Castlereagh’s foreign policy and the interests of Britain

• Viscount Castlereagh (1769-1822)

  • best known as Foreign secretary under lord Liverpool
  • helped guide the Grand Alliance against Napoleon and was a major participant in the Congress of Vienna, which redrew the map of Europe in 1815
  • became foreign secretary 1812
  • supported Wellington in Europe
  • concerned that peace should not destabilise Europe
  • blamed for progressive policy
  • began a congress system --> diplomatic meetings between the Great powers to avert future conflict
  • leader of the House of Commons for Liverpool
• Castlereagh's objectives between 1812 and 1814 were clear:

  • made the complete defeat of Napoleon his priority
  • did not allow himself to be distracted by a war with the USA, signing a peace with them as soon as possible
  • maintained the coalitions against France
  • aimed not merely to bring the war to a close but to maintain co-operation with the other European powers to ensure that after so many years of war there would be a lasting peace
• In early 1814, Castlereagh's negotiations led to the Treaty of Chaumont. This was signed in March by Britain and eastern European powers. Castlereagh persuaded Austria, Prussia and Russia to guarantee their continuation with the war. Each country committed 150 000 men.
• How has Castlereagh's influence been interpreted:

  Limited

  • he was reactionary -> although Kissinger praised his attempts to create stability
  • congress system was unpopular in Britain
  • Congress systems was overly ambitious and difficult to manage

  Success

  • created stability
  • opposed dangerous radicalism
  • Foreign policy based on national interest and cooperation
  • understood that European and British interests were deeply linked
• was opposing Napoleon in British interests:

  Yes

  • previous negotiations had failed to bring lasting peace (Peace of Amiens 1802)
  • without active opposition France would dominate the continent and thus threaten British trade and security

  No

  • British naval power was insufficient on its own to win victory
  • British army was too small to oppose the French effectively
  • it was incredibly costly -> 1814 coalition cost £26 million
• The Peace of Paris was signed in May 1814 by France and the Allied Nations:

  • the borders of France was returned to the 1792 lindes, this included the complete surrender of the Netherlands
  • France received back colonies it had lost during the war with the exception of strategically important places such as Tobago and St. Lucia
  • territory in Northern Europe would be added to Holland
  • the countries involved would meet at the Congress of Vienna to agree the details of the Europe borders
  • France would not be required to pay reparations
  • All captured artwork to remain in France
• Britain gained alot form the Congress of Vienna 1814-1815:

  • determined peace settlements
  • valuable colonial possessions as return on a huge financial investment that Britain had made
  • France was contained as the Austrians gave up Belgium to the Netherlands
  • France's boundaries restored
• By 1815, Castlereagh could be said to have achieved most of his aims:

  • British trading opportunities had increased
  • threat from France was reduced
  • balance of power in Europe had been maintained
  • British security had been strengthened by the new kingdom of Holland
  • British naval supremacy was confirmed
  • Britain could reduce the heavy spending on war
• However, some of Castlereagh's aims were not achieved. There was not a unity of the great powers. He was concerned about Tsar Alexander I of Russia who wanted to expand, especially into the Ottoman Empire. Tsar created the Holy Alliance which Castlereagh disagreed with.
• The Holy Alliance:

  • WHO: Russia, Prussia and Austria
  • formed in Paris on Sept. 26, 1815, by Alexander I of Russia, Francis I of Austria, and Frederick William III of Prussia
  • confirmed that Christian principles were to be the basis of their relationship and that they would act together to protect the power of the absolute monarchy and reist the idea of a constitutional monarchy
  • signed by all European rulers except the Prince Regent of Britain, Castlereagh, the Ottoman sultan, and the Pope
• Both the Austrian prince Klemens von Metternich and Viscount Castlereagh of England, the leading figures in the diplomacy of the post-Napoleonic era, however, saw the Holy Alliance as an insignificant and ephemeral association.
• Britain had ended an absolute monarchy, and for all its imperfections its constitutional monarchy stood for liberty and change - which Russia, Austria and Prussia didn't
• The Treaty of Chaumont 1814:

  • treaty signed by Austria, Prussia, Russia, and Britain binding them to defeat Napoleon.
  • Castlereagh played a large role in negotiations
  • treaty tightened allied unity and made provision for a durable European settlement
  • Britain put more money behind the other allies -> £26 million
  • looked to beyond the war -> continued cooperation
• The Congresses 1818-22:

  • congresses after 1815 were less successful than the congress of Vienna
  • France was admitted to the existing Alliance once she had paid her war debts it became the Quintuple Alliance in 1818 at the Congress of Aix-la Chapella => readmitted the French monarchy
  • by the 1820 Troppau conference unrest was growing in the German states and in Italy. Revolt by the Greeks against the Turkish increased danger that Russia would get involved and set up in the eastern Mediterranean. S.A colonies rose up against Spain. The Holy Alliance wanted to act but Castlereagh
• The Congresses 1818-22: con'td

  • Congress of Verona 1822 -> Castlereagh was not prepared to put up British interests
  • he was too optimistic about European peace
  • increased stress on mental health
  • led to his suicide
• Was Castlereagh successful:

  Yes->

  • prevented the collapse of France into further civil unrest
  • borders agreed at Vienna lasted for 40 years
  • Castlereagh's objective of maintaining the status quo in Europe became the standard in Britain
  • Britain avoided further warfare with France
  • Castlereagh retained vital trade locations -> could monopolise trade
• Was Castlereagh successful:

  No ->

  • other countries tended to see the Congress System as a way to strengthen their own sphere of influence
  • Russia saw it as a tool for preventing the development of liberal and democratic movement in Europe
  • 1818 -> Russia demanded action against democratic movement in Spain and Portugal, Austria invaded Italy
  • diplomacy with aristocracy led to accusations that he was dragging Britain into foreign affairs
  • 1820 -> Castlereagh didn't use the Congress System as much
• The Independence Movement in South America:

  • from 1808, when Napoleon dethroned the Spanish monarch the struggle for independence grew
  • grew as a threat
  • 1823 -> Spain had virtually lost control of its territories in South AmericA