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GEORGE CANNING AND THE SPANISH QUESTION, SEPTEMBER 1822 TO MARCH 1823

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

NORIHITO YAMADA
NORIHITO YAMADA*
Affiliation:
Mukogawa Women's University
*
Department of English, Mukogawa Women's University, Nishinomiya, 663-8558Japan[email protected]
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Abstract

Harold Temperley's The foreign policy of Canning, 1822–1827 (1925) has been widely acknowledged as the standard work on George Canning's foreign policy in 1822–7. Since its publication, historians have accepted its central theme: that the principal aim of Canning's foreign policy in 1822–7 was to destroy the post-1815 system of great-power concert in Europe. Temperley's book is remarkable for its consistency, and his account of Canning's policy with regard to the Spanish crisis of 1822–3 – that Canning's main concern was not to prevent foreign intervention in Spain, but to weaken the power and authority of the Concert of Europe by exploiting differences among the European allies over the question of Spain – is certainly consistent with its central theme. This article re-examines Canning's diplomacy on the Spanish question from the start of his second tenure in the foreign office to the French invasion of Spain, and contends that its reality fits neither Temperley's account of this particular subject nor his general thesis on Canning's foreign policy. A careful examination of Canning's early diplomacy indicates that its primary object was to prevent foreign military intervention in Spain, and that it was not influenced by a supposed dislike of great-power concert.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Historical Journal , Volume 52 , Issue 2 , June 2009 , pp. 343 - 362
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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References

1 Harold Temperley, The foreign policy of Canning, 1822–1827: England, the Neo-Holy Alliance, and the New World (London, 1925).

2 See, for example, C. W. Crawley, The question of Greek independence: a study of British policy in the Near East, 1821–1833 (Cambridge, 1930), pp. 26–82; R. W. Seton-Watson, Britain in Europe, 1789–1914: a survey of foreign policy (Cambridge, 1937), ch. 2; C. K. Webster, ‘Introduction’, in C. K. Webster, ed., Britain and the independence of Latin America, 1812–1830: select documents from the foreign office archives (2 vols., London, 1938), i, pp. 17–26, 32–4; William W. Kaufmann, British policy and the independence of Latin America, 1804–1828 (New Haven, CT, 1951), pp. 136–222; Douglas Dakin, The Greek struggle for independence, 1821–1833 (London, 1973), pp. 148–84; Cunningham, Allan, ‘The philhellenes, Canning and Greek independence’, Middle Eastern Studies, 14 (1978), pp. 151–81CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Cowles, Loyal, ‘The failure to restrain Russia: Canning, Nesselrode, and the Greek question, 1825–1827’, International History Review, 12 (1990), pp. 688–720CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Edward Ingram, Britain's Persian connection, 1798–1828: prelude to the Great Game in Asia (Oxford, 1992), pp. 243–88; F. R. Bridge and Roger Bullen, The great powers and the European states system, 1814–1914 (2nd edn, Harlow, 2005), pp. 56–78.

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9 Wendy Hinde, George Canning (London, 1973); Peter Dixon, Canning: politician and statesman (London, 1976).

10 C. K. Webster, The foreign policy of Castlereagh, 1815–1822: Britain and the European Alliance (London, 1925), pp. 226–46, 259–400, 469–81; Paul W. Schroeder, Metternich's diplomacy at its zenith, 1820–1823 (Austin, TX, 1962), pp. 25–128, 164–206; Guillaume de Bertier de Sauvigny, Metternich et la France après le Congrès de Vienne (3 vols., Paris, 1968–71), ii, pp. 305–607; Stuart to Castlereagh, no. 199, 15 July 1822, London, The National Archives (TNA), FO 27/272.

11 Temperley, The foreign policy of Canning, pp. 53–86.

12 Harold Temperley, ‘The foreign policy of Canning’, in A. W. Ward and G. P. Gooch, eds., The Cambridge history of British foreign policy, 1783–1919 (3 vols., Cambridge, 1922–3), ii, p. 56.

13 Irby C. Nichols, Jr, The European pentarchy and the congress of Verona, 1822 (The Hague, 1971), p. 136.

14 Charmley, The princess and the politicians, p. 87.

15 Hinde, George Canning, p. 327; Dixon, Canning, p. 217.

16 Canning to Wellington, 27 Sept. 1822, Arthur Richard Wellesley, 2nd duke of Wellington, ed., Despatches, correspondence and memoranda of Field Marshal Arthur Duke of Wellington, K.G. (8 vols., London, 1867–80) (WD), i, p. 304.

17 Temperley, The foreign policy of Canning, p. 454.

18 Londonderry to Bathurst, nos. 8 and 9, 12, 15 Sept. 1822, TNA, FO 7/172.

19 Wellington to Canning, 21 Sept. 1822, WD, i, pp. 288–94.

20 Canning to Wellington, 27 Sept. 1822, ibid., pp. 301–4.

21 Liverpool to Canning, 27 Sept. 1822, ibid., p. 300.

22 Canning to Wellington, private and secret, no. 3, 27 Sept. 1822, West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds (WYAS Leeds), Canning papers, 104.

23 Canning to Liverpool, private and confidential, 28 Sept. 1822, WYAS Leeds, Canning papers, 70.

24 Wellington to Canning, 30 Sept., 4 Oct. 1822, WD, i, pp. 319–22, 354; Canning to Wellington, no. 1, 24 Sept. 1822, TNA, FO 92/48; Wellington to Canning, 15 Oct. 1822, WYAS Leeds, Canning papers, 105.

25 De Sauvigny, Metternich et la France, ii, pp. 614–41; Schroeder, Metternich's diplomacy, pp. 211–17; Wellington to Canning, 22, 29 (two dispatches) Oct., 5 Nov. 1822, with various enclosures, WD, i, pp. 403–4, 408–10, 457–60, 492–507; Montmorency to Villèle, 5 Nov. 1822, Jean Baptiste comte de Villèle, Mémoires et correspondance du comte de Villèle (5 vols., Paris, 1887–90), iii, pp. 178–81.

26 Temperley, The foreign policy of Canning, p. 67.

27 Ibid., p. 74.

28 Stuart to Canning, no. 266, 30 Sept. 1822, TNA, FO 27/274, no. 329, 28 Nov. 1822, TNA, FO 27/276.

29 Canning to Wellington, 3 Dec. 1822, WD, i, pp. 624–5.

30 Canning to Wellington, 6 Dec. 1822, ibid., pp. 625–7.

31 Canning to à Court, private and confidential, 29 Dec. 1822, Augustus Granville Stapleton, ed., George Canning and his times (London, 1859), p. 389.

32 Canning to Chateaubriand, 11 Jan. 1823, François René vicomte de Chateaubriand, Œuvres complètes de Chateaubriand, xii: Le Congrès de Vérone; Guerre d'Espagne (new edn, Paris, n.d.), p. 208; Canning to Stuart, private, 29 Oct. 1822, WYAS Leeds, Canning papers, 109.

33 ‘Note Verbale, read to Canning on 25 Sept. 1822, by Sarmento’, WD, i, pp. 305–7.

34 Canning to Wellington, 27 Sept., 29 Oct. 1822, ibid., pp. 304–5, 463–6; ‘Memorandum for the cabinet’, Edward J. Stapleton, ed., Some official correspondence of George Canning (2 vols., London, 1887), i, pp. 56–60.

35 Canning to à Court, 18 Oct. 1822, WD, i, pp. 377–80; same to same, no. 13, 31 Oct. 1822, TNA, FO 185/86.

36 ‘Memorandum for the cabinet’, Stapleton, ed., Some official correspondence, i, pp. 54–5.

37 Canning to Wellington, 29 Oct. 1822, WD, i, p. 466.

38 Canning to à Court, no. 16, 24 Nov. 1822, TNA, FO 185/87.

39 Wellington to Canning, 19 Nov. 1822, WD, i, pp. 555–7.

40 Canning to Wellington, 3 Dec. 1822, ibid., pp. 624–5.

41 Canning to à Court, private and confidential, 3 Dec. 1822, Stapleton, ed., George Canning and his times, pp. 385–7; same to same, no. 25, 3 Dec. 1822, TNA, FO 185/87.

42 Canning to Wellington, 6 Dec. 1822, WD, i, p. 628.

43 Canning to à Court, no. 32, 9 Dec. 1822, TNA, FO 185/87; same to same, private and confidential, 9 Dec. 1822, Heytesbury papers, London, British Library (BL), Add. MS 41541.

44 Canning to Liverpool, secret, 21 Oct. 1822, WYAS Leeds, Canning papers, 70.

45 Canning to à Court, private and confidential, 3 Dec. 1822, Stapleton, ed., George Canning and his times, p. 387.

46 Canning to à Court, no. 35, 9 Dec. 1822, Webster, ed., Britain and the independence of Latin America, ii, p. 401.

47 Wellington to Canning, 9 Dec. 1822, WD, i, pp. 633–4.

48 Wellington to Canning, 10 Dec. 1822, ibid., pp. 639–40; ‘Memorandum on M. Torreno's account of his conversation with M. Villèle’, 12 Dec. 1822, ibid., pp. 644–5.

49 Canning to Wellington, 13 Dec. 1822, 6 p.m., ibid., p. 650.

50 Wellington to Canning, 9, 10 Dec. 1822, ibid., pp. 634, 638–9.

51 Canning to Wellington, 8 Dec. 1822, ibid., pp. 629–30.

52 Canning to Wellington, 13 Dec. 1822, 13 Dec. 1822, 6 p.m., ibid., pp. 649–51.

53 Wellington to Montmorency, 17 Dec. 1822, ibid., pp. 655–6; Wellington to Canning, 17 Dec. 1822, ibid., p. 656.

54 Wellington to Canning, 19 Dec. 1822, ibid., p. 660.

55 Wellington to Canning, 19 Dec. 1822, ibid., pp. 659–60.

56 Canning to Wellington, 23 Dec. 1822, 11 a.m., ibid., pp. 664–5.

57 Stuart to Canning, no. 350, 23 Dec. 1822, TNA, FO 27/277.

58 Alfred Nettement, Histoire de la restauration (8 vols., Paris, 1860–72), vi, pp. 322–9, 335–41; Villèle, Mémoires, iii, pp. 274–6; Stuart to Canning, no. 356, 25 Dec. 1822, TNA, FO 27/277; Montmorency to Wellington, 24 Dec. 1822, WD, i, p. 667.

59 À Court to Canning, no. 57, 24 Dec. 1822, TNA, FO 72/259; same to same, private, 24 Dec. 1822, WYAS Leeds, Canning papers, 118.

60 Canning to the lords commissioners of the admiralty, secret, 2 Jan. 1823, enclosed in Canning to à Court, no. 2, 7 Jan. 1823, TNA, FO 185/91.

61 Canning to à Court, 29 Dec. 1822, Heytesbury papers, BL, Add. MS 41541; Canning to Somerset, 6 Jan. 1823 (enclosing ‘Memorandum of the duke of Wellington, for Lord Fitzroy Somerset’, 6 Jan. 1823), Great Britain, Foreign (and Commonwealth) Office, British and foreign state papers (170 vols., London, 1841–1977) (BFSP), x, pp. 31–4; Canning to à Court, 6 Jan. 1823, ibid., pp. 34–5.

62 The communications between the Prussian, Russian, Austrian, and French chargés d'affaires in Madrid and the Spanish government are printed in ibid., pp. 909–20, 925–33.

63 Nettement, Histoire, vi, pp. 345–7.

64 Chateaubriand to La Garde, 1 Jan. 1823, Louis Thomas, ed., Correspondance générale de Chateaubriand (5 vols., Paris, 1912–24), iv, pp. 2–4.

65 Chateaubriand to La Garde, 18 Jan. 1823, Chateaubriand, Congrès de Vérone, pp. 216–17.

66 Canning to Chateaubriand, 11, 21, 24 Jan. 1823, ibid., pp. 207–9, 219–27.

67 Speech of the king of France, 28 Jan. 1823, BFSP, x, pp. 758–9.

68 Temperley, The foreign policy of Canning, p. 75.

69 Ibid., p. 74.

70 Canning to Liverpool, secret and confidential, 31 Jan. 1823, secret, 1 Feb. 1823, WYAS Leeds, Canning papers, 70.

71 The king's speech, 4 Feb. 1823, Parliamentary debates, new (second) series (25 vols., London, 1820–30), viii, cols. 1–3.

72 Canning to Stuart, private and secret, 4 Feb. 1823, WYAS Leeds, Canning papers, 109.

73 Canning's memorandum, Stapleton, ed., Some official correspondence, i, pp. 85–8.

74 Canning to Stuart, private and confidential, 5 Feb. 1823, WYAS Leeds, Canning papers, 109. See also Canning to Stuart, secret and confidential, 5 Feb. 1823, ibid.; Canning to Chateaubriand, 7 Feb. 1823, Chateaubriand, Congrès de Vérone, pp. 235–7.

75 Canning to à Court, no. 20, 9 Feb. 1823, TNA, FO 185/91; same to same, private, 9 Feb. 1823, Heytesbury papers, BL, Add. MS 41542.

76 Temperley, The foreign policy of Canning, pp. 97, 455.

77 Canning to Bagot, no. 5, 25 Feb. 1823, TNA, FO 181/52; Canning to Gordon, no. 5, 25 Feb. 1823, TNA, FO 7/176; Canning to Rose, no. 4, 25 Feb. 1823, TNA, FO 244/15.

78 Canning to Stuart, no. 20, 25 Feb. 1823, TNA, FO 146/55.

79 Nesselrode to Pozzo di Borgo, 23 Jan. 1823, USSR (later Russian Federation), Ministerstvo inostrannykh del, ed., Vneshniaia politika Rossii XIX i nachala XX veka: dokumenty Rossiiskogo Ministerstva inostrannykh del, series 2 (8 vols., Moscow, 1974–95) (VPR), v, pp. 23–5; Chateaubriand to Marcellus, 10 Mar. 1823, Thomas, ed., Correspondance générale, iv, p. 142.

80 Gordon to Canning, no. 13, 18 Mar. 1823, TNA, FO 7/176; Rose to Canning, no. 21, confidential, 10 Mar. 1823, TNA, FO 64/135.

81 Nesselrode to Pozzo di Borgo, 15 Mar. 1823, VPR, v, pp. 54–6.

82 Bagot to Canning, no. 9, 22 Mar. 1823, nos. 17 and 18, 26 Mar. 1823, TNA, FO 65/139; Nesselrode to Lieven, 27 Mar. 1823, VPR, v, pp. 74–5.

83 À Court to Canning, no. 41, 12 Feb. 1823, TNA, FO 72/270; Somerset to Canning, no. 1, 21 Jan. 1823, no. 2, secret, 25 Jan. 1823, no. 3, secret, 26 Jan. 1823, no. 4, 10 Feb. 1823, no. 5, 20 Feb. 1823, TNA, FO 72/274.

84 Stuart to Canning, no. 99, 13 Mar. 1823, TNA, FO 27/288.

85 Canning to Stuart, private and confidential, 18 Mar. 1823, WYAS Leeds, Canning papers, 109.

86 Canning to Stuart, 31 Mar. 1823, BFSP, x, pp. 64–70.

87 Webster, The foreign policy of Castlereagh, p. 478.

88 Liverpool to Arbuthnot, 29 Dec. 1822, A. Aspinall, ed., The correspondence of Charles Arbuthnot (Camden Third Series, vol. 65, London, 1941), p. 36.

89 Canning to Wellington, 27 Sept. 1822, WD, i, p. 304.

90 Canning to Bagot, no. 20, 24 Apr. 1824, Webster, ed., Britain and the independence of Latin America, ii, p. 300.

91 Canning to Bagot, no. 1, 15 Jan. 1824, TNA, FO 181/58.