Alliance treaty of the three black eagles

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Europe around 1732

The Alliance Treaty of the Three Black Eagles or the Treaty of Berlin denotes a not fully ratified alliance treaty between Habsburg , Russia and Prussia . After a preliminary agreement between Austria and Russia on September 13, 1732 , Prussia joined the treaty negotiations on December 13, 1732 at the bidding of both powers.

The core of the alliance was directed against Poland-Lithuania and was supposed to determine a common candidate for the upcoming Polish election. Due to differences in the drafting of the contract, the contract ultimately did not become legally effective.

Contract negotiations

The question of the successor to the Polish electoral king August was discussed long before by the powers involved. The Prussian-Russian alliance treaty of 1726 and its renewals of 1729 and 1730 already provided for a joint approach to this matter, and negotiations between the Viennese and the Petersburg courts had also been held since 1730. Particularly for Austria was the effort of France , the father-in-law of Louis XV. , Stanislaus Leszczyński to help the Polish crown and the French influence in the East a solid base to ensure threatening. For his part, King August endeavored to secure the Polish crown for the Wettins as a permanent inheritance (cf. Saxony-Poland ).

Habsburg proposed to the two powers that the Infante Emmanuel of Portugal (August 3, 1697 - August 3, 1766) be nominated as a common candidate of the two powers . When the Russian negotiator Karl Gustav von Löwenwolde met Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff , the imperial envoy in Berlin, in March 1732 , it was possible without much effort to win King Friedrich Wilhelm over to the plan by giving him the prospect of this for a long time Kurland aspired to reopened for his home . The following months brought a strengthening of the position of both imperial powers on the Polish question through the alliance between Russia, Austria and Denmark on May 26th.

In the autumn of 1732 Seckendorff and Löwenwolde returned to Berlin, where the deliberations on the basis of the spring conferences were resumed. Friedrich Wilhelm agreed to a preliminary contract drafted by Seckendorff. In it, the Infante of Portugal was determined as a common candidate for the Polish crown for the succession to the throne in Poland and at the same time the Russian court undertook to grant a Prussian prince the succession in Courland. At the end of November, Seckendorff submitted a draft of an alliance agreement that was consistent in all essential parts of the preliminary agreement, to which the Prussian king again agreed. Shortly before the conclusion of the contract, however, new difficulties arose.

French and Saxon interests were able to assert themselves more strongly at the Russian court. August II tried to win Count Ernst Johann von Biron over by the prospect of Courland. At the beginning of December, Löwenwolde had to move away from his announcement that a Prussian prince could take over the throne in Courland. Thereupon fierce resistance flared up at the Viennese court, since it was Vienna that had brought the prospect of Courland so tempting for Prussia into the treaty. This was done with the ulterior motive that King Friedrich Wilhelm I was so open about the Jülisch-Bergischen inheritance question . For this reason, Vienna refused to ratify the treaty on December 13, 1732.

  • The state emblem of the Russian Empire

  • The national coat of arms of Austria

  • The coat of arms of Prussia

Content of the contract

The contract consisted of nine articles and two separate or secret articles. In addition to provisions on the succession of kings in Poland-Lithuania, the agreement contained precise provisions on how this project was to be implemented, including specific information on the troops to be provided for the operation in Poland. In addition, the agreement made provisions on Courland and its form of government and succession regulations for the Courland Duke.

Further development

King August died on February 1, 1733, so that a draft contract that Seckendorff had sent again became irrelevant. There was no longer any question of the candidacy of the Infante of Portugal. In September, Stanislaus Leszczyński, supported by France, was initially elected king by his supporters. But Friedrich August von Sachsen came to an understanding with Russia and Austria in the Treaty of Warsaw of August 8, 1733 and under the protection of Russian weapons, on October 5, 1733, Elector Friedrich August was named August III. raised to the rival king. The War of the Polish Succession continued until 1738 .

literature

  • Prussia's state treaties from the reign of King Friedrich Wilhelm I, publications from the Prussian State Archives, Volume 87, Victor Loewe (eds.), Leipzig 1913