Congress of Châtillon
The Congress of Châtillon was a peace conference held at Châtillon-sur-Seine, north-eastern France, from 5 February to 5 March 1814, in the latter stages of the War of the Sixth Coalition.
Peace had previously been offered by the Coalition allies (principally Britain, Russia, Prussia and Austria) to Napoleon I's France in the November 1813 Frankfurt proposals.
The British aims were to reduce the territory of France, restore the independence of Switzerland and the Italian states, form a federation in Germany and create the United Kingdom of the Netherlands as a bulwark against French expansion.
Negotiations were broken off and on 9 March the Treaty of Chaumont was signed which committed the allies to continue the war until France accepted a return to her 1791 borders.
The Coalition made the Frankfurt proposals to French emperor Napoleon I in November, suggesting peace with France returning to her natural borders (the Rhine, Pyrenees and the Alps).
[2] On 18 January the British foreign secretary Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh arrived at Basel to offer £5 million of subsidies to the Coalition allies to continue fighting France.
Castlereagh was instructed by the British cabinet to ensure the future security of Europe by restricting France to its "ancient limits", forming a federation in Germany and restoring the independence of the Netherlands, Switzerland and the Italian states.
[6] Castlereagh was authorised to give up some of its colonial gains, if necessary, to secure the creation of a unified Dutch-Belgian nation to act as a bulwark against French expansionism.
[2] Napoleon granted Caulaincourt full powers to agree to peace but instructed him to reject any terms that gave up the Alps or the Rhine as frontiers.
He also suggested that the British would install a son of George III on the Belgian throne, hoping to upset the Catholic emperor with the prospect of a protestant king.
The Austrian position may have been driven partly by their awareness of a Russian plan to place Bernadotte on the French throne and secure a post-war alliance with France.
The Russians and Prussians, pressed forward towards Paris while the Austrian army under Schwarzenberg held back, awaiting developments in the peace negotiations.
On 13 April Napoleon accepted the Treaty of Fontainebleau which exiled him to Elba and Louis XVIII was installed as king of France, restoring the Bourbons to the throne.
[4] In the period between his abdication and exile to Elba Napoleon, at Fontainebleau, told Charles Joseph, comte de Flahaut that he was glad to have not agreed to the Châtillon terms stating: "I should have been a sadder man than I am if I had to sign a treaty taking from France one single village which was hers on the day I swore to maintain her integrity".
