Prussian-Russian Alliance Treaty (1740)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Europe around 1740

The Prussian-Russian alliance of December 27, 1740 was a defensive alliance between Prussia and Russia . It was intended to keep Frederick II's back free for the war against Austria (see First Silesian War ) in the event of a Swedish or Polish attack and to prevent Russia from taking action against Prussia.

Contract negotiations

At the beginning of 1740 the European situation was very tense. On May 31, 1740, the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm I died. His eldest son Friedrich (1712–1786) became the new monarch. Frederick II was very different from his father. Empress Anna decided to wait for the situation to be cleared up. St. Petersburg feared a Franco-Prussian alliance that would have strengthened France's influence in the north. Frederick II was aware of Russia's military strength and commissioned Gustav von Mardefeld to start negotiations with Russia. Count Ostermann suggested to Mardefeld that the previous mutual contract from 1726 should be used as the basis for the negotiations . The Prussian king had already sent his proposal to Petersburg beforehand. The proposal contained the separate article from 1737, which demanded the Russian guarantee for the Jülisch-Bergische succession and offered the guarantee of the Duchy of Courland .

Increasing anti-Russian sentiments in Sweden led Ostermann to an open attitude towards the Prussian proposals. After mutual negotiations, Frederick finally decided to take up the Russian proposal for the declaration, in which Russia undertook not to conclude an alliance against Prussia in the coming conflict between Prussia and Habsburg. In the event of an attack by Sweden or Poland-Lithuania, both sides promised to support each other with 10,000 auxiliary troops. In this situation, the Empress Anna died on October 28, 1740 and not long afterwards the news of the death of Emperor Charles VI came. At that time, the Russian court was predominantly under Austrian influence. Before her death Anna had entrusted Ernst Johann von Biron with the regency. Ostermann, who continued to entrust foreign policy matters, asked Mardefeld to sign the alliance agreement immediately. The envoy refused because the treaty did not include a declaration of Russia's obligation not to enter into an alliance hostile to Prussia.

The coup in St. Petersburg changed the situation again. Marshal Burkhard Christoph von Münnich was at the head of the conspiracy . He became the first minister of the empire, after he was the regent of the underage nephew of the empress, Ivan VI. , overthrew Biron and whose mother Anna Leopoldowna of Mecklenburg had declared regent. Münnich succeeded in temporarily wresting the leadership of foreign policy from Vice Chancellor Ostermann. News of Prussian military preparations prompted St. Petersburg to send a letter to Berlin on December 16, 1740, warning of the violation of the Pragmatic Sanction .

Conclusion of contract

Frederick II was aware of the disagreement among the Russian ministers and relied above all on Count Münnich. The war with Austria was imminent and the Prussian king hoped that St. Petersburg would not oppose it. Therefore, in December 1740, shortly before the attack in Silesia, he sent Major Winterfeld, a relative of Marshal Münnich, to St. Petersburg. This managed to win the marshal's trust. Münnich, who was always anti-Habsburg, concluded a defensive alliance with Prussia on December 27, 1740 and thus abandoned the path of the Russian-Austrian alliance policy outlined by Ostermann.

In the event of an attack, both sides undertook to provide each other with 12,000 auxiliary troops. The purpose of this policy was to appease Prussia to prevent it from tying its interests to France and Sweden. At that time, however, Russia was still allied with Austria and, with the renewal of the Prussian-Russian alliance, in no way intended to back Prussia when it invaded Silesia , even if the Prussian king received it in principle.

Further development

As a result of Münnich's illness, Russia's attitude towards Prussia intensified again. A few months later, Ostermann obtained Münnich's dismissal from all offices on March 14, 1741 and led Russia back to the side of the Austrian ally. Prussia was to be forced to reconcile with Austria by forming an anti-Prussian coalition. Ostermann's efforts to send out an army to support Maria Theresa were ended again by the Prussian victories.

Friedrich now turned increasingly to France. The merger of Frederick with France in July 1741 threatened Russia for its part with war with Sweden and greater French influence in the north, so that Russia hurriedly tried to make corrections. After the palace revolution on December 6, 1741, St. Petersburg policy was reoriented. The Russian-Prussian relationship improved from the winter of 1742, when Frederick II proposed the renewal of the federal pact.

literature

  • Václav Horčička: The Russian-Prussian Relations 1740–1745, pp. 185–210, in: Prague Papers on History of International Relations, No. 1, 1998.
  • Johann Gustav Droysen : History of Prussian Politics, First Volume, Leipzig 1874
  • Wolfgang Neugebauer : Handbook of Prussian History: From the Empire to the 20th Century and Major Topics in the History of Prussia, Volume 3, Walter de Gruyter, 1992
  • Katja Frehland-Wildeboer: Loyal friends? The Alliance in Europe, 1714-1914 (= Studies on International History , Volume 25). Oldenbourg, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-486-59652-6 (revised dissertation University of Heidelberg 2007, 478 pages).