Peace of Hubertusburg

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Hubertusburg Castle

The peace treaties concluded on February 15, 1763 between Prussia , Austria and Saxony are called the Peace of Hubertusburg (also Hubertusburg Peace ) . The treaties were signed at the Saxon Hubertusburg Palace east of Leipzig and ended the Seven Years' War in Germany.

history

After the Peace of Hubertusburg, Friedrich II moved into Berlin on March 30, 1763 and was celebrated by his subjects (etching, Johann Lorenz Rugendas ).

In the second half of 1762 Austria was at the end of its economic and military strength and, after the departure of its allies Russia ( Peace of Saint Petersburg ), Sweden ( Peace of Hamburg ) and France , which concluded a preliminary peace with England , which ended in definitive peace was confirmed by Paris to begin peace negotiations with Prussia. As an Austrian ally, Saxony took on the role of mediator.

On November 24th, Prussia and Austria signed an armistice . The Saxon Crown Prince Friedrich Christian visited the Prussian King Friedrich II. At his headquarters in Meissen in order to initiate the peace negotiations with him, in coordination with the Warsaw court and on behalf of Austria.

The negotiations began on December 30, 1762 in the Hubertusburg hunting lodge near Wermsdorf in Saxony, which was looted by Prussian troops and which was declared a neutral area by all three states for the duration of the negotiations. Since the castle was completely cleared, the negotiations took place in a side wing. The Reichstag in Regensburg had declared its neutrality a few days earlier . The negotiations were not conducted by ministers or special ambassadors, but by experienced state officials. For Austria the Councilor Heinrich Gabriel von Collenbach , for Prussia the Legation Councilor Ewald Friedrich von Hertzberg and the Saxon Secret Councilor Thomas von Fritsch . The negotiators were given great powers and drafted the peace articles, the main point of which was the cession of the occupied countries and localities without compensation on the basis of the Berlin Peace of 1742 and the Second Aachen Peace of 1748.

On February 15, 1763, Collenbach and Hertzberg signed the peace treaty between Prussia and Austria in Hubertusburg Palace. The only point of contention was the transfer of the Bohemian county of Glatz . Austria wanted to keep the fortress under all circumstances and even offered Prussia the assumption of the Silesian debts and the renunciation of the title of Duke of Silesia by the Austrian crown. But Prussia was adamant and the county with fortress and all military equipment came back to the Prussian state. The peace treaty was ratified by Prussia on February 21 and Austria on February 24, 1763 .

The ratification by the Kingdom of Prussia took place with the signature of Frederick II in the nearby Dahlen Castle .

Also on February 15, a peace treaty between Prussia and Saxony was concluded at the same location and signed by the Prussian negotiator Hertzberg and the Saxon representative Fritsch. The state of war between the two states was thus ended.

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Illustration from the newly opened historical picture hall in Pro Habsburg : "1762 Hubertusburg is elected to act for peace"

Peace treaty between Prussia and Austria

The peace treaty consisted of 21 articles and two secret amendments.

Maria Theresa and her successors and heirs waived all territorial claims against Prussia, which they had ceded in the preliminary peace of Breslau and the definitive peace of Berlin , without compensation . For its part, Prussia undertook to forego any compensation for losses during the war.

It was agreed that hostilities would cease immediately and that all troops would withdraw. The county and fortress of Glatz , occupied by the Austrian army , were evacuated and returned to Prussia. Prussia granted the population of the county the right to emigrate and, in turn, withdrew its troops from Electoral Saxony. All prisoners of war and hostages were released immediately, including the forced recruited foreign subjects from the army. The Prussian archives confiscated by Austria were returned to the Prussian state. Prussia granted the Silesian population freedom of religion and recognized their privileges and possessions.

Both states mutually committed to promoting trade between their countries. The aim was to conclude a trade agreement.

In secret additional articles, the Prussian king promised to give his Brandenburg electoral vote for the Roman royal election (March 27, 1764) to Maria Theresa's son, Joseph , and to help support the Habsburg succession in the Duchy of Modena .

Peace treaty between Prussia and Saxony

The peace treaty consisted of 11 articles and 3 separate articles.

All acts of war were ended. There was an immediate ceasefire . Prussia undertook to withdraw its troops from Electoral Saxony within three weeks. A general amnesty was issued. The pre-war state, based on the Peace of Dresden from 1745, has been restored. Saxony again confirmed the renunciation of the villages of Schidlow and Fürstenberg on the Oder . Prussia granted Saxony the right to pass through Silesia to Poland, including for Saxon troops.

Both states mutually guaranteed compliance and ratification of the treaty.

Effects

Thus the status quo before the outbreak of the Seven Years War was restored. The possession of Silesia with Glatz was confirmed to Prussia for the third time and thus finally, after the peace treaties of Berlin in 1742 and Dresden in 1745.

Prussia had established itself as the fifth major power in Europe through the Seven Years' War . Through its strengthening, the dualism with Austria had deepened. France renounced further engagement in North America and England gained maritime supremacy over France and Spain . The independence of North America from France and the position of Prussia as a great power were fought for in close relationship with one another. The Seven Years War also brought a great increase in power in Russia.

The Prussian King Friedrich II himself gave a judgment on the end of the fighting in his "History of the Seven Years' War":

“This is how the bloody war ends, which threatened to overturn all of Europe and in which no power, with the exception of Great Britain, has expanded its territory by an inch. The peace between France and England was signed just a few days before the Hubertusburg Peace. Through him France lost its most important possessions in America.
Who could have foreseen or imagined that Prussia would withstand the attack of that dreadful alliance of Austria, Russia, France, Sweden and the whole Roman Empire and emerge from a war in which it was threatened with ruin without the slightest loss of possessions? Who could have suspected that France, with her enormous resources, her strong alliances, her inner strength, would lose her most important possessions in the East Indies and be the victim of the war? All these events must have seemed incredible in 1757. "

Nonetheless, more recent historical research has shown that Frederick II had not achieved a single one of his war aims. “The Peace of Hubertusburg was a great success for the defeated, occupied and up to then still acutely threatened Saxon state”. Thomas von Fritsch played an outstanding role in the conclusion of the two peace treaties as Saxon representative in the negotiations between Saxony and Prussia and as a "mediator" between Prussia and Austria. He also managed to get the occupying power to leave Saxony immediately after the peace agreement. Fritsch refrained from negotiating financial compensation for Saxony, as the quick conclusion of peace was more important to him and the couple who had remained in Dresden. The end of the Saxon-Polish Union is, contrary to what is often shown, not connected with the Hubertusburg Peace.

Extract from the Treaty of Hubertusburg of February 15, 1763 between Prussia and Austria

Allegorical representation of the Hubertusburg Peace
Peep box sheet on the occasion of the Hubertusburg Peace

Article I. “From now on there will be an inviolable, lasting peace, just as honest unity and perfect friendship between Her Majesty the Empress, Queen Apostolic of Hungary, Queen of Bohemia on the one hand and His Majesty the King of Prussia on the other, their heirs and descendants as well as theirs States and subjects included. Consequently, the two high contracting parties will not allow any future hostility, secret or public, indirect or direct, to occur. You will not do anything under whatever pretext that harms the other. Rather, they will devote their utmost attention to maintaining their friendship and mutual understanding, and avoiding anything that may disturb the happily restored unity in the future. They will seek to serve one another for honor, benefit and benefit at every opportunity. "

Article III. “Her Majesty the Empress, Apostolic Queen of Hungary, Queen of Bohemia, waives for her person as well as for her heirs and descendants all claims that she might cherish or raise against the states and lands of His Majesty the King of Prussia, especially those which were ceded in the Breslau Preliminaries and in the Peace of Berlin. Likewise, it renounces any compensation for losses and losses which it and its states and subjects might have suffered during the war. "

“His Majesty the King of Prussia renounces for himself, likewise his heirs and descendants, all claims that he might harbor or raise against the states and countries of Her Majesty the Empress, Apostolic Queen of Hungary, Queen of Bohemia. Furthermore, he renounces any compensation for losses or losses that he or his subjects may have suffered during the war. "

Article XII. "The Breslau peace preliminaries of June 11, 1742 and the peace treaty signed in Berlin on July 28 of the same year, the border recession of 1742 and the Dresden peace treaty of December 25, 1745 are renewed and reaffirmed insofar as their provisions do not contradict the present treaty."

Article XVII. "His Majesty the King of Poland, Elector of Saxony, will be included in this peace on the basis of the peace treaty that he concluded today with His Majesty the King of Prussia."

Article XX. “The high contracting parties have agreed to include their allies in this peace treaty and reserve the right to list them individually in a special agreement, which is to have the same validity as if it had been incorporated into this treaty word for word, also by the high contracting parties Parties should be ratified. "

See also

literature

  • Johann Wilhelm von Archenholz : History of the Seven Years War in Germany. 5th edition. Haude and Spener, Berlin 1840 ( full text in the Google book search).
  • Hans-Jürgen Arendt: The peace of Hubertusburg 1763 (= Hubertusburger writings. Volume 5). Friends of Hubertusburg Castle, Wermsdorf 2008.
  • Hans-Jürgen Arendt: The peace at Hubertusburg - or: Many dogs were not the death of the rabbit. In: Susanne Hahn (Ed.): Hubertusburger Peace - Eternal Peace ?! Minutes of the 1st Hubertusburg Peace Talks from 21. – 23. September 2006 at Hubertusburg Castle in Wermsdorf. Turnshare, London 2007, ISBN 978-1-903343-99-9 , pp. 33-50.
  • Hans-Jürgen Arendt: The Seven Years War and the plundering of Hubertusburg Castle (= Hubertusburger Schriften. Volume 4). Friends of Hubertusburg Castle, Wermsdorf 2007.
  • Hans-Jürgen Arendt: Saxony, the Seven Years War and the Hubertusburg Peace Treaties 1763. In: Susanne Hahn (Hrsg.): Science and art under the sign of war and peace. Minutes of the 3rd Hubertusburg Peace Talks from 17. – 19. September 2010 at Hubertusburg Castle in Wermsdorf. Circle of Friends of Schloss Hubertusburg, Wermsdorf 2011, ISBN 978-3-9813035-9-9 , pp. 30–57.
  • Hans-Jürgen Arendt: World historical consequences of the peace treaties of Paris and Hubertusburg 1763. In: Susanne Hahn (Hrsg.): Peace responsibility and peacekeeping in the 21st century. Minutes of the 2nd Hubertusburg Peace Talks from 19. – 21. September 2008 at Hubertusburg Castle in Wermsdorf. Leipziger Universitätsverlag, Leipzig 2009, ISBN 978-3-86583-368-6 , pp. 22-38.
  • Willy Andreas : Frederick the Great, the Seven Years War and the Hubertusburg Peace. A historical review. In: Historical magazine . Volume 158, 1938, pp. 265-307.
  • Karl von Beaulieu-Marconnay : The Hubertusburger Peace. Hirzel, Leipzig 1871 ( full text in the Google book search).
  • Hans-Wolfgang Bergerhausen: Peace Law and Tolerance. On the policy of the Prussian state towards the Catholic Church in Silesia 1740–1806 (= sources and research on Brandenburg and Prussian history. Volume 18). Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-09917-6 , pp. 157-210 (Chapter: Hubertusburg. ).
  • Johannes Burkhardt : Farewell to the religious war. The Seven Years War and papal diplomacy (= library of the German Historical Institute in Rome. Volume 61). Niemeyer, Tübingen 1985, ISBN 3-484-82061-6 , pp. 349-368 (Chapter: Rome and the peace treaties. ).
  • Heinz Duchhardt : Balance of Power, Convenance, European Concert. Peace congresses and peace agreements from the age of Louis XIV to the Congress of Vienna (= results of research. Volume 56). WBG, Darmstadt 1976, ISBN 3-534-06398-8 , pp. 90-126 (Chapter: Paris / Hubertusburg. ).
  • Rainer Grund: The Hubertusburg Peace in 1763 as reflected in medals and coins. In: Susanne Hahn (ed.): Science and art under the sign of war and peace. Minutes of the 3rd Hubertusburg Peace Talks from 17. – 19. September 2010 at Hubertusburg Castle in Wermsdorf. Freundeskreis Schloss Hubertusburg, Wermsdorf 2011, ISBN 978-3-9813035-9-9 , pp. 74-93.
  • Jörg Ludwig: Hubertusburg Palace as a place of peace negotiations from 1762/63 , in: Dirk Syndram / Claudia Brink (ed.): The royal hunting residence Hubertusburg and the peace of 1763 , [catalog for the exhibition of the same name at Hubertusburg Palace from April 28th to April 5th October 2013], Dresden 2013, pp. 195–202, 215.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Peace of Hubertusburg , Friends of Hubertusburg Castle
  2. ↑ Definitive Peace Tract, which between your Kayserl. also to Hungarn, and Böheim Königl. Apostolic Majesty cc and His Majesty the King in Prussia cc in Hubertburg on February 15, 1763. been closed . Mitzler, Schwabach 1763 ( full text in the Google book search).
  3. ↑ Authentic translation of the in French between Ihro Königl. Majesty in Pohlen and Churfürstl. Pass to Saxony, and Ihro Königl. Majesty in Prussia at the palace at Hubertusburg on February 15, 1763. Peace treaty concluded . In: Reichs-Tags-Diarium . tape 6 (1762/1763) , pp. 679–686 ( full text in Google Book Search).
  4. ↑ Johannes Burkhardt: The Hubertusburg Peace - a Saxon Defeat? In: Dresdner Geschichtsverein (Ed.): Saxony between 1763 and 1813 (= Dresdner Hefte , No. 114), pp. 4–13, quotation on p. 5. Sandstein, Dresden 2013. ISBN 978-3-944019-03- 1 .