Alvensleben's Convention

The Alvensleben Convention , correctly spelled Alvensleben Convention , was a formal military convention between the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia to support each other in the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1863 .

It was closed on February 8, 1863 by the Prussian Adjutant General Gustav von Alvensleben and the Russian Vice Chancellor Alexander Michailowitsch Gortschakow in Saint Petersburg , acting on the instructions of the Prussian King Wilhelm I and the Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck .

The Alvensleben Convention was directed mainly against the uprising movement of 1863 in Poland (see January Uprising ) and basically stated that the territory was mutually recognized and its preservation guaranteed, but Prussian and Russian troops were allowed to cross the border in the pursuit of insurgents of the respective neighboring state is allowed. Although the Alvensleben Convention was soon terminated under British and, above all, French pressure, it had a side effect of strengthening the Prussian-Russian friendship, which resulted, among other things, in Russia's neutral stance towards Prussia in the German War of 1866 and in the Franco- German War War manifested in 1870/1871.

This convention was Bismarck's first foreign policy success. He was able to divert attention from the internal political quarrels ( gap theory ). With this step, he also secured Russia's neutrality for national unity . Even then, Bismarck's focus on foreign policy and the special Bismarck alliance policy became apparent.

literature

• Karl-Ernst Jeismann : Poland in the European system of power in the 19th century. The "Alvensleben Convention" 1863 . Diesterweg, Frankfurt / M. 1994, ISBN 3-88304-121-1 .
• Hellmuth Scheidt: Alvensleben Convention and the Intervention Policy of the Powers on the Polish Question 1863 . Triltsch, Würzburg 1937 (also dissertation, University of Munich 1937)