86 International Relations Theory of War
that he might attempt achieve the territorial arrangement of 1815, but that
fear was not enough to lead the previous alliances that defeated Napo-
leon Bonaparte to pool their forces. Louis Napoleon feared both European
radicalism and a direct challenge to the existing framework of agreements,
and he sought ways of adding to his strength within his own country and
without.^52
From the beginning of the period of Louis Napoleon’s rule, France’s
foreign policy was motivated by the expectation that the new Bonaparte
would rewrite the international order in order to reestablish France as
the dominant power in Europe. To achieve those goals, Louis Napoleon
employed three key strategies. He attempted to improve his relations
with France’s former enemy, Great Britain, exploited national reasons to
organize Europe under France’s political and moral leadership, and acted
to disrupt the international order that he established in the Vienna Con-
gress after the Napoleonic Wars, which he considered the main obstacle to
reestablishing France’s supremacy in Europe. The French leader believed
that Russia led the defense of the existing international order and that any
action that would weaken Russia might reduce Tsar Nikolai’s ability to
support that international order. He believed that he would get the sup-
port of others, particularly that of Palmerston in Great Britain, who started
to define Russia, more than France, as the key threat.^53
The French leader identified the possibility of achieving these goals in
the holy places in the Ottoman Empire. For hundreds of years, Christian
churches and other important buildings in the holy sites were divided
between Catholic and Orthodox churches. A number of agreements that
received the consent of the Ottoman authorities over the years allowed a
certain degree of freedom of religion for these two Christian sects. With
nearly 13 million Orthodox believers throughout the Ottoman Empire,
Russia was perceived as the external patron of the Orthodox.^54 A series of
agreements between the Russian capital at that time, Saint Petersburg, and
Porte, as the Turkish center of rule was called, which were based on the
outcomes of a number of wars that were fought between these two coun-
tries, strengthened Russia’s standing in the region. Besides these tradi-
tional areas of Russian influence, Louis Napoleon and his foreign minister,
Drouyn de Lhuys, started to pressure the Turkish leader in Constantinople
in 1850 to accept the Catholics’ claims. The main demand was returning
the right of the Latin Church over the holy sites in the Ottoman Empire.^55
These demands were based on both diplomatic and military threats.^56 For
example, Louis Napoleon sent a French warship to Constantinople in clear
violation of a previous Russo-Turkish agreement. Negotiations over the
specific French demands continued until December 1852, when the sultan
agreed to almost all of France’s demands.^57
In the revolutions of 1848, Great Britain remained relatively separated
from the events on the continent, even though it provided symbolic