London Conference of 1864

Last updated July 18, 2023

The London conference of 1864 was a peace conference on the Second Schleswig War that took place in London from 25 April to 25 June 1864.

Lord John Russell had intervened with a proposal that the war should be submitted to a European conference on behalf of the United Kingdom; the proposal was supported by the Russian Empire, the Second French Empire, and Sweden. The negotiations were influenced by the Prussian and Austrian victory in the Battle of Dybbøl, giving Otto von Bismarck and his delegation an advantage over their opponents. The conference broke up 25 June 1864 without having arrived at any conclusion.

Background

The government of Denmark attempted to integrate Schleswig, by creating a new common constitution (the so-called November Constitution) for Denmark and Schleswig. On 18 November 1863 Christian IX of Denmark signed the constitution, merging Schleswig into Denmark and separating Schleswig from Holstein. On 28 December a motion was introduced in the Federal Assembly by Austria and Prussia, calling on the German Confederation to occupy Schleswig as a pledge for the observance by Denmark of compacts of London Protocol 1852. This implied the recognition of the rights of Christian IX, and was indignantly rejected by Denmark; whereupon the Federal Assembly was informed that the Austrian and Prussian governments would act in the matter as independent European powers.

Initially Lord John Russell proposed a European conference based on status quo. The German powers signed an agreement on 11 March, under which the compacts of 1852 were declared to be no longer valid.^[1]

The negotiations

The British plans for a ceasefire should have been presented on 12 April, but Bismarck was successful in postponing the opening of the conference to 25 April. Meanwhile, the German and Austrian troops had a decisive victory in the Battle of Dybbøl.

The proceedings of the conference only revealed the inextricable tangle of issues involved. The 11 March agreement made the Germans participate if the 1852 London Protocol was not taken as a basis, and the duchies were bound to Denmark by a personal tie only. Furthermore, the Germans demanded a Danish withdrawal of the blockade of the German ports. The Danish delegation refused, arguing that cutting off all maritime transport from and to the enemy was essential to the Danish strategy of war. ^[2]^[3]

On 12 May 1864, the conference in London led to a ceasefire, which soon broke down, as the delegations could not agree on a clear fixing of the boundaries; partitioning the duchy of Schleswig was seen as possible.^[4] On 28 March, Lord Russell declared support for a Partition Plan that separated the German parts of Schleswig from the Danish monarchy. Napoleon III, a supporter of the self-determination principle, demanded a referendum.^[5]

Beust, on behalf of the Confederation, demanded the recognition of the Augustenburg claimant; Austria leaned to a settlement on the lines of that of 1852. Prussia, it was increasingly clear, aimed at the acquisition of the duchies. The first step towards the realisation of that ambition was to secure the recognition of the absolute independence of the duchies, which Austria could not oppose because of the risk of forfeiting any influence among the German states. The two powers then, agreed to demand the complete political independence of the duchies bound together by common institutions.

The next move was uncertain. As to the question of annexation, Prussia would leave that open but made it clear that any settlement must involve the complete military subordination of Schleswig-Holstein to herself. That alarmed Austria, which had no wish to see a further extension of Prussia's already overgrown power and began to champion the claims of the duke of Augustenburg. That contingency, however, Bismarck had foreseen and himself offered to support the claims of the duke at the conference if he would undertake to subordinate himself in all naval and military matters to Prussia, surrender Kiel for the purposes of a Prussian war-harbour, give Prussia the control of the projected Kiel Canal, and enter the Prussian Customs Union. ^[6]

The Danish Foreign Minister, George Quaade, declared his country ready to follow “the road of peace” but had no answer from Copenhagen on the issues of the Partition Plan. On behalf of Prussia, Bismarck agreed in a partition of Schleswig, only leaving a minor part for Denmark. On 25 June the London conference broke up without having arrived at any conclusion. On the 24th, in view of the end of the truce, Austria and Prussia had arrived at a new agreement, the object of the war being now declared to be the complete separation of the duchies from Denmark. As the result of the short campaign that followed, the preliminaries of a treaty of peace were signed on August 1, the King of Denmark renouncing all his rights in the duchies in favour of the Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Schleswig</span> Southern half of the former Duchy of Schleswig in Germany

Southern Schleswig is the southern half of the former Duchy of Schleswig in Germany on the Jutland Peninsula. The geographical area today covers the large area between the Eider river in the south and the Flensburg Fjord in the north, where it borders Denmark. Northern Schleswig, congruent with the former South Jutland County, forms the southernmost part of Denmark. The area belonged to the Crown of Denmark until Prussia and Austria declared war on Denmark in 1864. Denmark wanted to give away the German-speaking Holsten and set the new border at the small river Ejderen. Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck concluded that this justified a war, and even proclaimed it a "holy war". He also turned to the Emperor of Austria, Franz Joseph I of Austria for help. A similar war in 1848 had gone poorly for the Prussians. With Prussia's modern weapons and the help from both the Austrians and General Moltke, the Danish army was destroyed or forced to make a disorderly retreat. The Prussian-Danish border was then moved from the Elbe up in Jutland to the Kongeåen creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duchy of Schleswig</span> A Danisch Duchy from 1058 to 1864

The Duchy of Schleswig was a duchy in Southern Jutland covering the area between about 60 km north and 70 km (45 mi) south of the current border between Germany and Denmark. The territory has been divided between the two countries since 1920, with Northern Schleswig in Denmark and Southern Schleswig in Germany. The region is also called Sleswick in English.

The German Confederation was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, which had been dissolved in 1806.

The history of Schleswig-Holstein consists of the corpus of facts since the pre-history times until the modern establishing of the Schleswig-Holstein state.

The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. It was the driving force behind the unification of Germany in 1866 and was the leading state of the German Empire until its dissolution in 1918. Although it took its name from the region called Prussia, it was based in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Its capital was Berlin.

Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg was the German pretender to the throne of second duke of Schleswig-Holstein from 1863, although in reality Prussia took overlordship and real administrative power.

The First Schleswig War, also known as the Schleswig-Holstein Uprising and the Three Years' War, was a military conflict in southern Denmark and northern Germany rooted in the Schleswig-Holstein Question, contesting the issue of who should control the Duchies of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg, who at the time were ruled by the king of Denmark in a personal union. Ultimately, the Danish side proved victorious with the diplomatic support of the great powers, especially Britain and Russia, since the duchies were close to an important Baltic seaway connecting both powers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Schleswig War</span> 1864 war between Denmark, Prussia, and Austria

The Second Schleswig War, also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War, was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. The war began on 1 February 1864, when Prussian and Austrian forces crossed the border into the Danish fief Schleswig. Denmark fought troops of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire representing the German Confederation.

Count Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust was a German and Austrian statesman. As an opponent of Otto von Bismarck, he attempted to conclude a common policy of the German middle states between Austria and Prussia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schleswig–Holstein question</span> 19th century European geopolitical dispute

The Schleswig–Holstein question was a complex set of diplomatic and other issues arising in the 19th century from the relations of two duchies, Schleswig and Holstein, to the Danish crown, to the German Confederation, and to each other. The British statesman Lord Palmerston is reported to have said: "Only three people have ever really understood the Schleswig-Holstein business – the Prince Consort, who is dead – a German professor, who has gone mad – and I, who have forgotten all about it."

Count Johann Bernhard von Rechberg und Rothenlöwen was an Austrian statesman and a member of an old Swabian House of Rechberg.

The Gastein Convention, also called the Convention of Badgastein, was a treaty signed at Bad Gastein in Austria on 14 August 1865. It embodied agreements between the two principal powers of the German Confederation, Prussia and Austria, over the governing of the 'Elbe Duchies' of Schleswig, Holstein and Saxe-Lauenburg.

The Battle of Dybbøl was the key battle of the Second Schleswig War, fought between Denmark and Prussia. The battle was fought on the morning of 18 April 1864, following a siege that began on 2 April. Denmark suffered a severe defeat which – with the Prussian capture of the island of Als – ultimately decided the outcome of the war, forcing Danish cession of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein.

Gerson von Bleichröder was a Jewish German banker.

The Schleswig plebiscites were two plebiscites, organized according to section XII, articles 100 to 115 of the Treaty of Versailles of 28 June 1919, in order to determine the future border between Denmark and Germany through the former Duchy of Schleswig. The process was monitored by a commission with representatives from France, the United Kingdom, Norway and Sweden.

The Duchy of Holstein was the northernmost state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It originated when King Christian I of Denmark had his County of Holstein-Rendsburg elevated to a duchy by Emperor Frederick III in 1474. Members of the Danish House of Oldenburg ruled Holstein – jointly with the Duchy of Schleswig – for its entire existence.

Prince Frederick Emil August of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, usually simply known by just his first name, Frederick, Prince of Noer, was a prince of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg and a cadet-line descendant of the Danish royal house.

On 8 May 1852, after the First War of Schleswig, an agreement called the London Protocol was signed. This international treaty was the revision of an earlier protocol, which had been ratified on 2 August 1850, by the major German powers of Austria and Prussia. The second London Protocol was recognised by the five major European powers—Austria, France, Prussia, Russia, and the United Kingdom—as well as by the Baltic Sea powers of Denmark and Sweden.

Wanke nicht, mein Vaterland, also known as Schleswig-Holstein, meerumschlungen or Schleswig-Holstein-Lied is the unofficial anthem of Schleswig-Holstein. It was written in 1844 and presented at the Schleswiger Sängerfest. The tune was written by Carl Gottlieb Bellmann (1772–1862). The text had originally been written by Berlin-based lawyer Karl Friedrich Straß (1803–1864) but rewritten by Matthäus Friedrich Chemnitz (1815–1870) shortly before the start of the Sängerfest in order to represent the then atmosphere in a better way. The song expresses the wish for a united, independent and German Schleswig-Holstein.

Carl Philip Friedemann Maximilian Müller, more commonly known as MaxMüller was a Danish officer who served in the First and Second Schleswig Wars.

References

↑ Neergaard 1916 , p. 995
↑ Thorsen 1958 , p. 291
↑ Neergaard 1916 , p. 1214
↑ Neergaard 1916 , p. 1221
↑ Neergaard 1916 , p. 1150
↑ Beust: Mem. 1. 272

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Neergaard 1916 , p. 995

[2] Thorsen 1958 , p. 291

[3] Neergaard 1916 , p. 1214

[4] Neergaard 1916 , p. 1221

[5] Neergaard 1916 , p. 1150

[6] Beust: Mem. 1. 272

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]