Question 2

How successful was Palmerston’s Foreign Policy 1830-41?

Introduction

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Belgian Revolt
Belgium and Holland united 1815 – former unhappy
August 1830 revolution broke out and Belgium declared independent
Powers unable to ignore this – breach of Vienna Settlement
The test for Palmerston:
- If handled well it would benefit Great Britain – independent, friendly Belgium benefit Great Britain’s trade and naval interests
- Louis Philippe the new king of France favoured Belgians – an independent Belgium might be under French influence (France still seen as traditional enemy)
- The autocratic rulers of Austria, Russia and Prussia wanted to crush the Belgians to discourage potential revolutionaries in their own lands

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Palmerston’s aims:
Co-operate with France to warn off the autocracies and prevent war
Ensure that if French troops entered Belgium, they would leave as soon as Dutch were defeated (fear that they might annex the country)

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The London Conference November 1830
Palmerston was chairman
Worked closely with Talleyrand (French representative)
Talleyrand wanted good relations with Great Britain
Palmerston secured a ceasefire
King William (Dutch King) accepted Belgian independence (January 1831)
Also accepted by Austria, Prussia and Russia - they were distracted by revolutions in Poland and Italy

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There remained the question of who was to be king of Belgium and the extent of its frontiers
The Belgians invited Louis Philippe’s second son to take the throne
Palmerston was alarmed - this would bring France and Belgium together
He threatened war and the fleet was mobilised
Louis Philippe declined the throne and Leopold of Saxe Coburg, who was pro-British, became king

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Leopold now demanded that Luxemburg should be part of Belgium
The London Conference seemed likely to agree but the Dutch King who was Grand Duke of Luxemburg sent his army to occupy Belgium (August 1831)
France invaded Belgium and had driven out the Dutch within 10 days
This was what Palmerston had worked so hard to prevent
He threatened war so the French withdrew
It took until 1839 for the Dutch to accept Belgian independence and neutrality
All the powers agreed to guarantee this in the Treaty of London (1839)

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Analysis of Palmerston’s role

He was successful in securing a new constitutional state friendly to Great Britain in a key strategic area near the coast of England
France was kept out of Belgium
Franco-British relations were strained at first but the two countries co-operated in the latter stages of the dispute
This was especially so after Leopold married Louis Philippe’s daughter
A European war had been averted
Palmerston gained a reputation for being the champion of nationalism
In fact he was striving for Britain’s best interests
Talleyrand said: ‘Palmerston is certainly one of the most able, if not the most able man of business, whom I have met in my career’.

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Portugal and Spain

Maria of Portugal and Isabella of Spain were child queens
The supporters of both favoured liberal constitutional government
Both faced the opposition of uncles who wanted autocratic government
The uncles were Miguel (Portugal) and Carlos (Spain)
Maria was kept in power by Canning who sent British troops to support her
Wellington withdrew the troops so Miguel was able to seize the throne
1832 Maria’s supporters rebelled and took Oporto - civil war followed
In Spain the 3 year old Isabella’s mother was regent
She was in the process of establishing constitutional government when Carlos raised an army to oppose her
He entered Portugal to assist Miguel
France supported the constitutional parties
Russia, Austria and Prussia favoured autocracy

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Palmerston’s stance

He backed the queens supported by France who wanted joint action
Palmerston not willing to let France have too much influence
Reason – Great Britain had naval and commercial interests in the Mediterranean and Gibraltar
Even so, he hoped Anglo-French action would deter Russia, Austria and Prussia
Great Britain’s fleet sailed along the Portuguese coast
1833 a naval expedition defeated Miguel who fled from Portugal
1834 treaty between Great Britain, France, Spain and Portugal for joint action against the uncles
This was called the ‘Quadruple Alliance’
It stopped Miguel returning to Portugal
Carlos was captured and taken to Great Britain as a prisoner

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Results

Miguel never returned to Portugal
Constitutional government continued
Portugal and Great Britain became allies
Carlos escaped back to Spain and continued struggle for throne
The Carlist Wars (civil war) lasted till 1839 (Carlos defeated)
By then relations between Great Britain and Spain under Isabella were strained because of non-payment of debts to Great Britain
1836 Quadruple Alliance broke up when France withdrew (unhappy about Great Britain’s good relations with Spain and Portugal
Anglo-French relations not good (disagreement over Near East too)
French influence in Iberia minimal
Alliance had lasted long enough to keep out Russia, Austria and Prussia

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Eastern Question 1834

1831 crisis over Greek revolt against Turks
1833 Greeks successful
Mehemet Ali was nominal Turkish governor of Egypt
Sultan Mahmud offered him a reward for help against the Greeks but he failed to pay up
He wanted Syria but Mahmud refused so Mehemet’s son Ibrahim Pasha invaded Syria
The Turks were defeated at Konieh (December 1832)
Ibrahim marched on Constantinople (the capital) so Mehemet appealed for help
Seeing that the other powers were pre-occupied with Belgium, Tsar Nicholas I took the chance to intervene in Turkey
The Russian navy entered the Bosphorus and the army marched on Constantinople with the stated aim of defending the capital against Ibrahim

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Palmerston suspected that the Russians intended to annex European Turkey so that they could control the Dardanelles and sail their fleet from the Black Sea into the Mediterranean
This would threaten British interests in the eastern Mediterranean
So, he decided to end the conflict between Mahmud and Mehemet as fast as possible to remove Russia’s excuse for action

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