Congress of Vienna and "Holy Alliance"

Congress of Vienna 1814 – 1815

After the victory over the Napoleonic Empire in 1814, a congress met in Vienna European countries. Main role Russia, England, Austria and Prussia played on it. The French commissioner was also allowed to attend the behind-the-scenes meetings. All important issues were resolved at these meetings. The main goals of the congress participants were to restore, if possible, the former dynasties and the power of the nobility, to redistribute Europe in the interests of the victors and to fight the emerging new revolutionary movements. Disregarding the people, the victors shredded the map of Europe in their own interests; England retained the island of Malta and the former Dutch colonies - the island of Ceylon off the coast of India and the Cape Land in southern Africa. England's main success was the weakening of its main enemy, France, and the consolidation of British superiority at sea and in colonial conquests. Russia secured most of Poland.

The fragmentation of Germany was greatly reduced. Instead of more than two hundred small states, a German Confederation of 39 states was created. The largest of them were Austria and Prussia. The German Confederation had no government, no money, no army, no influence on international affairs.

The rich and economically developed provinces of the Rhineland and Westphalia became the possessions of Prussia. Some of the bourgeois orders introduced during Napoleon have been preserved there. Western Polish lands were also recognized as the possession of Prussia.

The territory of Austria increased significantly - its former possessions in Italy and a number of other lands were again transferred to it. In Piedmont the former dynasty was restored, and in the small states Northern Italy The Austrian dukes reigned.

The temporal power of the pope over the Roman region was restored, and the former Bourbon dynasty was installed on the throne in the Kingdom of Naples. The Pope and the Neapolitan king ruled relying on Swiss mercenaries.

In Spain, the absolute monarchy and the Inquisition were restored. The persecution and execution of patriots - participants in the revolution of 1808 - 1814 - began.

Belgium was annexed to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Switzerland regained the mountain passes leading to Italy and was declared a perpetually neutral state.

The territory of the Sardinian kingdom was increased, main part which was Piedmont with the city of Turin.

According to the peace treaty with France, concluded in 1815, its territory was returned to its previous borders. An indemnity of 700 million francs was imposed on her. Until it was paid, the northeastern part of France was to remain occupied by Allied troops.

England, Russia, Austria and Prussia renewed the military alliance with the obligation to prevent the restoration of the Bonaparte dynasty in France and to convene congresses from time to time to protect the order in Europe established after the Napoleonic wars.

"Holy Alliance"

In order to consolidate absolutism and noble reaction, European sovereigns, at the suggestion of Alexander I, in 1815 concluded the so-called “Holy Alliance” against revolutionary movements. Its participants pledged to help each other in suppressing revolutions and to support the Christian religion. The Act of the “Holy Alliance” was signed by Austria, Prussia, and then almost all the monarchs of European states. England did not formally join the Holy Alliance, but actually supported the policy of suppressing revolutions.

In the early 20s. in Spain, the Kingdom of Naples and Piedmont, anti-absolutism broke out bourgeois revolutions led by advanced officers. By decision of the “Holy Alliance” they were suppressed - in Italy by Austrian troops, and in Spain - by the French army. But it was impossible to perpetuate the absolutist feudal order. Revolutions and national liberation wars covered more and more countries and continents.

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In 1814 ᴦ. A congress was convened in Vienna to decide the post-war system. The main roles at the congress were played by Russia, England and Austria. The territory of France was restored to its pre-revolutionary borders. A significant part of Poland, along with Warsaw, became part of Russia.

At the end of the Congress of Vienna, at the suggestion of Alexander I, the Holy Alliance was created to jointly fight the revolutionary movement in Europe. Initially, it included Russia, Prussia and Austria, and later many European states joined them.

Holy Alliance- a conservative union of Russia, Prussia and Austria, created with the aim of maintaining the international order established at the Congress of Vienna (1815). The declaration of mutual assistance of all Christian sovereigns, signed on September 14 (26), 1815, was subsequently gradually joined by all the monarchs of continental Europe, except the Pope and the Turkish Sultan. Not being, in the exact sense of the word, a formalized agreement between the powers that would impose certain obligations on them, the Holy Alliance, nevertheless, went down in the history of European diplomacy as a “close-knit organization with a sharply defined clerical-monarchist ideology, created on the basis of the suppression of revolutionary sentiments, wherever they neither showed up.

After the overthrow of Napoleon and the restoration of all-European peace, among the powers that considered themselves quite satisfied with the distribution of “rewards” at the Congress of Vienna, a desire arose and strengthened to preserve the established international order, and the means for this was the permanent union of European sovereigns and the periodic convocation of international congresses. But since the achievement of this was contradicted by the national and revolutionary movements of peoples seeking freer forms of political existence, such aspiration quickly acquired a reactionary character.

The initiator of the Holy Alliance was the Russian Emperor Alexander I, although when drawing up the act of the Holy Alliance, he still considered it possible to patronize liberalism and grant a constitution to the Kingdom of Poland. The idea of ​​a Union arose in him, on the one hand, under the influence of the idea of ​​becoming a peacemaker in Europe by creating a Union that would eliminate even the possibility of military clashes between states, and on the other hand, under the influence of the mystical mood that took possession of him. The latter also explains the strangeness of the very wording of the union treaty, which was not similar either in form or in content to international treaties, which forced many specialists in international law to see in it only a simple declaration of the monarchs who signed it.

Signed September 14 (26), 1815. three monarchs - Emperor Francis I of Austria, King Frederick William III of Prussia and Emperor Alexander I, at first in the first two he did not arouse anything other than a hostile attitude towards himself.

The content of this act was extremely vague and flexible, and the most varied practical conclusions could be drawn from it, but its general spirit did not contradict, but rather favored, the reactionary mood of the then governments. Not to mention the confusion of ideas belonging to completely different categories, in it religion and morality completely displace law and politics from the areas that undoubtedly belong to the latter. Built on the legitimate basis of the divine origin of monarchical power, it establishes a patriarchal relationship between sovereigns and peoples, and the former are charged with the obligation to rule in the spirit of “love, truth and peace,” and the latter must only obey: the document does not speak at all about the rights of the people in relation to power mentions.

Finally, obliging sovereigns to always ʼʼ give each other allowance, reinforcement and help", the act does not say anything about exactly in what cases and in what form this obligation should be carried out, which made it possible to interpret it in the sense that assistance is obligatory in all those cases when subjects show disobedience to their “legitimate” sovereigns.

This is exactly what happened - the very Christian character of the Holy Alliance disappeared and only the suppression of the revolution, whatever its origin, was meant. All this explains the success of the Holy Alliance: soon all other European sovereigns and governments joined it, not excluding Switzerland and the German free cities; Only the English Prince Regent and the Pope did not sign to it, which did not prevent them from being guided by the same principles in their policies; only the Turkish Sultan was not accepted into the Holy Alliance as a non-Christian sovereign.

Signifying the character of the era, the Holy Alliance was the main organ of the pan-European reaction against liberal aspirations. Practical significance it was expressed in the resolutions of a number of congresses (Aachen, Troppaus, Laibach and Verona), at which the principle of intervention in the internal affairs of other states was fully developed with the aim of forcibly suppressing all national and revolutionary movements and maintaining the existing system with its absolutist and clerical-aristocratic trends.

74. Foreign policy of the Russian Empire in 1814–1853.

Option 1. In the first half of the 19th century. Russia had significant opportunities for effective solution their foreign policy objectives. Οʜᴎ included the protection of their own borders and expansion of territory in accordance with the geopolitical, military-strategic and economic interests of the country. This implied the folding of the territory of the Russian Empire within its natural borders along the seas and mountain ranges and, in connection with this, the voluntary entry or forced annexation of many neighboring peoples. The Russian diplomatic service was well-established, and its intelligence service was extensive. The army numbered about 500 thousand people, was well equipped and trained. Russia's military-technical lag behind Western Europe was not noticeable until the early 50s. This allowed Russia to play an important and sometimes decisive role in the European concert.

After 1815 ᴦ. The main task of Russian foreign policy in Europe was to maintain the old monarchical regimes and fight the revolutionary movement. Alexander I and Nicholas I were guided by the most conservative forces and most often relied on alliances with Austria and Prussia. In 1848 ᴦ. Nicholas helped the Austrian emperor suppress the revolution that broke out in Hungary and strangled revolutionary protests in the Danube principalities.

In the south, very difficult relations developed with the Ottoman Empire and Iran. Türkiye could not come to terms with the Russian conquest at the end of the 18th century. Black Sea coast and, first of all, with the annexation of Crimea to Russia. Access to the Black Sea was of particular economic, defensive and strategic importance for Russia. The most important problem was to ensure the most favorable regime for the Black Sea straits - the Bosporus and Dardanelles. The free passage of Russian merchant ships through them contributed to the economic development and prosperity of the vast southern regions of the state. Preventing foreign military vessels from entering the Black Sea was also one of the tasks of Russian diplomacy. An important means of Russia's intervention in the internal affairs of the Turks was the right of patronage of Christian subjects received by it (according to the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi and Iasi treaties). Ottoman Empire. Russia actively used this right, especially since the peoples of the Balkans saw in it their only protector and savior.

In the Caucasus, Russia's interests collided with the claims of Turkey and Iran to these territories. Here Russia tried to expand its possessions, strengthen and make stable the borders in Transcaucasia. A special role was played by Russia’s relationship with the peoples of the North Caucasus, whom it sought to completely subordinate to its influence. This was extremely important to ensure free and safe communication with the newly acquired territories in Transcaucasia and the lasting inclusion of the entire Caucasian region within the Russian Empire.

To these traditional directions in the first half of the 19th century. new ones were added (Far Eastern and American), which at that time were of a peripheral nature.
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Russia developed relations with China and the countries of North and South America. In the middle of the century Russian government began to look closely at Central Asia.

Option 2. In September 1814 – June 1815 ᴦ. The victorious powers decided on the issue of the post-war structure of Europe. It was difficult for the allies to come to an agreement among themselves, as sharp contradictions arose, mainly over territorial issues.

The resolutions of the Congress of Vienna led to the return of old dynasties in France, Italy, Spain and other countries. The resolution of territorial disputes made it possible to redraw the map of Europe. The Kingdom of Poland was created from most of the Polish lands as part of the Russian Empire. The so-called “Viennese system” was created, which implied a change in the territorial and political map of Europe, the preservation of noble-monarchical regimes and European balance. This system was aimed at foreign policy Russia after the Congress of Vienna.

In March 1815 ᴦ. Russia, England, Austria and Prussia signed an agreement to form the Quadruple Alliance. He was aimed at implementing the decisions of the Congress of Vienna, especially as it related to France. Its territory was occupied by the troops of the victorious powers, and it had to pay a huge indemnity.

In September 1815 ᴦ. Russian Emperor Alexander I, Austrian Emperor Franz and Prussian King Frederick William III signed the Act of Formation of the Holy Alliance.

The Quadruple and Holy Alliances were created due to the fact that all European governments understood the critical importance of achieving concerted action to resolve controversial issues. At the same time, the alliances only muted, but did not remove the severity of the contradictions between the great powers. On the contrary, they deepened, as England and Austria sought to weaken the international authority and political influence of Russia, which had increased significantly after the victory over Napoleon.

In the 20s of the XIX century. The European policy of the tsarist government was associated with the desire to counteract the development of revolutionary movements and the desire to shield Russia from them. Revolutions in Spain, Portugal and a number of Italian states forced members of the Holy Alliance to consolidate their forces in the fight against them. Alexander I's attitude towards revolutionary events in Europe gradually changed from restrained wait-and-see to openly hostile. He supported the idea of ​​collective intervention of European monarchs in the internal affairs of Italy and Spain.

In the first half of the 19th century. The Ottoman Empire was experiencing a severe crisis due to the rise of the national liberation movement of its peoples. Alexander I, and then Nicholas I were appointed to difficult situation. On the one hand, Russia has traditionally helped its coreligionists. On the other hand, its rulers, observing the principle of preserving the existing order, had to support the Turkish Sultan as the legitimate ruler of their subjects. For this reason, Russia's policy on the eastern question was contradictory, but, ultimately, the line of solidarity with the peoples of the Balkans became dominant.

In the 20s of the XIX century. Iran, with the support of England, was actively preparing for war with Russia, wanting to return the lands it had lost in the Peace of Gulistan of 1813 and restore its influence in Transcaucasia. In 1826 ᴦ. Iranian army invaded Karabakh. In February 1828 ᴦ. The Turkmanchay Peace Treaty was signed.
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According to it, Erivan and Nakhichevan became part of Russia. In 1828 ᴦ. The Armenian region was formed, which marked the beginning of the unification of the Armenian people. As a result of the Russian-Turkish and Russian-Iranian wars of the late 20s of the 19th century. The second stage in the annexation of the Caucasus to Russia has ended. Georgia, Eastern Armenia, Northern Azerbaijan became part of the Russian Empire.

Holy Alliance. - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Holy Alliance." 2017, 2018.

A new Holy Alliance was awaiting. It was created on the initiative of the victor Napoleon and the Russian Emperor Alexander I. The creation of the holy union was assessed differently by contemporaries. But mostly Russia was accused of trying to control the situation in Europe. The Holy Alliance, or rather a coalition of countries, which, according to the emperor’s plans, was supposed to transform the post-war world, was born on September 14, 1815. The treaty was signed by the King of Prussia, Emperor Francis I of Austria, Louis XVIII and most of the continental monarchs. Only Great Britain did not officially wish to join the union, but took an active part in its work. The union also had opponents: the Turkish Sultan also ignored it.

The Holy Alliance of 1815 went down in history as a community of states whose original goal was to suppress impending wars. In fact, the struggle was against any revolutionary spirit, as well as political and religious free-thinking. The spirit of this coalition corresponded to the reactionary attitude of the then existing governments. Essentially, the Holy Alliance took monarchical ideology as its basis, but with a utopian dream of idealistic mutual assistance between ruling Christian sovereigns. “An empty and clear document” - that’s what he called it political figure Metternich.

Alexander I, as the initiator of this coalition, called on the allies and emperors to join forces against military conflicts and proposed to rule among peoples in the spirit of truth and brotherhood. One of the points of the agreement was the requirement to strictly fulfill the commandments of the Gospel. Russian Emperor called on the allies to simultaneously reduce their armed forces and provide mutual guarantees of the inviolability of existing territories, and the 800,000-strong Russian army acted as a reliable guarantor in these progressive proposals.

The Holy Alliance of 1815 was a document consisting of a mixture of mysticism and unrealistic politics, as historians later said about it, but for the first seven years this international organization was very successful and fruitful.

In 1820, Austrian Chancellor Metternich convened the Congress of the Holy Alliance in the city of Troppau. As a result of numerous debates, a decision was made that crossed out everything progressive that had been outlined earlier, namely, the countries that were part of the union were allowed to send friendly troops to the lands of other states for the armed destruction of revolutionary riots. This statement could be explained simply, because each state had its own aggressive interests and political goals in the post-war partition.

The creation of a sacred alliance, as well as fairly advanced ideas, could not stop the ever-increasing contradictions between the parties to the treaty.

One of the first conflicts was the Neapolitan conflict. Emperor Alexander insisted on the independence of the Kingdom of Naples, in which revolution was raging. He believed that the king himself would voluntarily give a progressive constitution to the people, but his treaty ally, Austria, had a different opinion. The Austrian military brutally suppressed revolutionary uprisings.

At the last Congress of Verona, the Holy Alliance of 1815, under the influence of Metternich, became a weapon of the monarchs against the discontent of the masses and any revolutionary manifestations.

The difficult year of 1822 showed disagreements between the countries of Austria and Russia in connection with the liberation uprising in Greece. Russian society supported the Greeks, since the state shared the same faith with it and, in addition, friendship with this state significantly strengthened Russia’s influence in the Balkans.

The following events in Spain undermined the foundations of the union and put an end to relations between the countries within the framework of this treaty. In 1823, French troops entered Spanish territory with the aim of forcibly restoring it here. absolute monarchy. The union actually ceased to exist, but in 1833 countries such as Russia, Prussia and Austria tried to restore the agreement again, but the revolutionary events of 1848-1849 forced this coalition to be forgotten forever.

Holy Alliance (Russian); La Sainte-Alliance (French); Heilige Allianz (German).

HOLY E NNY SO YU Z - the declared union of the Russian and Austrian emperors and the king of Prussia, the purpose of which was to maintain peace in Europe within the framework of the Versailles system.

The initiative to create such a union was taken by the All-Russian Emperor Alexander I, and according to him, the Holy Alliance was not any formal union agreement (and was not formalized accordingly) and did not impose any formal obligations on its signatories. In the spirit of the Union, its participants, like three Christian monarchs, assumed moral responsibility for maintaining the existing order and peace, for which they were responsible not to each other (within the framework of the agreement), but to God. The union of the most powerful monarchs in Europe was supposed to eliminate the very possibility of military conflict between states.

Signed by three monarchs by three monarchs - Emperor Franz I of Austria, King Frederick William III of Prussia, Emperor Alexander I of All Russia - on September 14 (26), 1815, the document on the creation of the Holy Alliance was in the nature of a declaration. (The text was also presented to the Prince Regent of Great Britain, George of Hanover, but he declined to join it under the pretext that, according to the English constitution, the king does not have the right to sign treaties with other powers.)

The preamble stated the goals of the Union: “to reveal to the face of the universe their [monarchs] unshakable determination both in the government of the states entrusted to them and in political relations to all other governments be guided by no other rules than the commandments of this holy faith, the commandments of love, truth and peace.” The declaration itself contained three points, the main meaning of which was as follows:

In the 1st paragraph it was stated that “the three contracting monarchs will remain united by bonds of real and indissoluble brotherhood” and “in any case and in every place they will provide each other with assistance, reinforcement and assistance”; in addition, the monarchs promised “in relation to their subjects and troops, they, like fathers of families, will govern them in the same spirit of brotherhood that animates them, to preserve faith, peace and truth”;

In the 2nd paragraph it was stated that the three empires are “members of a single Christian people,” in connection with which “their majesties ... convince their subjects from day to day to establish themselves in the rules and active fulfillment of duties in which the Divine Savior, the only a means of enjoying peace, which flows from a good conscience and which is lasting”;

Finally, the 3rd paragraph declared that all states that agreed with the specified declaration could join the Union. (Subsequently, all the Christian monarchs of Europe, except England and the Pope, as well as the government of Switzerland, free cities, etc., gradually joined the union. Ottoman Sultan, naturally, could not be accepted into the union, since he was not a Christian.)

The main goal of Alexander I was an attempt to build European politics on the basis not of hypocritical politics, but of Christian values, from the point of view of which all controversial issues were to be resolved at the congresses of monarchs. The Holy Alliance was called upon to revive what was actually lost to early XIX V. in Europe the principle is that autocracy is service to the Almighty and nothing more. It was in the spirit, and not in the letter, of the Holy Alliance that the monarchs took upon themselves the obligation to assist each other in preserving the existing system, independently determining, without any pressure, the time and extent of such assistance. In fact, the point was that the fate of Europe would be decided by monarchs, whose power was entrusted by God's providence, and when making their decisions, they would not proceed from the narrow interests of their states, but on the basis of general Christian principles and in the interests of all Christian peoples. In this case, in place of politics, coalitions, intrigues, etc. Christian religion and morality came. The provisions on the Holy Alliance were based on the legitimate beginning of the divine origin of the power of monarchs and, as a consequence, the inviolability of the relationship between them and their people on the principles of “the sovereign is the father of his people” (i.e. the Sovereign is obliged to take care of his children by all means, and the people are obliged obey him completely). Later, at the Congress of Verona, Alexander I emphasized: “No matter what they do to constrain the Holy Alliance in its activities and suspect its goals, I will not give up on it. Everyone has the right to self-defense, and monarchs should also have this right against secret societies; I must defend religion, morality and justice."

At the same time, specific obligations (including military) of the parties were contained in the agreement on the Quadruple Alliance (Russia, Great Britain, Austria and Prussia), both in relation to France and other legitimate monarchies. However, the Quadruple Alliance (“Quartet of Nations”) was not a “understudy” of the Holy Alliance and existed in parallel with it.

The Holy Alliance owes its creation exclusively to Alexander I, the most powerful European monarch at that time. The remaining parties accepted the signing formally, since the document did not impose any obligations on them. The Austrian Chancellor, Prince Clemens von Metternich, wrote in his memoirs: “The Holy Alliance was not at all founded in order to limit the rights of peoples and favor absolutism and tyranny in any form. This Union was the only expression of the mystical aspirations of Emperor Alexander and the application of the principles of Christianity to politics."

Aachen CongressHoly Alliance

It was convened at the suggestion of Austria. Held from September 29 to November 22, 1818 in Aachen (Prussia), a total of 47 meetings took place; the main issues are the withdrawal of occupation forces from France, since the Treaty of Paris of 1815 stipulated that after three years the question of the advisability of further occupation of France would be considered.

The delegations of European powers participating in the congress were headed by:

Russian Empire: Emperor Alexander I, Minister of Foreign Affairs Count John Kapodistrias, Governor of the Foreign Collegium Count Karl Nesselrode;

Austrian Empire: Emperor Franz I, Foreign Minister Prince Clemens von Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein;

Kingdom of Prussia: King Frederick William III, State Chancellor Prince Karl August von Hardenberg, State and Cabinet Minister Count Christian Gunther von Bernstorff

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: Secretary of State for foreign affairs Robert Stewart Viscount Castlereagh, Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington;

France: President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs Armand Emmanuel du Plessis 5th Duke of Richelieu

The participating countries expressed their interest in restoring France as one of the great powers and strengthening the regime of Louis XVIII on the principles of legitimacy, followed by a unanimous decision on September 30. France began to take part in the congress as a full member (the official registration of this fact, as well as the recognition of its fulfillment of its obligations under the treaty of 1815, was recorded in a note addressed to the Duke de Richelieu of the representatives of Russia, Austria, Great Britain and Prussia dated November 4, 1818. ). In addition, it was decided to sign a separate convention (in the form of bilateral agreements between France and each participating country signed in Aachen), which determined the deadline for the withdrawal of troops from France (November 30, 1818) and the balance of the indemnity (265 million francs).

At the congress, Kapodistrias made a report on behalf of Russia, expressing the idea of ​​​​creating (on the basis of the Holy Alliance) a pan-European union, the decisions of which would have an advantage over the decisions of the Quadruple Alliance. However, this plan of Alexander I was blocked by Austria and Great Britain, who relied on the Quadruple Alliance as the most convenient form for defending their own national interests.

Prussia, with the support of Russia, brought up for discussion the issue of concluding a pan-European agreement that would guarantee the inviolability of state borders established by the Congress of Vienna. Despite the interest of the majority of participants in this treaty, the British delegation opposed it. Consideration of the project was postponed, and later it was never returned to.

Separately, the issue of Spain's participation in the congress and its request for mediation in negotiations for an uprising in the Spanish colonies in South America (and, in case of failure, for armed assistance) was discussed. Great Britain, Austria and Prussia opposed it, and the Russian delegation declared only “moral support.” In this regard, no decision was made on these issues.

In addition, a number of issues related not only to Europe, but also to the world order were discussed at the congress. Among these were: on strengthening measures to supervise Napoleon, on Danish-Swedish-Norwegian disagreements, on ensuring the safety of merchant shipping, on measures to suppress the trade of blacks, on the civil and political rights of Jews, on disagreements between the Netherlands and the ruler of the Duchy of Bouillon, on Bavarian-Baden territorial dispute, etc.

Nevertheless, a number of quite important decisions were made at the Aachen congress, incl. were signed:

Declaration to all European courts on the inviolability of the Holy Alliance and the recognition of their main duty to strictly follow the principles of international law;

Protocol on the procedure for considering claims brought by French subjects against the Allied powers;

Protocol on the sanctity of concluded treaties and on the right of states whose matters will be discussed at future negotiations to take part in them;

Two secret protocols confirming the provisions of the Quadruple Alliance, incl. providing for a number of specific measures in the event of a new revolution in France.

Congress in Troppau

It was convened on the initiative of Austria, which raised the issue of the development of the revolutionary movement in Naples in July 1820. It was held from October 20 to December 20, 1820 in Troppau (now Opava, Czech Republic).

Russia, Austria and Prussia sent representative delegations to the congress, which were headed by Emperor Alexander I, Foreign Minister Count I. Kapodistrias, Emperor Franz I, Prince K. von Metternich, Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia and K.A. von Hardenburg, while Great Britain and France limited themselves to envoys.

Austria demanded the intervention of the Holy Alliance in the affairs of those countries in which there was a danger of a revolutionary coup. In addition to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, there was talk of sending troops to Spain and Portugal, where after the Napoleonic Wars there was a strong republican movement.

On November 19, the monarchs of Austria, Russia and Prussia signed a protocol that stated the need for outside intervention in the event of an intensification of the revolution, since only in this way is it possible to maintain the status quo established by the Congress of Vienna. Great Britain was categorically against it. In this regard, no general agreement was reached (and, accordingly, no general documents were signed) on the issues of military intervention in the affairs of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. However, the parties agreed to meet on January 26, 1821 in Laibach and continue the discussion.

Laibach Congress

Became a continuation of the congress in Troppau. Took place from January 26 to May 12, 1821 in Laibach (now Ljubljana, Slovenia). The composition of the participants was almost the same as at the congress in Troppau, with the exception that the Prussian Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm was absent, and Great Britain limited itself to sending a diplomatic observer. In addition, the King of the Two Sicilies, Ferdinand I, was also invited to the congress, since the situation in his kingdom was discussed.

Ferdinand I made a request for military intervention, which was opposed by France, which also presented appeals from other Italian states. It was decided that the King of the Two Sicilies should repeal the liberal constitution he had adopted (which introduced the principle of popular sovereignty), despite the fact that he had sworn allegiance to it. Agreement was given to send Austrian troops to Naples, and, if necessary, also Russians. After this decision was made, representatives of France and Great Britain no longer participated in the congress. Although Ferdinand I did not abolish the constitution, Austrian troops restored order in the kingdom (there was no need to send Russian troops).

Also at the congress, participants recommended that France send troops to Spain to fight the revolutionary movement, but, in principle, to clarify the situation with the revolutionary movement in Spain and Greece, it was decided to convene the next congress in Verona. Before its convocation, K. von Metternich convinced Alexander I not to provide assistance to the Greek uprising.

Verona Congress

The initiative to hold the congress was taken in June 1822 by Austria. Took place from October 20 to December 14, 1822 in Verona (Austrian Empire). This congress of the Holy Alliance.

The delegations of leading European powers were headed by:

Russian Empire: Emperor Alexander I, Foreign Minister Count Karl Nesselrode;

Austrian Empire: Emperor Franz I, Foreign Minister Prince K. von Metternich;

Kingdom of Prussia: King Frederick William III, Chancellor Prince K.A. von Hardenberg;

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs George Canning;

Kingdom of France: Foreign Minister Duke Mathieu de Montmorency-Laval and Ambassador to Berlin Viscount François René de Chateaubriand;

Representatives of the Italian states: King of Piemnota and Sardinia Charles Felix, King of the Two Sicilies Ferdinand I, Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinand III, Papal Legate Cardinal Giuseppe Spina.

The main issue discussed at the congress was the question of suppressing the revolutionary movement in Spain with the help of French troops. If the expedition was launched, France expected to enlist the “moral and material support” of the Holy Alliance. Russia, Austria and Prussia came out in support of it, declaring their readiness to sever diplomatic relations with the revolutionary government; Great Britain advocated limiting itself only to the concentration of French troops on the Franco-Spanish border without open intervention. On November 17, a secret protocol was formulated and signed on November 19 (Great Britain refused to sign under the pretext that the document could pose a danger to the life of the Spanish royal family), which provided for the introduction of French troops into Spain in the following cases:

An armed attack by Spain on French territory or "an official act on the part of the Spanish government directly causing the indignation of the subjects of one or the other of the powers";

Dethronement of the King of Spain or attacks against him or members of his family;

- “a formal act of the Spanish government that violates the legal hereditary rights of the royal family.” (In April 1823, France sent troops into Spain and suppressed the revolutions.)

A number of the following issues were also discussed at the congress:

On recognition of the independence of former Spanish colonies in America; France and Great Britain actually supported recognition, the rest were against it. As a result, no decisions were made;

About the situation in Italy. A decision was made to withdraw the Austrian auxiliary corps from Italy;

About the slave trade. On November 28, a protocol was signed by the five powers confirming the provisions of the declaration of the Congress of Vienna on the prohibition of trade in blacks and the convening of the London Conference on the Slave Trade;

About relations with the Ottoman Empire. Russia secured a promise of diplomatic support from the powers in its demands to Constantinople: respect the rights of the Greeks, announce the withdrawal of its troops from the Danube principalities, lift restrictions on trade and ensure freedom of navigation in the Black Sea;

On the abolition of customs restrictions imposed by the Netherlands on the Rhine. All parties agreed on the need to take these measures, which was expressed in notes sent to the government of the Netherlands at the end of the congress;

Collapse of the Holy Alliance

The initiative to convene a new congress was taken at the end of 1823 by King Ferdinand VII of Spain, who proposed discussing measures to counter the revolutionary movement in the Spanish colonies in Latin America. Austria and Russia supported the proposal, but Great Britain and France opposed it, as a result of which the congress scheduled for 1824 did not take place.

After the death of the main initiator of the creation of the Holy Alliance, Emperor Alexander I (1825), his position began to gradually weaken, especially since the contradictions between the various great powers gradually worsened. On the one hand, the interests of Great Britain finally diverged from the goals of the Holy Alliance (especially in connection with the revolutionary movement in Latin America), on the other, Russian-Austrian contradictions in the Balkans intensified. The great powers were never able to develop a unified position on the revolution of 1830 in France and the accession of Louis Philippe d'Orléans. In the 1840s. The struggle between Austria and Prussia for dominance in the German Confederation intensified sharply.

Nevertheless, true to its obligations, Russia in 1849, at the request of Austria, sent its troops to Hungary, which was swept by the revolution, which became one of the decisive factors in restoring order there and preserving the Habsburg dynasty on the Hungarian throne. After this, Russia quite reasonably counted on support from the members of the Holy Alliance, but a further aggravation of intra-European contradictions led to the beginning Crimean War 1853-1856 during which Great Britain, France and Sardinia came out against Russia on the side of the Ottoman Empire, and Austria and Prussia took an anti-Russian position. Although the ideas laid down by Alexander I as the basis for the Holy Alliance had long been ignored by the European powers, it has now become completely clear that there is no longer any “union of the monarchs of Europe”.

HOLY UNION

A reactionary association of European monarchs that arose after the fall of Napoleon's empire. 26. IX 1815 Russian Emperor Alexander I, Austrian Emperor Franz I and Prussian King Frederick William III signed the so-called in Paris. "Act of Holy Alliance".

The real essence of the “Act”, designed in a pompous religious style, boiled down to the fact that the monarchs who signed it pledged “in every case and in every place ... to provide each other with benefits, reinforcements and assistance.” In other words, S. s. was a kind of mutual assistance agreement between the monarchs of Russia, Austria and Prussia, which was extremely broad in nature.

19.XI 1815 to S. p. the French king Louis XVIII joined; Later, most of the monarchs of the European continent joined him. England did not formally become part of the S. s., but in practice England often coordinated its behavior with the general line of the S. s.

The pious formulas of the “Act of Holy Alliance” covered up the very prosaic goals of its creators. There were two of them:

1. Maintain intact the redrawing of European borders that was carried out in 1815 Congress of Vienna(cm.).

2. Conduct an irreconcilable struggle against all manifestations of the “revolutionary spirit.”

In fact, the activities of S. s. focused almost entirely on the fight against the revolution. The key points of this struggle were the periodically convened congresses of the heads of the three leading powers of the United States, which were also attended by representatives of England and France. Alexander I and K. Metternich usually played the leading role at the congresses. Total congresses of the S. s. there were four - Aachen Congress 1818, Troppau Congress 1820, Laibach Congress 1821 And Congress of Verona 1822(cm.).

Powers of S. s. stood entirely on the basis of "legitimism", i.e., perhaps more full recovery old dynasties and regimes overthrown French revolution and the armies of Napoleon, and proceeded from the recognition of an absolute monarchy. S. s. was a European gendarme who kept in chains European peoples. This was most clearly manifested in the position of S. s. in relation to the revolutions in Spain (1820-23), Naples (1820-21) and Piedmont (1821), as well as the uprising of the Greeks against the Turkish yoke, which began in 1821.

On November 19, 1820, shortly after the outbreak of the revolution in Spain and Naples, Russia, Austria, and Prussia at the congress in Troppau signed a protocol that openly proclaimed the right of intervention of the three leading powers of the Socialist Republic. into the internal affairs of other countries in order to fight the revolution. England and France did not sign this protocol, but did not go beyond verbal protests against it. As a result of the decisions taken in Troppau, Austria received the authority to armedly suppress the Neapolitan revolution and at the end of March 1821 occupied the Kingdom of Naples with its troops, after which the absolutist regime was restored here. In April of the same 1821, Austria forcibly suppressed the revolution in Piedmont.

At the Congress of Verona (October - December 1822), through the efforts of Alexander I and Metternich, a decision was made on armed intervention in Spanish affairs. The authority to actually carry out this intervention was given to France, which actually invaded Spain on April 7, 1823 with an army of 100,000 under the command of the Duke of Angoulême. The Spanish revolutionary government resisted foreign invasion for six months, but in the end the interventionist forces, supported by the Spanish domestic counter-revolution, were victorious. In Spain, as before in Naples and Piedmont, absolutism was restored.

S.'s position was no less reactionary. in the Greek question. When a delegation of Greek rebels arrived in Verona to ask Christian sovereigns and especially Tsar Alexander I for help against the Sultan, the congress even refused to listen to it. England immediately took advantage of this and, in order to strengthen its influence in Greece, began to support the Greek rebels.

The Verona Congress of 1822 and the intervention in Spain were essentially the last major acts of the Socialist Revolution. After that, he virtually ceased to exist. Decay of S. s. was due to two main reasons.

Firstly, within the union very soon contradictions between its main participants were revealed. When in December 1823 the Spanish king Ferdinand VII turned to S. s. for help in bringing its “rebellious” colonies in America to submission, England, interested in the markets of these colonies, not only declared a decisive protest against all attempts of this kind, but also demonstratively recognized the independence of the American colonies of Spain (XII 31, 1824). This drove a wedge between S. s. and England. Somewhat later, in 1825 and 1826, due to the Greek question, relations between Russia and Austria, the two main pillars of the Socialist Revolution, began to deteriorate. Alexander I (towards the end of his reign) and then Nicholas I supported the Greeks, while Metternich continued his previous line against the Greek "rebels". 4. IV 1826 between Russia and England the so-called. Petersburg Protocol on coordination of actions in the Greek issue, clearly directed against Austria. Contradictions also emerged between other participants of the S. s.

Secondly, and this was especially important, despite all the efforts of the reaction, the growth of revolutionary forces in Europe continued. In 1830, revolutions took place in France and Belgium, and an uprising against tsarism broke out in Poland. In England, the rapid movement of the popular masses forced the Conservatives to accept the electoral reform of 1832. This dealt a heavy blow not only to the principles, but also to the very existence of the Socialist Union, which actually collapsed. In 1833, the monarchs of Russia, Austria, and Prussia tried to restore S., but this attempt ended in failure (see. Munich Convention).