Budapest Treaty

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The Budapest Treaty and the Convention of Budapest (Engl. Budapest Convention ) of 1877 was a secret agreement between Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire on the division of power in Southeast Europe . The question of the division of the Ottoman Empire between the great powers ( Oriental question ) was one of the priorities of European power politics in the late 19th century . In addition, Russia tried to secure Austria-Hungary's neutrality during the Balkan crisis.

The secret agreement was made between Emperor Franz Joseph I and the Russian Tsar Alexander II during the Istanbul meeting , which took place between December 23, 1876 and January 20, 1877, and was sealed on January 15, 1877 in Budapest . The Chancellor of the German Empire , Otto von Bismarck , assured the Russian tsar at the time that for him "in the whole dispute there was no question of interest which would even be worth the healthy bones of a single Pomeranian musketeer".

prehistory

In the Ottoman Empire there were uprisings in the Balkans in 1876 ​​between the Serbs (→ Serbian-Ottoman War ) and Bulgarians (→ April Uprising ). Since the Ottomans were militarily bound by the uprisings, Russia saw a good opportunity to intervene against the old enemy and expand into the Balkans.

Already on July 8, 1876, Alexander Michailowitsch Gortschakow and Gyula Andrássy agreed the secret convention of Reichstadt , which divided the Balkans into an Austrian and a Russian sphere of influence.

Secret deals

The main points of the Budapest Convention were:

  • In the event of a Russian attack on Turkey, Austria will maintain benevolent neutrality .
  • Austria is allowed to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina at a time of its choosing (but does not receive the Sanjak of Novi Pazar ).
  • Serbia, Montenegro and the part of Herzegovina in between are considered by both powers as a “neutral zone”.

In the event of the fall of the Ottoman Empire:

purpose

The agreement to declare Istanbul a “free city” was not part of the content of the secret convention. It was part of an even more secret supplementary agreement. These documents show what the Russian Tsar was actually aiming at at the time. Like his predecessor Nicholas I , he too felt obliged to finally realize the Greek project . Turkey was to be smashed, and the Balkans to be made the sphere of influence of the double-headed eagle empires Austria and Russia (both states had taken over their two-headed heraldic animal from the Byzantine Empire , where it was used by the paleologists ).

For Austria it was important that Russia did not strive for a “large, compact, Slavic state” in the Balkans that could affect the Slavic peoples of the Danube Monarchy.

The Budapest Treaty was one of several secret agreements with which Russia wanted to secure the support or at least the neutrality of Austria: In addition to the Reichstadt Agreement in 1876, a supplementary convention was signed in March 1877.

Also in a convention with Great Britain on March 18, 1877, Russia emphasized that it did not seek a large state in the Balkans.

consequences

After the crimes committed by Turks so-called Bulgarian atrocities Russia declared the Ottoman Empire in April 1877 the war and had it defeated after a short time. In the Peace of San Stefano , the Ottoman Empire had to recognize the full independence of Romania , Serbia and Montenegro .

The most important provision, however, was the creation of a large Bulgarian state that would extend to the Aegean Sea in the south and to Lake Ohrid in the west . This was received with resentment, especially by Austria and Great Britain. The size of the principality contradicted the Budapest Treaty.

Russia's solo effort triggered a serious diplomatic crisis between the major European powers. In the Balkans, uprisings broke out among the Muslim population against the surrender of territory. The Berlin Congress was held to prevent another war . In addition, it must be stated that none of the contracting parties adhered to the agreements made when the alliance occurred. This was made easier by the fact that the paper was only known to Russia and Austria-Hungary.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bismarck's speeches and letters. Along with a representation of the life and language of Bismarck . Edited in 1895 by BG Teubner, full text , p. 69 (see also p. 139 ff.) This formulation was quite well known and often quoted, for example by Gregor Schöllgen : Imperialism and balance. Germany, England and the Oriental Question 1871–1914. Verlag Oldenbourg, Munich 2000, p. 16.
  2. ^ Rainer F. Schmidt : The Balkan Crisis from 1875 to 1878. Strategies of the great powers. In: Rainer F. Schmidt (Ed.): Germany and Europe. Basic foreign policy lines between the founding of an empire and the First World War. Celebration for Harm-Hinrich Brandt on his seventieth birthday. Steiner, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-515-08262-X , pp. 36-96, here: pp. 61 f.
  3. ↑ Otto Plant : Bismarck. The Chancellor. Volume 2, Beck, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-406-54823-9 , p. 156 f.
  4. ↑ Historical magazine 1910.

literature

  • Gerhard Herm : The Balkans. The powder keg of Europe. Econ Verlag, Düsseldorf et al. 1993, ISBN 3-430-14445-0 , p. 295.
  • Stanford Shaw , Ezel Kural Shaw: History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. 2 volumes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1976/77.