Lord Aberdeen (1784-1860) was a highly successful diplomat in many controversies from 1812 to 1856, but failed badly in handling the Crimean War and retired in 1856. In 1813-1814 as ambassador to the Austrian Empire he negotiated the alliances and financing that led to the defeat of Napoleon. In Paris he normalized relations with the newly-restored Bourbon government and convinced London that the Bourbons could be trusted. He worked well with top European diplomats such as his friends Klemens von Metternich in Vienna and François Guizot in Paris. He brought Britain into the center of Continental diplomacy on critical issues, such as the local wars in Greece, Portugal and Belgium. Simmering troubles with the United States were ended by compromising the border dispute in Maine that gave most of the land to the Americans but gave Canada critically important links to a warm-water port. He played a central role in winning the First Opium War against China, gaining control of Hong Kong in the process.