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TheTreaty of Chaumont was a series of separately-signed but identically-worded agreements in 1814 between theAustrian Empire, theKingdom of Prussia, theRussian Empire and theUnited Kingdom. They were dated 1 March 1814, although the actual signings took place on 9 or 19 March. The treaty was intended to draw the powers of theSixth Coalition into a closer alliance in caseFrance rejected the peace terms they had recently offered. Each power agreed to put 150,000 soldiers in the field against France and to guarantee for twenty years the European peace (once obtained) againstFrench aggression.[1]
Following discussions in late February 1814, representatives of Austria, Prussia, Russia, and the United Kingdom reconvened a meeting atChaumont, Haute-Marne, on 1 March 1814. The resulting Treaty of Chaumont was signed on 9 or 19 March 1814 although it was dated 1 March by EmperorAlexander I of Russia, Austrian EmperorFrancis II (withPrince Metternich), KingFrederick William III of Prussia, and British Foreign SecretaryLord Castlereagh. The treaty called forNapoleon to give up all conquests and thus to revert France to itspre-revolutionary borders in exchange for a ceasefire. If Napoleon rejected the treaty, the Allies pledged to continue the war. If Napoleon accepted, he would be allowed to continue to rule as the Emperor of the French and to keep a dynasty. The following day, Napoleon rejected the treaty, which ended his last chance of a negotiated settlement.[2]
The decisions were again ratified and put into effect by theCongress of Vienna of 1814–1815. The terms were largely written by Lord Castlereagh who offered cash subsidies to keep the other armies in the field against Napoleon.[3] Key terms included the establishment of aGerman Confederation, the division ofItaly into independent states, the restoration of theBourbon kings ofSpain and the enlargement of theNetherlands to include what in 1830 becameBelgium. The treaty became the cornerstone of the alliance that formed theEuropean balance of power for decades.[4]
