Everything about Treaty Of London 1867 totally explained
The
Treaty of London (
French:
Traité de Londres), often called the
Second Treaty of London after the
1839 Treaty, was an international
treaty signed on
11 May 1867. Agreed in the aftermath of the
Austro-Prussian War and the
Luxembourg Crisis, it had wide-reaching consequences for
Luxembourg and for relations between
Europe's
Great Powers.
Effects
The most important immediate effect of the treaty, established in Article I, was the reaffirmation of the
personal union between the
Netherlands and Luxembourg under the
House of Orange-Nassau. The Luxembourg Crisis had erupted after
French Emperor Napoleon III attempted to buy Luxembourg from the Dutch
King William III. Consequently, maintaining Dutch ownership of Luxembourg, free from French interference, was of paramount importance to
Prussia.
The
neutrality of Luxembourg, established by the
First Treaty of London, was also reaffirmed. Those parties that didn't sign the earlier treaty were to become guarantors of Luxembourg's neutrality (an exception was
Belgium, which was, itself, bound to neutrality).
To ensure Luxembourg's neutrality, the fortifications of
Luxembourg City, known as the
'Gibraltar of the North' , were to be demolished and never to be rebuilt. Dismantling the fortifications took sixteen years, cost 1.5 million gold
francs, and required the destruction of over 24 km (15 miles) of underground defences and 40,000 m² (10 acres) of
casemates,
batteries,
barracks, etc. Furthermore, the Prussian
garrison, which had been sited in Luxembourg since the 1815
Congress of Vienna, was to be withdrawn.
The
Seven Weeks' War had led to the collapse of the
German Confederation. Two former members, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the
Duchy of Limburg, were possessions of the Dutch king. To further clarify the position in the wake of the death of the Confederation, the Treaty of London affirmed the end of the Confederation, and stated that Luxembourg and Limburg were henceforth to be considered 'integral parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands'. Luxembourg would rejoin the newly re-established German
customs union, the
Zollverein, in which it would remain until
1 January 1919.
Signatories
The treaty was signed by representatives of all of the Great Powers of Europe:
Italy was originally not invited, but
King Victor Emmanuel II persuaded the other kings and emperors to invite his representative. Italy had little relation to Luxembourg, and the treaty didn't directly affect Italy in any appreciable manner. However, it marked the first occasion on which Italy was invited to partake in an international conference on the basis of being a Great Power, and, therefore, was of symbolic value to the fledgling Italian kingdom.
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