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France and the Problem of Intervention in Spain 1834–1836

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

Roger Bullen
Roger Bullen
Affiliation:
London School of Economics
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Extract

French foreign policy during the Orleans Monarchy was dominated by the search for an agreement with another power. In the first two years of the new monarchy's existence the fear of isolation exercised a profound influence over the conduct of French diplomacy and almost every French politician and diplomat regarded an entente with another great power as the only remedy. Thus the immediate aim of foreign policy was to divide the enemies of France. Throughout the negotiations in London in 1831 and 1832 on the Belgian question, Talleyrand, the French ambassador in London, regarded the prevention of an anti-French coalition as his major objective. The pursuit of French interests in the Low Countries, however important, had to be subordinated to this overriding aim. It was to England that Talleyrand looked for support; he rightly believed that the Whigs were ideologically opposed to a conservative coalition against France and that it was the English government which had the most to gain from co-operation with France on the Belgian question. Once it became clear - as it certainly had by mid-1832 - that there was little likelihood of the emergence of an anti-French coalition, the search for an agreement with another power could be associated with the pursuit of more positive ends.

Type
Articles
Information
The Historical Journal , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , June 1977 , pp. 363 - 393
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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References

1 Pallain, G. (ed.), Ambassade de Talleyrand à Londres 1830–1834 (Paris, 1891), 1, ixGoogle Scholar.

2 The extreme right advocated a Russian alliance and then a war to undo the treaties of 1815. The idea was first advanced in the early years of the Restoration. See de Bertier de Sauvigny, G., Metternich et la France apres le Congres de Vienne (Paris, 1968), 1, 200–3Google Scholar. See also Thiers' speech reported in Le Moniteur, 10 August 1831, in which he stated that France could not ‘recouvrer ce qu'elle avait perdu’ until she had an ally.

3 Thureau-Dangin, P., Histoire de la Monarchic de Juillet (8 vols., Paris, 1880–1894), 1, 49–50Google Scholar.

4 Thiers to Louis Philippe, [;?] August 1836. Bibliothèque Nationale, N[ouvelles] A[cquisitions] F[rancaises] (hereafter B.N. N.A.F.), 20601.

5 Broglie to Talleyrand, 27 Jan. 1834. Archives du Ministere des Affaires EÉtrangères, Correspondance Politique (hereafter AMAECP), Angleterre 643.

6 Talleyrand to Broglie, 24 Dec. 1833. AMAECP Angleterre 642.

7 Talleyrand to Broglie, 11 Feb. 1833. AMAECP Angleterre 640.

8 Thiers, A., La Monarchic de 1830 (Paris, 1831), p. 103Google Scholar.

9 For Broglie's views on the English alliance see Broglie to Talleyrand, 24 Jan. 1833. AMAECP Angleterre 640. See also my Palmerston, Guizot and the collapse of the Entente Cordiale (London, 1974), pp. 2–5Google Scholar.

10 Talleyrand to Broglie, 24 Dec. 1833. AMAECP Angleterre 642. For the text of the proposed agreement see Thureau-Dangin, op. tit. 11, 377.

11 Palmerston to Granville, 7 Jan. 1834. Broadlands papers (hereafter B.P.) GC/GR/1502. The Broadlands papers are used by permission of the Trustees of the Broadlands Archives.

12 Talleyrand told Louis Philippe in late 1834, ‘L’interet de Votre Majesté exige done qu'elle se rapproche des puissances orientales…Les grandes cours ne vous aiment pas, mais elles commencent à vous estimer.’ Thureau-Dangin, op. cit. 11, 393–4.

13 Broglie's view of the entente with England was that it should be accepted ‘avec ses conditions inevitables et ses vicissitudes naturelles, avec ses hauts et ses bas’. Ibid. II, 391.

14 Ibid. 11, 247. Palmerston was well aware how much the maintenance of the entente depended on Broglie's presence at the French Foreign Ministry. Granville, on Palmerston's instructions, informed Louis Philippe that ‘no other Minister for Foreign Affairs would inspire the same confidence in the British Govt…the change might impair the intimate union now subsisting between the two Govts’. Granville to Palmerston, 10 Jan. 1834. B.P. GC/GR/514.

15 At the end of 1834 and in 1835 Louis Philippe began to communicate his views on foreign affairs to Apponyi, the Austrian ambassador in Paris. The conversations developed into a virtual correspondence between Metternich and Louis Philippe in which Apponyi was the go-between. The objects of the two men in initiating this exchange of views were essentially different; Louis Philippe was attempting to pave the way for a Franco-Austrian rapprochement, Metternich sought to undermine the confidence of the French in the entente with England. The correspondence between Metternich and Apponyi in 1834 and 1835 is extensively quoted in Mémoires, Documents et £crits divers laisses par le Prince de Metternich, ed. Metternich, Prince Richard (7 vols., Paris, 1880–1884), VIGoogle Scholar. Flahaut, the French ambassador at Vienna, saw through Metternich's diplomacy more quickly and more clearly than the king. Metternich's object since 1834, Flahaut informed Thiers, has been to flatter us ‘par des paroles, mais jamais, s'il peut l'èviter, il ne se compromettra par des actes positifs’. Flahaut to Thiers, 16 March 1836. AMAECP Autriche 423. See also Comte de Sainte Aulaire, Souvenirs, Vienne 1833–1841, ed. Thiebaut, Marcel (Paris, 1927), pp. 115–16Google Scholar.

16 Palmerston to Villiers, 10 April 1834. B.P. GC/CL/1223. Talleyrand to Rigny, 13 April 1834. AMAECP Angleterre 643.

17 Talleyrand to Rigny, 14 April 1834. AMAECP Angleterre 643.

18 Ibid.

19 For the text of the Quadruple Alliance see Hurst, Michael, Key treaties for the Great Powers 1814–1914 (2 vols., London, 1972), 1, 232–5Google Scholar. Talleyrand to Rigny, 10 April 1834. AMAECP Angleterre 643.

20 For Talleyrand's alliance proposals see Talleyrand to Rigny, 7 April 1834, AMAECP Angleterre 643. Palmerston advanced five objections. 1. That there was no danger threatening either country which could require such a treaty. 2. That it would be disliked by parliament to whom it would have to be presented. 3. That it would be unpopular in the country because ‘we hate all unnecessary and prospective engagements with any power’. 4. That the cabinet would never agree to it. 5. That any agreement contracted with the present French government might be made use of by another set of men to incite revolutionary insurrection in Europe. Palmerston to Granville, 14 April 1834. B.P. GC/GR/1518.

21 Rigny to Talleyrand, 17 April 1834, no. 1. AMAECP Angleterre. This decision was taken by the French cabinet.

22 Rigny to Talleyrand, 17 April 1834, no. 2. AMAECP Angleterre.

23 Ibid.

24 Ibid. This was not Rigny's idea. In Nov. 1833 Rayneval, the French ambassador at Madrid, had suggested that the French government should offer the British government a free hand in Portugal; France could then claim ‘le droit d'agir ici [Madrid] sans controle de sa part’. Rayneval to Broglie, 8 Nov. 1833. AMAECP Espagne 761.

25 For an account of the king's views on Spanish affairs, see Aston (Secretary of the British embassy in Paris) to Villiers, 24 April 1834. Aston papers, Public Record Office (hereafter P.R.O.) F.O. 355/6.

26 Broglie to Rayneval, 13 Nov. 1833; quoted in Guizot, F., Mèmoires pour servir àl'histoire de man temps (8 vols., Paris, new edition 1872). iv, 71–2Google Scholar.

27 Broglie to Rayneval, 23 May 1835. AMAECP Espagne 765.

28 Aston to Villiers, 25 April 1834. Aston papers, P.R.O, F.O. 355/6.

29 In May 1835 the king told Lord Eliot that ‘he personally was averse to armed intervention and that with that feeling only had he been induced to become a party to the Quadruple Alliance, to avoid the necessity of an armed intervention’. Papers relating to Lard Eliot's mission to Spain in 1835 (privately printed, London, 1871), p. 101Google Scholar. Louis Philippe also told Esterhazy, the Austrian chargé d'affaires in Paris, that France joined the Quadruple Alliance because ‘dans l'intérêt général il croyait même plus utile de ne point laisser à l'Angleterre l'action entierement libre’. Esterhazy to Metternich, 23 May 1834. Mè;tternich, Memoires, v, 606.

30 Talleyrand to Rigny, 19 April 1834. AMAECP Angleterre 643.

31 Rigny to Talleyrand, 32 April 1834. AMAECP Angleterre 643.

32 Talleyrand to Rigny, 19 April 1834. AMAECP Angleterre 643.

33 Palmerston to Granville, 22 April 1834. B.P. GC/GR/1521. Talleyrand to Rigny, 22 April 1834. AMAECP Angleterre 643.

34 For Talleyrand's relations with the representatives of the Eastern powers in London, see Webster, C. K., The foreign policy of Palmerston, 1830–1841 (2 vols., new impression, London, 1969), 1, 398Google Scholar.

35 Comte de Sainte Aulaire, Souvenirs, p. 96Google Scholar.

36 For Palmerston's defence of his conduct towards Don Carlos in May and June 1834 see Palmerston to Villiers, 17 June 1834. B.P. GC/CL/1228.

37 Palmerston to Aston, 4 June 1834. Aston papers, P.R.O. F.O. 355/6.

38 Talleyrand to Rigny, 22 May 1834. AMAECP Angleterre 643.

39 For the Spanish background see Carr, Raymond, Spain, 1808–1939 (Oxford, 1966), pp. 169, 190–4Google Scholar.

40 For the attitude of the Eastern powers to the conflict in Spain see Métternich, , Memoires, v, 655–6Google Scholar. See also Moseley, P. E., ‘Intervention and Non-intervention in Spain 1838–1839’, Journal of Modem History, XIII (June 1941), 195–217CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

41 Rayneval to Rigny, 23 July 1834. AMAECP Espagne 765.

42 Mémoiresdu Prince de Talleyrand, ed. Broglie, Due de (5 vols., Paris, 1892) V, 466–9, 474–6Google Scholar.

43 Pallain, , Ambassade de Talleyrand a Londres 1830–1834, 1, ixGoogle Scholar.

44 After a conversation with Talleyrand in August 1834 the duke of Wellington wrote to Lord Aberdeen: ‘It is curious enough that during the reign of Louis Philippe the example of England should be dangerous to France, and that England should first have put forward in a course of Jacobin foreign policy and that Talleyrand should be the person to complain thereof.’ Wellington to Aberdeen, 23 Aug. 1834. British Library, Additional Manuscripts (hereafter B.L. Add. MSS) 43060. In January 1835, according to Raikes, Talleyrand wrote, ‘The path which England appears to be inclined to follow must induce her to prefer a mind with traditions less ancient than mine’. Raikes, , A portion of the Journal (2 vols., 2nd ednLondon, 1856), 11, 7Google Scholar.

45 Talleyrand to Rigny, 7 Aug. 1834. Talleyrand, , Mémoires, v, 466–9Google Scholar.

46 Metternich was well aware that the separation of Austria from Russia and the creation of an anti-Russian coalition under French auspices was the ideal entertained by Talleyrand, and Philippe, Louis. He dismissed the idea as ‘Utopian’. Metternich, Mémoires, vi, 40Google Scholar. The British government was also aware of Talleyrand's scheme. Lamb, the British ambassador at Vienna, informed Palmerston that the objections of the King and Talleyrand ‘to a separate alliance with England are unconditional and absolute’. Lamb to Palmerston, 26 May 1836. B.P. GC/BE/159.

47 Rayneval to Rigny, 28 July 1834. AMAECP Espagne 765.

48 Rigny to Rayneval, 4 July 1834. AMAECP Espagne 765.

49 Rigny to Talleyrand, 14 Aug. 1834. AMAECP Angleterre 644.

50 Ibid.

51 ‘It is the opinion of His Majesty's advisers that His Majesty's Ships of War are not authorized to warn neutral vessels from entering the blockaded Ports of Spain and have no right to turn such vessels away from their course, or to detain any neutral vessels which, after notice, may persist in attempting to pursue their course in violation of the blockade.’ Copy of the Law Officers' report, enclosure in Palmerston to Bacourt, 7 Oct. 1834. AMAECP Angleterre 644.

52 Talleyrand to Rigny, 7 Aug. 1834. AMAECP Angleterre 644. For the text of the Additional Articles see Hurst, Michael, Key treatises for the Great Powers 1814–1914, 1, 235–7Google Scholar.

53 Talleyrand to Rigny, 11 Aug. 1834. AMAECP Angleterre 644.

54 Ibid.

55 Palmerston to Granville, 8 Aug. 1834. B.P. GC/GR/1539.

56 Metternich to Ficquelmont, 3 Sept. 1834. Metternich, , Mémoires, v, 637–8Google Scholar. Villiers, the British envoy at Madrid, wrote, ‘I am exceedingly vexed with our interpretation of the Treaty, we expect to do things by empty phrases and good wishes but we shall effect nothing by them but making ourselves uncommonly ridiculous.’ Villiers to Aston, 9 Sept. 1834. Aston Papers, P.R.O. F.O. 355/6.

57 Talleyrand to Rigny, 11 Aug. 1834. AMAECP Angleterre 644.

58 Rigny to Talleyrand, 13 Aug. 1834. AMAECP Angleterre 644.

59 Talleyrand to Rigny, 21 July 1834. AMAECP Angleterre 644. Palmerston commented that it was ‘strange that Talleyrand should be so urgent in pressing a contingent consent to a measure which Louis Philippe so strongly condemned in his conversation with you’. Palmerston was unaware of the deep division in French government circles on Spanish affairs. Palmerston to Granville, 05 July 1834. B.P. GC/GR/1535.

60 For Talleyrand's resignation, see his Mémoires, v, 479Google Scholar.

61 Bacourt to Rigny, 8 Sept. 1834. AMAECP Angleterre 644. Palmerston to Aston, 23 Sept. 1834. Aston Papers, P.R.O. F.O. 355/6.

62 Bacourt to Rigny, 12 Sept. 1834. AMAECP Angleterre 644.

63 Rigny to Rayneval, 16 Sept. 1834. AMAECP Espagne 766.

64 Cowley to Wellington, 3 Jan. 1835. P.R.O. F.O. 27/501.

65 See Wellington's speech in the House of Lords on 5 Aug. 1834. Hansard Parliamentary Debates, 3rd Series, xxv, 955–7Google Scholar.

66 See Journal des Debate, 24 Jan. 1835Google Scholar.

67 Metternich, , Mémoires, v, 666–9Google Scholar.

68 Aulaire, Sainte, Souvenirs, p. 115Google Scholar.

69 The negotiations for the visit of the duke of Orleans to Vienna can be followed in Metternich, , Mémoires, v, 666–65Google Scholar.

70 Papers relating to Lord Eliot's mission to Spain in 1835, p. 101Google Scholar. See also The Times, 30 April 1835.

71 Metternich, , Mémoires, v, 663Google Scholar.

72 Broglie to Rayneval, 23 May 1835. AMAECP Espagne 765.

73 Rayneval to Broglie, 22 May 1835. AMAECP Espagne 765. Villiers to Palmerston, 20 May 1835. B.P. GC/CL/187.

74 For an account of the meeting of the Council of Regency see Guizot, , Mémoires, iv, 102–3Google Scholar.

75 Broglie to Rayneval, 23 May 1835, no. 1. AMAECP Espagne 765.

76 Ibid.

77 Broglie told Aston that the French government thought that if, as in the case of the bombardment of Antwerp, there was a prompt and successful result, they would intervene. Aston to Palmerston, 15 May 1835. Aston papers, P.R.O. F.O. 355/6.

78 Broglie to Rayneval, 23 May 1835, no. 1. AMAECP Espagne 765.

79 ‘Si le gouvernement francais intervient en Espagne, non seulement il ne sera pas soutenu par l' opinion de la France, mais il f audra qu'il f asse violence àl'opinion d e la France; il aura contre lui la presque unanimité des deux Chambres, le parti ministàriel et le parti de Topposition.’ Broglie to Rayneval, 23 May 1835, no. 2. AMAECP Espagne 765. Broglie later claimed that not even twenty members of the Chamber of Deputies favoured intervention. Broglie to Rayneval, 8 June 1835. AMAECP Espagne 767. The Journal des Dàbate was the only influential newspaper to support intervention. See Guizot, , Mémoires, IV, 113Google Scholar.

80 Broglie to Rayneval, 23 May 1835, no. 1. AMAECP Espagne 765.

81 Martinez de la Rosa to Rayneval, 19 May 1835. AMAECP Espagne 765.

82 Observations on intervention in Spain. AMAE Memoires et Documents, Espagne 312.

83 Ibid.

84 Guizot, , Mémoires, IV, 113–16Google Scholar.

85 Ibid. Aston to Villiers, 26 May 1835. Aston papers, P.R.O. F.O. 355/6.

86 Thiers to an unnamed Spanish correspondent, 9 June 1835. Papiers Thiers, Bibliotheque Nationale, N.A.F. 20602.

87 Broglie to Sebastiani, 28 May 1835. AMAECP Angleterre 645.

88 Sebastiani to Broglie, 4 June 1835. AMAECP Angleterre 645.

89 Sebastiani to Broglie, 29 and 30 May 1835. AMAECP Angleterre 645.

90 Broglie to Sebastiani, 9 June 1835. AMAECP Angleterre 645.

91 Thiers to an unnamed Spanish correspondent, 9 June 1835. Papiers Thiers, Bibliotheque Nationale, N.A.F. 20602.

92 Sebastiani to Broglie, 3 July 1835. AMAECP Angleterre 646.

93 Rayneval to Broglie, 22 Sept. 1835. AMAECP Espagne 768.

94 Villiers to Palmerston, 15 Sept. 1835. B.P. GC/CL/206.

95 Bourqueney to Broglie, 16 Oct. 1835. AMAECP Angleterre 646.

96 Villiers to Palmerston, 15 Oct. 1835. B.P. GC/CL/212.

97 Memorandum on the affairs of Spain by Desages, 1835. AMAE Mémoires et Documents Espagne 312. Memorandum on the affairs of Spain by Broglie, 16 Nov. 1835. AMAECP Espagne 763.

98 Journal des Debats, 4 June 1836.

99 Palmerston bluntly informed Bourqueney that this was his conviction. Bourqueney to Broglie, 20 Oct. 1835. AMAECP Angleterre 646.

100 Palmerston to Granville, 10 June 1836. B.P. GC/GR/1618. Villiers to Aston, 23 May 1836. Aston papers, P.R.O. F.O. 355/6.

101 Memorandum on the affairs of Spain by Broglie, 16Nov. 1835. AMAECP Espagne 768.

102 Ibid.

103 In Paris it was assumed that Talleyrand was influential in persuading the king to appoint Thiers as Broglie's successor. See journal des Debate, 2 March 1836. Thiers was an avowed partisan of Talleyrand's ideas on foreign policy. See Pallain, , Ambassade de Talleyrand à Londres, 1, xiii–xviGoogle Scholar.

104 ‘Je suis partisan de l'alliance anglaise mais sans exclusion.’ Thiers to Barante, 15 April 1836. AMAE Papiers Barante Fonds, France 2120.

105 Sebastiani to Thiers, 14 March 1836. AMAECP Angleterre 647.

106 Ibid.

107 Palmerston to Granville, 12 March 1836. B.P. GC/GR/1602.

108 Thiers to Sebastiani, 18 March 1836. AMAECP Angleterre 647. Thiers to Rayneval, 19 March 1836. AMAECP Espagne 771.

109 Rayneval to Thiers, 22 March 1836. AMAECP Espagne 771.

110 Palmerston to Granville, 5 April 1836. B.P. GC/GR/1608.

111 Granville to Palmerston, 2 May 1836. B.P. GC/GR/726.

112 The duke of Orleans supported Thiers on intervention in 1835 and did so again in 1836. See Leopold of the Belgians to Thiers, 17 Aug. 1836. Papiers Thiers, Bibliothèque Nationale, N.A.F. 20604.

113 Metternich to Nesselrode, 14 Dec. 1836. Lettres et papiers de Comte de Nesselrode 1760–1850 (8 vols., Paris, 1908) VII, 276–8Google Scholar. See also Metternich to Hummelauer, 16 Aug. 1836. Copy, enclosure in Bourqueney to Thiers, 16 Aug. 1836. AMAECP Angleterre 648.

114 Palmerston to Granville, 10 June 1836. B.P. GC/GR/1618.

115 Rayneval to Thiers, 15 March 1836. Papiers Thiers, Bibliothèque Nationale, N.A.F. 30604. Thiers to Rayneval, 31 March 1836. AMAECP Espagne 771.

116 Bois-le-Comte to Thiers, 9 Aug. 1836. Papiers Thiers, Bibliothèque Nationale, N.A.F. 00603.

117 Ibid. See also Bois-le-Comte to Thiers, 22 Aug. 1836. AMAE Mémoires et Documents Espagne 352 for an analysis of the radical programme and of the strength of the radicals.

118 Aston to Palmerston, 3 July 1836. Aston papers, P.R.O. F.O. 355/6- Aston was very intimate with Thiers throughout the period from June to August. Thiers knew that Aston, Villiers, Granville and Palmerston were all partisans of intervention. By outlining both his tactics and his plans to Aston he hoped to gain British support.

119 Thiers to Bois-le-Comte, ioAug. 1836. Papiers Thiers, BibliothequeNationale, N.A.F. 20603.

120 Ibid.

121 Aston to Villiers, 23 July 1836. Aston papers, P.R.O. F.O. 355/6.

122 Frederick Lamb to Palmerston, 26 July 1836. B.P. GE/BE/163.

123 On 10 August Bois-le-Comte informed the queen mother that Louis Philippe's decision not to allow intervention was ‘absolu et irrévocable’. Bois-le-Comte to Thiers, 10 Aug. 1836. Papiers Thiers, Bibliothèque Nationale, N.A.F. 20603.

124 Thiers told Rayneval that he used the threat of resignation to persuade the king to accept his proposals. Thiers to Rayneval, 12 Aug. 1836. AMAECP Espagne 772. Aston wrote, ‘Thiers has found strong support in the duke of Orleans and Leopold [of Belgium] and after a stormy council the King was obliged very unwillingly to give way’. Aston to Villiers, 16 July 1836. Aston papers, P.R.O. F.O. 355/6.

125 Aston to Villiers, 8 Aug. 1836. Aston papers, P.R.O. F.O. 355/6.

126 Thiers to Rayneval, 12 Aug. 1836. AMAECP Espagne 772. Aston wrote, ‘Recruiting goes on rapidly, by the end of the month there will be 4 or 5000 men ready for service’. Aston to Villiers, 8 Aug. 1836. Aston papers, P.R.O. F.O. 355/6.

127 Guizot, , Mémoires, iv, 159–61Google Scholar.

128 Leopold of the Belgians to Thiers, 17 Aug. 1836. Papiers Thiers, Bibliothéque Nationale, N.A.F. 20604. Aston to Palmerston, 14 Aug. 1836. Aston papers, P.R.O. F.O. 355/6.

129 Palmerston to Aston, 19 Aug. 1836. Aston papers, P.R.O. F.O. 355/6.

130 Palmerston to Aston, 14 Aug. 1836. Aston papers, P.R.O. F.O. 355/6. ‘I am delighted with the account you sent me of Thiers's intended measures as to Spain. If he is able to carry them into execution they will decide the struggle and great will be his glory therefrom.’

131 Thiers to Louis Philippe, [?] Aug. 1836. Papiers Thiers, Bibliotheque Nationale, N.A.F. 20601.

132 Ibid.

133 Nassau Senior, Conversations with M. Thiers, M. Guizot and other distinguished persons during the Second Empire (2 vols., London, 1878), 1, 131Google Scholar.

134 Aston to Villiers, 10 Sept. 1836. Aston papers, P.R.O. F.O. 355/6.

135 Molé to Latour-Maubourg, 6 Oct. 1837. AMAECP Espagne 779.

136 Granville to Palmerston, 30 Sept. 1836. B.P. GC/GR/801.

137 Latour-Maubourg to Molé, 31 Oct. 1836. AMAECP Espagne 772.

138 Molé to Latour-Maubourg, 28 Oct. 1836. AMAECP Espagne 772.

139 See my Palmerston, Guizot and the collapse of the Entente Cordiale, ch. 11.

140 Flahaut to Broglie, 20 Nov. 1835. AMAECP Austriche 442.