Treaty of London, 1867
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Treaty of London (French: Traité de Londres), often called the Second Treaty of London after the 1839 Treaty, was an international treaty signed on 11 May 1867. Agreed in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War and the Luxembourg Crisis, it had wide-reaching consequences for Luxembourg and for relations between Europe's Great Powers.
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[edit] Effects
The most important immediate effect of the treaty, established in Article I, was the reaffirmation of the personal union between the Netherlands and Luxembourg under the House of Orange-Nassau.[1] The Luxembourg Crisis had erupted after French Emperor Napoleon III attempted to buy Luxembourg from the Dutch King William III. Consequently, maintaining Dutch ownership of Luxembourg, free from French interference, was of paramount importance to Prussia.
The neutrality of Luxembourg, established by the First Treaty of London, was also reaffirmed. Those parties that did not sign the earlier treaty were to become guarantors of Luxembourg's neutrality (an exception was Belgium, which was, itself, bound to neutrality).[2]
To ensure Luxembourg's neutrality, the fortifications of Luxembourg City, known as the 'Gibraltar of the North' , were to be demolished and never to be rebuilt.[3] Dismantling the fortifications took sixteen years, cost 1.5m gold francs, and required the destruction of over 24 km (15 miles) of underground defences and 40,000m² (10 acres) of casemates, batteries, barracks, etc.[4] Furthermore, the Prussian garrison, which had been sited in Luxembourg since the 1815 Congress of Vienna, was to be withdrawn.[5]
The Seven Weeks' War had led to the collapse of the German Confederation. Two former members, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Duchy of Limburg, were possessions of the Dutch king. To further clarify the position in the wake of the death of the Confederation, the Treaty of London affirmed the end of the Confederation, and stated that Luxembourg and Limburg were henceforth to be considered 'integral parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands'.[6] Luxembourg would rejoin the newly re-established German customs union, the Zollverein, in which it would remain until 1 January 1919.
[edit] Signatories
The treaty was signed by representatives of all of the Great Powers of Europe:
- The Austrian Empire, represented by Rudolf Apponyi
- The Kingdom of Belgium, represented by Sylvain Van de Weyer
- The French Empire, represented by Prince de La Tour d'Auvergne-Lauraguais
- The Kingdom of Italy, represented by Marquis d'Azeglio
- The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, represented by Baron de Tornaco and Emmanuel Servais
- The Kingdom of the Netherlands, represented by Baron Bentinck
- The Kingdom of Prussia, represented by Count Bernstorff-Stintenburg
- The Russian Empire, represented by Baron Brunnow
- The United Kingdom, represented by Lord Stanley
Italy was originally not invited, but King Victor Emmanuel II persuaded the other kings and emperors to invite his representative. Italy had little relation to Luxembourg, and the treaty did not directly affect Italy in any appreciable manner. However, it marked the first occasion on which Italy was invited to partake in an international conference on the basis of being a Great Power, and, therefore, was of symbolic value to the fledgling Italian kingdom.
