Question 01. Tell us about the life of the Parisian nobility during the empire. How was Napoleon's power exalted?
Answer. The nobility was new, formed from the big bourgeoisie and the top of the army. She tried in many ways to copy the life of the pre-revolutionary nobility with new slogans (toasts, songs). It was possible to copy the old aristocracy, first of all, in luxury, but in the field of taste and refinement of manners the new nobility lacked upbringing and education. Exalting Napoleon's power was the main manifestation of loyalty and the key to career advancement. TO national holidays the emperor's birthday was added, all masses in churches ended with a prayer for the emperor, etc.
Question 02. List the reasons for the weakening of the Napoleonic Empire.
Answer. Causes:
1) severe crop failures for two years;
2) continental blockade caused a decline in production;
3) due to constant wars, taxes increased;
4) the ongoing war on the Iberian Peninsula required more and more resources;
5) the death of almost the entire Great Army in Russia dealt a huge blow to the empire.
Question 03. On what occasion were the words “brilliant chimera” spoken? Explain their meaning. Do you agree with Fouché's opinion?
Answer. Minister Fouché allegedly said these words about Napoleon’s plans to conquer Russia. But this is known only from his memoirs, so perhaps he attributed this phrase to himself when the result of the campaign had long been known. Regarding the correctness of this phrase, it is worth recalling that Napoleon did not intend to conquer Russia, he wanted to defeat its army (preferably not far from the border) and thereby force Alexander I to actually observe the continental blockade.
Question 04. What events in history were called “Napoleon’s Hundred Days”? Tell us about them.
Answer. This is the name given to the period between Napoleon’s return from the island of Elba until his second abdication of the throne, as a result of which he ended up on the island of St. Helena. Napoleon voluntarily left his place of exile with a handful of soldiers and landed on the French coast. The government sent troops against him several times, but they went over to the side of the emperor. Napoleon even sent Louis XVIII a humorous message: “King, my brother, do not send me more soldiers, I have enough of them.” Very quickly, Bonaparte again subjugated all of France and went to Belgium, where he was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo by the combined army of Great Britain, Prussia, the Netherlands, Hanover, Nassau and Brunswick-Lüneburg. After this, the emperor hastily arrived in Paris and signed his second and final abdication there.
Question 05. Complete the table (see tasks in § 11).
Question 06. Determine the significance of the decisions of the Congress of Vienna in the history of Europe. Show territorial changes on the map.
Answer. The Congress of Vienna determined the post-war structure of Europe. For the first time in history, he documented the principles of international relations that were supposed to prevent new pan-European wars. However, many others possible consequences succeeded in preventing French diplomacy led by Talleyrand. The latter was able to sow mutual distrust between the delegations of the victorious countries; as a result, France did not suffer significant territorial losses and retained its status as a great European power.
Question 07. Which countries formed the Holy Alliance? What tasks did they set for the organization?
Answer. The Holy Alliance was created by Austria, Prussia and Russia, but soon all other European sovereigns and governments joined it, not excluding Switzerland and the German free cities; Only the English Prince Regent and the Pope did not sign to it, which did not prevent them from being guided by the same principles in their policies; The Turkish Sultan was not accepted into the Holy Alliance as a non-Christian sovereign.
The members of the union set themselves the task of preserving the legitimate rulers in all European countries and countering any manifestations of revolution by all means, including introducing their troops into the territory of other states, even without the consent of the monarchs of these states.
Congress of Vienna and its decisions
From October 1814 to June 1815, a congress of representatives of European powers met in Vienna. The main role at the congress was played by the Russian Emperor Alexander I, Chancellor Austrian Empire Metternich, English Foreign Minister Castlereagh, Prussian Foreign Minister Hardenberg, French Foreign Minister Talleyrand. quarreling and bargaining with each other, they determined the main decisions of the Congress.
The goal that the leaders of the congress set for themselves was the elimination of political changes and transformations that took place in Europe as a result of the French bourgeois revolution and Napoleonic wars. They defended in every possible way the principle of “legitimism,” that is, the restoration of the “legitimate” rights of former monarchs who had lost their possessions. In reality, the principle of “legitimism” was only a cover for the arbitrariness of reaction.
Regardless of national interests peoples, the Congress of Vienna redrew the map of Europe at its discretion. Belgium was annexed to Holland, which became the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Norway was given to Sweden. Poland was again divided between Russia, Prussia and Austria, and most of the former Grand Duchy of Warsaw passed to Russia. Prussia acquired parts of Saxony and Westphalia, as well as the Rhineland. Austria was returned to the lands seized from it during the Napoleonic wars. Lombardy and the possessions of the former Venetian Republic, as well as Salzburg and some other territories were annexed to the Austrian Empire.
Italy, about which Metternich contemptuously said that it “is nothing more than geographical concept”, again fragmented into a number of states, given over to the power of the old dynasties. In the Sardinian kingdom (Piedmont), to which Genoa was annexed, it was restored Savoy dynasty. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the duchies of Modena and Parma came into the possession of various representatives of the Austrian House of Habsburg. In Rome, the temporal power of the pope was restored, to whom his former possessions were returned. In the Kingdom of Naples, the Bourbon dynasty established itself on the throne.
The small German states liquidated by Napoleon were not restored, and the number of German states was reduced by almost 10 times. Nevertheless, Germany's political fragmentation remained. There were 38 states left in Germany, which, together with Austria, only formally united into the German Confederation.
The Congress of Vienna legalized the colonial seizures made by the British during the war from Spain and France; England took the island of Ceylon, the Cape of Good Hope, and Guiana from Holland. In addition, England retained the island of Malta, which was of great strategic importance, and the Ionian Islands. Thus, England consolidated its dominance on the seas and in the colonies.
The borders of Switzerland were somewhat expanded, and Congress declared it a permanently neutral state.
In Spain, back in April 1814, the Spanish Bourbon monarchy was restored.
The “Final Act” of the Congress of Vienna, developed as a result of a long struggle in an atmosphere of secret agreements and intrigues, was signed on June 9, 1815. Article 6 of this act declared the readiness of the powers that signed it to maintain peace and maintain the immutability of territorial borders.
Introduction
The Congress of Vienna is a unique phenomenon for its time; As a result of the work of the congress, not only was territorial redistribution carried out in Europe; those principles were developed that formed the basis of diplomatic practice throughout the world, and not just in Europe.
The role of the Congress of Vienna can hardly be overestimated. The catastrophic expansion of the borders of classical France to the size of Europe under Napoleon I forced politicians to part with benign models of development and soberly consider the current situation. The narrowing of the Big Five to three, excluding the defeated Austria and Prussia, in the absence of any desire for negotiations between the parties, led the world to a state of much greater competition. Paradoxically, the reduction in the number of possible geopolitical elections with three participants did not lead to the division of the world and an increase in “living spaces” at the expense of the losers. Therefore, the defeat of the Napoleonic empire and the restoration of the European powers to a quartet raised hopes for “mutual understanding” in line with the old multi-step diplomacy of palace intrigues.
Understanding the consequences of the redrawing of Europe took place in Vienna in 1814–1815. The quartet of great powers - except for France - confidently conducted Europe. At the legal level, the Congress of Vienna introduced into political use such fundamental terms of geopolitics on the plane as equilibrium and balance of power, transformation of the power of the state; means of curbing the aggressor or dominant power; coalition of powers; new borders and territories; bridgeheads and fortresses; strategic points and boundaries.
What happened at the Congress of Vienna (1814 - 1815)?
According to E. Saunders, “this was a meeting of representatives of dynasties in search of a compromise on the basis of which future diplomacy could protect their ruling houses from the dangers of war and revolution.” Representatives of all the great European powers gathered to jointly discuss problems of mutual interest; At the same time, two emperors took an active part in the work of the congress - Franz I and Alexander I. Before that, even bilateral summit meetings (like the meeting between Napoleon and Alexander in Tilsit) were very rare.
Although (for obvious reasons) the tone at the congress was set by the great victorious powers in the war with Napoleon (England, Austria, Prussia and Russia), nevertheless, both the defeated power (France) and second-rate powers (Sweden, Spain, Portugal).
Chapter 1. Congress of Vienna (beginning and first results)
1.1 Beginning of the Congress of Vienna (1814)
The year 1814 ushered in one extremely significant trend in the history of European diplomacy, which was subsequently repeated with mirror precision. As soon as the battles of the Napoleonic Wars died down, which we can safely call the first “world war” in the history of mankind, the political elite of the then world (we are talking about Europe, other continents at the beginning of the 19th century could not even dream of the status of a “civilized space of the Earth ") considered it necessary to hold its own congress at top level. The goal was declared to be the best: to find the root cause terrible wars, which disturbed and drenched Europe in blood for two decades, and with the joint mind of the monarchs of the victorious countries, to establish in the sublunary world such a device that would once and for all make it impossible to repeat such a nightmare. In the autumn of 1814, beautiful Vienna, which had not yet forgotten the roar of Napoleonic batteries near Wagram, magnificently greeted the sovereign men of Russia, Austria, Prussia and Great Britain. In their hands, studded with precious rings, as if Golden Apple, the post-war fate of the world rested.
On October 1, 1814, an international congress opened in Vienna, which was supposed to determine the structure of post-war Europe. Representatives of all European states, even the tiny German and Italian principalities, formally took part in it. But in reality, all decisions were made by the great powers: Russia, Austria, Prussia and England. The remaining participants in the Congress of Vienna mostly indulged in social entertainment, so contemporaries often called the congress “dancing.”
However, the apparent ease of mutual communication for verification turned into serious diplomatic disagreements and international intrigues. “The allies easily found common ground while they were bound together by the goal of defeating Napoleon, but now that the danger had passed, their interests were divided, each of them felt the need to pursue his own, and the meetings were stormy.”
France, represented by the experienced and resourceful diplomat Talleyrand, who betrayed Napoleon and became the foreign minister of the new royal government, was able to influence the decisions of the great powers from the very beginning of the Congress of Vienna. She achieved this by exploiting controversy. former members coalition.
On September 23, 1814, the French delegation arrived in Vienna. Talleyrand's program of action by that time had already been quite clearly worked out, but at the same time his position remained unenviable: a personally despised representative of a defeated power. He presented 3 main demands to Congress. Firstly, France recognizes only those decisions of the Congress that were adopted at plenary sessions in the presence of representatives of all powers. Secondly, France wants Poland to be restored either to the state of 1805 or to its state before the first partition. Thirdly, France will not agree to the dismemberment, much less the deprivation of Saxony’s independence. At the same time, the minister spread a wide network of intrigues aimed at turning Russia and Prussia against Austria and England. These agitations were aimed at spreading alarm among the countries participating in the congress about the supposedly impending threat to the hegemony of the Russian emperor.
Despite the obvious weakness, France, in the person of its minister, decided to take the most active position at the congress, clearly exaggerating their capabilities. But all attacks on Alexander regarding Poland were decisively repulsed. Realizing that the issue with Poland was completely and irrevocably lost, Talleyrand actively began to resolve the Saxon issue, which interested France much more. However, the diplomat failed to defend his position on the inadmissibility of the dismemberment of Saxony. The territory of Saxony was divided in half. True, the best part with cities and the richest industrial places remained under the rule of the Saxon king.
Having lost the Polish case, and, in fact, “failed” the Saxon one, Talleyrand, nevertheless, completely won his main bet: bourgeois France not only was it not snatched up piece by piece by the feudal-absolutist great powers, but it also entered on an equal footing among the great European powers. In addition, a coalition that was formidable for the French was defeated. These are the main results of the intense activity of Foreign Minister Talleyrand during this period in the international arena.
On October 8, 1814, the 4 victorious powers signed a declaration, according to which the preparatory committee of the Congress of Vienna was to include not only Great Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia, but also France, Spain, Portugal and Sweden. Only during the plenary sessions of the congress could final decisions be made; Finally, future regulations must comply with the principles of international law. In essence, this was a victory for French diplomacy.
This was the first, but not the only success of the outstanding diplomat: by March 1815, he managed to completely upset the anti-French coalition; The victorious powers, and above all Austria and Great Britain, very soon realized that they could not do without France. Indeed, Austria needed a strong France to restrain Prussian claims on Saxony, and Russian claims on Poland. In turn, London needed a partner on the continent capable of countering the excessive strengthening of Russia in the East. Finally, although the Congress of Vienna was a kind of diplomatic duel between Alexander I and Talleyrand, nevertheless, the Russian Tsar was aware that he might need a force in the west of Europe capable of balancing the overly strengthened Prussia.
The recent allies pursued completely different goals at the Congress of Vienna. Emperor Alexander I of Russia sought to increase his possessions. To do this, he wanted to create Russian Empire Kingdom of Poland, uniting everything Polish lands, including those belonging to Prussia. As compensation, Alexander offered to transfer the kingdom of Saxony to Prussia.
However, this plan did not suit Austria, England and France. Austria, which sought dominance in Germany, did not want Saxony to join Prussia, realizing that in this case Prussia would become a very dangerous rival. England, pursuing its traditional policy of maneuvering, was afraid of Russia's excessive strengthening. France, in the person of Talleyrand, opposed the aspirations of Alexander I, since they contradicted the principle of legitimism, and only this principle prevented the dismemberment of France: it remained within its pre-revolutionary borders.
Based on common interests, Austria, England and France entered into a secret alliance directed against Russia and Prussia. As a result, most of Poland went to Russia (it was called the Kingdom of Poland; Alexander I promised to “grant” it a constitution and proclaim it an autonomous entity within the Russian Empire), Prussia received only part of Saxony. Thus, Alexander I's plan was only partially successful. This was a serious defeat for Russian diplomacy.
Among other issues discussed in Vienna, the most important was the German problem. The people of Germany, inspired by the liberation struggle against Napoleon, hoped for the unification of the country. However, instead of a united Germany, a vague German Confederation was created from four dozen independent small German principalities. The Austrian Emperor was to preside over this alliance. By decision of the Congress of Vienna, Italy also remained politically fragmented. European monarchs were terrified of revolutions and did everything to prevent them. They sought to erase all the consequences of the French Revolution from the map of Europe.
The Russian Empire entered the Congress of Vienna with the firm and majestic tread of the most influential power in Europe. Three main factors were the reason for this:
Moral: Russia was deservedly crowned with the glory of the savior of Europe from Napoleonic rule - this is her victorious troops brought freedom to both Berlin and Vienna, it was she who absorbed Napoleon's Grand Army with a nationwide feat of resistance and the vastness of its open spaces.
Military: In 1814, Russia had the most powerful land army on the European continent - the most numerous, perfectly disciplined, battle-hardened and, most importantly, accustomed to winning (without the complex of “winners and losers”, like the Prussian and Austrian soldiers beaten by Napoleon).
Personal-diplomatic: Emperor Alexander I was for Russia a figure not only of national, but also of global scale. The inspirer and organizer of the coalition that crushed Napoleon, he was convinced of the special mission of Russia as the hegemon of Europe and the guarantor of security on this continent. The Congress of Vienna can rightly be called his brainchild on the path to achieving these goals.
Russia went to the congress in Vienna with its clear program for preserving and strengthening peace in Europe. Emperor Alexander saw the reason for the Napoleonic Wars that shook the world much deeper than in the “demonic” personality of Napoleon himself. He considered the “Corsican usurper” to be the brainchild of the French Revolution, which destroyed the foundations on which for centuries the status quo of the world to which Alexander belonged rested: the Christian faith, the monarchical structure of states. Stability social order. Let's not judge Alexander from modern positions: the achievements of the French Revolution in the field of universal human rights and freedoms are truly great, but it brought these fruitful shoots only decades later, and in the 10s. XIX century its only obvious results were bloodshed and lawlessness! A perspicacious analyst, Alexander understood perfectly well that with the fall of Napoleon the trunk of the tree of violence was cut down, but its roots were not uprooted. Revolutionary ideas, according to the Russian emperor, continued to excite minds throughout Europe, indirectly preparing new potential Napoleons. To unite all the forces of traditional Europe with Russia at the head to combat this danger - this is what Alexander saw as his most important task in Vienna in 1814.
What would our world look like if Russia could build its building? new Europe– no one can judge. History does not tolerate the subjunctive mood... However, there is no need to hastily accuse Alexander of trying to slow down the course of history. Russia's grandiose plans at the Congress of Vienna were not destined to be realized.
At the Congress of Vienna, Russia faced an enemy who turned out to be much more dangerous for it than Napoleon with his Grand Army. This enemy was Great Britain, its weapon was secret diplomacy (in which the British have no equal), and the battlefield was some kind of genetic fear of European states of their great eastern neighbor - with its vast spaces, multi-million population and original soul unknowable by European pragmatism...
As for Great Britain, the latter did not lay claim to any territories in Europe. All the territorial acquisitions that the British made during the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars - and primarily in India (Bengal, Madras, Mysore, Carnatic, the Delhi region and many others) - were carried out far beyond the continent. The British achieved their goal by crushing the former colonial power of France in India and the West Indies, and now they also needed a strong France as most important factor European balance.
Great Britain also claimed to be the hegemon of Europe. Acting with behind-the-scenes intrigue, maneuvering trade and credit policies, and not disdaining direct bribery, she held in her hands many of the threads of governing pre-Napoleonic Europe. “Divide and conquer” was the main slogan of British foreign policy. The British Crown built its dominant position in the family European peoples on their disunity and pandering to those who weaken them bloody conflicts. Russia, with its concept of a united union of the greatest monarchies of Europe, did not leave British hegemony a single chance.
It should be noted that even during the military and diplomatic struggle of the summer and autumn of 1813, an Anglo-Austrian rapprochement was taking place. British diplomacy seeks to involve Austria in the anti-Napoleonic coalition and use it as a counterweight to France (especially in Italy). Without Austria, from the British point of view, the German problem could not be solved. Castlereagh again brings forward the long-standing English requirement about the creation of a large Dutch kingdom, which could become integral part anti-French barrier, and insists that the territory of the Austrian Netherlands be included in it.
In August 1813, after the end of the truce, hostilities between Napoleon and the allies, which Austria joined, resumed. Castlereagh noted with satisfaction that the new coalition against Napoleonic France meant the unification of all of Europe “against the unbridled ambition of a man without conscience and faith.”
The improvement of Anglo-Austrian relations was expressed in the Anglo-Austrian Treaty of Teplitz (October 3, 1813). Austria received the subsidy despite already having a significant debt that it was unable to pay. The base of the coalition increased significantly, and fears about the “family union” of Austria and France disappeared.
The British representative at the Congress of Vienna, Lord Castlereagh, skillfully probed the ground for subversive activities. By the way, the fact that Castlereagh was forced to go to negotiations created a real sensation. Metternich wrote: “... a Foreign Secretary heading to the Continent is, without a doubt, an exceptional event in the history of Great Britain.”
The English delegation arrived in Vienna on September 13, 1814. The main work was carried out personally by Castlereagh, allowing the remaining members of the delegation only to minor issues. At the congress, the British minister acted as a defender of a “fair balance of power,” a mediator caring for the good of “all Europe.” In fact, in their foreign policy, European monarchies early XIX V. accustomed to being guided not by global and long-term ideological principles (which was proposed to them by the Russian Emperor Alexander), but by national interests interpreted in a momentary manner. These immediate interests - the implementation of territorial claims, the division of the “legacy” of the Napoleonic Empire - Russian hegemony undoubtedly hindered for the sake of something greater - a long-term system of peace and security in Europe. British diplomacy operated in terms of “selfish” interests, but in 1814–1815. Europe was ready to rally around Great Britain for the same reasons it rallied around Russia a couple of years earlier - a force appeared on the continent that limited the “independence” of European states...
British diplomacy did not fail to take advantage of the fact that the Austrian Emperor Franz and the Prussian King Wilhelm were absent from the congress: connected with the Russian Tsar by a long history of personal relationships during the Napoleonic Wars, they could prevent a conspiracy against Russia - sometimes friendly sympathy turns out to be higher than political expediency, and Emperor Alexander knew how to inspire sympathy! Behind-the-scenes negotiations were conducted by British Prime Minister Pitt with the cautious Prussian Baron Hardenberg (who thought in Teutonic stereotypes about the “Russian danger”) and the unprincipled Austrian Metternich (about whom Napoleon used to say: “He knows how to lie so well that he can be called almost a great diplomat”) - in the second In this case, historians do not rule out the possibility of bribery. As for Talleyrand, this comrade-in-arms of Napoleon had not yet abandoned the thought of historical revenge for the defeat in Russia, and not only involved France in the conspiracy as an active member, but also skillfully incited the anti-Russian sentiments of the Austrians and Prussians. Of course, an atmosphere of heightened secrecy surrounded the European conspiracy: the invincible Russian regiments were a constant warning about maintaining secrecy, but they did spur European aggressive fear.
England's position was of particular importance in solving the German problem. Castlereagh developed two different plans for the organization of Europe. The original plan was to create an alliance between Austria and Prussia with the support of England; this alliance, together with the small and medium-sized German states and the sharply strengthened Netherlands, was supposed to form a reliable barrier against France. Castlereagh considered it necessary to strengthen the territorial strength of Prussia, as well as the Netherlands, to repel a possible attack from France; in addition, he hoped that territorial acquisitions would satisfy Prussia and contribute to its rapprochement with Austria. Therefore, Castlereagh agreed to expand the territory of Prussia at the expense of lands on the left bank of the Rhine.
By the end of 1814 it became clear that Castlereagh's plan was not feasible. Prussia was clearly moving closer not to Austria, but to Russia, with which it managed to come to an agreement on the Polish and Saxon issues. Its relations with Austria became increasingly strained because of Saxony. Therefore Castlereagh had to refuse original plan and turn to the second, which provided for an alliance of Austria, France and the South German states with the active support of England, directed primarily against Russia.
In January 1815, England entered into a secret alliance with opponents of any form of German unity - Austria and France. In the English Parliament, Castlereagh was forced to explain the change in his position on the issue of Saxony: he referred to the fact that public opinion in England, in the German states and in other countries was alarmed by the violation of the rights of such ancient dynasty, as Saxon, and that the capture of Saxony by Prussia would create hostility everywhere towards that German power, an interpretation clearly calculated to attract the attention of the Whigs. But despite the abandonment of the original project, Castlereagh advocated the expansion and strengthening of Prussia on the Rhine.
Talleyrand correctly understood the changed nature of relations in the victorious anti-French coalition, and above all the desire of Vienna and London to oppose a reliable barrier to the emerging “axis” of St. Petersburg - Berlin. The French minister had no doubt that Paris's support for Vienna's position on the Saxon question would predetermine Franco-Austrian rapprochement. Therefore, throughout the autumn of 1814, his main efforts were aimed at restoring Franco-British relations.
The stubborn reluctance of the British to agree to a rapprochement with France was largely explained by the ongoing war with the United States. The signing of the Anglo-American peace treaty in Ghent on December 24, 1814, however, gave the British a free hand, and already on January 3, 1815, Talleyrand, Metternich and Castlereagh signed the “Secret Treaty on the Defensive Alliance concluded in Vienna between Austria, Great Britain and France , against Russia and Prussia." In accordance with this treaty, in the event of an attack on any of the signatory powers, they all undertake to field 120 thousand infantry and 30 thousand cavalry, with a corresponding amount of artillery, on the battlefield. There was a clause that if Great Britain did not supply the agreed number of soldiers, it would pay 20 pounds sterling for each absent soldier.
This agreement was aimed against increasing Russian influence in Europe. The conspiratorial countries pledged to act as a united front against Russia in the event of the latter’s interference in the interests of one or more of them, if this “would entail the opening of hostilities.” Nominally, it would be enough for one of these powers to declare war on Russia - and the Russians would have to face a coalition equal in strength to the anti-Napoleonic one.
This agreement, undoubtedly, was the crown of the diplomatic art of Prince Benevento. Of course, he had no intention of fighting either Russia or Prussia; he was “only” going to destroy the anti-French coalition - and he did it. “Now, sire, the [anti-French] coalition is destroyed, and destroyed forever,” Talleyrand wrote to Louis XVIII. “Not only is France no longer isolated in Europe, but Your Majesty finds itself in a system of alliances that fifty years of negotiations could not have given.”
1.2 History and politics during the Vienna Accords
During the Congress of Vienna, a number of agreements were concluded between the participants, numerous declarations and resolutions were adopted, a significant part of which was included in the final general act of the Congress of Vienna and its annexes. As a result of the Congress of Vienna, all of Europe, except Turkey, was covered for the first time by the system general agreements. Russia, England, France and the German states were not previously bound by such treaties. The system of relations created at the Congress of Vienna lasted almost until the 50s. XIX century The first main task of the Congress of Vienna was to restore the pre-war order and a number of former dynasties in states previously conquered by Napoleon, and to fight the national movement. The second task of the Congress of Vienna was to consolidate the victory and create lasting guarantees against France's return to the Bonapartist regime and new attempts to conquer Europe. The third task of the victors was to satisfy their own territorial claims in the redistribution of Europe and establish new state borders.
The winners of Napoleonic France (Russia, Austria, England and Prussia) failed to maintain complete unity at the Congress of Vienna, although the main issue of the future borders of France was resolved by them in full agreement, but serious contradictions were caused by questions about Poland and Saxony. Russian government sought to annex almost all Polish lands to Russia, and Prussia laid claim to the entire territory of Saxony. These projects met with opposition from the English government, which did not want Russia to become so strong, as well as the Austrian government, which feared the strengthening of both Russia and Prussia. The Austrian court wanted to retain Galicia and prevent Saxony from falling into the hands of Prussia. The French government also wanted to prevent the inclusion of all of Poland into Russia and the growth of the power of the Prussian kingdom. The French representative to the Congress of Vienna, S. M. Talleyrand, took advantage of the differences between the allies and won the right to participate in the negotiations on an equal basis with the four allies. In fact, this meant the recognition of France as one of the great powers. Meetings of representatives of five states became the basis for all activities of the Congress of Vienna.
Negotiations at the Congress of Vienna were conducted in an atmosphere of continuous festivities, balls, celebrations, receptions and other entertainment, which gave rise to the Austrian Field Marshal Prince de Ligne to call this meeting of diplomats and sovereigns the “dancing congress.” But with sovereigns and ministers or persons engaged in the preparation of diplomatic documents, festivities served as an occasion for informal meetings. In order to prevent the plans of Russia and Prussia regarding Poland and Saxony, Talleyrand entered into secret separate negotiations with Castlereagh and K. Metternich. On January 3, 1815, a secret treaty between France, England and Austria was signed, directed against Prussia and Russia (the so-called Vienna Secret Treaty of 1815). Russia and Prussia were forced to make concessions on the Polish and Saxon issues. Prussia received only the northern half of Saxony, and South part remained independent. Only part of the Duchy of Warsaw, called the Kingdom of Poland, went to Russia. Poznan remained in the hands of Prussia, Galicia remained in Austria. Krakow was designated a “free city” (the so-called Krakow Republic).
The Congress of Vienna was nearing its end when news arrived that Napoleon, having left Fr. Elba, landed in France and moved towards Paris. The participants in the Congress of Vienna stopped all disputes and immediately formed a new, seventh coalition. The allied Chaumont Treaty of 1814 (England, Russia, Austria and Prussia) was renewed. A few days before the Battle of Waterloo, June 9, 1815, representatives of Russia, Prussia, Austria, and England. France, Spain, Sweden and Portugal signed the General Act of the Congress of Vienna. The act provided for the deprivation of France's conquests and the creation of barrier states at its borders. Belgium and Holland were united into the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which, together with Prussia and Austria, was supposed to serve as a counterweight to France. The Congress of Vienna declared a neutral state Swiss Confederation from 19 cantons. Switzerland's borders were expanded to include strategically important mountain passes. In northwestern Italy, the Sardinian kingdom was restored: Savoy and Nice were returned to it. England retained its commercial and maritime superiority and secured some of the colonies and naval bases that it captured from Holland and France. The most important of them were Fr. Malta on the Mediterranean Sea, Cape Colony in southern Africa and about. Ceylon. To Austria, except part Polish territory, the Tarnopol district, as well as Lombardy and Venice, were ceded. Sovereigns from the House of Habsburg were seated on the Tuscan and Parma thrones. From the German states and parts of the Austrian Empire, the Congress of Vienna created the German Confederation under the leadership of Austria. Norway was separated from Denmark, Napoleon's former ally, and joined Sweden on the basis of a personal union.
The Congress of Vienna consolidated the political fragmentation of Germany and Italy: the reactionary sovereigns and nobility of these countries themselves did not want unity, and the bourgeois national unification aspirations in them were still weak. Austria and Prussia pursued not a national but a noble-dynastic policy. Austrian and other reactionary governments sought to suppress bourgeois-nationalist, liberal and revolutionary movements. Prussia, having received northern Saxony and Posen, was compensated for its forced abandonment of southern Saxony by a significant expansion of its possessions on the Rhine. She received two regions: the Rhine Province and Westphalia, the largest in Germany in terms of economy, development and important in strategic location. Their accession provided the future opportunity for militaristic Prussia to become the head of Germany. Prussia also acquired the island of Rügen and Swedish Pomerania. Special articles of the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna prescribed the establishment of international rules for the collection of duties and navigation on rivers that served as borders of states or flowed through the possessions of several states, especially the Rhine, Moselle, Meuse and Scheldt. A number of annexes were attached to the general act of the Congress of Vienna; one of them contained a ban on trade in blacks. The Congress of Vienna for the first time established a single division into “classes” of diplomatic agents. To combat the national liberation and revolutionary movements of European and other peoples, the system of relations created by the Congress of Vienna was supplemented on September 26. 1815 Holy Alliance, which became a stronghold of European reaction.
The treaties and agreements concluded at the Congress of Vienna, as well as part of the diplomatic correspondence reflecting their preparation, were published several times. The most complete is the collection of acts of the Congress of Vienna, published by Klüber. In the collection of documents compiled by Anzhbert (Hodako), special attention is paid to the Polish question. Of the Russian editions of sources, the most important are III and IV. Volumes XI and XIV of the famous collection of treaties between Russia and other states by F.F. Martens. Martens's extensive notes on the treaties set out a number of instructions to the Russian delegates to the Congress of Vienna on the question of Poland and German affairs. Many Russians archival documents retold and partially reproduced in the book of Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich about Alexander I, which represents a collection of raw material selected from the official noble-dynastic point of view. Some Russian documents are included in the correspondence of the Russian delegate to the Vienna Congress - K.V. Nesselrode.
Austria, the sources were partially published in the memoirs of Metternich and the reactionary Austrian dignitary and publicist-secretary of the Vienna Congress F. Genz. The memoirs of Metternich and especially the French representative Talleyrand give an extremely one-sided view of the history of the Congress of Vienna, exaggerating the role of their authors. Much more valuable are the later editions of Talleyrand's secret diplomatic correspondence. The position of the English government during the Congress of Vienna is reflected in the correspondence of the English commissioners - Castlereagh and A.W. Wellington. Also very useful is the published English historian C. Webster is a collection of selected documents on British foreign policy in 1813-15. The study of archival, in particular Russian, sources on the policies of European states during the Congress of Vienna cannot be considered complete.
The Congress of Vienna was covered many times in general historical and journalistic works and special articles and monographs. K. Marx and F. Engels gave a vivid account of the feudal-aristocratic reaction in the context of which the Congress of Vienna took place, and its decisions, which consolidated the political fragmentation of Italy and Germany, the oppression and dismemberment of Poland by Prussia, Tsarist Russia and Austria. Engels wrote that it was “a great congress of large and small despots” to divide the spoils and restore, as far as possible, the pre-revolutionary state of affairs. At the Congress of Vienna, “peoples were bought and sold, divided and united, based only on what best suited the interests and intentions of their rulers.” In domestic historiography V.V. Tarle and other authors described in their works the activities of the Congress of Vienna.
Of the Russian pre-revolutionary historians, the most complete description of the Congress of Vienna was given by S.M. Soloviev and N.K. Schilder. In Western European historiography 19th and early. 20th centuries Many historians of the liberal-bourgeois and conservative schools wrote about the Congress of Vienna. A. Debidur covered the activities of the Congress of Vienna from the standpoint of French bourgeois liberalism. Debidour had a negative attitude towards the Bonapartist regime and at the same time condemned the deprivation of France of almost all its conquests as a result of the decisions of the Congress of Vienna. A conservative and pronounced nationalist point of view is expressed in the works of the famous French historian A. Sorel. However, the merit of Sorel's work is that he gave a picture of the Congress of Vienna against the broad background of international relations. The reactionary German historian G. Treitschke characterized the activities of the congress from the standpoint of Junker-bourgeois Prussian-German nationalism of the late 19th century. and praised first of all the Prussian statesmen G.F.K. Stein, K.A. Hardenberg et al.
The repartition of Europe after World War I gave new impetus to the study of the Congress of Vienna as the largest of the diplomatic congresses that preceded the Paris Peace Conference of 1919-1920. In the works of C. Webster, W. Phillips and other authors on the Congress of Vienna, Castlereagh's foreign policy and European alliances of 1814-23. was introduced into scientific circulation extensive and valuable material from British and other archives. At the same time, books about the Congress of Vienna that appeared after 1918 reflected the strengthening of the conservatism of bourgeois historiography and the praise of the reactionary figures of the Congress of Vienna and the treaties of 1815.
Reactionary tendencies manifested themselves with even greater certainty in bourgeois literature published after World War II, when issues of the post-war peace settlement once again revived interest in the history of the Congress of Vienna. The English publicist G. Nicholson, in his book about the Congress of Vienna, devoted a lot of space to the disagreements between Napoleon's victors on German affairs and the anti-Russian policy of England, Austria and France in 1814-15. He praised the Holy Alliance and passed over the aggressive goals of British policy towards the colonies in silence. J. Pirenne (grandson of the famous Belgian scientist Henri Pirenne), in his book about the Holy Alliance, dwells in detail on the Congress of Vienna and the treaties of 1814-15 from the point of view of their significance for establishing the political hegemony of Napoleon's victors on land and at sea in a new political balance between the great powers. This book leaves in the shadows Central European issues and the anti-revolutionary goals of the treaties of 1815. The American historian H. Strauss studied the position of the Congress of Vienna in relation to the national movement in Germany, Italy and Poland. She emphasizes the influence of the weakness of these movements on the decisions of the Congress of Vienna, underestimating, however, the reactionary orientation of the treaties of 1814-15. In the literature of the 50s. Of the 20th century, the 2nd edition of the monograph on the Congress of Vienna and the European restoration of 1814-15 by K. Grievank, a German progressive liberal-democratic historian, which was published in the GDR, stands out. His work is based on materials from Paris, Vienna and Berlin archives and a thorough study of printed sources and literature. The author focuses on the decisions of the Congress of Vienna related to Germany. K. Grivank showed how, under the pressure of events, the Congress of Vienna was unable to fully restore the situation that existed before the war, and worked out compromise agreements.
Chapter 2. Congress of Vienna (Russia’s attitude and the main results of the congress)
2.1 Alexander’s attitude towards the main participants of the congress.
In April - May 1814, Emperor Alexander, in terms of the military forces that were at his disposal at that moment, was undoubtedly the most powerful of all the other monarchs and rulers of devastated and bloodless Europe. That is why Metternich did everything possible to postpone the congress until the fall and allow Austria to recover somewhat. Alexander agreed to such a delay, despite the fact that he could not stand Metternich and well understood his intrigues and the game of politicians hostile to Russia, although touchingly flattering the tsar in the eyes - Lord Castlereagh and the king French Louis XVIII. They all looked with concern to see if Alexander would want to play the role of the new Napoleon, ruler of Europe. In advance, but still very unfriendly, they were preparing to fight back. Secretary and confidant under Metternich, the publicist Gentz later wrote as an eyewitness: “Having arrived in Vienna, Emperor Alexander was already more or less at odds with Austria, England and France.” Lord Castlereagh was less unpleasant to Alexander than Metternich. Inflexible, afraid of revolution in England itself, and distrustful of Russian diplomacy, the English Minister of Foreign Affairs received from Alexander the qualification of a “cold pedant”; but at least Castlereagh did not lie as continuously and selflessly as Metternich. Alexander did not “tremble before the British government,” as Gentz writes; he only considered it at that moment the strongest after Russia and drew the appropriate conclusions from there. Whom the king absolutely could not stand was the most Christian king, by the grace of God, of France and Navarre, Louis XVIII. Alexander did not really want to place Louis on the vacant French throne. For some time he even toyed with the thought of the accession of “Napoleon II,” the little Roman king. When Louis finally reigned, Alexander resolutely insisted on the need to give France a constitutional charter, not, of course, because the king liked constitutional institutions. But both the king and the smart, dexterous Corsican Pozzo di Borgo, the king’s adviser on French affairs, were convinced that the Bourbons would be swept away by a new revolution if a constitution was not established in France as a lightning rod. Alexander despised both King Louis XVIII and his brother Charles of Artois, and they were afraid of him and were ready for all sorts of machinations in order to get rid of his tutelage.
2.2 Talleyrand's speech
On September 23, a week before the opening of the congress, scheduled for October 1, 1814, the representative of Louis XVIII, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Talleyrand-Périgord, arrived in Vienna. Alexander knew Talleyrand well. It was not for nothing that he asked and received money from the king so many times, not being very offended if he was refused. But Talleyrand’s brilliant mind, his inimitable dexterity, resourcefulness, knowledge of people - all this made him an adversary incomparably more dangerous than Metternich, who only loved to attribute to himself all these qualities, without actually possessing them. Weak side Talleyrand's position was only that at the Congress of Vienna he was a representative of a defeated country. Talleyrand therefore needed to show maximum intelligence and ability to maneuver through the diplomatic sea. When Talleyrand arrived in Vienna, he already knew what problem would occupy the attention of Congress in the first days. It was a complex “two-pronged”, as it was called, Polish-Saxon question. Alexander, whose troops occupied the Duchy of Warsaw after Napoleon’s retreat, openly declared that he would not yield this booty to anyone. And since the Duchy of Warsaw consisted mainly of lands seized by Prussia through three more divisions of Poland and only in 1807 taken from Prussia by Napoleon, the Prussian king Frederick William III claimed compensation. Alexander promised him this compensation in the form of annexing the kingdom of Saxony to Prussia. The king planned to take Saxony away from the Saxon king under the pretext of punishment for the fact that he had been a loyal ally of Napoleon for so long and left the emperor too late. Talleyrand immediately saw that it would be most advantageous for him to fight on this basis. And the battle was necessary to achieve Talleyrand’s main goal: it was to break the Chaumont alliance, i.e., in other words, to drive wedges between Austria, Russia, England and Prussia, which defeated France in 1814.
2.3 The principle of legitimism.
Talleyrand, even before arriving in Vienna, realized that in this case, from the point of view of protecting the interests of France, it was most rational to put forward the so-called “principle of legitimism.” This principle was as follows: Europe, which gathered in the person of its sovereigns and diplomats at the Congress of Vienna, must, when redistributing lands and changing territorial boundaries, leave inviolate what existed before revolutionary wars, i.e. until 1792. If this principle had been accepted and implemented, then not only France would have gained confidence in the integrity of its territory, which it was not able to defend with military force at that moment, but also Prussia and Russia would would be curbed in their aspirations for territorial expansion. It would, of course, be advantageous for Talleyrand to first come to an agreement with Metternich, who also did not want to give Poland to Russia, and Saxony to Prussia, and with Lord Castlereagh, who held the same opinion on this issue as Metternich. But such a general conspiracy had not yet taken place, and it was rather difficult to establish. Both Metternich and Castlereagh were suspicious of Talleyrand, admitting the possibility of new betrayal on his part.
2.3 Polish-Saxon question.
On October 4, 1814, Talleyrand came to Alexander, and an unpleasant explanation took place between them. Talleyrand put forward his notorious “principle of legitimism.” Alexander must give up parts of Poland that did not belong to Russia before the revolutionary wars, and Prussia must not lay claim to Saxony. “I put rights above benefits!” - said Talleyrand in response to the Tsar’s remark that Russia should receive the benefits it deserved from its victory. Apparently, this blew up Alexander, who, generally speaking, knew how to control himself. The sermon on the sanctity of law was read into his eyes by the same Talleyrand, who in Erfurt sold Napoleon to him, Alexander, and received payment for this from the sums of the Russian treasury. “Better than war!” - said Alexander. Then it was Lord Castlereagh's turn. Alexander told Lord Castlereagh that he had decided to “correct the moral sin committed during the partition of Poland.” The Tsar does not set himself the task of immediately, right there, at the Congress of Vienna, to reunite all parts of the former Poland. For now, he can only talk about the Polish territory that is now, in 1814, occupied by his troops. He will create the Kingdom of Poland from this part of Poland, where he himself will be a constitutional monarch. He will not only restore the Kingdom of Poland from areas that, by right of conquest, he could simply annex to Russia; he would even donate to this constitutional kingdom both the Bialystok region, acquired by Russia in 1807, and the Tarnopol region, acquired by it in 1809. Castlereagh recognized the proposed constitution that the Tsar wants to give to his Poland as too dangerous for Austria and Prussia: he expressed fears that the Austrian and Prussian Poles would become agitated, jealous of their fellows enjoying the constitution. That's all the king wanted. It turned out that he cared so much about the independence and freedom of the Poles that even the Minister of Free England urged him not to be so liberal. Metternich was so afraid of Alexander that he had already agreed to the concession of Saxony to the Prussian king, which Alexander demanded. But the exorbitant, as Metternich imagined, strengthening of Russian power by annexing part of Poland greatly worried the Austrian chancellor. Metternich then offered Castlereagh the following way out: to let the Prussian Commissioner Hardenberg know that the matter could be settled differently. Austria and England agree to give all of Saxony to the Prussian king. But Prussia must immediately betray Alexander, join Austria and England, and together with them prevent Alexander from taking possession of Poland (the Duchy of Warsaw). Thus, Saxony was supposed to serve as payment to the king for betraying Alexander.
King Frederick William III, after reflection, decided to abandon this plan. It was clear that it was not without reason that Metternich and Castlereagh did not involve Talleyrand in the planned deal. For the King of Prussia, the full danger of his position was suddenly revealed: what would happen if Talleyrand told Alexander about everything, and most importantly, offered Alexander joint diplomatic, and, perhaps, not only diplomatic actions of France and Russia against Prussia? The nightmare of the Franco-Russian alliance, the bitterness of the Tilsit and post-Tilsit times were all too vivid. In the end, King Frederick William III recognized it as good to report everything to Alexander in order to prove all the nobility of his own intentions. Alexander called Metternich and had a clear conversation with him. On this occasion, Talleyrand gloatingly informed Louis XVIII that they did not even speak like that to a guilty footman.
2.4 Secret agreement of Austria, France and England against Russia and Prussia (January 3, 1815)
The work of Congress, delayed by stubborn internal struggle, did not move forward. Then Talleyrand changed tactics. France was interested not so much in opposing Russia in order to prevent the strengthening of Russia, but in preventing Prussia, France's immediate neighbor, from strengthening. And so Talleyrand makes it clear to Alexander that France will not support England and Austria in their opposition against the creation of the Kingdom of Poland within Alexander’s empire; however, France will under no circumstances agree to the transfer of Saxony to the Prussian king. Frederick William III himself, like his diplomatic representatives Hardenberg and Humboldt, played a very minor role at the congress. He was promised Saxony. Alexander called the Saxon king a traitor, said that he would send him to Russia, assured that Prussia would receive Saxony in exchange for the part of Poland it had lost - and the king was calm for some time. However, Talleyrand managed to convince Metternich and Castlereagh of the need to conclude an agreement between the three powers - Austria, France and England, in order to enter in close formation into a decisive diplomatic struggle against Russia and Prussia and prevent the inclusion of Saxony into Prussia, or at least even the transfer of Saxony to the Prussian king in the form a separate kingdom.
On January 3, 1815, this agreement was signed by representatives of the three powers: Austria, France and England. Of course, it had to remain in the strictest confidence from Alexander and from anyone else in general. One copy of it remained in Vienna with Metternich; the other was handed over to Talleyrand and immediately sent to Paris to King Louis XVIII; the third was received by Castlereagh and taken to Prince Regent of England George.
This secret agreement so strengthened the energy of resistance to the Saxon project that Alexander could either decide to break and, perhaps, go to war, or give in. Having received everything he wanted in Poland, Alexander did not want to quarrel over Prussia, much less fight with the three great powers. He yielded, and the Saxon king was finally established in his possessions. The Prussian king, of course, could only submit to his fate.
2.5 Organization of the German Confederation (1815).
Next, the congress took up the organization of German affairs. There wasn't much controversy here. Alexander, like Austria, considered it expedient to consolidate the feudal fragmentation of Germany. England was completely indifferent to this issue, and Prussia was powerless, even if it wanted to fight. The whole mentality of the leaders of the Vienna Congress testified to their reluctance to at least in some way meet the aspirations of the rising bourgeoisie: the failure of German hopes for unification was another characteristic stroke in the picture of the complete triumph of reaction.
According to Metternich's plan, the congress outlined the creation of an absurd institution, which was called the "German Confederation" and allocated for the conduct of affairs the so-called "German Diet" or "Diet of the German Confederation." This union included Austria, Prussia and all other German states (38 in number); The "sejm" consisted of representatives appointed by these states. Sejm decisions could only be valid where the local government agreed with it. This ugly creation of Metternich's thought was not designed to unite the German people, but, on the contrary, to perpetuate its fragmentation. The Congress was already beginning to sum up the results, when suddenly its participants were shocked by unexpected news: on March 1, Napoleon landed in France. And three weeks later, on March 20, 1815, Napoleon had already entered Paris.
2.6 "One Hundred Days" (March 20 - June 28, 1815).
The Empire was restored. Undoubtedly, rumors about the disagreements that tore apart the Congress of Vienna played a significant role in Napoleon’s decision to leave Elba. A completely amazing surprise awaited him in Paris. In the office of the king, who fled Paris only a day before Napoleon's entry, late in the evening of March 19, Napoleon found that same secret agreement of January 3, 1815, one of the three copies of which, as it is said, was sent to Louis XVIII from Vienna by Talleyrand. The king fled so suddenly that in his haste he forgot this document in his desk. Napoleon immediately ordered the courier to be equipped, and he rushed with this package to Vienna. Napoleon ordered the document to be presented to Emperor Alexander.
According to the testimony of Butyakin, in whose presence Alexander first read the secret treaty directed against him, the tsar blushed with anger, but restrained himself. When Metternich came to him, who since the return of Napoleon had been waiting mainly for the salvation of Europe from the tsar, Alexander silently handed him the secret fruit of the diplomatic creativity of the Austrian chancellor. Metternich was so confused that, apparently, for the first and last time in his life he couldn’t even find something to lie about. The surprise was very great.
However, Alexander immediately hastened to reassure Metternich, saying that they had only one enemy - Napoleon.
After Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, the second Bourbon restoration took place in France.
2.7 The contribution of the Vienna (1814-1815) Peace Congress to the establishment of the institution of interstate organizations, the prohibition of the slave trade, the division into classes of diplomatic representatives and the approval of the rule of alternative.
The Congress of Vienna of 1814-1815 had a significant influence on international law of the classical period. One of the results of the congress was the approval of the Declaration of the Powers on the cessation of trade in blacks on February 8, 1815 as “contrary to the laws of humanity and general morality,” and as a response to “the general opinion of all educated peoples.” It noted that the representatives of the states gathered at the congress expressed “the zealous desire that an end should be put to the source of disasters that have so long devastated Africa, usually shameful to Europe and offensive to humanity.” However, it did not precisely indicate the time that each power “will consider most appropriate for the final trade in blacks, and, therefore, the determination of the period by which this hated trade should be stopped everywhere remains a subject of negotiations between courts.”
Further consolidation of the recognition of slavery as an international crime dates back to the second half of the 19th century. (General Act on the Congo, Berlin Conference in 1885, General Act signed at the Brussels Conference in 1890), and the first universal international agreements on the eradication of slavery appeared only in the 20th century. Among them are the Slavery Convention of 1926 and the one adopted by the UN in 1948. Universal Declaration human rights, Art. 4 which states that “no one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade are prohibited in all their forms." In addition, in 1956, the Geneva Conference of representatives of 43 states approved the Supplementary Convention for the Abolition of Slavery.
The first international treaty on the law of external relations was adopted at
Vienna Congress. In the annex to the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna, in order to “prevent difficulties and troubles that have often occurred and could henceforth arise from the demands of different Diplomatic Agents for the presidency,” the Vienna Protocol of March 7, 1815 (Article 1) introduced a single division diplomatic agents into three classes: “1st - Ambassadors and Papal Legates or Nuncios; 2nd - Envoys, Ministers and other Representatives under the Sovereigns; 3rd - Charges d'affaires, who are authorized under the Ministers managing foreign affairs." Art. 2 of the protocol states that “only Ambassadors and Papal Legates or Nuncios are honored as representatives of their Sovereigns.” Additions to the protocol were made by the Aachen Protocol on November 21, 1818. Further partial codification of ambassadorial law was first attempted on a regional scale only in 1928 in Latin America. On February 20, 1928, 20 Latin American countries and the United States signed the Havana Convention on Diplomatic Officials, which is still in force for these countries. In addition, the following are currently in force: the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 (establishes, among other things, the classes of heads of missions and their seniority), the Convention on Special Missions of 1969, the Vienna Convention on the Representation of States in their Relations with International Organizations universal character of 1975, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963 (regulates, among other things, classes of heads of consular posts), the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations of 1946 and the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies of the United Nations of 1947.
An alternative, as a rule, text formatting begins to develop international treaties.
In addition, by confirming the decisions of March 24, 1815 on free navigation on international rivers, the Vienna Final Act left the final development of the relevant rules to international river commissions. (It may be noted that legal experts international organizations believe that the first intergovernmental organization in its classical sense was Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine, created in 1831).
The Congress of Vienna also contributed to the emergence of Switzerland's permanent neutrality status. The permanent neutrality of this country was proclaimed by the Congress of Vienna adopted on March 20, 1815.
Declaration of the Affairs of the Helvetic Union. In November 1815, representatives of Austria, Great Britain, France, Russia, Prussia and Portugal signed an agreement on the permanent neutrality of Switzerland. The Great Powers recognized that Switzerland should not participate in wars for all future times and gave a guarantee of maintaining this status. At the same time, the inviolability of Swiss territory was guaranteed. The Congress of Vienna thus laid the foundation for permanent neutrality as an international legal institution.
One of the results of the congress was an agreement between Russia, Austria and Prussia on the creation of the Holy Alliance (Act of the Holy Alliance, concluded in Paris on September 26, 1815). Soon many states joined this treaty. Through the creation of the Union, which dominated from the mid-17th century. the principle of political balance was supplemented by the principle of legitimism, which was intended to recognize the legitimacy of the intervention and maintain intact the restructuring of European borders that was carried out at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Thus, the Congress of Vienna touched upon many issues of the formation of new states - it was proclaimed
The Kingdom of the Netherlands, the German states and part of the Austrian possessions entered the German Confederation. The split between the member countries of the Union led to its collapse with the outbreak of the Crimean War. The Paris Congress that ended this war replaced the system of the Holy Alliance with a system
"European concert", i.e. a system of coordinated resolution of international issues among the circle of European great powers.
2.8 Results of the Vienna Congress.
A few days before Waterloo, on July 15, 1815, the last meeting of the Congress of Vienna took place and the signing of its “final act”. It seemed to the congress participants that they had created something very lasting. In fact, they built a building that soon began to crumble. The reactionary utopia of the Congress was that, regardless of the new industrial relations, nor with the twenty-five-year storm that destroyed the old foundations of absolutism and feudalism in Europe, to keep this part of the world within the framework of an outdated system. This utopia underlay all the activities of the Congress.
Belgium was given to the Dutch king; Denmark was approved by German Schleswig and Holstein; Austria was given the purely Italian population of Lombardy and Venice; Germany remained divided into 38 independent states; Poland was again divided into three parts... Old dynasties were returning everywhere, trying to restore the old order.
European diplomats left Vienna with the knowledge that, although formally there were five “great powers” in Europe, in reality the direction of the whole international politics concentrated in the hands of Russia, Austria and England. As for Prussia and France, they still had to make a lot of efforts to take a completely independent position. Metternich was one of those participants in the congress who - especially at first - were satisfied with the results of the work of the congress and were convinced of the strength of their achievements. Alexander was not at all confident in this strength. Immediately after the congress, he began to look for a form of constant communication and cooperation between monarchs for the purpose of organized defense of the old system.
For some time, it seemed not only to the Tsar, but to all of Europe that such a form was found in the “Holy Alliance.” But at the end of his life, Alexander became convinced of the fragility of the “union.”
The main participants of the congress parted with hostile feelings towards each other. More willingly than ever, Metternich repeated his usual judgment about the tsar: “the fickle character of the Russian emperor, who is offended over every trifle, and whose favor cannot be bought by any sacrifice, makes it extremely difficult for us, as for other powers, to make a serious and lasting friendship with the Russian Empire. Having internal resources, which other civilized countries do not know..., having the opportunity with impunity to renounce every alliance and put an end to every war by recalling its army, Russia, thanks to its geographical and political situation should always arouse fears, especially under such a government, which has no firm principles, and which acts only on a whim, according to the circumstances of the moment.”
Alexander returned from the congress convinced that Metternich was a liar and a traitor and that Austria was a ready ally for any enemy who wanted to oppose Russia.
But Metternichism in Europe protected Arakcheevism in Russia, and Arakcheevism in Russia protected the Metternichian system in Europe. Both Alexander and Metternich had to hide their true mutual feelings far away, meet affectionately at congresses, and try to keep up. Metternich often forgot his own opinion about the strength of Russia, and it seemed to him that he was leading Alexander. So it might have seemed to Talleyrand that with his “principle of legitimism” he successfully defeated the tsar. Engels very astutely noted that it was precisely the principle of legitimism that Alexander used most of all to strengthen his influence in Europe. In the same way, Metternich had to make sure that the true ruler, on whom the strength of the entire edifice erected at the Congress of Vienna ultimately depends, is not he, but precisely this king, smiling affectionately, supposedly soft, but in fact stubborn, not caring for anyone. trusting, but now well aware of his strength. A king who occasionally scolds very viciously, but is most dangerous when he is especially kind.
Conclusion
Representatives of all European states, even the tiny German and Italian principalities, formally took part in the Congress of Vienna. But in reality, all decisions were made by the great powers: Russia, Austria, Prussia and England.
Each of these countries had their own interests.
The recent allies pursued completely different goals at the Congress of Vienna. Emperor Alexander I of Russia sought to increase his possessions. To do this, he wanted to create a Polish kingdom within the Russian Empire, uniting all Polish lands, including those that belonged to Prussia.
Austria, which sought dominance in Germany, did not want Saxony to join Prussia, realizing that in this case Prussia would become a very dangerous rival.
England, pursuing its traditional policy of maneuvering, was afraid of Russia's excessive strengthening.
France, in the person of Talleyrand, opposed the aspirations of Alexander I, since they contradicted the principle of legitimism, and only this principle prevented the dismemberment of France: it remained within its pre-revolutionary borders.
Talleyrand planned to ensure that Poland was restored either to the state of 1805 or to its state before the first partition, and Saxony was not dismembered. He failed to achieve this, but he completely won his main bet: bourgeois France not only was not snatched up piece by piece by the feudal-absolutist great powers, but also entered on an equal footing among the great European powers.
At the same time, the minister spread a wide network of intrigues aimed at turning Russia and Prussia against Austria and England.
Based on common interests, Austria, England and France entered into a secret alliance directed against Russia and Prussia. In addition, Talleyrand's efforts were aimed at restoring Franco-British relations. The signing of the Anglo-American peace treaty in Ghent on December 24, 1814, however, gave the British a free hand, and already on January 3, 1815, Talleyrand, Metternich and Castlereagh signed the “Secret Treaty on the Defensive Alliance concluded in Vienna between Austria, Great Britain and France , against Russia and Prussia." This agreement was aimed against increasing Russian influence in Europe. Nominally, it would be enough for one of these powers to declare war on Russia - and the Russians would have to face a coalition equal in strength to the anti-Napoleonic one.
In conclusion, it should be noted that during the work of the Vienna Congress, a system of international relations was created, which increased the manageability of these relations; The structure of this system was based on:
1) codification in international practice of the leading position of the great powers-members of the European Concert;
2) expanding the practice of diplomatic contacts, including at the highest level;
3) development of international law. From the perspective today One cannot fail to recognize the extreme weakness and ineffectiveness of this structure.
For example, regional and global security organizations were completely absent at that time; International monitoring was at an extremely primitive level; There was absolutely no such powerful means as, for example, peacekeeping operations.
However, the Congress of Vienna set a precedent for the regular convening of international great power conferences, during which the great powers were given the opportunity to discuss and find solutions to international problems. In the early years of the European Concert, mainly pan-European problems were discussed; in subsequent years, the powers convened their representatives to solve specific international problems (for example, the Paris Congress of 1856, at which the results of the Crimean War were summed up). At the same time, the powers took into account the decisions of the congresses - at least until new decisions were made (thus, the territorial establishments of the Congress of Vienna were ultimately canceled in the part that concerned Italy and Germany, but their cancellation was confirmed openly or tacitly consent of the great powers).
But not only more or less regular international conferences became the hallmark of the European concert system. Various branches of international law received enormous development during that period (from the regulation of navigation on international rivers in 1815 to the Hague Conventions on the Laws and Customs of War of 1900 - 1907).
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Great Soviet Encyclopedia. –M, 1976, p. 619-621.
The organization and holding of the Vienna Congress became a significant event both for European states and for the entire world practice in general. Let's consider some issues of its implementation in more detail.
Objectives: The Congress of Vienna was originally declared to be convened to determine the fate of the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, and to develop and implement measures to prevent similar situations in future. However, the adviser to the Austrian Chancellor Metternich, Friedrich Genz, who was the General Secretary of the Congress of Vienna, wrote in February 1815: “Loud phrases about “restructuring social order, update political system Europe”, “Permanent peace based on a fair distribution of power”, etc. and so on. were pronounced to calm the crowd and to impart to this solemn assembly some appearance of dignity and grandeur, but the real purpose of the Congress was to divide the inheritance of the vanquished among the victors.” And, indeed, all participants in the Congress sought to grab as much as possible for themselves at any cost, regardless of their contribution to the defeat of Napoleon.
Time of the Congress of Vienna: from September 1814 to June 1815.
Composition and number of participants: there were 216 delegates from the European winning countries at the Congress. The Russian delegation was headed by Emperor Alexander I, Great Britain - Keslreagh, and a little later - Wellington, Austria - Francis I, Prussia - Hardenberg, France - Charles-Maurice Talleyrand. The leading role in resolving the most important issues at the Congress was played by Alexander I and the Austrian Chancellor Metternich. In addition, despite the fact that Talleyrand represented defeated France, he managed to successfully defend its interests on a number of issues.
Plans of the participants of the Vienna Congress: All delegations came to the Congress in Vienna with certain plans.
- 1. Alexander I, whose troops were in the center of Europe, was not going to give up what he had conquered. He wanted to create the Duchy of Warsaw under his own auspices, giving it its own constitution. In exchange for this, in order not to offend his ally Frederick William III, Alexander hoped to transfer Saxony to Prussia.
- 2. Austria planned to regain the lands conquered from it by Napoleon, and to prevent a significant strengthening of Russia and Prussia.
- 3. Prussia really wanted to annex Saxony and retain Polish lands.
- 4. England hoped to maintain the status quo in Europe, prevent the strengthening of Russia and receive guarantees of the existence of the old, pre-Napoleonic regime in France.
- 5. France, not counting on any territorial acquisitions, did not want the predominance of some European countries over others.
During the negotiations during the Congress of Vienna, a number of important scandalous events occurred:
- · Firstly, England, France and Prussia entered into a secret agreement on January 3, 1815, which contained the obligation of the three powers to jointly prevent Saxony from joining Prussia on any terms. In addition, they agreed not to allow any redistribution of existing borders, that is, annexation of territories to a particular country or separation from them.
- · Secondly, almost immediately after its conclusion, the above-mentioned secret agreement received scandalous publicity, which, naturally, influenced the work of the Vienna Congress. This happened in Paris during historical period known as "100 days". Having landed in France with a small group of soldiers and officers loyal to him, Napoleon entered Paris on March 19, 1815. One of three copies of the secret treaty was discovered in the office of the escaped Louis XVIII. At the direction of Napoleon, it was urgently transported to Alexander I, who handed it over to Metternich. Thus, all other delegations became aware of the “secret” conspiracy of some participants in the Vienna Congress.
- · Thirdly, the very fact of the short-term restoration of Napoleon's empire was unexpected and unforeseen.
- · Fourthly, an important event was the final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo and the return of the royal Bourbon dynasty to Paris.
Results of the Congress of Vienna: The Congress of Vienna was unique in its significance historical event. Its results can be summarized as follows:
1. A few days before Waterloo, namely on June 9, 1815, representatives of Russia, Austria, Spain, France, Great Britain, Portugal, Prussia and Sweden signed the Final General Act of the Congress of Vienna. According to its provisions, the inclusion of the territory of the Austrian Netherlands (modern Belgium) into the new Kingdom of the Netherlands was authorized, but all other Austrian possessions returned to Habsburg control, including Lombardy, the Venetian region, Tuscany, Parma and the Tyrol. Prussia received part of Saxony, a significant territory of Westphalia and the Rhineland. Denmark, a former ally of France, lost Norway to Sweden. In Italy, the power of the Pope over the Vatican and the Papal States was restored, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was returned to the Bourbons. The German Confederation was also formed. Part of the Duchy of Warsaw created by Napoleon became part of the Russian Empire under the name the Kingdom of Poland, and the Russian emperor also became the Polish king.
In addition, the General Act contained special articles that related to relations between European countries. For example, rules were established for the collection of duties and navigation on the border and international rivers Mozyl, Meuse, Rhine and Scheldt; the principles of free navigation were determined; the annex to the General Act spoke of the prohibition of trade in blacks; In all countries, censorship was tightened and police regimes were strengthened.
2. After the Congress of Vienna, the so-called “ Vienna system international relations".
It was at the Congress of Vienna that three classes of diplomatic agents were established, which are still in use today; a unified procedure for the reception of diplomats was determined, and four types of consular offices were formulated. Within the framework of this system, the concept of great powers was formulated for the first time (then primarily Russia, Austria, Great Britain), and multichannel diplomacy finally took shape.
- 3. The decision was made to create the Holy Alliance.
- 4. The formation of the Holy Union is the main result of the Congress of Vienna in 1815
Alexander I came up with the idea of creating the Holy Union of European States, as he understood that the decisions of the Congress should be formalized organizationally.
The founding document of the Holy Alliance was the Act of the Holy Alliance, developed by Alexander I himself and signed in Paris on September 26, 1815 by the Russian and Austrian emperors and the Prussian king.
The purpose of creating the Holy Alliance was: on the one hand, to play the role of a deterrent against national liberation and revolutionary movements, and on the other, to unite, if necessary, all its participants in defense of the inviolability of borders and existing orders. This was reflected in the Act of the Holy Alliance, which declared that due to the great changes in European countries over the past three years, the members of the Holy Alliance decided that “in any case and in every place they will give each other benefits, reinforcements and assistance for the preservation of faith, peace and truth."
However, according to many historians, the content of this act was highly uncertain and flexible and practical implications it was possible to make a wide variety of things out of it, but its general spirit did not contradict, but rather favored, the reactionary mood of the governments of that time. Not to mention the confusion of ideas belonging to completely different categories, in it religion and morality completely displace law and politics from the areas that undoubtedly belong to the latter. Built on a Legitimate Beginning divine origin monarchical power, it establishes a patriarchal relationship between sovereigns and peoples, and the former are charged with the obligation to rule in the spirit of “love, truth and peace,” and the latter must only obey: the document does not mention the rights of the people in relation to power.
The purpose of the Union was mutual assistance in suppressing revolutionary anti-monarchist protests in Europe - echoes of the anti-Christian French Revolution - and strengthening the foundations of Christian statehood. Alexander I intended, through such a Union, to also eliminate the possibility of military clashes between monarchical Christian states. The monarchs who entered into an alliance vowed to maintain the inviolability of borders in Europe and to subordinate the entire order of mutual relations to “the lofty truths inspired by the eternal law of God the Savior,” “to be guided by no other rules than the commandments of the holy faith,” and “to regard ourselves as members of a single people.” Christian." The Act of the Holy Union was symbolically signed on the Orthodox holiday of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The high spiritual meaning of the Holy Alliance is also reflected in the unusual wording of the union treaty, which is not similar either in form or in content to international treatises: “In the name of the Most Holy and Indivisible Trinity! Their Majesties, the Emperor of Austria, the King of Prussia and the Emperor of All Russia, as a result of the great events that have marked the last three years in Europe, and especially as a result of the benefits that God's Providence has been pleased to pour out on the states, whose government has placed its hope and respect in the One God, having felt inner conviction of how necessary it is for the present powers to subordinate the image of mutual relations to the higher truths inspired by the eternal law of God the Savior, they solemnly declare that the subject of this act is to reveal to the face of the universe their unshakable determination, both in the management of the states entrusted to them, and in political relations to all other governments, to be guided by no other rules than the commandments of the holy faith, the commandments of love, truth and peace, which were not limited to their application solely to privacy, must, on the contrary, directly control the will of the kings and guide all their actions, as a single means of affirming human decisions and rewarding their imperfections. On this basis, Their Majesties have agreed in the following articles...”
In the first years after the creation of the Holy Alliance, despite the existing differences in the views of its participants, European states acted in concert on many foreign policy issues, especially in the fight against free thought and the democratization of the masses. At the same time, they closely watched each other and hatched their own plans.
In general, during the existence of the Holy Alliance, several of its congresses took place:
- 1. Aachen Congress (September 20 - November 20, 1818).
- 2. Congresses in Troppau and Laibach (1820-1821).
- 3. Congress in Verona (October 20 - November 14, 1822).
The Congress of Vienna, convened in Europe by representatives of the leading European states, was of great importance. After the Congress of Vienna, the so-called “Vienna System of International Relations” emerged and a decision was made to create the Holy Alliance.
The organization and holding of the Vienna Congress became a significant event both for European states and for the entire world practice in general. Let's consider some issues of its implementation in more detail.
Objectives: The Congress of Vienna was originally declared to be convened to determine the fate of the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, and to develop and implement measures to prevent similar situations in the future. However, Friedrich Gentz, an adviser to the Austrian Chancellor Metternich, who was the General Secretary of the Congress of Vienna, wrote in February 1815: “Loud phrases about “restructuring the social order, updating the political system of Europe,” “Permanent peace based on a fair distribution of forces,” etc. d. and so on. were pronounced in order to calm the crowd and give this solemn meeting some appearance of dignity and grandeur, but the true goal of the Congress was to divide the inheritance of the vanquished among the victors” 11 Protopopov A.S., Kozmenko V.M., Elmanova N.S. History of international relations and foreign policy of Russia (1648-2000). Textbook for Universities / Ed. A.S. Protopopova. - M.: Aspect Press, 2001. - P.75.. And, indeed, all participants in the Congress sought to grab as much as possible at any cost, regardless of their contribution to the defeat of Napoleon 22 there..
Time of the Congress of Vienna: from September 1814 to June 1815.
Composition and number of participants: there were 216 delegates from the European winning countries at the Congress. The Russian delegation was headed by Emperor Alexander I, Great Britain - Keslreagh, and a little later - Wellington, Austria - Francis I, Prussia - Hardenberg, France - Charles-Maurice Talleyrand. The leading role in resolving the most important issues at the Congress was played by Alexander I and the Austrian Chancellor Metternich. In addition, despite the fact that Talleyrand represented defeated France, he managed to successfully defend its interests on a number of issues.
Plans of the participants of the Vienna Congress: All delegations came to the Congress in Vienna with certain plans.
1. Alexander I, whose troops were in the center of Europe, was not going to give up what he had conquered. He wanted to create the Duchy of Warsaw under his own auspices, giving it its own constitution. In exchange for this, in order not to offend his ally Frederick William III, Alexander hoped to transfer Saxony to Prussia.
2. Austria planned to regain the lands conquered from it by Napoleon, and to prevent a significant strengthening of Russia and Prussia.
3. Prussia really wanted to annex Saxony and retain Polish lands.
5. France, not counting on any territorial acquisitions, did not want the predominance of some European countries over others.
During the negotiations during the Congress of Vienna, a number of important scandalous events occurred:
· Firstly, England, France and Prussia entered into a secret agreement on January 3, 1815, which contained the obligation of the three powers to jointly prevent Saxony from joining Prussia on any terms. In addition, they agreed not to allow any redistribution of existing borders, that is, annexation of territories to a particular country or separation from them.
· Secondly, almost immediately after its conclusion, the above-mentioned secret agreement received scandalous publicity, which, naturally, influenced the work of the Vienna Congress. This happened in Paris during the historical period known as the "100 days". Having landed in France with a small group of soldiers and officers loyal to him, Napoleon entered Paris on March 19, 1815. One of three copies of the secret treaty was discovered in the office of the escaped Louis XVIII. At the direction of Napoleon, it was urgently transported to Alexander I, who handed it over to Metternich. Thus, all other delegations became aware of the “secret” conspiracy of some participants in the Vienna Congress.
· Thirdly, the very fact of the short-term restoration of Napoleon's empire was unexpected and unforeseen.
· Fourthly, an important event was the final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo and the return of the royal Bourbon dynasty to Paris.
Results of the Congress of Vienna: In terms of its significance, the Congress of Vienna was a unique historical event. Its results can be summarized as follows:
1. A few days before Waterloo, namely on June 9, 1815, representatives of Russia, Austria, Spain, France, Great Britain, Portugal, Prussia and Sweden signed the Final General Act of the Congress of Vienna. According to its provisions, the inclusion of the territory of the Austrian Netherlands (modern Belgium) into the new Kingdom of the Netherlands was authorized, but all other Austrian possessions returned to Habsburg control, including Lombardy, the Venetian region, Tuscany, Parma and the Tyrol. Prussia received part of Saxony, a significant territory of Westphalia and the Rhineland. Denmark, a former ally of France, lost Norway to Sweden. In Italy, the power of the Pope over the Vatican and the Papal States was restored, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was returned to the Bourbons. The German Confederation was also formed. Part of the Duchy of Warsaw created by Napoleon became part of the Russian Empire under the name the Kingdom of Poland, and the Russian emperor also became the Polish king.
In addition, the General Act contained special articles that related to relations between European countries. For example, rules were established for the collection of duties and navigation on the border and international rivers Mozyl, Meuse, Rhine and Scheldt; the principles of free navigation were determined; the annex to the General Act spoke of the prohibition of trade in blacks; In all countries, censorship was tightened and police regimes were strengthened.
2. After the Congress of Vienna, the so-called “Vienna system of international relations” emerged.
It was at the Congress of Vienna that three classes of diplomatic agents were established, which are still in use today. 11 The first class includes ambassadors and papal legates (nuncios); to the second - envoys (internunniums); to the third - chargés d'affaires; a unified procedure for the reception of diplomats was determined, and four types of consular offices were formulated. Within the framework of this system, the concept of great powers was formulated for the first time (then primarily Russia, Austria, Great Britain), and multichannel diplomacy finally took shape.
3. The decision was made to create the Holy Alliance.