Europe -- Politics and government -- 1815-1848; France -- Foreign relations -- Great Britain
was her wont, shaped her policy upon that of Austria. The Emperor's
acknowledgment of Louis Philippe carried with it, accordingly,
Frederick William's recognition of the King of the French.
At St. Petersburg it was not until August 19 that any mention of
the Revolution of July was allowed to appear in the newspapers. Two
days earlier a new levy of two men in five hundred had been called
up for service in the army, all Russians had been ordered to leave
France, Frenchmen had been refused admission to Russia, and any
display of the tricolour had been forbidden. But Lord Heytesbury,[21]
the British ambassador, was informed that this increase of military
strength had no reference to French affairs, and that the recall of
Russian subjects from France was a simple measure of precaution.[22]
In the eyes of Nicholas any rising of the people against their
lawful sovereign was necessarily a highly offensive proceeding, and
in this instance it had the additional disadvantage of disturbing
a condition of affairs, the continued duration of which was very
favourable to the national policy of Russia. Under the different
governments of the Restoration an excellent understanding had been
established between the Courts of the Tuileries and of St. Petersburg.
The Eastern question, which had brought Russia to the verge of war
with England and which had interrupted the smooth course of her
relations with Vienna, had, on the contrary, drawn France towards
her. When, in the campaign of the previous year, Constantinople had
appeared to lie at the mercy of General Diebitsch, politicians as
opposed as Chateaubriand and Polignac had been disposed to look upon
the situation complacently, in the hope that the disruption of the
Turkish Empire might lead to a readjustment of the map of Europe,
which might enable France to rectify in her favour the treaties of
1815. Furthermore, since the intervention in Spain, in 1823, there had
been little cordiality between the Cabinets of London and Paris. This
estrangement had been intensified by the French occupation of Algiers,
the one important measure of foreign policy of the last government
of the Restoration. These circumstances rendered it very improbable
that Russia in the near future would have to confront a coalition of
the maritime Powers. But now that a new _régime_ had been set up in
France, the possibility of that dreaded contingency would have to be
seriously considered.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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