CONGRESS. 



397 



power of the Porte. Venice was obliged to give up Candia 

 xnd the islands of the Archipelago- It retained, lion-over, the 

 Morca, the Ionian islands, and some places in Albania. 



B. From 1713 to :S14. l. The war of the Spanish succession 

 was ended by the congress at Utrecht, to which France, Bri- 

 tain, the states-general, Savoy, the emperor, Portugal, Prussia, 

 the pope, Venice, Genoa, the electorates of Mentz, Cologne, 

 Treves, the Palatinate, Saxony, and Bavaria, tog-ether with 

 Hanover and Lorraine, sent their plenipotentiaries in January, 

 1712, after France and Great Britain, in the preliminaries 

 settled Oct. 8, 1711, had drawn the outlines of the peace, and 

 had thus already decided, to a certain decree, the new relations 

 which were to exist between the states. At Utrecht, also, 

 French diplomacy succeeded in breaking the union of the 

 powers interested, by a regulation that each of the allies should 

 (five in his demands separately. The dissensions between them 

 increased when they saw that the negotiations of Great Britain 

 were, for the most part, carried on in secret, and immediately 

 with the court of Versailles. The result was eight separate 

 treaties of peace, which France, Spain, Britain, Holland, Sa- 

 voy, and Portugal made with each other, between 1713 and 

 1715, leaving Austria and the empire to themselves. (See 

 Utrecht, Peace of. Since that time the British, from tneir 

 naval and commercial power, have taken the lead among the 

 principal states, and the interest of Britain has determined 

 the fate of the European system of a balance of power, as it is 

 called. 2. The congress of Baden, in June, 1714, was a mere 

 act of form to change the peace concluded at Rastadt by Eu- 

 gene and Villars, in the name of the emperor and of France, and 

 which rested upon the peace of Utrecht, into a peace of the em- 

 pire (drawn up in Latin). 3. The congress at Antwerp was 

 also a consequence of the peace of Utrecht. Britain there 

 mediated between the emperor of Germany and the states- 

 general, and concluded the barrier treaty of Nov. 15, 17U>. 

 4. The congress at Cambray, in 1722, was held to settle the dis- 

 putes between the emperor, Spain, Savoy, and Parma, with 

 regard to the execution of the peace of Utrecht and the condi- 

 tions of the quadruple alliance, Britain and France being me- 

 diators. But Philip V. of Spain, offended by the rejection of 

 his daughter, who had been betrothed to Louis XV. (in April, 

 1725), recalled his minister from Cambray, and concluded a 

 peace with Austria at Vienna, April 20, 1725, in which he be- 

 c ime guarantee for the pragmatic sanction. The defensive 

 alliance, soon after concluded between Austria and Spain, was 

 followed by a counter-alliance between Britain, France, the 

 United Provinces, Denmark, Sweden, Hesse-Cassel, and Wolf- 

 enbuttel, formed at Herrnlmusen. On the other hand, Russia, 

 Prussia., and some German states, joined the alliance of Vienna. 

 A general war appeared to be approaching, when Austria, by 

 the temporary suspension of the company of Ostend, and Spain, 

 by the treaty with Britain at the Pardo, opened the way for 

 reconciliation. 5. The congress at Soissons, in June, 172S, was 

 convened to effect a similar settlement between Austria, 

 France, Britain, and Spain ; but the French minister, cardinal 

 Fleury, succeeded in dividing Spain and Austria, and France, 

 Spain, and Britain formed a treaty of amity and mutual de- 

 fence, at Seville, in 17^9 (to which Holland acceded), in order 

 to give law to Austria. The congress at Soissons was thus dis- 

 solved, and injured Austria took up arms. But the guarantee 

 of the pragmatic sanction, which Britain and Holland under- 

 took, induced the emperor Charles VI., in 1731, to accept the 

 conditions of the treaty of Seville. 6 The congress at Aix-la- 

 Chapelle, in April, 1748, in which France, Austria, Britain, 

 Spain, Sardinia, Holland, Modena, and Genoa took part, ter- 

 minated the war of the Austrian succession, by the peace of 

 Aix-la-Chapelle, Oct. 18, 1748. 7. The seven years' war 

 between Britain and France was ended without a con- 

 press; but Au>tria, Saxony, and Prussia concluded a peace 

 at the congress of Hubertsburg, Feb. 15, 1763, the session hav- 

 ing lasted from Dec. 1762. 8. The congress at Teschen, in 

 March, 1779, decided the dispute with regard to the Bavarian 

 succession, by the mediation of France and Russia between the 

 contending powers, Austria and Prussia. The elector pala- 

 tine, the elector of Saxony, and the duke of Deux. Fonts, sent 

 their ministers, but not the elector of Bavaria, whose heredi- 

 tary succession was the subject of negotiation. (See Teschen, 

 Peace of.) 9. Russia and Austria ottered their mediation to 

 France and Britain in the war of the American revolution. 

 Vienna was proposed for the place of meeting; but France 

 refused the mediation.; and when the Russian and Austrian 

 ministers wished to take part, as mediators, in the congress 

 opened at Paris, in October, 17^2, by the ministers of France, 

 Spain, Britain, Holland, and the United States, the prelimi. 

 naries of peace were settled without their knowledge, Nov. 30, 

 1782, and Jan. 20, 1783, also the definitive treaty of Versailles 

 and of Paris, Sept. 3, 1783, and that with Holland, May 20, 1784. 

 10. The disputes of Joseph II. with the republic of Holland, 

 relating to the opening of the Scheldt, and other subjects, in 

 1784. induced F.ance to offer its mediation; and a congress was 

 opened at Versailles, Dec. 8, of the same year, by the French 

 minister count Vergemies, and the imperial and Dutch minis- 

 ters. It ended with the treaty of Fontainebleau, Nov. 8, 1785, 

 by which the barrier treaty of 1715, and the treaty of Vienna, 

 in 1731, were, annulled, the boundaries of Flanders restored as 

 they were in 1G64, several strips of land yielded up to the 

 emperor, and, as a compensation for his claims, a sum of 

 10,000,000 florins, of which France contributed 4,500,000, to 

 prevent the congress from being dissolved. On the other hand, 

 the Scheldt remained closed, and the emperor gave up the rest 

 of his claims. 11. When Leopold II. was on the point of sup. 

 pressing , by force of arms, the insurrection of the Netherbinda, 

 MQMqoMMof the convention of Reichenbach, a congress 

 was opened, in September, 1790, al the llegue, by the ambas- 



sadors of Austria, Prussia, Holland, and Britain, to which 

 the deputies of the Belgian provinces were also admitted. 

 These powers concluded, Dec. 1 of this year, the convention of 

 the Hague, by which, however, the emperor was willing onlv 

 to confirm to the Belgic provinces the old constitution, as it 

 was at the time of the death of Maria Theresa. New disputes 

 and commotions thence arose. Finally, Francis II., in March 

 1793, restored the old constitution, as it had been under Charles 

 VI.. and swore, at Brussels, in April, 1794, to the joyeuse en. 

 tree ; but it was too late, for Belgia was soon after conquered 

 by the French. 12. In the history of the w ars of the French 

 revolution, the fruitless congress at Rastadt dererves mention. 

 It was opened by the deputation of the empire, under the pre- 

 sidency of the directorial subdelegates of Mentz, baron Vou 

 Albini, in presence of the imperial plenipotentiary count Met- 

 ternich, Dec. 9, 1797. and dissolved by him, April 7, 1799, by an 

 imperial decree. The ancient dignity of the German empire 

 was manifested on this occasion merely by a vain formality, 

 with which the insulting haughtiness of the French ministers 

 formed a striking contrast. The deputation gave their notes in 

 German, the French ambassadors in French. With regard to the 

 object of the meeting, the deputation resembled a person blind- 

 folded, and crippled, hand and foot ; for the secret articles of the 

 peace of Campo-Formio, and the conditions of the secret couveu. 

 tion of Rastadt, Dec. 1, 1797. remained unknown toil. Thence 

 arose disputes and mistrust, especially between Austria and 

 Prussia ; and while the deputation was groping in the dark, it 

 stumbled over every obstacle, and laid itself open continually 

 to its adversaries, so that the sub-delegate of Baden, among 

 other reasons by which he attempted to exculpate himself for 

 having given up the whole left bank of the Rhine, mentioned 

 the anger of the French ministers when they heard that only a 

 part of it was to be given to them. The French diplomatists 

 at Kastadt neglected the ancient forms of courtesy; the Ger- 

 man frequently acted with pusillanimity and timidity. The 

 whole terminated by a bloody crime, April 28, 1799, probably 

 occasioned by the arbitrary measures of a man of a violent cha- 

 racter, who wished for personal vengeance, and the blind rage 

 of the subordinate officer whom he had charged to execute it. 

 (See Rastadt.) The conditions of the cession of the left bank 

 of the Rhine, and the compensation made to the princes who 

 were thus inj ured, by secularizing the ecclesiastical possessions, 

 having been already accepted by the deputation at Rastadt, 

 were, without a convocation of the empire, afterwards present- 

 ed as articles of peace, in the peace of Luneville in isoi. 13. 

 The congress at Amiens, where Joseph Bonaparte and the 

 marquis of Corn wallis negotiated for a definitive peace between 

 France and Britain, from December, 1801, to March 27, 1802, 

 Malta being the most difficult matter of dispute, and the Spa- 

 nish and Dutch ministers taking part in the negotiations only 

 where the interests of their respective powers came in question, 

 was terminated by the treaty of Amiens, concluded by the four 

 plenipotentiaries, March 27, 1802, to which the Porte acceded 

 May 13, 1802, but which was dissolved by a declaration of war, 

 on the part of Britain, March 18, 1803. 14. Napoleon com- 

 monly negotiated his treaties with arms in his hands ; he there- 

 fore needed no mediator. But when he was preparing- to con- 

 quer Spain, and wished to secure his rear towards iiermany 

 and Poland, and therefore to form a closer alliance with liussia, 

 arid make again an attempt to induce Britain to join in the 

 general peace, the first European congress of monarchs was 

 called together at Erfurt, in October, 1808. Napoleon arrived 

 there September 27, and, a few hours afterwards, the emperor 

 Alexander. They found there, already assembled, the kings 

 of Saxony, Bavaria, and Wurtemberg, Jerome, then king of 

 Westphalia, the grand-duke Constantine, prince William of 

 Prussia, the dukes of Saxe- Weimar, Saxe-Uotha, and HoUteiu, 

 Oldenburg, with several other princes, together with the min- 

 isters of state of these courts, and the ministers from Prussia, 

 Denmark, Wurtzburg, the prince primate, Baden, and several 

 others. The baron Von Vincent appeared in the name of the 

 emperor of Austria, with a letter, in which he declared his 

 friendly dispositions to wards France. The negotiations related 

 to a diminution of the contributions imposed by France op 

 Prussia, and the admission of the duke of Oldenburg into the 

 confederation of the Rhine ; but the principal subject of dis 

 cussion was the peace with Britain, the relations between 

 France and Austria, and the affairs of Turkey. The British 

 government, by a circular letter of Oct. 12, declared its readi, 

 ness to take into consideration the offers of peace made by the 

 emperors of France and Austria, if Sweden and Spain were 

 represented in the congress by their plenipotentiaries; but, 

 as Napoleon would not grant this right to the Spanish 



nation, the negotiations were broken off in December 



The assembly at Erfurt immediately separated. Oct. 14, after 

 Napoleon thought he had secured peare with Austria, and had 

 had several private interviews with the emperor Alexander, 

 the purport of which is not precisely known. (See SchoU's 

 Traites de Paix, vol. 9, p. 194 Bignon's Hiitory of French 

 Diplomacy, recently published, and which has not as yet reach- 

 ed us, probably contains much information on this, as well as 

 many oth.-r points). To this period belong, also, 15. The 

 two fruitless congresses at Brunswick, in the course of the 

 northern war. The first was dissolved in February, 1713, and 

 the second in March, 1714. 16. 'I he congress opened by the 

 Holstein minister Gortz, baron Von Schlitz, in the name of 

 Charles XII., with the plenipotentiaries of the czar, upon the 

 island of Aland, in 1718. But the pence there negotixted, upon 

 conditions tolerably favourable to Sweden, was rendered invalid 

 by the death of Charles XII., and the party spirit of the Swe- 

 dish nobil'ty, to which Gortz fell a victim. The Swedish go- 

 vernment broke off the negotiations with Russia upon the island 

 of Aland, and, by the mediation of France, concluded, at the 



