Louis XVI had strongly supported financially and militarily American independence from Britain during the American Revolutionary War. Six days into his first term, the French Revolution plunged Europe into war, between France and Britain, and President Washington and his administration chose to remain neutral. On January 21, 1793, Louis XVI was executed by guillotine. Matters became more complicated when Washington signed the Jay Treaty in 1794 during his second term and gave an alliance to Britain, rather than France. In 1795, the French started to respond by capturing over 2,000 American merchant ships, and the American navy retaliated, attacked, and captured French naval ships. The French revolutionary wars continued after Washington's presidency.