Treaty of Wehlau

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Treaty of Wehlau was a separate peace concluded during the Second Northern War on September 19, 1657 between the Brandenburg Elector Friedrich Wilhelm and the Polish King John II Casimir . It was negotiated in Wehlau . Its historical importance lay in gaining sovereignty for the Duchy of Prussia ruled by the Elector .

prehistory

When Christina (Sweden) abdicated on June 16, 1654 and Karl X. Gustav from the House of Wittelsbach became King of Sweden, Johann II, as great-grandson Gustav I. Wasa's claim to the Swedish throne , regardless of the contradictions of his highest dignitaries, raised Gustav I. This was tantamount to a declaration of war on Sweden and gave Karl X. Gustav the welcome occasion to wage war against Poland .

The Brandenburg Elector Friedrich Wilhelm was drawn into the war between Sweden and Poland in the summer of 1655 as the sovereign of Pomerania and Neumark , the transit areas of the Swedes to Greater Poland, and as a lieutenant of Poland in the Duchy of Prussia. When the war broke out, the elector's surroundings were already considering taking advantage of a possible opportunity to shake off the Polish suzerainty in the duchy. While the Swedish King Charles X Gustav subjugated almost all of Poland in a short time, whereby Polish and Lithuanian magnates recognized him as liege lords, and the Polish king fled to the Holy Roman Empire , Friedrich Wilhelm set up his own armed forces in the Duchy of Prussia and the empire he brought together in Prussia. Towards the end of 1655, superior Swedish troops occupied the duchy, including the ports of Pillau and Memel, and joined the Brandenburg army in the vicinity of the capital Königsberg i. Pr. A.

On January 17, 1656, Friedrich Wilhelm had to recognize the rule of Karl Gustav in the Duchy in the Treaty of Königsberg and take it from him as a fiefdom. He committed himself to provide logistical support to the Swedish army. At the same time he received the Polish duchy of Warmia , conquered by Charles X Gustav in 1655, as a fief. Both declared the enlarged duchy neutral . The contract granted Friedrich Wilhelm a postponement of one year for the performance of the feudal oath against Karl X. Gustav.

When Karl Gustav realized in the spring that he could not maintain his position in Poland without outside help, he offered Friedrich Wilhelm the grant of sovereignty in Prussia and the guarantee of large territorial expansion as a prize for an alliance against Poland. Both sides then concluded the Treaty of Marienburg in June 1656 , the first success of which was the victory in the Battle of Warsaw . To thank and to strengthen the alliance, Karl X. Gustav released the Duchy of Prussia and the Warmia in the Treaty of Labiau from the Swedish feudal dependence, whereby the elector became the sovereign ruler there.

Friedrich Wilhelm, however, was only interested in the end of the war if Poland had also recognized its sovereignty in Prussia. He held off Karl Gustav until an alliance between Poland and Russia against Sweden in the Treaty of Wilna had come about in the autumn of 1656 . In view of the failures of Sweden and another alliance between Johann Casimir and the King in Germania Leopold , Friedrich Wilhelm secretly felt in Poland and with the Habsburg ambassador Franz von Lisola what reward he could expect for a change to the Polish camp. He was supported in this by Bogusław Radziwiłł , a Polish-Lithuanian magnate who also intended to break away from the connection with Sweden. The difficult secret negotiations resulted in the contract of the same name in the Prussian town of Wehlau. The contract was only published in November because Friedrich Wilhelm feared Swedish reprisals.

content

In addition to declarations of peace and provisions on amnesty, restitution and the release of prisoners, the treaty contained a general main section on mutual relations and specific agreements on the ongoing war. In the main part, the Polish king renounced the feudal rule over the Duchy of Prussia and handed over his suzerain rights to the elector and his legal male descendants. In return, Friedrich Wilhelm left the alliance with Sweden . Brandenburg's troops had to evacuate the places they occupied in Poland, including Posen and Kosten . The elector received the Lauenburg and Bütow lands as a Polish fiefdom and the right to Elbing, which was, however, still occupied by the Swedes . An article stipulated the amnesty of Bogusław Radziwiłł.

consequences

Shortly thereafter , the Treaty of Bromberg ratified the Wehlau Treaty with minor changes and converted it into an alliance between the Elector and Poland. In the Peace of Oliva in 1660, Sweden and Austria, as well as France as a guarantee, recognized the Treaty of Wehlau.

Course of development towards the sovereignty of Prussia

Development of Prussia

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Kurbrandenburg sovereignty policy  - sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wolfgang Neugebauer: The Hohenzollern. Volume 1: Beginnings, state and monarchical autocracy until 1740 , Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart, Berlin, Cologne 1996, p. 159/160
  2. ↑ According to Article 5 , see Theodor von Mörner (edit.): Kurbrandenburgs state contracts from 1601 to 1700 . G. Reimer, Berlin 1867, p. 221