Treaty of Vienna (Seventh Coalition)

His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and of Bohemia,^[2] having taken into consideration the consequences which the invasion of France by Napoleon Bonaparte, and the actual situation of that Kingdom, may produce with respect to the safety of Europe; have resolved, in conjunction with his Majesty the Emperor of the Russias,^[3] and his Majesty the King of Prussia, to apply to that important circumstance the principles consecrated by the Treaty of Chaumont.^[4]

They have consequently resolved to renew, by a solemn Treaty signed separately by each of the 4 Powers with each of the 3 others, the engagement to preserve against every attack, the order of things so happily established in Europe, and to determine upon the most effectual means of fulfilling that engagement, as well as of giving it all the extension which the present circumstances so imperiously call for.

For that purpose his Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland has named, to discuss, conclude, and sign the conditions of the present Treaty with his Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia,^[5] Arthur Wellesley, Duke, Marquis, and Earl of Wellington, Marquis Douro, Viscount Wellington of Talavera and of Wellington, and Baron Douro of Wellesley, a Peer of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and one of his Britannic Majesty's most honourable Privy Council, Field Marshal of his Forces, Colonel of the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, Knight of the most noble Order of the Garter, and Grand Cross of the most noble Military Order of the Bath, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, a Grandee of Spain of the First Class, Duke of Vittoria, Marquis of Torres Vedras and Count of Vimiera in Portugal, Knight of the most illustrious Order of the Golden Fleece of Spain, of the Military Order of St. Ferdinand, Grand Cross of the Imperial Military Order of Maria Theresa, of the Imperial Russian Order of St. George, of the Portuguese Order of the Tower and Sword, of the Swedish Order of the Sword, his Britannic Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Most Christian King, and his First Plenipotentiary to the Congress at Vienna;

And His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty having nominated on his part, the Sieur Clement-Wenceslas Lothaire, Prince de Metternich-Winnebourg-Ochsenhausen, Knight of the Golden Fleece, Grand Cross of the Royal Order of St. Stephen of Hungary, Knight of the Orders of St. Andrew, of St. Alexander Newsky, and of St. Anne of the First Class, Grand Cordon of the Legion of Honour, Knight of the Order of the Elephant, of the Supreme Order of the Annunciation, of the Black Eagle, and of the Red Eagle, of the Seraphim, of St. Joseph of Tuscany, of St. Hubert, of the Golden Eagle of Wurtemberg, of Fidelity of Baden, of St. John of Jerusalem, and of several others; Chancellor of the Military Order of Maria Theresa, Curator of the Academy of the Fine Arts, Chamberlain, intimate and actual Counsellor of His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia, his Minister of State, of Conferences, and of Foreign Affairs, his First Plenipotentiary at the Congress; and the Sieur John Philip Baron de Wessenberg, Chamberlain, and Intimate Actual Counsellor of His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty, his Second Plenipotentiary at the Congress:^[6]

The said Plenipotentiaries, after having exchanged their Full Powers, and found them in good and due form, have agreed upon the following Articles:^[7]

Art. I. The High Contracting Parties above-mentioned, solemnly engage to unite the resources of their respective States, for the purpose of maintaining entire the conditions of the Treaty of Peace, concluded at Paris the 30th of May, 1814; as also the stipulations determined upon and signed at the Congress of Vienna, with the view to complete the disposition of that Treaty, to preserve them against all infringement, and particularly against the designs of Napoleon Bonaparte.

For this purpose they engage, in the spirit of the Declaration of the 13th March last,^[4] to direct in common, and with one accord, should the case require it, all their efforts against him, and against all those who should already have joined his faction, or shall hereafter join it, in order to force him to desist from his Projects, and to render him unable to disturb in future the tranquillity of Europe, and the general peace under the protection of which the rights, the liberty, and independence of nations had been recently placed and secured.

II. Although the means destined for the attainment of so great and salutary an object, ought not to be subjected to limitation, and although the High Contracting Parties are resolved to devote thereto all those means which, in their respective situations, they are enabled to dispose of, they have nevertheless agreed to keep constantly in the field, each, a force of 150,000 men complete, including Cavalry in the proportion of at least, one-tenth, and a just proportion of Artillery, not reckoning Garrisons; and to employ the same actively and conjointly against the common Enemy.

III. The High Contracting Parties reciprocally engage not to lay down their arms but by common consent, nor before the object of the War, designated in the first Article of the present Treaty, shall have been attained; nor until Bonaparte shall have been rendered absolutely unable to create disturbance, and to renew his attempts for possessing himself of the Supreme Power in France.

IV. The present Treaty being principally applicable to the present circumstances, the Stipulations of the Treaty of Chaumont, and particularly those contained in the 16th Article of the same, shall be again in force, as soon as the object actually in view shall have been attained.

V. Whatever relates to the combined armies, to supplies, &c. shall be regulated by a Particular Convention.

VI. The High Contracting Parties shall be allowed respectively to accredit to the Generals commanding their Armies, Officers, who shall have the liberty of corresponding with their governments, for the purpose of giving information of Military Events, and of every thing relating to the operations of the Armies.

VII. The engagements entered into by the present Treaty, having for their object the maintenance of the General Peace, the High Contracting Parties agree to invite all the Powers of Europe to accede to the same.

VIII. The present Treaty having no other end in view but to support France, or any other Country which may be invaded, against the enterprizes of Bonaparte and his Adherents, His Most Christian Majesty shall be specially invited to accede hereunto; and, in the event of his Majesty's requiring the Forces stipulated in the IInd Article, to make known what assistance circumstances will allow him to bring forward in the furtherance of the object of the present Treaty.

IX. The present Treaty shall be ratified, and the Ratifications exchanged in 2 months, or sooner if possible.

In faith whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed it, and affixed hereto the Impression of their Arms.

Done at Vienna, the 25th of March, 1815.

As circumstances might prevent his Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from keeping constantly in the Field the number of troops specified in the IInd Article, it is agreed, that his Britannic Majesty shall have the option, either of furnishing his contingent in men, or of paying at the rate of £30 per annum for each, Cavalry Soldier, and £20 per annum for each Infantry Soldier, that may be wanting to complete the number stipulated in the IInd Article.

The resent Additional and Separate Article shall have the same force and effect as if it were inserted word for word in the Treaty this day.

It shall be ratified, and the Ratifications shall be exchanged at the same time.

In faith whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed it and have affixed thereto the impression of their Arms.

Done at Vienna, the 25th of March, 1815.

Foreign-office, April 25, 1815.^[9]

The Treaty, of which the substance is above given, has been ordered to be ratified, and it has been notified on the part of the Prince Regent to the High Contracting Parties, that it is His Royal Highness's determination, acting in the name and on the behalf of His Majesty, to direct the said Ratifications to be exchanged in due course, against similar Acts on the part of the respective Powers, under an Explanatory Declaration of the following tenour, as to Article VIII of the said treaty.

DECLERATIONS of the Plenipotentiaries of the 4 Powers, relative to the Accession of the King of France to the proceeding Treaty.

Foreign Office—May, 1815^[10][11]

The Undersigned, on the exchange of the Ratifications of the Treaty of the 25th of March last, on the part of his Court, is hereby commanded to declare, that the VIIIth Article of the said Treaty, wherein his Most Christian Majesty is invited to accede, under certain stipulations, is to be understood as binding the Contracting Parties, upon principles of mutual security, to a common effort against the power of Napoleon Buonaparte, in pursuance of the IIIrd Article of the said Treaty; but is not to be understood as binding his Britannic Majesty to prosecute the War with a view of imposing upon France any particular Government.

However solicitous the Prince Regent must be to see his Most Christian Majesty restored to the Throne, and however anxious he is to contribute, in conjunction with his Allies, to so auspicious an event, he nevertheless deems himself called upon to make this Declaration, on the exchange of the Ratifications, as well in consideration of what is due to his Most Christian Majesty's interests in France, as in conformity to the principles upon which the British Government has invariably regulated its conduct.

CASTLEREAGH

[The Treaty was received in London on the 5th instant; the answer thereto was dispatched to Vienna on the 8th. Authority and instructions have also been given to the earl of Clancarty to sign a subsidiary engagement consequent upon the said Treaty.]^[12]

Austrian Treaty

• Complied by the Librarian and Keeper of the papers, Foreign Office, British and foreign state papers 1814—1815 Volume 2, James Ridgway and sons, 1839 pp. 443–450

Russian Treaty

• Hansard, Thomas Curson. The Parliamentary Debates from the Year 1803 to the Present Time, Vol. XXX. (period March 1815 – 1 May 1815), Cradock et al. 24 April 1815, pp. 796–798
• Hansard, Thomas Curson. The Parliamentary Debates from the Year 1803 to the Present Time, Vol. XXXI. (Period 2 May - 12 July 1815), Cradock et al 22 May 1815 p. 303–306
• Treaty between His Britannic Majesty and His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, signed at Vienna, 25th March, 1815. (HC Deb 22 May 1815 vol 31 cc303-6) Hansard millbanksystems