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  A Period of Comparative Peace, 1815-54

A Period of Comparative Peace, 1815-54

We must now turn to the details of the history. Alexander 1, the Czar of Russia (died 1825), who combined great piety and feelings of universal benevolence with strong ideas of the divine right of monarchs, and Metternich, a cynical statesman, who controlled the policy of Austria till 1848, were the chief personalities in European politics after 1815, Metternich regarded all constitutional movements - all agitations having for their object the greater control of the government by the people - with hostility, and tried to persuade the other European powers to combine in suppressing them in whatever country they might occur. He convinced the czar of the danger and iniquity of all Liberal principles; the King of Prussia, at this period, always followed Metternich's lead; and the King of France, after some hesitation, acquiesced in the policy of coercion. Great Britain, on the other hand, first under Lord Castlereagh (foreign secretary, 1815-22), and then more decidedly under Canning (foreign secretary, 1822-7), was opposed to the policy of European States intervening in each other's internal affairs. But Great Britain desired peace above everything else, and her army was so much reduced after the war that she could not take a very strong line. Consequently when the Austrians occupied Naples in 1821, and the French invaded Spain in 1823 in order to preserve the thrones of two worthless despots whose arbitrary government had produced popular insur­rections, Great Britain did nothing effective to stop them.

Canning, however, sent to our old ally, Portugal, first a squadron of ships and then an army of soldiers, and thus pre­vented that kingdom from falling into the hands of the reactionary and absolutist party. He decided also to recognize the independence of the Spanish colonies in America (Mexico, Peru, and Chili), which had been rebelling against the mother country for some time. "I called in", he said, "the New World to redress the balance of the Old. " If French influence was to predominate in Spain, and absolutist principles were to be supreme, it was to be "in Spain without the Indies", as Canning expressed it. But Canning during his period of office as foreign secretary was chiefly occupied with the Eastern Question. The Greeks rose for independence against the Turks in 1821, and a long war ensued. Into the details of the Greek War of Independence (1821-9}, which "offers", as has been said, "a chequered picture of patriotism and corruption, of desperate valour and weak irresolution", we have no space to enter. The memory of the great achievements of the Greeks in ancient days, and the gratitude felt for their influence upon European civilization, caused opinion in Great Britain to be strongly upon the side of the Greeks, and led to their cause being championed by British sympathizers. Amongst others, Lord Cochrane (Cochrane had already won great renown for his brilliant exploits in fighting the Spaniards on behalf of the independence of Chili, and the Portuguese on behalf of that of Brazil. In 1827 he was made admiral of the Greek fleet; but he met with little success - the Greek seamen, in his opinion, " were collectively the greatest cowards" he had ever met with. ) and Sir Richard Church - the one on sea and the other on land - rendered great services; whilst Lord Byron, the poet, died fighting with the Greek forces. The British Government, however, was faced with a difficult situation. It was not unsympathetic towards the Greeks, but it was very fearful of Russian interference lest a general dissolution of the Turkish Empire should be the result. Eventually, in 1827, after the war had been in progress for some years, and the sultan had called in the assistance of Mehemet Ali, the formidable ruler of Egypt, Canning was successful in persuading Russia and France to agree with Great Britain in suggesting terms. The Greeks were to have self-government under Turkish suzerainty; and meanwhile an armistice was to be imposed upon the combatants whilst negotiations with this object were in progress.

Chronology
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