Congress of Paris (1856)

The Congress of Paris is the name for a series of diplomatic meetings held in 1856 in Paris, France, to negotiate peace between the warring powers in the Crimean War that had started almost three years earlier.^[1]

The Congress was attended by diplomatic representatives from the nations of France, Great Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, as well as from the Ottoman Empire and Piedmont-Sardinia and was presided by the French Prime-Minister Alexandre Colonna-Walewski. The agreement resulted in continued recognition of the Ottoman Empire and the return to pre-war territorial borders for Russia and the Empire.

Background

The Crimean War was fought mainly on the

One reason often communicated was the Russians' demand for both better treatment of and their right to protect the Ottoman Empire's Orthodox subjects.^[2] That would be promised by the sultan at the Congress of Paris.

Another reason was a dispute between the Russians and the French about the privileges of the Russian Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Churches in Palestine.^[2]

The reasons and interests playing a role in the background can be read from the following agreements negotiated in the peace treaty: the Black Sea became neutral, meaning its waters were closed to all warships and the building of fortresses was forbidden, the Danube was opened to the shipping of all nations.

Also important appeared to be a multilateral agreement on some basic legal principles of maritime warfare, resulting in the separate Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law, that was acceded by altogether 55 nations.

Backed by Britain and France, the sultan declared war against Russia on 4 October 1853.^[2] On 28 March 1854, both of the other powers declared war against Russia. On 26 January 1855, Piedmont-Sardinia also entered the war by sending 10,000 troops to aid Britain and France against Russia.^[2]

Throughout the war, the

France, Great Britain, Russia, Austria, Prussia and the Ottoman Empire were at that time considered as the

The Congress of Paris worked out the final terms from 25 February to 30 March 1856, the Treaty of Paris was signed on 30 March 1856 with Russia on one side and France, Great Britain, Turkey and Piedmont-Sardinia on the other.^[1] at the Quai d'Orsay.^[4]

One of the representatives who attended the Congress of Paris on behalf of the Ottoman Empire was

The Congress of Vienna (1814) with over 200 nations participating, spread questions and issues for different committees to resolve. The Congress of Paris could resolved everything in a relatively short period of time.^[5]

A significant diplomatic victory was scored by

The Congress resulted in a pledge by all powers to jointly maintain "the integrity of the Ottoman Empire", thus guaranteeing its independence.[1]

Also, Russia gave up the left bank of the mouth of the Danube River, including part of Bessarabia,^[3] to Moldavia, as well as its claim to the special protection of Christians in the Ottoman Empire. Moldavia and Wallachia, which together would become Romania in 1858, along with Serbia, were recognized as quasi-independent self-governing principalities under protection of the other European powers. The Ottoman sultan agreed, in return, to help to improve the status of the Christian subjects in his empire.^[3]

The territories of Russia and the Ottoman Empire were restored to their prewar boundaries.

After signing the peace treaty, on a proposal of the French Prime-Minister, the

• Privateering is and remains abolished;
• The neutral flag covers enemy's goods, with the exception of contraband of war;
• Neutral goods, with the exception of contraband of war, are not liable to capture under the enemy's flag;
• Blockades, in order to be binding, must be effective-that is to say, maintained by a forge sufficient really to prevent access to the coast of the enemy.^[6]

The Declaration has been signed by Great Britain, Austria, France, Prussia, Russia, Sardinia and Turkey.

As an important juridical novelty in international law the treaty for the first time in history created the possibility for nations that were not involved in the establishment of the agreement and did not sign, to become a party by acceding the declaration afterwards.^[7] Within a short period after signing, 55 states, royal houses and free cities ratified the Declaration, which meant a big step in the globalisation of international (maritime) law.

Aftermath

Turkish historians still express dissatisfaction: "Although [the] Ottoman Empire was on the side of victors, the Porte also lost the right to have a navy in the Black Sea together with Russia. Put differently, the Empire had become a part of the European Concert, but not an actor in the European balance of power. Thus it was not recognized as a great power that could claim compensation in case of territorial gain by another member of the system".^[8]

The conditions of the Paris Congress collapsed after the defeat of France in the 1870-1871 Franco-Prussian War. After the surrender of the fortress of Metz, when France lost hope of winning the war, Russia announced its refusal to comply with the terms of the treaty. Russian Foreign Minister Alexander Gorchakov denounced the treaty's Black Sea clauses on 31 October 1870, which was documented by the Treaty of London (1871).

Some of the rules and agreements would be changed by the Congress of Berlin.^[3]

References