|
HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE 1792-1878
HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE 1792-1878 C. A. FYFFE Barrister-at-Law; Fellow of University College Oxford;
Vice-President of the Royal Historical Society
POPULAR EDITION
With Maps
PREFACE.
In acceding to the Publishers' request for a re-issue of the "History of
Modern Europe" in the form of a popular edition I feel that I am only
fulfilling what would have been the wish of the Author himself. A few
manuscript corrections and additions found in his own copy of the work have
been adopted in the present edition; in general however my attention in
revising each sheet for the press has been devoted to securing an accurate
reproduction of the text and notes as they appeared in the previous
editions in three volumes. I trust that in this cheaper and more portable
form the work will prove both to the student and the general reader even
more widely acceptable than heretofore.
HENRIETTA F. A. FYFFE.
London November 1895.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
The object of this work is to show how the States of Europe have gained the
form and character which they possess at the present moment. The outbreak
of the Revolutionary War in 1792 terminating a period which now appears
far removed from us and setting in motion forces which have in our own day
produced a united Germany and a united Italy forms the natural
starting-point of a history of the present century. I have endeavoured to
tell a simple story believing that a narrative in which facts are chosen
for their significance and exhibited in their real connection may be made
to convey as true an impression as a fuller history in which the writer is
not forced by the necessity of concentration to exercise the same rigour
towards himself and his materials. The second volume of the work will bring
the reader down to the year 1848: the third down to the present time.
London 1880.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION OF THE FIRST VOLUME. [1]
In revising this volume for the second edition I have occupied myself
mainly with two sources of information--the unpublished Records of the
English Foreign Office and the published works which have during recent
years resulted from the investigation of the Archives of Vienna. The
English Records from 1792 to 1814 for access to which I have to express my
thanks to Lord Granville form a body of firsthand authority of
extraordinary richness compass and interest. They include the whole
correspondence between the representatives of Great Britain at Foreign
Courts and the English Foreign Office; a certain number of private
communications between Ministers and these representatives; a quantity of
reports from consuls agents and "informants" of every description; and in
addition to these the military reports often admirably vivid and full of
matter sent by the British officers attached to the head-quarters of our
Allies in most of the campaigns from 1792 to 1814. It is impossible that
any one person should go through the whole of this material which it took
the Diplomatic Service a quarter of a century to write. I have endeavoured
to master the correspondence from each quarter of Europe which for the
time being had a preponderance in political or military interest leaving
it when its importance became obviously subordinate to that of others; and
although I have no doubt left untouched much that would repay
investigation I trust that the narrative has gained in accuracy from a
labour which was not a light one and that the few short extracts which
space has permitted me to throw into the notes may serve to bring the
reader nearer to events. At some future time I hope to publish a selection
from the most important documents of this period. It is strange that our
learned Societies so appreciative of every distant and trivial chronicle
of the Middle Ages should ignore the records of a time of such surpassing
interest and one in which England played so great a part. No just
conception can be formed of the difference between English statesmanship
and that of the Continental Courts in integrity truthfulness and public
spirit until the mass of diplomatic correspondence preserved at London has
been studied; nor until this has been done can anything like an adequate
biography of Pitt be written.
The second and less important group of authorities with which I have busied
myself during the work of revision comprises the works of Hueffer Vivenot
Beer Helfert and others based on Austrian documents along with the
Austrian documents and letters that have been published by Vivenot. The
last-named writer is himself a partizan but the material which he has
given to the world is most valuable. The mystery in which the Austrian
Government until lately enveloped all its actions caused some of these to
be described as worse than they really were; and I believe that in the
First Edition I under-estimated the bias of Prussian and North-German
writers. Where I have seen reasons to alter any statements I have done so
without reserve as it appears to me childish for any one who attempts to
write history to cling to an opinion after the balance of evidence seems to
be against it. The publication of the second volume of this work has been
delayed by the revision of the first; but I hope that it will appear before
many months more. I must express my obligations to Mr. Oscar Browning a
fellow-labourer in the same field who not only furnished me with various
corrections but placed his own lectures at my disposal; and to Mr. Alfred
Kingston whose unfailing kindness and courtesy make so great a difference
to those whose work lies in the department of the Record Office which is
under his care.
London 1883.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND VOLUME. [2]
In writing this volume I have not had the advantage of consulting the
English Foreign Office Records for a later period than the end of 1815. A
rule not found necessary at Berlin and some other foreign capitals still
closes to historical inquirers the English documents of the last seventy
years. Restrictions are no doubt necessary in the case of transactions of
recent date but the period of seventy years is surely unnecessarily long.
Public interests could not be prejudiced nor could individuals be even
remotely affected by the freest examination of the papers of 1820 or 1830.
The London documents of 1814-1815 are of various degrees of interest and
importance. Those relating to the Congress of Vienna are somewhat
disappointing. Taken all together they add less to our knowledge on the
one or two points still requiring elucidation than the recently-published
correspondence of Talleyrand with Louis XVIII. The despatches from Italy
are on the other hand of great value proving what I believe was not
established before that the Secret Treaty of 1815 whereby Austria gained
a legal right to prevent any departure from absolute Government at Naples
was communicated to the British Ministry and received its sanction. This
sanction explains the obscure and embarrassed language of Castlereagh in
1820 which in its turn gave rise to the belief in Italy that England was
more deeply committed to Austria than it actually was and probably
occasioned the forgery of the pretended Treaty of July 27 1813 exposed in
vol. i. of this work p. 538 2nd edit. [3] The papers from France and
Spain are also interesting though not establishing any new conclusions.
While regretting that I have not been able to use the London archives later
than 1815 I believe that it is nevertheless possible without recourse to
unpublished papers to write the history of the succeeding thirty years
with substantial correctness. There exist in a published form apart from
documents printed officially masses of first-hand material of undoubtedly
authentic character such as the great English collection known by the
somewhat misleading name of Wellington Despatches New Series; or again
the collection printed as an appendix to Prokesch von Osten's History of
the Greek Rebellion or the many volumes of Gentz' Correspondence belonging
to the period about 1820 when Gentz was really at the centre of affairs.
The Metternich papers interesting as far as they go are a mere selection.
The omissions are glaring and scarcely accidental. Many minor collections
bearing on particular events might be named such as those in Guizot's
Memoires. Frequent references will show my obligation to the German series
of historical works constituting the Leipzig Staatengeschichte as well as
to French authors who like Viel-Castel have worked with original sources
of information before them. There exist in English literature singularly
few works on this period of Continental history.
A greater publicity was introduced into political affairs on the Continent
by the establishment of Parliamentary Government in France in 1815 and
even by the attempts made to introduce it in other States. In England we
have always had freedom of discussion but the amount of information made
public by the executive in recent times has been enormously greater than it
was at the end of the last century. The only documents published at the
outbreak of the war of 1793 were so far as I can ascertain the well-known
letters of Chauvelin and Lord Grenville. During the twenty years' struggle
with France next to nothing was known of the diplomatic transactions
between England and the Continental Powers. But from the time of the Reform
Bill onwards the amount of information given to the public has been
constantly increasing and the reader of Parliamentary Papers in our own
day is likely to complain of diffusiveness rather than of reticence.
Nevertheless the perusal of published papers can never be quite the same
thing as an examination of the originals; and the writer who first has
access to the English archives after 1815 will have an advantage over those
who have gone before him.
The completion of this volume has been delayed by almost every circumstance
adverse to historical study and production including a severe
Parliamentary contest. I trust however that no trace of partisanship or
unrest appears in the work which I have valued for the sake of the mental
discipline which it demanded. With quieter times the third volume will I
trust advance more rapidly.
LONDON October 1886.
NOTE.--The third volume was published in 1889.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
FRANCE AND GERMANY AT THE OUTBREAK OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
Outbreak of the Revolutionary War in 1792--Its immediate causes--
Declaration of Pillnitz made and withdrawn--Agitation of the Priests and
Emigrants--War Policy of the Gironde--Provocations offered to France by the
Powers--State of Central Europe in 1792--The Holy Roman Empire--Austria--
Rule of the Hapsburgs--The Reforms of Maria Theresa and Joseph II.--Policy
of Leopold II.--Government and Foreign Policy of Francis II.--Prussia--
Government of Frederick William II.--Social Condition of Prussia--Secondary
States of Germany--Ecclesiastical States--Free Cities--Knights--Weakness of
Germany
CHAPTER II.
THE WAR DOWN TO THE TREATIES OF BASLE AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE
DIRECTORY.
French and Austrian Armies on the Flemish Frontier--Prussia enters the
War--Brunswick invades France--His Proclamation--Insurrection of Aug. 10 at
Paris--Massacres of September--Character of the War--Brunswick checked at
Valmy retreats--The War becomes a Crusade of France--Neighbours of
France--Custine enters Mainz--Dumouriez conquers the Austrian Netherlands--
Nice and Savoy annexed--Decree of the Convention against all Governments--
Execution of Louis XVI.--War with England followed by war with the
Mediterranean States--Condition of England--English Parties how affected
by the Revolution--The Gironde and the Mountain--Austria recovers the
Netherlands--The Allies invade France--La Vendee--Revolutionary System of
1793--Errors of the Allies--New French Commanders and Democratic
Army--Victories of Jourdan Hoche and Pichegru--Prussia withdrawing from
the War--Polish Affairs--Austria abandons the Netherlands--Treaties of
Basle--France in 1795--Insurrection of 13 Vendemiaire--Constitution of
1795--The Directory--Effect of the Revolution on the Spirit of Europe up to
1795
CHAPTER III.
ITALIAN CAMPAIGNS: TREATY OF CAMPO FORMIO.
Triple attack on Austria--Moreau Jourdan--Bonaparte in Italy--Condition
of the Italian States--Professions and real intentions of Bonaparte and the
Directory--Battle of Montenotte--Armistice with Sardinia--Campaign in
Lombardy--Treatment of the Pope Naples Tuscany--Siege of Mantua--
Castiglione--Moreau and Jourdan in Germany--Their retreat--Secret Treaty
with Prussia--Negotiations with England--Cispadane Republic--Rise of the
idea of Italian Independence--Battles of Arcola and Rivoli--Peace with the
Pope at Tolentino--Venice--Preliminaries of Leoben--The French in
Venice--The French take the Ionian Islands and give Venice to
Austria--Genoa--Coup d'etat of 17 Fructidor in Paris--Treaty of Campo
Formio--Victories of England at Sea--Bonaparte's project against Egypt
CHAPTER IV.
FROM THE CONGRESS OF RASTADT TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CONSULATE.
Congress of Rastadt--The Rhenish Provinces ceded--Ecclesiastical States of
Germany suppressed--French Intervention in Switzerland--Helvetic
Republic--The French invade the Papal States--Roman Republic--Expedition to
Egypt--Battle of the Nile--Coalition of 1798--Ferdinand of Naples enters
Rome--Mack's defeats--French enter Naples--Parthenopean Republic--War with
Austria and Russia--Battle of Stockach--Murder of the French Envoys at
Rastadt--Campaign in Lombardy--Reign of Terror at Naples--Austrian designs
upon Italy--Suvaroff and the Austrians--Campaign in Switzerland--Campaign
in Holland--Bonaparte returns from Egypt--Coup d'etat of 18 Brumaire--
Constitution of 1799--System of Bonaparte in France--Its effect on the
influence of France abroad
CHAPTER V.
FROM MARENGO TO THE RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS.
Overtures of Bonaparte to Austria and England--The War continues--Massena
besieged in Genoa--Moreau invades Southern Germany--Bonaparte crosses the
St. Bernard and descends in the rear of the Austrians--Battle of
Marengo--Austrians retire behind the Mincio--Treaty between England and
Austria--Austria continues the War--Battle of Hohenlinden--Peace of
Luneville--War between England and the Northern Maritime League--Battle
of Copenhagen--Murder of Paul--End of the Maritime War--English Army
enters Egypt--French defeated at Alexandria--They capitulate at Cairo and
Alexandria--Preliminaries of Peace between England and France signed at
London followed by Peace of Amiens--Pitt's Irish Policy and his
retirement--Debates on the Peace--Aggressions of Bonaparte during the
Continental Peace--Holland Italy Switzerland--Settlement of Germany
under French and Russian influence--Suppression of Ecclesiastical States
and Free Cities--Its effects--Stein--France under the Consulate--The
Civil Code--The Concordat
CHAPTER VI.
THE EMPIRE TO THE PEACE OF PRESBURG.
England claims Malta--War renewed--Bonaparte occupies Hanover and
blockades the Elbe--Remonstrances of Prussia--Cadoudal's Plot--Murder
of the Duke of Enghien--Napoleon Emperor--Coalition of 1805--Prussia
holds aloof--State of Austria--Failure of Napoleon's Attempt to gain
Naval Superiority in the Channel--Campaign in Western Germany--
Capitulation of Ulm--Trafalgar--Treaty of Potsdam between Prussia and
the Allies--The French enter Vienna--Haugwitz sent to Napoleon with
Prussian Ultimatum--Battle of Austerlitz--Haugwitz signs a Treaty of
Alliance with Napoleon--Peace--Treaty of Presburg--End of the Holy
Roman Empire--Naples given to Joseph Bonaparte--Battle of Maida--The
Napoleonic Empire and Dynasty--Federation of the Rhine--State of
Germany--Possibility of maintaining the Empire of 1806
CHAPTER VII.
DEATH OF PITT TO THE PEACE OF TILSIT.
Death of Pitt--Ministry of Fox and Grenville--Napoleon forces Prussia into
war with England and then offers Hanover to England--Prussia resolves on
war with Napoleon--State of Prussia--Decline of the Army--Southern Germany
with Napoleon--Austria neutral--England and Russia about to help Prussia
but not immediately--Campaign of 1806--Battles of Jena and Auerstaedt--Ruin
of the Prussian Army--Capitulation of Fortresses--Demands of Napoleon--The
War continues--Berlin Decree--Exclusion of English goods from the
Continent--Russia enters the war--Campaign in Poland and East
Prussia--Eylau--Treaty of Bartenstein--Friedland--Interview at
Tilsit--Alliance of Napoleon and Alexander--Secret Articles--English
expedition to Denmark--The French enter Portugal--Prussia after the Peace
of Tilsit--Stein's Edict of Emancipation--The Prussian Peasant--Reform of
the Prussian Army and creation of Municipalities--Stein's other projects
of Reform which are not carried out
CHAPTER VIII.
SPAIN TO THE FALL OF SARAGOSSA.
Spain in 1806--Napoleon uses the quarrel between Ferdinand and Godoy--He
affects to be Ferdinand's Protector--Dupont's Army enters Spain--Murat in
Spain--Charles abdicates--Ferdinand King--Savary brings Ferdinand to
Bayonne--Napoleon makes both Charles and Ferdinand resign--Spirit of the
Spanish Nation--Contrast with Germany--Rising of all Spain--The Notables
at Bayonne--Campaign of 1808--Capitulation of Baylen--Wellesley lands in
Portugal--Vimieiro--Convention of Cintra--Effect of the Spanish Rising on
Europe--War Party in Prussia--Napoleon and Alexander at Erfurt--Stein
resigns and is proscribed--Napoleon in Spain--Spanish Misgovernment--
Campaign on the Ebro--Campaign of Sir John Moore--Corunna--Napoleon
leaves Spain--Siege of Saragossa--Successes of the French
CHAPTER IX.
WAR OF 1809: THE NAPOLEONIC EMPIRE--SPAIN TO THE BATTLE OF SALAMANCA.
Austria preparing for war--The war to be one on behalf of the German
Nation--Patriotic movement in Prussia--Expected Insurrection in North
Germany--Plans of Campaign--Austrian Manifesto to the Germans--Rising of
the Tyrolese--Defeats of the Archduke Charles in Bavaria--French in
Vienna--Attempts of Doernberg and Schill--Battle of Aspern--Second passage
of the Danube--Battle of Wagram--Armistice of Znaim--Austria waiting for
Events--Wellesley in Spain--He gains the Battle of Talavera but
retreats--Expedition against Antwerp fails--Austria makes Peace--Treaty of
Vienna--Real Effects of the War of 1809--Austria after 1809--Metternich--
Marriage of Napoleon with Marie Louise--Severance of Napoleon and
Alexander--Napoleon annexes the Papal States Holland Le Valais and the
North German Coast--The Napoleonic Empire: its benefits and wrongs--The
Czar withdraws from Napoleon's Commercial System--War with Russia
imminent--Wellington in Portugal; Lines of Torres Vedras; Massena's
Campaign of 1810 and retreat--Soult in Andalusia--Wellington's Campaign
of 1811--Capture of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz--Salamanca
CHAPTER X.
RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN TO THE TREATY OF KALISCH.
War approaching between France and Russia--Policy of Prussia--Hardenberg's
Ministry--Prussia forced into Alliance with Napoleon--Austrian Alliance--
Napoleon's Preparations--He enters Russia--Alexander and Bernadotte--Plan
of Russians to fight a battle at Drissa frustrated--They retreat on
Witepsk--Sufferings of the French--French enter Smolensko--Battle of
Borodino--Evacuation of Moscow--Moscow fired--The Retreat from Moscow--
French at Smolensko--Advance of Russian Armies from North and South--Battle
of Krasnoi--Passage of the Beresina--The French reach the Niemen--York's
Convention with the Russians--The Czar and Stein--Russian Army enters
Prussia--Stein raises East Prussia--Treaty of Kalisch--Prussia declares
War--Enthusiasm of the Nation--Idea of German Unity--The Landwehr
CHAPTER XI.
WAR OF LIBERATION TO THE PEACE OF PARIS.
The War of Liberation--Bluecher crosses the Elbe--Battle of Luetzen--The
Allies retreat to Silesia--Battle of Bautzen--Armistice--Napoleon intends
to intimidate Austria--Mistaken as to the Forces of Austria--Metternich's
Policy--Treaty of Reichenbach--Austria offers its Mediation--Congress of
Prague--Austria enters the War--Armies and Plans of Napoleon and the
Allies--Campaign of August--Battles of Dresden Grosbeeren the Katzbach
and Kulm--Effect of these Actions--Battle of Dennewitz--German Policy of
Austria favourable to the Princes of the Rhenish Confederacy--Frustrated
hopes of German Unity--Battle of Leipzig--The Allies reach the Rhine--
Offers of Peace at Frankfort--Plan of Invasion of France--Backwardness of
Austria--The Allies enter France--Campaign of 1814--Congress of
Chatillon--Napoleon moves to the rear of the Allies--The Allies advance
on Paris--Capitulation of Paris--Entry of the Allies--Dethronement of
Napoleon--Restoration of the Bourbons--The Charta--Treaty of Paris--
Territorial effects of the War 1792-1814--Every Power except France had
gained--France relatively weaker in Europe--Summary of the permanent
effects of this period on Europe
END OF VOL. I. (ORIGINAL EDITION).
CHAPTER XII.
THE RESTORATION.
The Restoration of 1814--Norway--Naples--Westphalia--Spain--The Spanish
Constitution overthrown: victory of the clergy--Restoration in France--The
Charta--Encroachments of the nobles and clergy--Growing hostility to the
Bourbons--Congress of Vienna--Talleyrand and the Four Powers--The Polish
question--The Saxon question--Theory of Legitimacy--Secret alliance
against Russia and Prussia--Compromise--The Rhenish Provinces--Napoleon
leaves Elba and lands in France--His declarations--Napoleon at Grenoble
at Lyons at Paris--The Congress of Vienna unites Europe against
France--Murat's action in Italy--The Acte Additionnel--The Champ de
Mai--Napoleon takes up the offensive--Battles of Ligny Quatre Bras
Waterloo--Affairs at Paris--Napoleon sent to St. Helena--Wellington and
Fouche--Arguments on the proposed cession of French territory--Treaty of
Holy Alliance--Second Treaty of Paris--Conclusion of the work of the
Congress of Vienna--Federation of Germany--Estimate of the Congress of
Vienna and of the Treaties of 1815--The Slave Trade
CHAPTER XIII.
THE PROGRESS OF REACTION.
Concert of Europe after 1815--Spirit of the Foreign Policy of Alexander of
Metternich and of the English Ministry--Metternich's action in Italy
England's in Sicily and Spain--The Reaction in France--Richelieu and the
New Chamber--Execution of Ney--Imprisonments and persecutions--Conduct of
the Ultra-Royalists in Parliament--Contests on the Electoral Bill and the
Budget--The Chamber prorogued--Affair of Grenoble--Dissolution of the
Chamber--Electoral Law and Financial Settlement of 1817--Character of the
first years of peace in Europe generally--Promise of a Constitution in
Prussia--Hardenberg opposed by the partisans of autocracy and
privilege--Schmalz' Pamphlet--Delay of Constitutional Reform in Germany at
large--The Wartburg Festival--Progress of Reaction--The Czar now inclines
to repression--Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle--Evacuation of France--Growing
...
|
