London Protocol

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

London Protocol is a name used to describe several different documents.

1 1829
2 1830
3 1832
4 1852
5 1877
6 1944
7 References

On March 22, 1829, a conference of ambassadors established the borders of Greece. The territories of Greece encompassed everything from the Gulf of Volo to the Gulf of Arta with Negroponte (Euboea) and the Cyclades. Crete, however, was to remain an autonomous tributary state.^[1]

On February 3, 1830, the sovereignty of Greece was confirmed in a London Protocol.^[2]

On August 30, 1832, a London Protocol was signed to ratify and reiterate the terms of the Treaty of Constantinople.

On May 8, 1852, after the First War of Schleswig, another London Protocol was signed. The international treaty that became known as the "London Protocol" was the revision of an earlier protocol, which had been ratified on August 2, 1850, by the major Germanic powers of Austria and Prussia. The second, actual London Protocol was recognized by the five major European powers (Austria, France, Prussia, Russia, and the United Kingdom), as well as the two major Baltic Sea powers of Denmark and Sweden.

The Protocol affirmed the integrity of the Danish federation as a "European necessity and standing principle". Accordingly, the duchesses of Schleswig (a Danish fief) and Holstein, and Lauenburg (German fiefs) were joined by personal union with the King of Denmark. For this purpose, the succession of the duchesses was modified, because Frederick VII of Denmark remained childless and hence a change in dynasty was in order. (The originally conflicting protocols of succession between the duchesses and Denmark would have stipulated that, contrary to the treaty, the duchesses Holstein and Lauenburg would have been appointed heads of state other than the King of Denmark.) Further, it was affirmed that the duchesses were to remain as independent entities, and that Schleswig would have no greater constitutional affinity to Denmark than Holstein had.

The major powers primarily wanted to ensure, by guaranteeing Denmark's territorial integrity, that the strategically significant port of Kiel would not fall into Prussian hands. Eleven years later, this treaty was to become the trigger for the German–Danish war of 1864, when Prussia and Austria called upon Denmark's adherence to the treaty, which, however, it no longer could constitutionally fulfill.

The London Protocol was signed on March 21, 1877 between Russia and the United Kingdom. The Russians agreed not to establish any client states in case they attain victory in the looming Russo–Turkish War. In return, the British agreed to remain neutral in any conflict between the Ottoman Empire and Russia. The agreement was an effort to maintain a balance of power in the Balkans and to avoid intervention by the other Great Powers. Russian attempts to create a large Bulgaria in the Treaty of San Stefano led to the British withdrawal from the Protocol and threatened military intervention, quieted only by the Congress of Berlin.

In the London Protocol signed on September 12, 1944, the Allies of World War II (then without France) agreed on dividing Germany into three occupation zones after the war.