Westminster Convention

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The Westminster Convention was a guarantee treaty between Frederick II - King of Prussia - and George II of Great Britain .

In the agreement negotiated by General Hans Karl von Winterfeldt and concluded on January 16, 1756, the two contracting parties undertook to oppose the invasion and marching of troops of other states through the Electorate of Hanover and to maintain peace in Germany.

With this treaty Georg II tried not to let Hanover, of which he was elector, become the plaything of European interests. This was primarily true of France, which was a rival in the struggle for colonial possessions in India and North America. On the other hand, he also tried to keep Russia out of Germany.

Frederick II endeavored to maintain the position he had conquered in the first two Silesian Wars . His main focus was on Austria and Russia . Austria wanted to get the province of Silesia back. As one of the major European powers, Russia was a potential threat to the Prussian kingdom.

Friedrich assumed that with this treaty he had brought his kingdom into calm waters. He said that Austria would not take action against him without Russia's support. Friedrich also speculated on the fact that Russia would abide by the assistance pact signed with England on September 30, 1755. Frederick was usually allied with France from the beginning of the Silesian Wars. On May 29, 1747, Sweden and Prussia formed an alliance which France joined on January 24, 1748, Frederick's 36th birthday. The Prussian king was therefore convinced that he had eliminated Austria as the main opponent with the conclusion of the Westminster Convention.

"Friedrich believed that he had put the Russian bear on the English chain, and said that the danger of war had been eliminated because Austria would not dare to go to war without the support of Russia."

However, Frederick's assumptions later turned out to be a mistake. The Westminster Convention pushed the overthrow of the alliances and facilitated the outbreak of the Seven Years' War .

supporting documents

  1. ^ Olaf Groehler : The wars of Frederick II. 2nd edition. Deutscher Militärverlag, Berlin 1968, p. 74.

literature

  • Christopher Duffy: Frederick the Great. A soldier's life. Weltbild Buchverlag, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-89350-558-X
  • Katja Frehland-Wildeboer: Loyal friends? The Alliance in Europe 1714–1914 (Studies on International History, 25), Munich 2010.
  • Marian Füssel: The Seven Years War. A world war in the 18th century. CH Beck, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-60695-3
  • Heinz Schilling: Courts and Alliances. Germany 1648–1763. Siedler Verlag, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-442-75523-9
  • Karl W. Schweizer: England, Prussia and the Seven Years War. Studies in Alliance Policies and Diplomacy (Studies in British History 14), Lewiston 1989.
  • Wolfram Pyta: From the Entente Cordiale to the termination of the alliance partnership. The Prussian-British alliance relationships in the Seven Years War 1758-1762 , in: Research on Brandenburg and Prussian History, New Series 10 (2000), pp. 1-48.