Castlereagh and Canning – British Foreign Policy 1815-1830

Britain was on the verge of a new era of foreign policy when Viscount Castlereagh was first thrown into the international arena in 1814.

Despite being one of the victors of the Napoleonic Wars the imperial power still faced a number of challenges, the main one being how to balance all the interests of the European powers who were growing in confidence daily.

Viscount Castlereagh started his reign as foreign secretary in a mayor meeting of the post war alllied powers at the Congress of Vienna in 1814. The congress was the first in a series of congresses that were designed to keep peace in Europe after the Napoleonic Wars. Terms imposed by the congresses on France were very strict as the country was forced to lose a number of important territories.

Initial talks between the countries involved broke down with Russia, Austria and Prussia not keen on reforming their political and economic systems therefore Britain and France took part in discussions less and less.

The resulting Treaty of Vienna in 1815 effectively ended the Napoleonic Wars and attempted to keep the current status quo of Europe. Germany, however was changed substantially and lost a number of independent states.

Britain was very keen to keep their colonies and in an attempt to do this joined the Quadruple Alliance which meant it would guarantee 60,000 troops if France violated  any further treaties.

One alliance Castlereagh was not keen to join however was the Holy Alliance which was later used as a tool for suppressing liberalism in Western Europe. The foreign secretary referred to it as a piece of sublime mysticism and nonsense.’ He was often referred to as some by a conservative reactionary in Britain and a dangerous liberal in foreign affairs, and his views led a split in the Congress system after 1815.

Castlereagh remained foreign secretary until his suicide in 1822.

His successor Canning continued very much along a similar vein despite their personal differences. The pair famously fought in a duel in 1809 and the two men had been sworn enemies ever since. Despite this they had a very similar approach to foreign policy.

Canning’s views on certain issues however were even stronger than Castlereagh’s and he believed that imperial powers should not interfere in affairs beyond their areas of jurisdiction.

He was a very keen supporter of the Greek rebellion in the 1820s which led to the formation of the modern Greece we  see today.Canning was also involved in stopping revolts against the Spanish rule in South America and was famously quoted as saying “I have brought in a New World to redress the balance of the old.”