 | |
| Type | Peace treaty |
|---|---|
| Signed | 29 June 1679 (1679-06-29) |
| Location | Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France |
| Parties | |
| Language | Latin |
TheTreaty orPeace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye of 19 June(OS) or 29 June(NS) 1679 was a peace treaty betweenFrance and theElectorate of Brandenburg.[1] It restored to France's allySwedenher dominionsBremen-Verden andSwedish Pomerania, lost to Brandenburg in theScanian War.[1][2] Sweden ratified the treaty on 28 July 1679.[1]
The treaty is by some considered "the worst political defeat" ofElector Frederick William I.[3] He was forced by France to give away the Swedish portion of whathe considered his rightful Pomeranian inheritance,[4] despite havingconquered it in a four-year campaign.
Sweden had entered an alliance withFrance in April 1672.[5] At this time,Great Britain, theElectorate of Brandenburg,the Netherlands andDenmark were hostile towards Sweden.[5]Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor entered an alliance with the Netherlands andSpain against France on 30 August 1673, and declared war in early 1674.[6] Subsequently,Frederick William I, Elector of Brandenburg joined the anti-French alliance.[6]
In support ofLouis XIV of France,Charles XI of Sweden invaded Brandenburg in 1674, but was decisively defeated in theBattle of Fehrbellin in 1675.[5][7]Denmark then invaded the province of Scania (Skåne) that had been lost to Sweden in 1658.[5]
During theScanian War, Brandenburg occupied theSwedish dominions in Northern Germany,Swedish Pomerania (except forRügen) andBremen-Verden, alsoCourland;[5] Denmark occupied Rügen[8] but was defeated in Scania in the battles ofLund (1676) andLandskrona (1677).[5]
After theTreaties of Nijmegen (1678/1679) had ended theFranco-Dutch War,France was able to support Sweden again,[5] and invaded the BrandenburgianDuchy of Cleves on the lowerRhine.[9] Brandenburg, short of troops in the area and deprived of allies by the Nijmegen treaties, had no choice than to settle for peace with France at the expense of her gains from Sweden.[9][10] Likewise,Denmark-Norway had to conclude theTreaty of Fontainebleau with Sweden in September 1679.[5]
Brandenburg's allyLeopold I, Holy Roman Emperor had concluded a separate peace withLouis XIV of France in February 1679, confirming theTreaty of Westphalia of 1648 which included the cession ofBremen-Verden andSwedish Pomerania toSweden.[11] Neither did Leopold I want Frederick William to become a "new king of the Vandals in the Baltics",[12] nor did he want theBrandenburg-Pomeranian conflict to disturb his negotiations with France.[11]
Frederick William I had his diplomats offer France unconditional support, including military support and support against the Holy Roman Emperor, in return for Louis XIV letting him keep Swedish Pomerania.[12] Furthermore, Frederick William I directly offered Sweden "some tons of gold" for Swedish Pomerania, and military support againstDenmark-Norway.[12]
Louis XIV however neither had an interest nor a military need to fulfill any Brandenburgian wish.[12] To the contrary, he had a strong interest that Sweden would not lose any territory as a consequence of her alliance and support for France.[12] Frederick William was told that Sweden would loseStettin "no more thanStockholm", and that "first we [France] will takeLippstadt,Minden will cause us no trouble, thenHalberstadt andMagdeburg will fall to us one after the other, and finally we will reachBerlin".[12] With BrandenburgianCleves occupied andMinden sieged, France also refused another offer of Frederick William to cede hisRhine provinces in return for Swedish Pomerania.[12]
On 29 June 1679,Frederick William I, Elector of Brandenburg signed the treaty,[9] thereby restoringBremen-Verden[1] and most ofSwedish Pomerania toSweden[9][13] in return for a consolation payment fromLouis XIV of France[9][14] and the reversion ofEast Frisia.[14] The French payment to Brandenburg was fixed at 300,000talers, to be paid within the following two years.[15] France subsequently managed to make Brandenburg accept this sum also to settle 900,000 talers of French debts.[15]
TheElectorate of Brandenburg further gained the former Swedish eastern bank of theOder river except forGollnow andDamm.[13]Gollnow was pawned to Brandenburg for 50,000talers, bailed out by Sweden in 1693.[13]Swedish Pomerania was to be cleared of Brandenburgian occupation forces within three months.[1]
The treaty also contained a paragraph that forbadeDutch forces to garrison in theDuchy of Cleves.[15]
Stettin was restored to Sweden as the last Brandenburgian stronghold in December 1679.[1]Denmark, who during theScanian War had occupiedRügen, concluded a separate treaty with Sweden: In theTreaty of Lund of 26 September 1679, Denmark assured to return Rügen to Sweden by 20 October.[1]
Still in 1679, Brandenburg concluded a secret alliance with France: Brandenburg's sovereignty was to be respected by France for ten years and an annual 100,000livres were paid in return for France's right for free passage through Brandenburgian territory.[16] This alliance was in part due to disappointment of theHohenzollernElector of Brandenburg with theHabsburgHoly Roman Emperor,[17][15] who had approved of the treaty and opposed a strong Brandenburg.[17] Aware of France' expansionism and what he called the "French yoke",Frederick William I nevertheless concluded that:
"only the protection of God and the power of the [French] King can bring us security"
and that the Empire and the Emperor:
"were the first to leave us defenceless before our enemies".[15]
However, beginning in 1685, Brandenburg secretly started to form new, anti-French alliances.[16]
