The Rhine crisis of 1840 was a diplomatic crisis between the Kingdom of France and the German Confederation , caused by the demand by French minister Adolphe Thiers that the river Rhine be reinstated as France's border in the east, at a loss of some 32,000 km (12,000 sq mi) of German territory.
56-710: The territories of the Left Bank of the Rhine , which French troops had conquered in 1795 and formally annexed in 1797, had been returned to German (mostly Prussian ) control after the 1815 Congress of Vienna , forming the Rhine Province . After a diplomatic defeat in the Oriental Crisis of 1840 France shifted its focus to the Rhine, and the French government, led by Adolphe Thiers, restated its claim to areas on
112-541: A military union in the case of a French attack. However, further moves toward German unity were not pursued by the conservative leaders and the rulers of smalls states continued to defend their independence. The King made it clear to Thiers that he wanted peace, a position backed by many in the Cabinet due to the poor state of military preparedness and the continuing military efforts in Algeria. Thiers offered to resign, but
168-539: A nation." The conflict gave rise to an explosion of patriotic and nationalist poetry on both sides. On the German side, the Rheinliedbewegung (Rhine-song movement) brought forth thousands of poems with such titles as "You shall not have it, the free German Rhine" and " Die Wacht am Rhein " ("The Watch on the Rhine"). Such poems were published in nearly every newspaper with the most successful reprinted across
224-579: A new government led by Marshal Soult , a firm supporter of the Louis-Philippe. However, the Soult-led government fell only nine months later on a relatively minor vote concerning a proposed dowry for the King's second son, Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours . Soult was succeeded as prime minister by Adolphe Thiers . Disliked by Louis-Philippe, Thiers was a strong supporter of parliamentarization, he
280-695: A possible candidate as the first modern King of Greece . In February 1831, five months before revolutionaries succeeded in the Belgian Revolution , which established the Kingdom of Belgium , Louis was nominated to be the first King of the Belgians ; international considerations deterred Louis-Philippe from accepting the honour for his son. Prince Louis did accompany the French Armée du Nord that entered Belgium to support its separation from
336-471: A war against an alliance of the four Great Powers, they also recognized that the popular outrage represented a threat to the government and the monarchy. With the king's support, Thiers resorted to a bluff: he publicly called for the restoration of the Rhine frontier and the reannexation of the Left Bank of the Rhine. In support of this demand, he called up reservists on August 5, 1840, mobilized forces near
392-457: The Chamber of Deputies . The death of his elder brother, Ferdinand, Duke of Orleans , in 1842 gave him a position of greater importance as the natural regent in the case of the accession of his nephew, the young Count of Paris . His reserve, and dislike of public functions, with a certain haughtiness of manner, however, made him unpopular. On the outbreak of the revolution of 1848 he held
448-713: The Concert of Europe . Despite overwhelming military superiority, the Great Powers declined to depose Muhammad Ali in Egypt and while the settlement revoked his earlier gains in Syria and reduced his army and navy, it reaffirmed his position in Egypt and made it hereditary, though subject to the Ottoman throne. The new cabinet, with Guizot as Secretary of State, sailed a more conciliatory course, and all five Great Powers signed
504-717: The First Republic . After the allied victory over Napoleon I in 1814, the territories were temporarily administered by the Central Administrative Departement ( Zentralverwaltungsdepartement ). The Sarre province and the district of Landau in der Pfalz , which had been French before the Napoleonic Wars , became by the final act of the Congress of Vienna ceded to the members of the anti-Napoleonic coalition. The annexations done under
560-694: The Holy Roman Empire until they were seized by France, mostly in the 17th century during Louis XIV 's wars, were restored to the new German Empire in 1871, after France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War . Parts of the region were consolidated into the Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine for 48 years (1871–1919), but Alsace–Lorraine itself was allocated to France after the First World War . The remainder of
616-788: The Levant ) from the Sultan as compensation for his assistance during the Greek war. Egyptian troops moved into Palestine and Syria, reaching Anatolia by 1832 before being stopped by the threat of Great Power intervention to protect the Sultan, though Muhammad Ali kept control of Syria. France had taken the Turkish defeat in the Greek War of Independence as an opportunity to occupy Algeria , previously also nominally an Ottoman vassal, in 1830, and had aligned themselves closely with Muhammad Ali throughout
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#1732765875643672-618: The London Straits Convention (13 July 1841) settled the matter of the Dardanelles, defusing tension in Europe. Once the threat of a general European war was lifted, the Rhine crisis's immediate impact was fairly limited outside of French internal politics. France dropped its demand for the Left Bank of the Rhine and the aggressive government was replaced with more conservative leadership which brought France back into
728-686: The Rhineland was retained by Germany, albeit under Allied occupation from 1918 to 1930. By the late autumn of 1794, the French Army had occupied the left bank of the Rhine . The legal annexation of the territories was formally prepared at the Treaty of Leoben (1797) and concluded by the Treaties of Camp Formio (1797) and Lunéville (1801). At the 1795 Peace of Basel , all of the Left Bank of
784-555: The Tuileries long enough to cover the king's retreat, but refrained from initiating active measures against the mob. He followed his sister-in-law, Hélène, Duchesse d'Orléans , and her two sons to the chamber of deputies, but was separated from them by the rioters, and only escaped finally by disguising himself in the uniform of a national guard. He embarked for England, where he settled with his parents at Claremont . His chief aim during his exile, especially after his father's death,
840-643: The United Kingdom of the Netherlands ; there he took part in the Siege of Antwerp (1832) . Louis accompanied the Algerian expedition against the town of Constantine in the autumn of 1836, and in a second expedition (1837) he was entrusted with the command of a brigade and with the direction of the siege operations at Constantine. General Damrémont was killed at his side on 12 October, and Constantine
896-504: The 1830s, as part of a strategy to expand their Mediterranean influence. In June 1839, Ottoman troops sought to reoccupy the lands they had ceded in 1833, but were badly defeated on June 24, followed shortly by the Sultan Mahmud II 's death from tuberculosis on July 1. The Ottoman Navy defected to Muhammad Ali, threatening the collapse of the empire. The United Kingdom , Prussia, and Austria feared that destabilization in
952-779: The Concert of Europe. Within France, apart from bringing down the Thiers government, the episode illustrated popular disappointment with France's failure to live up to the national and military ideals of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic period are sometimes cited as contributing to the downfall of the July Monarchy in 1848 and the return of the Napoleonic dynasty to power . However, the most significant long-term impact of
1008-599: The Confederation gained some strength. Some steps were taken to increase military preparedness and strengthen cooperation. The new King of Prussia, Frederick William IV , proposed an expansion of the German Confederation's military and improvements to the fortifications of Mainz , Ulm , and Rastatt , while the Kingdom of Bavaria built the fortress at Germersheim . Prussia and Austria also agreed to
1064-688: The Crisis also laid the ground for the sharp responses of Prussia to the Schleswig-Holstein Question and the Luxembourg Crisis and the threat that further territory would be lost from the Confederation. The consequences of the Rhine crisis in Germany were described thus by Heinrich Heine : "Thiers drummed our fatherland into this great movement which awakened political life in Germany; Thiers brought us back on our feet as
1120-773: The First Republic were undone. From those territories, the Bavarian Circle of the Rhine ( Rheinkreis ) and the Hessian province of Rhenish Hesse ( Rheinhessen ) were formed in 1816. The regions in the north went to Prussia and were initially part of the two provinces of Jülich-Cleves-Berg and the Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine , from which the Rhine Province emerged in 1822. The southern Left Bank territories, which had for centuries been part of
1176-670: The French administration established specialist high schools. Criticism came from church-influenced counties as well as, during the Napoleonic period , from former German Jacobins . Whilst the former complained about secularisation, the later protested about the suppression of freedom. Resentment over military conscription was common throughout the population. During the French period many dialectal words of French origin entered everyday speech, such as Plümo (feather bed), Filou , Monnie (money), and Drottewaar (pavement). In Koblenz
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#17327658756431232-585: The Levant became untenable. In October, the King struck several Thiers-drafted lines he deemed too confrontational from his annual address to the Chamber of Deputies and Thiers tendered his resignation again which was accepted on October 29, 1840. Thiers was succeeded by his predecessor, Marshal Soult, whose government struck a more conciliatory line with the other Great Powers, dropping any demand for territorial concession in Europe and actively seeking to rejoin
1288-655: The Moselle". Rudler had hitherto been the judge at the Court of Cassation in Paris. His division of the region into four départements lasted until the end of the French period and consisted of: An area in the South Palatinate was allocated to the: In addition to the centralization of the administration along French lines the rest of French law was introduced. That included the lifting of all estates-based privileges,
1344-570: The Napoleonic wars, with some calls for annexing Switzerland as well as French border fortifications. The crisis resulted in a significant shift among German liberals. Before 1840, Germany liberals were fairly Francophilic and willing to put political freedom above national unity — many had spent time in exile in France, the French Revolution and July Revolution were often viewed as models to be followed, and French writers and theorists were heavily influential. The Rhine crisis changed
1400-567: The Ottoman Empire would lead to increased influence for Russia over the Dardanelles and Balkans . Russia also viewed the total collapse of the Ottoman Empire as too risky and had followed a policy of increasing its influence by helping prop up the existing regime. Accordingly, these four powers signed the 1840 Convention of London , on July 15, 1840, effectively an ultimatum against Muhammad Ali to withdraw from Syria and submit to
1456-597: The Rhine ( German : Linkes Rheinufer , French : Rive gauche du Rhin ) was the region north of Lauterbourg that is now in western Germany and was conquered during the War of the First Coalition and annexed by the First French Republic . After the French attempt to create a Cisrhenian Republic had foundered, the territories west of the Rhine were reorganised into several départements in
1512-592: The Rhine was taken by France. Its population was about 1.6 million and was divided into numerous small states. In 1806, all of the Rhenish princes joined the Confederation of the Rhine , a puppet state of Napoleon. France took direct control of the Rhineland until 1814 and radically and permanently liberalized its government, society and economy. The coalition of France's enemies made repeated efforts to retake
1568-473: The abolition of all feudal privileges and historic taxes, the introduction of legal reforms of the Napoleonic Code and the reorganisation of the judicial and local administrative systems. The economic integration of the Rhineland with France increased prosperity, especially in industrial production, and business accelerated with the new efficiency and lowered trade barriers. The Jews were liberated from
1624-433: The border, he issued a government loan for armaments purposed, and began a massive fortification project around Paris . Thiers hoped that Muhammad Ali would be able to hold out in Syria while France pressed for a renegotiated settlement. On the German side, a similar wave of nationalist excitement arose in response. Particularly in the western states of the German Confederation, Francophobia and war hysteria were rampant in
1680-502: The contribution of troops, equipment, and funds from all Confederation states, coordinating the German Federal Army was very difficult and the small states were heavily reliant on the two German Great Powers of Prussia and Austria, each of whom had their own foreign policy goals independent of the Confederation. With the weakness brought into sharp focus by France's sabre-rattling in the west, calls for further integration in
1736-483: The country and set to music, some many different times by some of the most successful composers of the day. The French responded with their own poems such as the ironic "The German Rhine" (Le rhin allemand) and "La Teutomanie." In 1842 Victor Hugo wrote " Le Rhin " a travel book which ends with a call for France to extend its borders to the Rhine. Left Bank of the Rhine The Left Bank of
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1792-411: The creation of egalitarianism, the establishment of a new judicial order and the introduction of the Napoleonic code. Ecclesiastical estates were secularised . Bound up with that was a fundamental restructuring of the land ownership and economic relationships. The primary beneficiaries were the ordinary citizens. Less successful was the area of educational politics. Instead of a reform of the universities,
1848-414: The crisis was the explosion of national sentiment in Germany. Previously the province of intellectuals and other elites, the Rhine crisis saw expressions of German nationalist sentiment across social classes. It also generated significant anti-French sentiment and helped tie together German nationalism with Francophobia and diminished the amity between German and French liberals. The nationalist response to
1904-668: The end, the crisis passed peacefully, when Thiers resigned as prime minister and a more conciliatory government was installed in France. The Greek War of Independence and the Russo-Turkish War (1828–29) had considerably weakened the Ottoman Empire . In 1831, Muhammad Ali of Egypt ( Wali of Ottoman Egypt ), technically a vassal of the Ottoman Sultan but in practice exercising considerable independence, demanded control of Greater Syria (constituting much of
1960-515: The ghetto. There was only limited resistance, and most Germans welcomed the new regime, especially the urban elites, but one sore point was the hostility of the French officials toward the Roman Catholic Church , the religion of most inhabitants. The reforms were permanent, and decades later, workers and peasants in the Rhineland still often appealed to Jacobinism to oppose unpopular government programs. The intelligentsia demanded
2016-508: The instability of the domestic political situation in France. A further factor contributing to the Rhine crisis was the final settlement of the Belgian-Luxembourg question in 1839. When the Belgian Revolution 1830 separated Belgium from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands , Luxembourg , a member of the German Confederation in a personal union with the Kingdom of the Netherlands, lost over half its territory. This division
2072-581: The king refused his resignation, arguing that he wanted the British to believe that France would fight. And indeed, the combined British and Austrian Fleets, after blockading the Nile delta, did not attack Egypt, but moved east to the ports of Syria. In September 1840, joint British, Austrian, and Ottoman forces bombarded and captured several Syrian ports from the Egyptians and Muhammad Ali's military position in
2128-499: The left bank, to re-establish the Rhine as a natural border between France and Germany. These claims stoked resentment among the Germans against the French, and increased nationalism on both sides. New nationalist songs were written in France and Germany and achieved huge popularity, most famously the German songs " Die Wacht am Rhein ", "Der Deutsche Rhein" and the " Lied der Deutschen " (the national anthem of Germany since 1922). In
2184-578: The maintenance of the Napoleonic Code, which remained in effect for a century. In 1798 the administration of the region was reorganized along French lines and it was divided into départements. The French Directory charged the Alsatian, François-Joseph Rudler, with this task and appointed him as the "General Ruling Commissar of All Conquered Lands between the Meuse and the Rhine and the Rhine and
2240-436: The new Sultan Abdulmejid I . France was taken by surprise when the other four powers moved forward without French input on the agreement. The politics of the July Monarchy in France in the late 1830s were very unstable. The regime of King Louis-Philippe I faced opposition from Legitimists who sought the restoration of the senior Bourbon line to the throne, Bonapartists who sought a restoration of Napoleon 's line to
2296-461: The other princes of his family in accepting the principles of the legitimists . Lengthy negotiations ended in 1857 with a letter, written by Nemours, as he subsequently explained, at the dictation of his brother, François, prince de Joinville , in which he insisted that Chambord should express his adherence to the tricolour flag and to the principles of constitutional government. In 1871 the Orléans princes renewed their professions of allegiance to
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2352-412: The perceived snub and the defeat of France's ally in Egypt. Similar calls quickly spread to Bonapartist and Legitimist newspapers. As had happened during the July Revolution in 1830, there were loud calls for revision of the 1815 treaties and a revival of the militant nationalism that had dominated the Revolutionary period. Although Thiers and Louis-Philippe knew France was not prepared for war, much less
2408-469: The press. Some demanded the reconquest of Alsace and Lorraine (border regions with large German-speaking populations) from France in response. Elsewhere the response was more muted, particularly further from the border, but the power of the German nationalist idea was seen in the outcry. Just as French nationalists questioned the justice of the 1815 settlements, some Germans questioned the decision to forego significant territorial concessions from France after
2464-410: The region, but France repelled all of its attempts. The French swept away centuries worth of outmoded restrictions and introduced unprecedented levels of efficiency. The chaos and barriers in a land divided and subdivided among many different petty principalities gave way to a rational simplified centralised system controlled by Paris and run by Napoleon's relatives. The most important impact came from
2520-461: The senior branch of their house, but they were not consulted when the count of Chambord came to Paris in 1873, and their political differences remained until his death in 1883. Nemours lived at Bushy House after the death in 1866 of Queen Marie Amélie , widow of Louis Philippe. In 1871 the exile imposed on the French princes was withdrawn, but he only transferred his establishment to Paris after their disabilities were also removed. In March 1872 he
2576-445: The term Schängel appeared, derived from the French Christian name Jean and (apparently pejoratively) referred to the French-fathered children of German mothers. Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours Prince Louis of Orléans, Duke of Nemours (Louis Charles Philippe Raphaël d'Orléans; 25 October 1814 – 26 June 1896) was the second son of King Louis-Philippe I of France , and his wife Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily . He
2632-423: The throne, and Republicans who pushed for an end to monarchy in favor of a republic. In elections in March 1839, a coalition of left-wing and nationalists won a clear majority in the Chamber of Deputies . However, disputes among the factions of the left and efforts by the king to reduce the influence of anti-monarchical parties prevented a new cabinet from forming until a failed republican insurrection in May led to
2688-429: The view of France from a continental bastion of liberal parliamentarianism to focus on the militaristic and chauvinistic elements of the revolutionary spirit, turning many German liberals away from France and toward a more nationalist-liberal view, which was highly influential in the German revolutions of 1848–1849 . The weaknesses of the German military under the Confederation received significant attention. Relying on
2744-399: Was a reconciliation between the two branches of the house of Bourbon , as indispensable to the re-establishment of the French monarchy in any form. These wishes were frustrated on the one hand by the attitude of the comte de Chambord , and on the other by the determination of the Duchess of Orleans to maintain the pretensions of the Count of Paris . Nemours was prepared to go further than
2800-419: Was also dispatched on missions of courtesy to England in 1835, in 1838 and in 1845, and to Berlin and Vienna in 1836. On 26 April 1840, he married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha at the Château de Saint-Cloud . The occasion of his marriage in 1840 with Victoria was marked by a check to Louis-Philippe's government in the form of a refusal to bestow the marriage dowry proposed by Adolphe Thiers in
2856-439: Was associated with revolutionary and nationalist causes because of his leading role in the July Revolution and his historical writings on the French Revolution and Napoleonic era. He had recently adopted a strongly nationalist tone in parliamentary debates and made references to national honor and the nationalist enthusiasm of the revolutionary period. A coup attempt by Louis Napoleon in August 1840 failed, but further illustrated
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#17327658756432912-402: Was born at the Palais Royal , in Paris. At twelve years of age, he was nominated colonel of the First Regiment of Chasseurs, and in 1830 entered the Chambre des Pairs . As early as 1825, while revolutionaries were still engaged in the Greek War of Independence , attempting to establish a Kingdom of Greece (which transpired with the London Conference of 1832 ), Louis' name was mentioned as
2968-425: Was cemented in the Treaty of London (1839) . Although the lost territory was populated mainly by non-Germans, many German nationalists were upset by the failure of the Confederation to prevent the loss of its territory and were highly attuned to the threat of further territorial losses in the west. In France, the surprise announcement of the Convention of London signed by the other four Great Powers on July 15
3024-404: Was restored to his rank in the army as general of division, and placed in the first section of the general staff. After his retirement from the active list he continued to act as president of the Red Cross Society until 1886, when new decrees against the princes of the blood led to his withdrawal from Parisian society. During the presidency of Marshal MacMahon , he appeared from time to time at
3080-421: Was taken by assault on the 13th. He sailed a third time for Algeria in 1841, and served under General Bugeaud , taking part in the expedition to get provisions to Médéa on 29 April, and in sharp fighting near Miliana on 3 to 5 May. In the expedition against the fortified town of Takdempt, Louis commanded the 1st Infantry Division. On his return to France he became commandant of the camp of Compiègne . Louis
3136-446: Was viewed as a renewal of the grand anti-French coalitions that had been victorious in 1814 and 1815. The exclusion of France was seen as a foreign policy crisis by nationalists and public opinion swung in a nationalistic direction amidst talk of a "diplomatic Waterloo ". Starting with the liberal newspaper Le Constitutionnel on August 1, 1840, demands for a foray to the Rhine spread along with calls for territorial "compensation" for
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