Prussian-Russian Alliance Treaty (1714)
In the Prussian-Russian alliance of June 12, 1714 , Prussia and Russia mutually confirmed their territorial possessions after Sweden's expected defeat in the Great Northern War .
Contractual history
A three-way alliance, consisting of the Russian Empire and the two personal unions Saxony-Poland and Denmark-Norway , led a war against the Swedish Empire since 1700, which was led by Charles XII. was ruled. The Swedes suffered a devastating defeat in the Battle of Poltava in July 1709, which marked the turn of the war. From then until the end of the war, the Allies kept the initiative and put the Swedes on the defensive.
After the death of the first Prussian King Frederick I in February 1713, the foreign policy was also by his successor I. Friedrich Wilhelm continued. He signed a treaty with Denmark on June 22, 1713, which provided for a joint occupation of Western Pomerania and Prussia held out the prospect of the part south of the Peene . On October 6, 1713, Russia and Prussia also agreed in Schwedt that Prussia should be given administration of the area up to the Peene (with Usedom and Wollin ).
Contract negotiations
In December 1713, the Obermarschall Karl Friedrich von Schlippenbach was sent to the Russian court, originally only with the order to obtain the ratification of the Schwedt Treaty . The successes that the Tsar then achieved in the offensive against Sweden in the spring of 1714 and which led to the imminent conclusion of peace between Russia and Sweden led Berlin to seek an even closer connection with Russia, as it was responsible for asserting the Prussian claims the occupied territories depended on Sweden's concession for a peace with Sweden. The suggestion to conclude a formal guarantee contract came from the Russian side.
The Schwedt Treaty set out the claims that Prussia hoped to enforce against Sweden. At that time the Prussian government still hoped to maintain its neutrality. However, required the consideration that Russia now demanded for the support of Prussian wishes, the war against Charles XII. to open. On March 31, 1715, Schlippenbach reported from St. Petersburg that the tsar was ready to guarantee possession of Stettin and the associated district on the right bank of the Oder, if the king wanted to vouch for him in Karelia and Ingermanland against Sweden and the other powers, four Days later, Schlippenbach reported that in addition to these areas, Estonia and Vyborg were also to be included in the guarantee in Petersburg .
By royal decree of April 28, 1715 Schlippenbach was asked to draw up a draft agreement. In addition, he was authorized to respond to the Russian demands only if the tsar agreed to accept the Prussian demands, which extended from West Pomerania to the Peene. The project agreed at the beginning of June between Schlippenbach and the Russian secretary Heinrich Johann Friedrich Ostermann , which arrived in Berlin on June 19, was approved here, but was later changed by the tsar himself. In essence, he decreed an extension of the guarantee to be provided by Prussia: apart from Estonia and Reval, this should also include all territories, places and islands that belonged to the intended province of Estonia under the last Swedish government and were now under Russian rule. In addition, the guarantee should be given against Sweden and any other party. A ratification of the treaty was promised by the formula of the last article: "Except for the most gracious approval and ratification of both high principals", Schlippenbach succeeded in adding a separate article to the project, the content of which meant that the ratification could be rejected was excluded.
Conclusion of contract
The modified project was sent to Berlin on June 15, 1715 and arrived there on June 30, 1715. Friedrich Wilhelm carried out the ratification on the following day. When this arrived in St. Petersburg, it turned out that in article three of the Prussian instrument the words of the original convention: 1714, June 12/1. 75 “Or someone else who might be missing - an oversight that was caused by the incorrect transmission of the original convention to Berlin. In Petersburg they insisted on the execution of a new ratification, which was immediately delivered from Berlin.
The contract consisted of four articles and one secret article.
consequences
Prussia concluded an alliance with Hanover on April 27, 1714 with the same purpose . The circle of enemies of Charles XII. joined when Kur-Hanover, which Denmark had granted ownership of Bremen-Verdens , joined the Russian-Prussian agreement in November 1714. The Elector of Hanover had also been King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1714. After Bremen-Verdens was handed over to Hanover, Prussia declared war on Sweden on May 1, 1715, taking the Swedish occupation of Usedom as an opportunity. On October 15, Hanover declared war on Sweden. The Kingdom of Great Britain remained excluded from the war, which only affected the ancestral lands of George I.
literature
- Victor Loewe (Hrsg.): Prussian State Treaties from the reign of King Friedrich Wilhelm I (= publications from the Prussian State Archives. Vol. 87, ZDB -ID 503432-2 ). Hirzel, Leipzig 1913.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stewart P. Oakley: War and Peace in the Baltic, 1560-1790. Routledge, London et al. 1992, ISBN 0-415-02472-2 , p. 114.