Treaty of Fontainebleau (1631)

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The Treaty of Fontainebleau of May 30, 1631 was a secret alliance between the Bavarian Elector Maximilian I and France during the Thirty Years War .

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The treaty seemed to lead to a closer rapprochement between Bavaria and France. The contract was signed for eight years and provided for French military aid in the event of an attack on Bavaria. On the part of France, this agreement was of course intended in the event of an imperial-Habsburg attack. Furthermore, France confirmed in this contract the transfer of the electoral dignity and the Upper Palatinate to Bavaria. Maximilian, for his part, undertook not to give any support to the enemies of France.

consequences

When the Swedes, also allied with France, invaded Bavaria in the same year under their King Gustav Adolf , the treaty became de facto worthless, as France did not come to the aid of Bavaria. France argued that Bavaria had thrown itself against the Swedes and thus the alliance case had not occurred. However, since France was also allied with Sweden, supporting both sides of the conflict would have been absurd. The French Cardinal Richelieu had miscalculated when he believed that the Swedish King Gustav Adolf would respect Bavaria's purely external neutrality.

Since this agreement had become useless, Maximilian tried to save himself in neutrality, but this failed because Sweden rejected any conditions acceptable to Bavaria for leaving the war. For this reason Bavaria rejoined the imperial party in the empire.

literature