On December 4, 1777, word reached Benjamin Franklin at Versailles that Philadelphia had fallen and that Burgoyne had surrendered. Two days later, Louis XVI assented to negotiations for an alliance.[17] The treaty was signed on February 6, 1778, and France declared war on Britain one month later, with hostilities beginning with naval skirmishes off Ushant in June.[18] George III did not welcome a war with France, but he was "prepared" for it. The king believed he had tried to avoid the conflict, but "France chooses to be the Aggressor", and Britain had taken "all the steps necessary if it should end in war".[19] He was "prepared" for armed conflict with the French by remembering British victories over that Bourbon power in the Seven Years' War.[20]