Conferences of London

LONDON, CONFERENCES OF. Many important inter national conferences have been held in London during the 19th and loth centuries. The first, in June 1814, was the outcome of the visit of the Allied sovereigns to the Prince Regent after the downfall of Napoleon, the opportunity being used to effect some of the settlements agreed upon in the first Treaty of Paris, notably the conditions attached to the erection of the Kingdom of the United Netherlands. From 1815 onwards, too, diplomatists of the Allies accredited to Great Britain formed a conference in London for the purpose of discussing measures for the suppres sion of the slave trade and of the Barbary pirates.

Greece.-In

1827 a conference met in London to attempt to settle the affairs of Greece. This conference (the first interna tional gathering to be usually thus described) met on July 12, 1827, and sat till 1832. It was attended only by the representa tives of the three Powers which had signed the Treaty of London (July 6, 1827), i.e., France, Great Britain and Russia. The Treaty of London of May 7, 1832, however, which established the kingdom of Greece, with Prince Otto of Bavaria as king, was signed also by Baron de Cetto on behalf of the king of Bavaria.

Belgium.-In

183o, while this conference was still in session, the insurrection of the Belgians against the king of the Nether lands led to the summoning of another conference in London, to deal with the dangerous situation thus created. The personnel of both conferences was in part the same, both France and Russia being represented in both by their ambassadors, Talleyrand and Matuszewicz, while Palmerston, when he succeeded Aberdeen as foreign secretary, presided at the Greek conference and also, from the fourth session onwards, over that on the Belgian question.

But in the latter Austria, Prussia and Holland were also repre sented. This conference first met on Nov. 4, 183o, and there were in all 7o sessions. After the independence of Belgium had been recognized and Leopold of Coburg had been elected king (June 4, 1831) a Belgian plenipotentiary was also admitted. On Oct. 1, 1832, Austria, Prussia and Russia having refused to agree to the French proposal to coerce the Dutch king into accepting the 24 articles embodied in the treaty of Nov. 1 83 1, the conference virtually broke up, the further proceedings being conducted by the representatives of France and Great Britain. These ended on May 21, 1833, with the signature of a convention between the two Powers and Holland, providing for the non-renewal of hos tilities and freedom of navigation on the Scheldt and Meuse.

Thus matters remained till 1839 when, the king of Holland hav ing at last consented to recognize the inevitable, the plenipoten tiaries of all the five Powers met in London to sign with those of Holland, on April 7/19, a treaty to which the 24 Articles of Nov. 15, 1831, were annexed (see BELGIUM) .

Schleswig-Holstein and Luxembourg.-In

1848 the war between Prussia and Denmark over the Schleswig-Holstein Ques tion (q.v.) led to the assembling of an international conference in London. It met after the pressure of the Powers had forced Prussia to conclude the truce of Malmo (Aug. 26) and resulted in the peace signed at Berlin on July 2, 185o, which left the main problems unsolved. By the protocol signed on May 8, 1852, the conference settled the succession to the Danish throne and the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein on Christian of Gliicksburg.

In 1864, during the war between the two great German Powers and Denmark Great Britain invited the signatories of the Protocol of 1852 to a conference in London, with a view to a settlement. The conference met on April 25, immediately after the storming of the Diippel lines; but, owing to Bismarck's skilful diplomacy, it broke up on June 25 without having effected anything.

In 1867 an important international conference met in London, at the instance of the king of the Netherlands, to deal with the situation in regard to Luxembourg created by the war of 1866 and the consequent dissolution of the old German Confederation. The conference consisted primarily of the representatives of the States signatory of the treaty of 1839, by which the status of the grand duchy of Luxembourg had been determined, i.e., Austria, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Holland-Luxembourg, Prussia and Russia, but on the motion of Lord Stanley, who presided, the Italian ambassador was also invited to assist. The conference resulted in the Treaty of London of May 11, 1867, by the terms of which the Prussian troops, which had garrisoned the city of Luxembourg since 1815, were to be withdrawn and the fortress demolished. On the motion of the Prussian plenipotentiary, Count. Bernstorff, a clause was introduced placing the neutrality of Lux embourg under the guarantee of the signatory Powers.