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    © All Rights Reserved
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    5 views340 pages

    2015.190437.the Congress of Vienna

    Uploaded by

    Vinícius Farah Parizi Merege

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    Melk 8 sae andiorant fen one 4S SOS Dre eSt8 Fonteingatens 0% aN nek a olongres | bey E 2 $y EOI TERRA .-———_ 4+ East of Greenwicl THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA A study in Allted Unity: 1812-1822 » HAROLD NICOLSON “Nothing appears of shape to indicate ‘Vhat cognisance has marshalled things tetrene, Or will (such 1s my thinking) 1 my span Rather they show that, lke a knitter droused ‘Whose fingets play 1n’slalled unmiadfulness, ‘The Wall has woven with an absent heed Since lee frst was, and ever will so weave’ Tuowas Harpy, The Dynasts ‘elistoric sense forbids us to padge results by mottve, or 1eal consequences by the ideals and intentions of the actor who produced them ” ‘Viscount Mortey LONDON CONSTABLE & CO LTD first published 1946 The quotation from Thomas Hardy on the title-page 1 made wish the kind permission of Mess1s Macmillan & Co Lid THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO ANTHONY EDEN CONTENTS n nr wv Vv vir x xr Aan. -xur / Saw t esa ye INTRODUCTORY NOTE - > - = == THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW (OCTOBER 18-DECEMBER Heo 6 8 Be | “THR REVIVAL OF PRUSSIA’ (1812-1813)- =~ ‘YE INTERVENTION OF AUSTRIA (JUNE 1-AUGUSY 12, yy 6 68 6 eee ee HE FRANKFURT PROPOSALS (NOVEMBER-DECEMBER Bey HR ADVENT OF CASTLEREAGH (JANUARY-MARCH 1 ee THE TIRST PEACE OF PARIS (MAY 30, 1814) =~ LONBON INTERLUDE (JUNE 1814) - = ‘THE CONGRESS ASSEMBLES (SEPrEMDER 1814) = - THE PROBLEM OF PROCEDURE (OCTOBER 1814) - XHE APPROACH 0 THE POLISH PROBLEM (OCTOBER 18t) eF-F=E THE POLISH NEGOTIATIONS (SEPITMBER 1814—FEB- RUARY 1815) - - - : 2 - : THE ITALIAN AND GERMAN SETTLEMENTS (FEBRUARY— MARCH 1815) ~ - - - - - - GENERAL QUESTIONS (FEBRUARY-MARCH 1815) - - ‘THE SECOND PEACE OF PARIS (MARCH-NOVEMBER 1815) ‘THE HOLY ALLIANCE (SEPTEMBER 26, 1815) ~~ SHE FAILURE OF THE CONFERENCE SYSTEM (1818-1822) : mw 1 30 ror 118 134 164 182 201 2ar 242, 259 Aw NS ey ae LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS HE CONGRESS OF VIENNA - = =~ Fromtisprece ALEXANDER T, EMPEROR OF RUSSIA - - — Faacg page 10 EDERICK WILLIAM 111, KING OF PRUSSIA = = 20 FRANCIS I, EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA = - - - - 36 PRINCE METTERNICH = - = += == 42 VISCOUNT CASTLEREAGH - - - - - - 126 PRINCE VON HARDENBERG Se rrrts—SCi COUNT NESSELRODE == = 2g (All but the first of these portraits were painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence at the request of the Prince Regent They now hang in the Waterloo Gallery at Windsor Castle and ate reproduced by gracious permission of His Majesty the King ) INTRODUCTION xi warn us that the Zestgessi also 1s subject to invisible muta- tions and delays How came it that the younger geneiation in Germany, who at the time of the ‘Tugendbund and the War of Liberation, displayed so resurgent a spirit, should have been snuffed out so lastingly by the Carlsbad Decrees? How came it that the partisan movement in Spain, which had manufested such heroic activity during the French in- vasion should thereafter have so surprisingly declined? How came it that the Italian Resorgemento, which seemed so im- muinent in the days of Murat and Lord William Bentinck, should have been so long deferred? How came st that the general rising so confidently predicted in 1820 should have been postponed till 1848? These questions ate not answeted by ascribing the pause which ensued to the ingenuity of Metternich or the potency of the Holy Alliance ‘They can be explained only by the hidden interplay of challenges and te- sponses, of enetgy and exhaustion, of enthusiasm and apathy, of youth and middle age ‘Tam left with the impression’, wrote Gentz after attend- ing all the Conferences of his time, ‘that nobody 1s ever quite sight all through’ If he was referring to the accuracy of human prediction, then I agree with his conclusion But if he was referring to the efficacy of moral principles, then I refuse to subscribe to so defeatist a doctrine I belteve in fact that certain principles are absolute and must im the end prevail But I admit that their functioning 1s obscute, that no single interpretation of the combinations of citcumstance can ever be a valid interpretation, and that if history can teach us anything it can teach us the folly of prophecy and the wisdom of patience HN. SissinGHuRsT, September 1, 1945 I THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW [October 18-December 18, 1812] ‘The 2gth Bulletin—Napoleon abandons his army and reruns to Panis—His journey ‘with Caulancoust through East Prussia and Poland—His arrival in Dresden— He reaches the Twleries at midnight on December 18—The Russian campaign mught have proved decisive—What would have happened sf a Cossack patrol hhad noticed the ford at Studtenksa?—If the Tsar had captured Napoleon, what sort of peace would ave been made?—Estumate of the character and educa- tion of Alexander I—The influence of La Harpe—His weakness 2s Commander sn Chief during the 1812 campaign —His consequent loss of populanity—Eifect Of these circumstances upon his subsequent policy and action—The balance of power as it existed in December 1812 (2) ‘Tue 2oth Bulletin was issued from Molodetchno on Decem- ber 3, 1812 In st Napoleon confessed that ‘an atrocious calamity’ had befallen the Grande Armée and that his Rus- sian campaign had ended tn disaster The Bulletin reached Paris on Decembet 16 and was published on the following motning (1) + Foreseeing the dismay which this news would occasion tn France, Napoleon decided to leave the front and to return to his capital with all speed Only his personal ptesence in the Tuileties could allay the consternation which the Bulletin was certain to provoke At Smogorni, on the mght of December 5, he abandoned his army and took the road to the west. He reached Paris at midnight on December 18 The details of that secret journey have been preserved 1n the memoirs of Caulaincoutt, Duc de Vicence (2) In alll the library of Napoleonic literatute thete are few passages which illustrate so forcibly the dominance which Napoleon’s genius, insensitiveness and egoism exercised upon the minds and hearts of those who served him Caulamcoutt had no cause to love or trust his pitiless master He can have had 4 See ‘Notes to the Several Chapters’ at end of book, p 278, 1 2 THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA [r812 little doubt that Napoleon had sought deliberately to im- plicate him in the murder of the Duc d’Enghien tn 1804 Although innocent of anything worse than the violation of the neutiality of Baden, the stigma of this incident weighed upon Caulaincourt throughout his honourable life Thete 1s no doubt eithet that Napoleon, in selfish mischief, destroyed Caulaincou1t’s domestic happiness by foi bidding his mariage to Madame de Canisy for ten long years, only at Fontaine- bleau 1n 1814, when he had already signed his abdication, did Napoleon accord the consent which he was then powerless to withhold, with superb devotion, Caulaincouit kissed the hand of his fallen mastei tn gratitude for this empty boon For ten long years had Caulaincourt endured the per- versity of Napoleon’s temperament Having been Ambas- sador to Russia, having enjoyed the intimacy of the Tsar Alexander I (3), Caulaincourt was fully aware of Russian poli- tical and social conditions, of the menace of the Russian climate, and of the strain of obstinacy which flowed like some dark current beneath the gentle stpples of the Tsat’s desire to please (4) Again and again had he warned Napol- eon against the dangers of a Russian campaign ‘You have no knowledge of such things,’ his master barked at him, ‘you have no judgment 1n political affairs You are mote Russian than you ate I'tench, you have been mesmerised by Alexander’s charm A single victory, and the Tsar will come cteeping towards me as he did at Tulsit The great land- owners will tise against him, I shall emancipate the serfs’ ‘Thus did he reject all warnings And when they entered the Kremlin, and found the clocks there still ticking quietly in the saloons, Napoleon turned m scorn upon his Master of the Hotse ‘Well, My Lord Duke, what about this Russian climate of yours? It is mild as a September day at Fontainebleau’ Caulaincourt bowed his head in silent apprehension Then followed the horiots of the retreat, the muacle of the Beresina The corpses of those who during the advance had fallen at Borodino or outside Smolensk still littered the 1812] THE RETREAL FROM MOSCOW 3 fields beside the roadway—hummocked now by snow, hav- ing the appearance in the dim light ‘of vast flocks of sheep’ From time to time Napoleon would leave his carriage and ease his numbed limbs by stamping along the frozen track, a staff cut from a larch tree in his hand The tattered stragglers from his atmy would stop and stare at his passage and then drop dead beside him on the road Then followed Smogornt and the intimate ditve across an uncertain Rurope from Russia tnto Fiance : Caulaincourt tiavelled under his own name as Duc de Vicence Napoleon appeared upon their passports as his secietary, under the name of Monsieur de Rayneval The Empetor’s travelling carriage proved too heavy for the snow-bound road and the horses shpped and struggled on the ice On reaching Kowno Caulaincourt discovered an old covered sledge—a mere box on runners which had once been painted 1ed They abandoned the comfort of the travelling carriage, they abandoned the luggage, even Rus- tam the mameluke and the Empetot’s dressing case were left behind Unshaven and alone they puisued their journey day and night across the snow At Tilsit they entered Pxus- sian territory and the Emperor became afraid lest he might be recognised and serzed, he cowered back into the recesses of the sleigh, pulling his fur cap down upon his eyes, muffling himself in the great green velvet bear-skin which he wore They cut across East Prussia into Poland and on December 10 they reached the Hotel d’Angleterre at Warsaw The Abbé de Pradt, the French Ambassador, was summoned to the hotel sittimg-room and upon him the Emperor discharged for a few hours the vials of his accumu- lated wrath ‘The Abbe de Pradt was one of those men who even at the best of times was apt to ruffle Napoleon’s nerves “He was extremely addicted’, remarked the Emperor to Sur Neil Campbell when at Elba, ‘to descanting upon military subjects, which 1s very disgusting to mulitary men’ The interview in the parlout of the Hotel d’Angletetre was thunderous, the Abbé de Pradt retired to his Embassy out- 4 THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA [812 raged and bewildered, he thereafter revenged himself upon hus master by conspiting with M de Talleyrand On again they drove through the night towards Germany and the Rhine Napoleon’s spirits revived as soon as the Prussian danger had been left behind them His tear guard under Mutat would make a stand at Vilna, he would collect another aimy and rejoin them in the spring And what would have happened to them had they been seized by the peasants or the Tugendbund in East Prussia? Would they have been handed over to the English? Would they have been exposed in wicker cages for the delectation of the London crowd? The picture of Caulaincourt, so dignified always and so austere, in such a position aroused Napoleon’s sense of farce He flung himself back in the hard and draughty sledge and laughed vulgarly He stretched out his hand 1n order, as was his wont, to tweak the lobe of Caulaincourt’s ear But the Master of the Horse had swathed his face in bandages, the Emperor ceased from rummaging and tapped him amicably upon the nape of the neck, During all those days and mights Napoleon talked and talked Feverishly he talked about his former gloites and his future plans Three hundred and thirty thousand men of the Grande Armée lay hummocked in snow upon the plains of Russia, but he talked only of further armies, further cam- paigns, and further victories His voice at times was almost jubilant, at other moments it would tse or fall into the scteam or snarl of hatred One name alone (since as a tule he was mild about his enemies) would rouse these parox- ysms of rancour That name was England, The insatiable enemy, who had defied him all these years, who had defied him even when she stood alone ‘England! England! England? —as the postillions lashed their tottering horses and the great red box slid and lurched actoss the snow (2) At midnight on December 13, 1812, they reached Dres- den. It was here, scarcely more than six months before, that 1812] THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW 5 he had celebrated in full pomp the apogee of his renown, and had appeared as Charlemagne among the tributary Princes of Central Europe He had gone there ‘with all the display and apparatus of an Eastern potentate’ in order to imptess upon his satellites the magnitude of his power and the splendour of his pre-eminence (5), Duting those weeks of May the roads which led from France to Saxony had been thronged with long lines of vans and carriages bringing to Dresden the chamberlains and the maids of honour, the equerries and the pages, the silks, the velvets and tapestries, the gold plate and diamonds, the cooks and footmen, of the Court of France The tulers of Germany and Austria flocked to do him homage On the night of May 15 he attived in Dresden and established his household 1n the palace of the King of Saxony His lords in wating, the ladies who formed the suite of Marie Louise, bore the oldest names in France Turenne, Noailles, Montesquiou The strictest etiquette was preserved At 9 am he held his own levée at which were present the princes of Germany; at ro am came the levée of the Empress which he himself attended with the officers of State Then followed a solemn mass in the chapel of the palace and in the evening came a ceremonial banquet ‘The officers of the Impetial household would gather in the throne-room and two of the Lords Chamberlain would stand at the entrance to announce in loud tones the styles and titles of the guests These formal entrances were planned. by Napoleon upon a rigid and ascending scale and with pre- cise tegard for dramatic effect. First came the Ministers and Ambassadors each tesonantly introduced, they were suc- ceeded by the minor royalties, the Duke of Weimar, the Duke of Coburg, the Duke of Mecklenburg, the Grand Duke of Wurzburg After a short pause the Queen of West- phalia was announced ‘Their Majesties, the King and Queen of Saxony’—the Chamberlain shouted, and Fred- erick Augustus with Queen Marta, abashed and benevolent, would enter their own drawing-room ‘His Majesty the King of Prussia’—the Chamberlain called, and into the 1oom 6 THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA [x81 hesitated the hapless widower figure of Fredetick Willtam TI looking like a bewildered major in some minor iegiment. “Theit Imperial and Apostolic Majesties the Empeto1 and Empress of Austtia, King and Queen of Hungary’—and Fiancis the First entered giving his atm to bis young and ailing wife ‘Hei Impettal Majesty the Empress of the French, Queen of Italy,’ and Marie Louise, followed by her ladies and diaped in diamonds, swept gitlishly into the 1oom