Alliance among Austria-Hungary, Württemberg, and Bavaria
3.1156 Alliance among Austria-Hungary,
Württemberg, and Bavaria
Alliance Members:Austria-Hungary, Württemberg, and Bavaria
Signed On:May 26, 1849, in the city of Bregenz (Austria). In force until
November 29, 1850, after the signing of the Punctuation of Olmütz.
Alliance Type:Defense Pact (Type I)
Source: Heinrich von Sybel. 1891 (reprint ed., 1968).The Founding of
the German Empire by William I, Based Chiefly upon Prussian State
Documents,vol. 1, translated by Marshall Livingston Perrin, with the
assistance of Gamaliel Bradford, Jr. New York: Greenwood Press.
SUMMARY
After Prussia’s attempts to exclude Austria from a new, unified Ger-
man state in the Erfurt Union—a kleindeutschland—Austria prepared
to defend its rights as a member of the confederation and to hold
open the possibility that it might in the future return to prominence.
Austria-Hungary signed the treaty with Württemberg and Bavaria in
preparation for possible military action against the Erfurt Union.
Though it acted chiefly as a deterrent to Prussian action, the alliance
did participate in a series of battles along the Hessian border, which
served to increase tensions over the continued existence of the Erfurt
Union and the future leadership of Germany. Little more than a month
after its establishment, the alliance was mooted and dissolved by the
Punctuation of Olmütz, when Prussia formally ended the Erfurt
Union, fully demobilized, and assured the restoration of the German
Confederation, thus assuaging Austrian concerns and eliminating the
need for the alliance. Prussia’s surrender of its plans for a union led
Prussian historians to label the treaty the “Humiliation of Olmütz.”
Description of Terms
No recording of the text can be found, but multiple sources sug-
gest the treaty contained provisions for an offensive and defen-
sive alliance against Prussia, including the raising of 200,000
troops.
3.1157 Alliance between Austria-Hungary and
Prussia
Alliance Members:Austria-Hungary and Prussia
Signed On:May 16, 1851, in the city of Dresden (Germany). In force
until April 20, 1854, when it was replaced by Alliance no. 3.1160.
Alliance Type:Defense Pact (Type I)
Source:British Foreign and State Papers,vol. 44, p. 84–86.
SUMMARY
Prussian designs on dominating Germany were temporarily frustrated
by the Punctuation of Olmütz, as it demanded an end to the Erfurt
Union and restored Austria to its former place in the reconstituted
German Confederation of 1815. In light of rising tensions with Russia,
Austria won this defensive alliance, signed with Prussia on May 16,
1851, soon on the heels of Olmütz.
The pact’s terms were never activated, and it was allowed to expire at
the end of its three-year term in April of 1854, when it was replaced
with a new alliance that promised Prussian assistance if Austria were
attacked by Russia in retaliation for trying to force the tsar’s armies
out of the Danubian provinces.Description of Terms
Austria and Prussia agreed to mutually guarantee each other’s
German and non-German possessions and consider any attack
against either party as a hostile action against the other’s terri-
tory. The two allies also pledged to preserve the rights and the
interests of Germany and would work together to thwart any
aggression directed against its territories. If necessary, both
states would actively intervene together in a way to safeguard
German interests. To guarantee the force of their alliance, the
two German great powers pledged to keep ready a part of their
armed forces.3.1158 Treaty relative to Military Aid among
France, Great Britain, and Turkey
Alliance Members:Great Britain, France, and Turkey
Signed On:March 12, 1854, in the city of Constantinople (Istanbul,
Turkey). In force until March 30, 1856, when the peace treaty ending
the Crimean War was signed.
Alliance Type:Defense Pact (Type I)
Source:British Foreign and State Papers,vol. 44, p. 5.
Additional Citations:Key Treaties for the Great Powers, 1814–1914,
vol. 1, p. 299.SUMMARY
Russia’s invasion of the remnants of the Ottoman Empire in 1853
touched off the Crimean War and threatened the long-standing if pre-
carious status quo established on the management of the so-called
Eastern Question. Impelled to maintain the Continental balance and
prevent Russia from gaining an even greater foothold on Europe’s
southeastern flank for both security and economic reasons, England,
France, and Piedmont-Sardinia (which also hoped in victory to win
support for a unified Italian state) joined the Turks in repelling the
Russian incursions.
The treaty went into effect soon after its signing, with the new allies
declaring war on Russia and deploying forces to the region. Britain
and France led the defense of Turkey for most of the war, as Pied-
mont-Sardinia joined the fighting only in its later stages, likely in
hopes of increasing its potential share of the postwar bargain.
The alliance effectively ceased to exist once the Crimean War ended in
1856 with the Treaty of Paris, although hostilities between Russia and
Turkey would continue for some time. Although the treaty produced
no immediate gains for the cause of Italian unification, both France
and Britain in later years assisted militarily in the establishment of an
independent Italy.Alliance Text
HER Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, and His Majesty the Emperor of the
French, having been requested by His Imperial Majesty the Sul-
tan to assist him in repelling the Aggression which has been