Prussian-Russian Alliance Treaty (1764)

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Europe at the time of the Seven Years' War

The Prussian-Russian Alliance Treaty of April 11, 1764 was a long-lasting defensive and offensive alliance between Prussia and Russia . At its core, the alliance was directed against Poland-Lithuania , which now fell permanently under the sphere of influence of both great powers, gradually losing its sovereignty and finally disappearing from the map.

The alliance formed the basis for the Nordic system operated from Russia , an alliance system that was supposed to neutralize the Bourbon power center from the north.

Political framework

After the Seven Years' War, Prussia was initially isolated in terms of foreign policy. Frederick II was faced with the task of setting new priorities and making new alliances. The king, whose entire first half of the government was marked by the conflict with Austria , still thought in anti-Habsburg categories. Although it had decided in 1763 that Prussia had risen to become the fifth major European power , Frederick II saw Prussia's position as a great power not sufficiently secured. Therefore, he considered the possibility of further rounding up . The rivalry with Austria and the now determined intention of strengthening itself at the expense of Poland presupposed an agreement with Russia. Frederick II felt respect, if not discomfort, towards Russia. Added to this was the concern that Russia and Austria might ally against Prussia. Therefore, Frederick II was very interested in an agreement with Tsarina Katharina II.

This had initially after their successful coup in 1762 by Peter III. initiated Prussian-Russian alliance agreement is no longer confirmed, but the peace with Prussia is maintained. For its part, Russia sought to reduce French influence in northern Europe in order to establish its Nordic system and found an ally in Prussia with parallel interests.

Count Victor Friedrich von Solms-Sonnenwalde , Friedrich II's envoy to the St. Petersburg court since 1762 and successor to Wilhelm Bernhard von der Goltz , succeeded in winning the Tsarina over to Friedrich's intentions. On April 11, 1764, the alliance agreement came about.

Content

The contracting parties guaranteed each other their current acquis and promised mutual aid in the form of troops (12,000 men) or subsidies in the event of war . The contract initially ran for eight years and was extended twice to 1781.

Several secret articles regulated the relationship with Poland-Lithuania. Both powers were interested in preserving the chaotic constitutional conditions in Poland as a guarantee for the weakness of this state. As a result, both partners undertook all changes, especially the plan to convert the country into a hereditary monarchy , to prevent it by force of arms and to stand up for the favorite of Catherine II, Stanislaus II August Poniatowski , in the upcoming royal elections .

Further development

Poland-Lithuania was the glue that bound Russia and Prussia for the next few years. The intentions of both differed considerably. Russia was interested in the domination of Poland and Prussia was aiming for country growth. The treaty of 1764 initiated a phase of direct intervention in Polish affairs. On August 5, 1772, Prussia, Austria and Russia signed the First Partition Treaty of Poland , through which the country lost half of its population and 40 percent of its territory.

literature

  • Fritz Arnheim : Contributions to the history of the Nordic question in the second half of the 18th century. In: German journal for historical science . Vol. 2, 1889, pp. 410-443; Vol. 5, pp. 301-360; Vol. 8, pp. 73-143 ( digitized from Wikisource ).
  • Ingrid Mittenzwei , Erika Herzfeld: Brandenburg-Prussia 1648–1789 - The age of absolutism in text and image. Verlag der Nation, Berlin 1987.
  • Felix Eberty : History of the Prussian State. Vol. 5: 1763-1806. Trewendt, Breslau 1870, Third Chapter: The Partition of Poland. Pp. 119-182 (digitized version ) .
  • Valentin Gitermann : History of Russia. Second volume. Gutenberg Book Guild, Frankfurt am Main 1965.
  • Boris Nosov: The Prussian-Russian relations from 1760 to 1780 and Poland. In: Historical Commission to Berlin. Information. Supplement No. 17, Berlin 1993, pp. 5-17.
  • Wolfgang Stribrny : The Russian policy of Frederick the Great 1764–1786 (= supplements to the yearbook of the Albertus University in Königsberg in Prussia. Vol. 26). Wuerzburg 1966.