Convention between France and Great Britain Relative to Military Aid Being Given to Turkey
Commanders-in-Chief of the 3 Armies, and that if any consid-
erable portion of the Allied troops should be acting in conjunc-
tion with the Ottoman troops, no operation shall be under-
taken against the enemy without its having been previously
concerted with the Commanders of the Allied Forces.
Demands on Turkey for Auxiliary Troops to be attended to.
Finally, attention shall be paid to any demand relative to the
wants of the service which may be addressed by the Comman-
ders-in-Chief of the Auxiliary Troops, either to the Ottoman
Government through their respective Embassies, or, in case of
urgency, to the local authorities, unless insuperable objections,
to be clearly explained, should prevent compliance with such
demands.
Ratifications.
ART. V. The present Treaty shall be ratified, and the Ratifica-
tions shall be exchanged at Constantinople in the space of 6
weeks, or sooner if possible, from the day of signature.
In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have
signed the same, and have affixed thereto the Seal of their Arms.
Done in triplicate, for one and the same purpose, at Con-
stantinople, the 12th day of March, 1854.
(L.S.) STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE.
(L.S.) BARAGUEY D’HILLIERS.
(L.S.) RESHID.
3.1159 Convention between France and Great
Britain Relative to Military Aid Being Given to
Tu r k e y
Alliance Members:France, Great Britain, Piedmont-Sardinia
Signed On:April 10, 1854, in the city of London. 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. 8.
Additional Citations:Key Treaties for the Great Powers, 1814–1914,
vol. 1, p. 302.
SUMMARY
The Convention met to determine the purpose and goals of the alliance
between Great Britain, France, and Turkey signed on March 12, 1854.
Piedmont-Sardinia was added to the treaty on January 26, 1855.
The alliance effectively ceased to exist once the Crimean War ended in
1856 with the Treaty of Paris, though hostilities between Russia and
Turkey would continue for some time. Though the treaty produced no
immediate gains for the cause of Italian unification, France and
Britain both would in later years assist militarily in the establishment
of an independent Italy.
Alliance Text
Their Majesties the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, and the Emperor of the French, having
determined to afford their support to His Majesty the Sultan
Abdul Medjid, Emperor of the Ottomans, in the War in which
he is engaged against the Aggressions of Russia; and being,
moreover, compelled, notwithstanding their sincere and perse-
vering efforts for the maintenance of Peace, to become them-
selves belligerent parties in a War which, without their active
intervention, would have threatened the existing Balance of
Power in Europe, and the interests of their own dominions;
have, in consequence, resolved to conclude a Convention in
order to determine the object of their Alliance, as well as the
means to be employed in common for fulfilling that object; and
have for that purpose named as their Plenipotentiaries :
Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Right Honourable George William
Frederick, Earl of Clarendon, Baron Hyde of Hindon, a Peer of
the United Kingdom, a Member of Her Britannic Majesty’s
Most Honourable Privy Council, Her Britannic Majesty’s Prin-
cipal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, &c.;
And His Majesty the Emperor of the French, the Sieur
Alexander Colonna, Count Walewski, his Ambassador to Her
Britannic Majesty, &c.:
Who, after having communicated to each other their Full
Powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon and
signed the following Articles :Measures for the re-establishment of Peace.
ART. I. The High Contracting Parties engage to do all that shall
depend upon them for the purpose of bringing about the re-
establishment of Peace between Russia and the Sublime Porte
on solid and durable bases, and of preserving Europe from the
recurrence of the lamentable complications which have now so
unhappily disturbed the general Peace.Naval and Military Assistance to Turkey.
ART. II. The Integrity of the Ottoman Empire being violated by
the Occupation of the Provinces of Moldavia and of Wallachia,
and by other movements of the Russian troops, their Majesties
the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and the Emperor of the
French have concerted, and will concert together, as to the most
proper means for liberating the Territory of the Sultan from
Foreign Invasion, and for accomplishing the object specified in
Article I. For this purpose they engage to maintain, according to
the requirements of the War, to be judged of by common agree-
ment, sufficient Naval and Military Forces to meet those
requirements, the description, number, and destination
whereof shall, if occasion should arise, be determined by subse-
quent Arrangements.Contracting Parties not to enter into Arrangements with
Russia without previous deliberation.
ART. III. Whatever events may arise from the execution of the
Present Convention, the High Contracting Parties engage not to
entertain any Overture or any Proposition having for its object
the Cessation of Hostilities, nor to enter into any Arrangement