page_title: Secret Treaty of Vienna
section_title: Waterloo and later
hierarchical_section_title: Secret Treaty of Vienna / Waterloo and later
caption_attribution_description: English: Europe 1815. Political situation after the Congress of Vienna in June 1815. Please don't alter the map when you think there is something not written or depicted correctly. Leave a message at the talk page of the file. After a verificiation and a possible discussion, I will upload a new map version with all new changes. This prevents an unnecessary waste of disc space and ensures a good result, aesthetically and content-wise. - The author. Deutsch: Europa 1815. Politische Lage nach dem Wiener Kongress im Juni 1815. Bitte die Karte bei Änderungs- und Korrekturwünschen nicht selbst verändern, sondern eine Anmerkung im Diskussionsbereich der Bilddatei hinterlassen. Nach einer Prüfung und ggfs. Diskussion werden evtl. Änderungen von mir zusammengefasst eingearbeitet. Das vermeidet unnötige Speicherplatz-Verschwendung und gewährleistet ein ästhetisch ansprechendes und inhaltlich korrektes Ergebnis. - Der Urheber.
context_page_description: The Secret Treaty of Vienna was a defensive alliance signed on 3 January 1815 by France, the Austrian Empire and Great Britain. It took place during the Congress of Vienna, negotiations on the future of Europe following Napoleon's defeat in the War of the Sixth Coalition.
  The long-serving French representative, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, wanted to end France's diplomatic isolation and reassure other powers it had renounced any revolutionary intentions. He was provided an opportunity to do so through the Polish-Saxon crisis, caused by Prussia attempting to annex much of Saxony, and Russia doing the same for Poland.
  Since such proposals were opposed by Britain and Austria, it allowed France to position itself as a supporter of legality, and divide the Four Powers. Talleyrand proposed the treaty to Lord Castlereagh and Klemens von Metternich, as a means of warning off Prussia and Russia. The three powers signed on 3 January 1815, agreeing to respond to an attack on any party with a field army of at least 120,000 infantry and 30,000 cavalry.
  However, the signatories had no real intention of going to war, and details of the treaty were deliberately leaked.
context_section_description: Whilst the Congress was ongoing, on 1 March Napoleon returned to France from exile, won the French Army to his cause and deposed the Bourbon king, Louis XVIII. The great powers mobilised armies against him, including an Anglo-Dutch-Belgian force under the Duke of Wellington and a Prussian Army under Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. In the Waterloo Campaign, Napoleon sought to defeat these two armies before reinforcements could arrive from Austria and Russia.
  Blücher's chief of staff, August Neidhardt von Gneisenau, was deeply suspicious of Wellington, and particularly worried his perceived pro-Bourbon bias might jeopardise their primary responsibility to defend Prussia. Aware of this, Napoleon tried to increase tensions by sending him a complete copy of the secret treaty, although its existence and contents were already public knowledge. Wellington reassured the Prussians that if defeated, he would retreat eastwards towards Prussia, not the sea; backed up by sending Henry Hardinge as liaison officer, this seems to have resolved differences between the two parties.
  Another concern for Blücher was the reliability of his army, which included 16,000 Saxons who had previously served Napoleon. Following orders from Berlin, on 1-2 May they were split into those who would remain Saxon post-annexation, with the rest integrated into the Prussian Army. They refused to parade, chanting support for Frederick Augustus and Napoleon; at one point, Blücher was chased from his headquarters by a mob of Saxon grenadiers. The Saxons asked to serve under British command but Wellington refused, claiming he had enough problems dealing with the Belgians. After a Saxon regiment refused to salute him, Blücher ordered a number shot, disarmed the others and sent them home.
  The return of Napoleon restored cooperation between the members of the Quadruple Alliance.  War had, in any case, been unlikely with Britain and Austria wary of allowing a French army to operate in Central Europe so soon after Napoleon's troops had conquered swathes of territory there.  After the coalition victory at Waterloo the Prussian negotiating hand was strengthened and they pressed for a larger share of Saxony. It received some 60% of the territory, as well as the territories of the Rhineland, Swedish Pomerania, Posen and Thorn.
  In many ways, the Secret Treaty was a triumph for Talleyrand, who had ended French diplomatic isolation and divided the Quadruple Alliance. He also limited Prussian gains to areas of Saxony that were largely Catholic and thus harder for the Lutheran state to assimilate, or not contiguous to Prussia, such as the Rhineland. His support of Saxony, based on the principle of legitimacy and equilibrium, guaranteed French security while reinstating it as a key player in ensuring the balance of power.
  Prussia strengthened its position by signing the Holy Alliance with Russia and Austria on 26 September.  Afterwards Metternich attempted to reinstate the Secret Treaty, Castlereagh considered this would cause a permanent division in Europe and refused.  In November Castlereagh positioned the Quadruple alliance as a guarantor of the terms of the Congress, with ongoing ongoing conferences to ensure the "repose and prosperity of nations".  The national boundaries set by the Congress,  created a successful balance of power - the so-called Concert of Europe, and would remain more or less unchanged for the next 40 years.
caption: Boundaries agreed at the Congress of Vienna, including Congress Poland and a reduced Kingdom of Saxony.  The German Confederation is outlined in red.
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