Treaty of Finckenstein

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Napoleon receives the Persian envoy Mirza Mohammad Reza Qazvini at Finckenstein Castle
Facsimile of the first pages of the Finckenstein Treaty

The Treaty of Finckenstein was signed between France and Persia (today's Iran ) in Finckenstein Castle ( West Prussia ) on May 4, 1807. The treaty established the Franco-Persian Alliance , which was directed against Russia and the United Kingdom .

prehistory

During his long reign, Fath Ali Shah waged war in his early reign against Tsar Alexander I over Georgia , which Russia had brought under his control but which was claimed by Persia . The United Kingdom declined at the request of Fath Ali Shah from a military agreement with Iran, as it is in the context of the Napoleonic Wars with Russia against Napoleon had allied. Fath Ali Shah then turned to Napoleon to ally with him against Russia.

content

Napoleon guaranteed the integrity of Persia and recognized parts of Georgia and other eastern Transcaucasian countries as provinces of the Shah; In addition, every effort should be made on the French side to restore this claim to power. Napoleon continued to promise to help the Shah with weapons, officers and skilled workers. On the other hand, for the benefit of France, the treaty demanded that the Shah declare war on the United Kingdom , expel all British from Persia and help convince the Afghans to support a joint Franco-Persian-Afghan invasion of India .

Further development

As a first step in cooperation, Napoleon sent a French military mission to Persia under the direction of General Claude Mathieu de Gardane. General Gardane was supposed to modernize the Persian army and establish contact with the Ottoman army with the help of the 70 French officers who had traveled with him. Napoleon also planned to send his brother Lucien Bonaparte as ambassador to Persia.

On the European battlefield, Napoleon continued to advance against Russia. The Russian troops suffered a heavy defeat on June 14, 1807 in the Battle of Friedland . Tsar Alexander I then started negotiations with the French side, which initially led to an armistice on June 23. On June 25, the peace negotiations between Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I began in Tilsit , which led to the Peace of Tilsit on July 7, 1807 .

After Russia entered the continental blockade against the United Kingdom, Fath Ali Shah resumed negotiations with the British for support against Russia. For this reason, Fath Ali Shah refused to participate in the continental blockade. Despite the Treaty of Finckenstein, France therefore failed to win the diplomatic war over Persia. None of the contract points were realized. On March 12, 1809, the United Kingdom signed a treaty with Persia that repealed the Treaty of Finckenstein and expelled all French from Persia.

literature

  • Iradj Amini: Napoléon et la Perse. Les relations franco-persanes sous le Premier Empire dans le contexte des rivalités entre la France, l'Angleterre et la Russie, Paris, Fondation Napoléon . Fondation Napoléon, Paris 1995, ISBN 2-909552-04-7 .
  • Edouard Driault: La politique orientale de Napoléon. Sébastiani et Gardane. 1806–1808 (= Bibliothèque d'histoire contemporaine - Etudes Napoléoniennes ). F. Alcan, Paris 1904, LCCN  21-003966 .

Individual evidence

  1. Rouholla Karegar Ramazani: The Foreign Policy of Iran: a developing nation in world affairs, 1500-1941 (= The American Association for Middle East Studies series). University of Virginia Press, Charlottesville, 1966, LCCN  66-012469 , p. 41.