LONDON, TREATY OF (1871)

Pact restoring Russian access to the Black Sea.

Articles XI–XIII of the 1856 Peace of Paris restricted Russian access to the Turkish Straits and forced a demilitarization of the Black Sea. Czar Alexander II (1855–1881) never accepted this defeat of Russian interests, and in 1870, he finally found an opportunity to amend the galling Black Sea clauses. With the French faring badly in the Franco-Prussian War, in October 1870 Alexander instructed his foreign minister, Prince Aleksandr Gorchakov, to announce that Russia no longer wished to abide by Articles XI–XIII. The French agreed to an international conference to discuss the proposed Russian revision. The conference opened in London in January 1871, and an agreement was reached by March. The Treaty of London annulled the Black Sea naval rearmament. However, in compensation, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire was given greater latitude to close the straits in times of war.

Bibliography

Anderson, M. S. The Eastern Question, 1774–1923: A Study in International Relations. London: Macmillan, and New York: St. Martin's, 1966.

Hurewitz, J. C., ed. The Middle East and North Africa in World Politics: A Documentary Record, 2nd edition. 2 vols. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1975–1979.

zachary karabell

London, treaty of, 1831. The settlement of the Belgian question was the first test for Palmerston on becoming foreign secretary in Lord Grey's administration. Belgium, previously the Austrian Netherlands, had been reunited with Holland in 1815 to form a barrier to French expansion, but had rebelled in August 1830 and declared itself independent. Under threat from the Dutch, the Belgians looked to France for assistance, provoking fears of renewed French aggrandizement. A conference of the great powers in London in February 1831 recognized Belgian independence and, when the Dutch refused to submit, French troops marched in. When they proved reluctant to leave, Palmerston dropped hints of war. By the treaty of November 1831 Belgian independence and neutrality were guaranteed. The Dutch refused to accept until 1839 when a second treaty of London repeated the assurances. Palmerston had prevented any French territorial acquisitions and helped to establish a constitutional state, under Leopold of Saxe-Coburg. In accordance with the guarantee of 1839, aimed at protecting Belgium from France, Britain declared war in 1914 when Belgium was invaded by the Germans.

J. A. Cannon

LONDON, TREATY OF

LONDON, TREATY OF (1604), brought to an end the formal warfare that had been waged since 1585 between England and Spain, endangering all English colonizing projects in the New World. The treaty temporarily eradicated this danger and, among other things, reopened "free commerce" between the two kingdoms "where commerce existed before the war." Spain intended this clause to exclude English merchants from its colonies overseas, but the English gave it the opposite interpretation, causing continued warfare "beyond the Line" and the rise of the buccaneers. Three years later, with the Spanish threat no longer pressing, King James I authorized the first permanent English settlement in the New World.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Andrews, Charles M. The Colonial Period of American History. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1934.

Davenport, Frances G. European Treaties Bearing on the History of the United States and Its Dependencies to 1648. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution, 1937.

Raymond P.Stearns/a. g.

See alsoColonial Policy, British ; Colonial Settlements ; Colonial Wars ; Piracy .

London, treaty of, 1518. The victory of Francis I, the young king of France, over the Swiss at Marignano in 1515 threatened the balance of power in western Europe. Wolsey and Henry VIII began constructing an anti-French alliance which soon collapsed. In 1518 they switched policy to a rapprochement with Francis and the treaty of London followed. Tournai, captured by the English in 1513, was to be handed back for compensation; Mary, Henry's 2-year-old daughter, was to marry the dauphin; France was not to support the anti-English party in Scotland; there was to be a treaty of universal peace and a crusade against the Turks. Though endorsed by the meeting of Francis and Henry in 1520 at the Field of Cloth of Gold, the peace did not hold and the rapprochement did not prosper. By 1521 Wolsey was negotiating for a marriage between Mary and Charles V, the Habsburg emperor, and a visit by Charles in 1522 agreed plans for an attack upon France.

J. A. Cannon

London, treaty of, 1604. When James I succeeded Elizabeth, he found his new kingdom at war with Spain in support of the Dutch. After lengthy negotiations in London, a suspension of hostilities was converted into peace. James refused to recall ‘volunteers’ in the Dutch service but agreed that they should not be recruited in his dominions. The vexed question of trade with regions claimed by Spain was left unresolved. Spanish ships in distress were to be permitted to seek refuge in English ports. Englishmen in Spain would not be harassed by the Inquisition provided that they caused no public scandal. Though James reserved the right to represent the Dutch case should they wish to open negotiations, the treaty was widely regarded as abandoning them. Reconciliation with Spain remained a major objective with James for the rest of his reign.

J. A. Cannon

LONDON, TREATY OF (1913)

Pact securing Italian claims in the Middle East.

Signed on 26 April, this treaty paved the way for Italy's entry into World War I on the side of the Entente (France and Britain). In return for its support, Italy was promised territory in the Balkans and Anatolia as well as the right to annex Libya, which it had occupied in 1914, and the Dodecanese Islands, part of Greece and formerly, when taken by Italy in 1912, part of the Ottoman Empire.

Bibliography

Anderson, M. S. The Eastern Question, 1774–1923: A Study in International Relations. London: Macmillan; and New York: St. Martin's, 1966.

Hurewitz, J. C., ed. The Middle East and North Africa in World Politics: A Documentary Record, 2nd edition. 2 vols. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1975–1979.

zachary karabell

London, treaty of, 1358. Draft treaty. Edward III's diplomatic hand was considerably strengthened by the capture of John II of France at Poitiers. This treaty, to which the latter seems to have agreed, would have given Edward Aquitaine, Poitou, Ponthieu, and Calais in full sovereignty, as well as a ransom payment of 4 million écus, yet without obliging him to drop his claim to the French throne. It was never ratified, and Edward subsequently increased his demands in a second treaty (March 1359), to include Normandy, Anjou, and Maine. It may be that he had set his demands deliberately high so that the inevitable French refusal would justify the renewal of war. He invaded again in October 1359 with his largest ever army, aiming, it seems, for a coronation at Rheims.

Anne Curry

London, treaty of, 1840. This was concluded with Russia, Austria, and Prussia to secure the ultimate return of Syria from Egypt to Turkey. While it provided for the closing of the Straits to all warships (to Britain's disadvantage), it ended whatever unilateral advantages Russia had enjoyed under the treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi (1833). Palmerston finally persuaded sceptical cabinet colleagues that France, which was backing Egypt, would not risk war. Allied forces speedily restored Syria to Turkish rule. The settlement was confirmed by all the powers, including France, by the Straits Convention of 13 July 1841.

C. J. Bartlett

London, treaty of, 1827. This was an attempt by Canning in company with Russia and France to protect British interests during the Greek revolt against Turkish rule by a partnership with Russia. It followed an earlier protocol (April 1826) which aimed at securing internal autonomy for a tribute-paying Greece. The three powers demanded an immediate armistice, and an allied fleet under Admiral Codrington was sent with vague instructions to prevent further fighting. In the event the Ottoman navies were destroyed at Navarino in October 1827. The treaty was a step on the road to an independent Greece in 1832.

C. J. Bartlett

London, treaty of, 1871. The treaty of Paris, at the end of the Crimean War, declared the Black Sea to be neutral and demilitarized. In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, Russia took the opportunity to repudiate the clause. Since there was nothing a conference in London could do but acquiesce, it passed a pious resolution that states could ‘rid themselves of their treaty engagements’ only with the consent of the other signatories.

J. A. Cannon

London, treaty of, 1474. In 1473 Edward IV was preparing an attack upon Louis XI of France but having difficulty mustering allies. In July 1474, by the treaty of London, Charles of Burgundy agreed to recognize Edward as king of France and join his campaign, in exchange for territorial concessions. But in 1475 Burgundy gave little help, Edward's campaign was inconclusive, and an Anglo-French settlement was reached at Picquigny.

J. A. Cannon

London, treaty of, 1357. David II of Scotland was captured at Neville's Cross in 1346 and taken to the Tower of London. Protracted negotiations for his release came to nothing until the treaty of London of May 1357. The Scots paid a large ransom and gave hostages, but the question of the succession in Scotland was left to one side. The treaty was confirmed at Berwick in October.

J. A. Cannon

London, treaty of, 1423. Anglo-Scottish agreement finalizing the terms of James I's release from English custody. King James was to pay 60,000 marks in English coin, 10,000 of which would be remitted as the dowry of his queen, Joan Beaufort. A seven-year truce was subsequently made at Durham (March 1424).

Norman Macdougall