Third Parisian Peace

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Crimean War (1853-1856)

The Peace of Paris was concluded on March 30, 1856 in Paris between the Ottoman Empire and its allies France , Great Britain and Sardinia on the one hand and Russia on the other. The peace treaty ended the Crimean War .

history

The negotiations for the Peace of Paris after a contemporary woodcut

As early as July 22, 1854, the governments in Paris and London drafted articles of peace. The four-point note was intended to be the basis for future peace negotiations, but was at the same time the war aims of the European allies of the Ottoman Empire. A European guarantee of the constitutional status of the Danube principalities in place of the previous Russian protectorate , the safeguarding of free navigation in the mouths of the Danube , the restriction of Russian power to the Black Sea and joint efforts by the states to protect the non-Muslim population in Turkey were agreed Impairment of the sultan's sovereignty .

The German great powers Prussia and Austria declared themselves in agreement with these four points and tried to win the Russian tsar over to them, but he abruptly rejected them. Austria then concluded an alliance treaty with England and France, in which the three governments undertook not to enter into separate negotiations with Russia and reserved the right to impose further conditions beyond the four points. The defense of the Danube principalities took over Austria, which advanced with troops into the areas evacuated by Russia and kept them occupied. Austria itself did not intervene militarily in the conflict, but with its military presence in the principalities tied up a considerable part of the Russian forces. Prussia and the German Confederation declared themselves neutral .

The main representatives of the Congress, contemporary woodcut (1856)

After the storming of the Sevastopol fortress and the occupation by Allied troops on September 8, 1855, the situation changed fundamentally. With the consent of the Western Powers and the support of Prussia, the Austrian government sent Count Esterhazy to Saint Petersburg , where he offered the four points in a new formulation as the basis for ultimate negotiations. On January 16, 1856, the Russian State Chancellor Nesselrode had Count Esterhazy informed that Tsar Alexander II would accept the four points as peace preliminaries without further reservation .

Negotiations and signature

On February 1, 1856, the representatives of Great Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire and Russia met in Vienna for a conference at which the Austrian note was definitely accepted as the basis for negotiations. The plenipotentiaries of the governments were to meet in Paris within three weeks for the final agreement.

On February 25 , the opening of the peace congress took place in Paris at the official residence of French Foreign Minister Walewski , who also led the negotiations. In addition to the chief negotiator, the French ambassador in Vienna Bourqueney , the Austrian representative Count Buol-Schauenstein and the Austrian ambassador in Paris Baron Hübner , the English plenipotentiaries Lord Clarendon and Lord Cowley , the Ottoman representatives Grand Vizier Ali Pascha and the Ottoman envoy in Paris Djemil were invited Bey , from the Russian side Count Alexei Orlow and the envoy to the German Confederation Philipp von Brunnow and, much to the annoyance of Austria, the Sardinian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Count Cavour , and the envoy Viktor Emanuel at the French court, the Marquis of Villamarina .

It was not until the seventh session that it was decided to allow Prussia to take part in the congress. In solving the general problems, one could not do without the approval and cooperation of the fifth major European power. Against the resistance of Great Britain, Austria and France had pushed through the invitation from Prussia, but not from the German Confederation. From the eleventh session, on March 18, the Prussian Foreign Minister Otto von Manteuffel took part in the negotiations with the Prussian ambassador in Paris Maximilian von Hatzfeldt-Trachenberg .

The etiquette , which was otherwise very important at European congresses, was largely dispensed with. The alphabetical order of the participating States determined the order in which the protocols and notes were signed. The secretary of the minutes and secretary of the congress was the French state secretary in the foreign ministry, Count Benedetti .

The first 19 of a total of 24 sessions dealt exclusively with oriental affairs. The result was the Treaty known as the Third Peace of Paris (the First Peace of Paris was concluded on May 30, 1814 and the Second Peace of Paris on November 20, 1815). It was signed in Paris on March 30, 1856, and the instruments of ratification were exchanged by the plenipotentiaries in a solemn session on April 27. Signatory states were Russia, France, Great Britain, Sardinia-Piedmont, the Ottoman Empire, Austria and Prussia (signed with a feather that had been specially "procured" by a large eagle from the Jardin des Plantes ).

The peace treaty was supplemented by a treaty ratified on April 30, 1856 between France, Great Britain and Austria, in which the three states declared that any violation of the Paris Peace Treaty would be regarded as a hostile act and a case of war. The Ottoman Empire was thus guaranteed integrity and independence . In addition, Walewski had suggested a reform of the law of the sea , which was fixed in writing in a protocol of April 16, 1856 . The piracy should be abolished forever and the principle should apply that the neutral flag covers the enemy goods, provided that it does not consist of war contraband .

Participating delegates

Le congrès de Paris, 25 février au 30 mars 1856 (oil painting by Édouard Dubufe ):
standing from left to right: Cavour, Wellesley, Buol-Schauenstein, Bourqueney, Hübner, Dschemil Bey, Benedetti, Brunnow, Hatzfeldt-Trachenberg, Napoleon III. ;
sitting from left to right: Orlow, Manteuffel, Colonna-Walewski, Villiers, Ali Pascha
Photograph of the delegates

At the treaty negotiations were chaired by Napoleon III. Delegates from all major European powers - including those not involved in the Crimean War - as well as Sardinia-Piedmont and the Ottoman Empire were present.

  1. Second empireSecond empire Napoleon III
  2. Second empireSecond empire Alexandre Colonna-Walewski
  3. France 1848Second French Republic François-Adolphe de Bourqueney
  4. Second empireSecond empire Vincent Benedetti
  5. United Kingdom 1801United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley
  6. United Kingdom 1801United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon
  7. Russian Empire 1721Russian Empire Alexei Fyodorovich Orlov
  8. Russian Empire 1721Russian Empire Philipp von Brunnow
  9. Sardinia kingdomKingdom of Sardinia Camillo Benso by Cavour
  10. Sardinia kingdomKingdom of Sardinia Salvatore Pes di Villamarina
  11. Austrian EmpireEmpire of Austria Karl Ferdinand von Buol-Schauenstein
  12. Austrian EmpireEmpire of Austria Alexander von Huebner
  13. Prussia KingdomKingdom of Prussia Otto Theodor von Manteuffel
  14. Prussia KingdomKingdom of Prussia Maximilian von Hatzfeldt-Trachenberg
  15. Ottoman Empire 1844Ottoman Empire Mehmed Emin Ali Pasha
  16. Ottoman Empire 1844Ottoman Empire Mehmed Jemil Bey

content

The main treaty contained 34 peace articles. The immediate evacuation of the conquered areas and the exchange of prisoners of war were agreed. The Ottoman Empire was incorporated into the European system of power and its state independence was guaranteed by the signatories (Article 7). The situation of the Ottoman subjects of non-Muslim faith (literally: "regardless of religion") should be improved according to the reform law of the Sultan of January 25, 1856 (Article 9). The Black Sea was declared neutral and the Dardanelles Treaty of 1841 was essentially confirmed. Merchant shipping was permitted to all nations, but their warships were prohibited from sailing (Article 11).

In a special convention between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, an exact number of smaller warships was stipulated, which were necessary for the maintenance of police and customs duties . Navigation on the Danube was declared free and placed under the guarantee of the European powers. However, a commission of the contracting powers (the European Danube Commission ) and a second commission of the bank states, the Commission of the Danube bank states, were set up to settle the questions relevant up to that point . Each state was allowed to station two light war vehicles at the estuary for control purposes.

Russia had to cede the east of Bessarabia under the designation "border adjustment" : the Budschak , between the Black Sea and the Prut . The southern part of the Budschak, with the strategically important Danube Delta, between the Kilija arm and the St. George arm , fell to the Ottoman Empire. The northern part, with the fortress city of Ismail , went to the Principality of Moldova . The Russian-Moldovan border ran in parts just a few kilometers above the former Trajan's Wall , from the now Moldovan Tuzla on the Black Sea to the west, to the Bolhrad, which had also become Moldovan . There the border suddenly turned to the north, as far as Sărăteni (previously: Sărătsika or Sărătica). From there the border ran in a north-westerly direction to Nemțeni (formerly: Nemtseni), from where the two countries Moldova and Russia separated on the Prut. The lost territories, but not the Danube Delta, were given back to Russia at the Berlin Congress in 1878.

The principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia were assured that their old privileges and immunities would be maintained , including the Principality of Serbia , whereby the Ottoman occupation law there (in Belgrade , etc.) was preserved, and these were placed under the guarantee of the treaty powers . They were allowed to raise a national army to protect their borders and internal security.

Another convention regulated the closure of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles and the prohibition on attaching the Åland Islands , especially a new reinforcement of Bomarsund , by Russia.

Effects

The Paris Peace led to a new constellation of powers in Europe. In place of the old continental power Russia, France now emerged as the leading European power. The Holy Alliance broke up and relations between Russia and Austria remained permanently disrupted. Russia now turned to France and Prussia. Austria remained isolated. The Russian-British antagonism had deepened and lasted until the beginning of the 20th century.

Russia's military power has not been significantly weakened. One of Russia's most important concessions, the neutralization of the Black Sea, was revised as early as 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War , Russia unilaterally repealed the regulations on November 9, 1870. On March 13, 1871, the Treaty of London decided to deneutralize the Black Sea. The straits, however, remained closed to foreign warships. Only the Sultan was allowed to let warships of friendly states pass. Russia could now build ships and fortresses at any time and Sevastopol became a naval port again . In the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877–1878, it was again militarily active against the Ottoman Empire.

The expectations of the French emperor and host Napoleon III. were not met. He hoped in vain that Great Britain and Austria would agree to a comprehensive reorganization of Europe with the unification of Italy and the restoration of a Polish state .

The provisions on neutral merchant shipping were, however, of lasting effect. So it was said, partly still today, that the Paris Declaration of the Law of April 16, 1856 ushered in a new era in international law of the sea.

literature

Web links

Commons : Third Peace of Paris  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Edouard Gourdon: Histoire du Congrès de Paris . Librairie Nouvelle, Paris 1857, p. 5–8 (French, limited preview in Google Book search).