Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle (1818)

The Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle, held in the autumn of 1818, was a high-level diplomatic meeting of France and the four allied powers Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia, which had defeated it in 1814.

While several locations were considered for the Congress Aix-la-Chapelle, which had been part of Prussia since 1815, was chosen due to its proximity to Wellington's Army of Occupation in northern France.

[4] Seventy years before the spa town had hosted the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748 that ended the War of the Austrian Succession.

The immediate object of the conference being thus readily disposed of, the time of the congress was mainly occupied in discussing the form to be taken by the European alliance, and the "military measures",[1] if any, to be adopted as a precaution against a fresh outburst on the part of France.

The proposal of the Emperor Alexander I to establish a "universal union of guarantee" on the broad basis of the Holy Alliance,[1] after much debate, broke down on the uncompromising opposition of Britain; and the main outcome of the congress was the signature, on 15 November, of two instruments:[1] The secret protocol was communicated in confidence to Richelieu; to the declaration France was invited publicly to adhere.

[1] The Russian tsar proposed the formation of an entirely new alliance, to include all of the signatories from the Vienna treaties, to guarantee the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and preservation of the ruling governments of all members of this new coalition.

In neither case was any decision arrived at, owing mainly to the refusal of the other powers to agree with the British proposal for a reciprocal right of search on the high seas and to the objection of Britain to international action which would have involved the presence of a Russian squadron in the Mediterranean.

[7] The important outstanding questions in Germany, e.g. the Baden succession, were after consideration reserved for a further conference to be called at Frankfurt am Main, which occurred on 10 July 1819.

[7] In addition to these a great variety of questions were considered, from the treatment of Napoleon in exile at Saint Helena to the grievances of the people of Monaco against their prince and the position of the Jews in Austria and Prussia.

The detailed study of its proceedings is highly instructive in revealing the almost insurmountable obstacles to any really effective international diplomatic system[7] prior to the creation of the League of Nations after the First World War.