Châtillon Congress

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The Châtillon Congress took place from February 5th to March 19th, 1814. It was the last attempt to make peace between Napoleon and the Allies during the Wars of Liberation . In this context, the Quadruple Alliance of Chaumont , also the Alliance of Chaumont or Treaty of Chaumont , was concluded on March 1, 1814 .

history

Hôtel du Congrès in Châtillon-sur-Seine , where the congress was held, a monument historique since 1983

Although the Allies outnumbered Napoleon's troops after their invasion of France, Napoleon still proved to be a dangerous enemy. Against this background, the allies were ready to negotiate with Napoleon. Negotiations began on February 5th in Châtillon-sur-Seine . Johann Philipp von Stadion negotiated for Austria, Andrei Kirillowitsch Rasumowski for Russia , William Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart , Charles Stewart and George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen for Great Britain and Wilhelm von Humboldt for Prussia . Napoleon's representative was Armand de Caulaincourt .

Earlier peace offers guaranteed France natural borders, i.e. the Rhine border in the east . There was no longer any question of that. The allies were only willing to guarantee the borders of 1792, i.e. those before the conquests of the earlier coalition wars . Tsar Alexander I found these conditions too lenient and forced an interruption of the negotiations. He demanded to continue the war until the capture of Paris and insisted on Napoleon's abdication and the abdication of his family as well. For his part, Napoleon was unwilling to accept the 1792 border offer. After he had achieved great military successes in mid-February and the Austrians had even asked for an armistice, the negative French stance intensified. Napoleon wrote to Francis I : "There is not a Frenchman who would not rather die than submit to conditions that would make us slaves of England and remove France from the circle of powers". He insisted on the natural borders of the Rhine and the Alps. Caulaincourt, who saw the situation more realistically, tried in vain to persuade Napoleon to make concessions. The allies demanded on February 28th by March 10th an offer of peace based on the borders of 1792.

Not least to exert pressure on the French side, the Allies concluded the Chaumont Quadruple Alliance on March 1, 1814 . At the suggestion of Castlereagh , an offensive and defensive alliance was concluded against France to maintain the balance in Europe. The mutual contracts were signed by Metternich for Austria, Nesselrode for Russia, Castlereagh for Great Britain and Hardenberg for Prussia. Each of the powers involved undertook, should Napoleon not accept the peace conditions, to keep 150,000 men under arms until the end of the war. Attacked contract partners should help the other militarily. Great Britain promised to pay £ 5 million in subsidies for 1814 . Rather than providing its own troops, Britain was willing to recruit mercenaries or pay extra for each missing soldier. Separate contracts with the enemy were excluded. Other states should be encouraged to join the alliance. The contract was signed on March 9th, but backdated to March 1st. It was valid for twenty years. In 1815 it was renewed at the Congress of Vienna .

The French side tried to delay the negotiations at the peace congress. On March 15, Caulaincourt presented the draft peace treaty. This was completely different from the ideas of the Allies. Then Eugène de Beauharnais should get the Kingdom of Italy . The Grand Duchy of Berg , dissolved by the Allies, was to be restored and the captured Saxon King Friedrich August I was to regain his rule. France demanded the return of the colonies and there was no question of giving up the former Austrian Netherlands , Mainz and the Rhineland .

With this, the Allies broke off negotiations on March 19. The war continued. Already on 20./21. On March 8th, Napoleon suffered an ultimately decisive defeat in the battle of Arcis-sur-Aube .

In the alliance treaty signed on March 1, 1814, the governments of Austria, Prussia, Russia and Great Britain agreed not only to continue the war against Napoleon until their final and decisive victory, but also to maintain the European balance of power afterwards :

"In view of the fact that the present treaty aims to maintain the European equilibrium, to secure the peace and independence of the powers and to compensate for the invasions that have plagued the world for so many years, the [... ] The contracting parties have agreed among themselves to fix its validity for twenty years from the date of signature "

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ quoted from Gordon A. Craig, Alexander L. George: Between War and Peace. Conflict resolution in past and present , Munich 1984, ISBN 3-406-09858-4 , p. 42

literature