Preliminary Treaty of Alliance between Austria and Württemberg
3.1128 Preliminary Treaty of Alliance between
Austria and Württemberg
Alliance Members:Austria, Württemberg, Russia (November 14,
1813), and Prussia (November 21, 1813)
Signed On:November 2, 1813, in the city of Fulda (Germany)
Alliance Type:Defense Pact (Type I)
Source:Consolidated Treaty Series,vol. 62, p. 465.
SUMMARY
With fortune turning against the French, members of the Confedera-
tion of the Rhine thought about desertion. Many of these French-
backed states, like Württemberg, were smaller territories that Napoleon
inflated with regal status in exchange for their support against Austria.
Knowing his and his kingdom’s titles would be difficult to hold after the
French defeat in the Battle of Leipzig, Frederick I of Württemberg, who
had been made a king by Napoleon, deserted to the Austrians in order
to receive assurances that his regal status would continue.
Unlike Bavaria, however, Württemberg survived well the Congress of
Vienna. Austria decided against punishing Württemberg, although
Württemberg had been instrumental in seizing German territories for
the benefit of Napoleon. Instead, Austria found Württemberg’s new
size useful for an alliance. Frederick I joined the German Confedera-
tion, but he died soon afterward.
Description of Terms
As with the alliance formed with Bavaria just weeks earlier, the
terms of this treaty confirmed that the Kingdom of Württem-
berg would leave the Confederation of the Rhine and join the
Sixth Coalition against Napoleon’s forces. In exchange for this
commitment, Austria pledged that Württemberg’s sovereignty
and independence would be maintained.
3.1129 Alliance between Austria and Naples
Alliance Members:Austria and Naples
Signed On:January 11, 1814, in the city of Naples
Alliance Type:Defense Pact (Type I)
Source:Consolidated Treaty Series,vol. 63, p. 17.
SUMMARY
France had controlled the Kingdom of Naples as a client state for
almost eight years before the tide turned against Napoleon during the
War of the Sixth Coalition. Joachim Murat, Napoleon’s brother-in-law
and king of Naples after Napoleon’s brother Joseph became king of
Spain in 1808, was desperate to save his throne and entered into nego-
tiations with Austria. In January 1814 a treaty was signed in which
Murat was able to secure his throne, thus displacing the exiled
Neapolitan king, Ferdinand IV.
The discussions at the Congress of Vienna regarding Naples involved
eventually removing the unpopular Murat and repatriating Ferdinand
to Naples. In the face of increasingly hostile overtones from the
British, Murat decided to support Napoleon upon his reentry to
France in March 1815. Austria invaded Naples, resulting in the
Neapolitan War.
The war effort against Austria was brief and disastrous for Murat.
Murat had tried to incite support for his position with a nationalist
appeal in his Rimini Proclamation, but he failed. Austria, with the
assistance of Great Britain, won the campaign in two months and
repatriated Ferdinand to Naples. Murat returned and tried again to
regain Naples, but he was captured and executed in October 1815.Description of Terms
The treaty pledged that Murat would be given the throne of
Naples in exchange for his recognition of Ferdinand IV’s con-
trol over Sicily. A secret article to the treaty pledged that Naples
would be given additional territory from the pope’s holdings
equal to “400,000 souls” in population along the eastern coast of
Italy (the Marche).3.1130 Treaty of Friendship and Alliance
between Prussia and Spain
Alliance Members:Prussia and Spain
Signed On:January 20, 1814, in the city of Basel (Switzerland)
Alliance Type:Defense Pact (Type I)
Source:Consolidated Treaty Series,vol. 63, p. 59; excerpt taken from
The Pamphleteer,London, 1820.SUMMARY
Ferdinand VII, the exiled king of Spain, was still held in French captiv-
ity at the beginning of 1814. A new Cortes, which had introduced the
1812 constitution under the auspices of popular sovereignty and a
new, reduced role for the Spanish monarch, demanded Ferdinand
VII’s return to the throne of Spain. To meet these ends, the Cortes
undertook a series of alliance initiatives, eventually signing an alliance
with Prussia in January 1814. The alliance pledged mutual assistance
in the war against France and committed Prussia to supporting Ferdi-
nand VII as the king of Spain.
Ferdinand VII was eventually returned to Madrid by the anti-French
allies in March 1814, but whatever hopes the Spanish liberals had of
Ferdinand VII adhering to the new constitutional principles were soon
dashed. Ferdinand VII quickly repealed the constitution and imple-
mented a more autocratic rule in the vein of his ancestors. These
clashes increased the liberals’ resentment and led to hostilities more
than twenty years later during the Carlist Wars.Excerpt of Alliance Text
H. M. the King of Prussia acknowledges H. M. Ferdinand
VII as the only legitimate king of the Spanish Monarchy
in both hemispheres; as well as the Regency of the king-
dom which, during his absence and captivity, represents
him, legitimately elected by the General and Extraordi-
nary Cortes, in conformity to the Constitution sanc-
tioned by the latter, and sworn to by the nation.