Treaty of Campo Formio.
October 27, 1797 (26 Vendémiare, Year VI).
De Clercq, Traites, I, 335-343.
This treaty terminated the war against Austria begun in 1792. It left France at war only with England. The new boundaries of France, the changes in Italy, and the arrangements for the reorganization of Germany are the features of the treaty of most importance.
His Majesty the Emperor of the Romans, King of Hungary and of Bohemia, and the French Republic, wishing to consolidate the peace of which the foundations were laid in the preliminaries signed at the château of Ekenwald near Léoben in Styria, April 18, 1797 (29 Germinal, Year V, of the French Republic, one and indivisible), have appointed for their Plenipotentiaries, to wit:
- There shall be for the future and forever a firm and inviolable peace between His Majesty the Emperor of the Romans, King of Hungary and of Bohemia, his heirs and successors, and the French Republic. . .
. . . . . .
- His Majesty the Emperor, King of Hungary and of Bohemia, renounces for himself and his successors, in favor of the French Republic, all his rights and titles to the former Belgic Provinces, known under the name of the Austrian Low Countries. The French Republic shall possess these countries forever, in complete sovereignty and proprietorship, and with all the territorial advantages which result therefrom.
. . . . . .
- His Majesty the Emperor, King of Hungary and of Bohemia, consents that the French Republic should possess in complete sovereignty the former Venetian Islands of the Levant, to wit: Corfu, Zante, Cephalonia, Santa Maura, Cerigo, and other islands dependent upon them, as well as Butrinto, Arta, Vonizza, and in general all the former Venetian establishments in Albania, which are situated below the Gulf of Drin.
- The French Republic consents that His Majesty the Emperor and King should possess in complete sovereignty and proprietorship the countries hereinafter designated, to wit: Istria, Dalmatia, the former Venetian Islands of the Adriatic, the mouths of the Cattaro, the city of Venice, the lagunes and countries included between the hereditary States of His Majesty the Emperor and King, the Adriatic Sea, and a line which setting out from Tyrol shall follow the stream beyond Gardola, and shall cross the Lake of Garda, to Cise; from there a military line to San Giocomo, offering an equal advantage to the two parties, which shall be marked out by engineering officers appointed by both parties before the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty. The line of limitation shall then pass the Adige at San Giocomo, shall follow the left bank of that river to the mouth of the Blanc canal, including the part of Porto Lignano which is upon the right bank of the Adige, with the district to a radius of three thousand toises. The line shall continue by the left bank of the Blanc canal, the left bank of the Tartaro, the left bank of the canal called the Polisella to its juncture with the Po, and the left bank of the great Po to the sea.
- His Majesty the Emperor, King of Hungary and of Bohemia, renounces forever, for himself, his successors and assigns, in favor of the Cisalpine Republic, all rights and titles springing from these rights, which his said Majesty could lay claim to over the countries which he possessed before the war, and which now make part of the Cisalpine Republic, which shall possess them in complete sovereignty and proprietorship, with all the territorial advantages which result therefrom.
- His Majesty the Emperor, King of Hungary and of Bohemia, recognizes the Cisalpine Republic as an independent power. . . .
. . . . . .
- His Majesty the Emperor, King of Hungary and of Bohemia, binds himself to cede to the Duke of Modena, as indemnity for the countries which that Prince and his heirs had in Italy, the Breisgau, which he shall possess upon the same conditions as those in virtue of which he possessed Modena.
. . . . . .
- There shall be held at Rastadt a Congress composed exclusively of the Plenipotentiaries of the Germanic Empire and of those of the French Republic for the pacification between these two Powers. This shall be opened one month after the signature of the present treaty, or sooner if it is possible.
- His Majesty the Emperor, King of Hungary and of Bohemia, consents that the limits of the French Republic shall extend to the line designated below and pledges himself to use his good offices in order that, in establishing peace with the German Empire, the French Republic may obtain this same boundary, to wit: The left bank of the Rhine from the Swiss frontier below Basle to the confluence of the Nette above Andernach, including the tete de Pont at Mannheim on the right bank of the Rhine and the town and tortress of Mainz, both banks of the Nette, from its mouth to its source near Bruch, from here a line passing through Senscherode and Borlei to Kerpen and from this town to Udelhofen, Blankenheim, Marmagen, Jactenigt, Gale and Gmiind, including the suburbs and surrounding districts of these places, then the two banks of the Olff to its junction with the Roer, the two banks of the Roer including Heimbach, Niedeggen, Düren, and Jülich, with their suburbs and surrounding districts as well as the villages on the river and their surrounding districts as far as Limnich; from here a line passing Roffems and Thalens, Dalen, Hilas, Papdermod, Laterforst, Radenberg, Haversloo (if this lies upon the line), Anderheide, Kalderkirchen, Wambach, Herringen and Grobray with the town of Venloo and its surrounding territory. If, in spite of the good offices of His Majesty the Emperor, King of Hungary and of Bohemia, the German Empire should not consent to the acquisition by the French Republic of the frontier above indicated, His Majesty the Emperor and King formerly engages not to furnish more than his contingent to the army of the Empire, which may not be employed in the fortresses without thereby interfering with the peace and amity just established between his said Majesty and the French Republic.
- His Majesty the Emperor, King of Hungary and of Bohemia, will further use his good offices during the negotiations for peace with the German Empire in order that, First, the navigation of the Rhine shall be free to the French Republic and to the states of the Empire situated on the right bank of this river from Hüningen to the point where it reaches the Batavian Republic;
Secondly, to arrange that the one in possession of that part of Germany opposite the mouth of the Moselle shall never upon any pretext whatsoever hinder the free navigation and exit of boats or other craft from the mouth of the river;
Thirdly, that the French Republic shall enjoy the free navigation of the Meuse, and that all tolls and other dues which may be established from Venloo to the point where the river enters Batavian territory; shall be suppressed.
- His Majesty the Emperor and King, renounces, on his own part and for his successors, the sovereignty over, and possession of, the County of Falkenstein and its dependencies, in favor of the French Republic.
- The territories which His Majesty the Emperor, King of Hungary and of Bohemia, is to possess in virtue of Article VI of the oopen, definitive treaty signed this day, shall serve as an indemnity for those territories which he cedes by Articles III and VII of the open treaty and by the preceding article. This cession shall not, however, have force until the troops of His Majesty the Emperor and King shall occupy the territory acquired by the said article.
- The French Republic will employ its good offices in order that His Majesty the Emperor may acquire in Germany the Archbishopric of Salzburg, and that portion of the Circle of Bavaria situated between the Archbishopric of Salzburg, the rivers Inn and Salzach and Tyrol, including the city of Wasserburg on the right bank of the Inn, with the surrounding territory within a radius of 3000 toises.
- His Majesty the Emperor and King agrees to cede to the French Republic, when peace shall be concluded with the Empire, the sovereignty and possession of the Frickthal, as well as all the possessions of the House of Austria on the left bank of the Rhine between Zurzach and Basle, provided that in the above-mentioned peace His Majesty shall obtain a proportionate compensation in Germany which shall be satisfactory.
The French Republic shall unite the said districts to the Helvetian Republic, according to an arrangement to be made between the said countries, without prejudice, however, to His Majesty the Emperor and King, or to the Empire.
- It is understood between the two contracting powers that if, in arranging the pending peace with the German Empire, the French Republic shall make an acquisition in Germany, His Majesty the Emperor, King of Hungary and of Bohemia, shall obtain an equivalent there, and conversely if His Royal and Imperial Majesty make an acquisition of this kind, the French Republic shall similarly receive an equivalent.
- A territorial indemnity shall be given to the Prince of Nassau-Dietz, formerly Stadtholder of Holland, but this territorial indemnity shall not be chosen in the neighborhood of the Austrian possessions nor of the Batavian Republic.
- The French Republic will find no trouble in restoring to the King of Prussia his possessions on the left bank of the Rhine. Hence there will be no question of any new acquisitions on the part of the King of Prussia. To this the contracting parties mutually pledge themselves.
- If the King of Prussia consents to cede to the French Republic and to the Batavian Republic certain small portions of his possessions upon the left bank of the Meuse, as well as the enclave of Zevenaar and other possessions toward the Yssel, His Majesty the Emperor, King of Hungary and of Bohemia, will employ his good offices to render the said cessions practicable, and to cause them to be recognized by the German Empire. The failure to carry out the present article shall not affect the preceding one.
- His Majesty the Emperor will not oppose the disposition which the French Republic has made in favor of the Ligurian Republic of the Imperial Fiefs. His Majesty the Emperor will unite his efforts with those of the French Republic to induce the German Empire to renounce such rights of suzerainty as it may have in Italy, especially over the districts which form a part of the Cisalpine and Ligurian Republics, as well as over the Imperial Fiefs, such as Lusignana and all those lying between Tuscany and the possessions of Parma, the Ligurian and Luccan Republics, and the former territory of Modena, the which fiefs shall form a part of the Cisalpine Republic.
- His Majesty the Emperor, King of Hungary and of Bohemia, and the French Republic, will unite their efforts in order that, in negotiating peace with the German Empire, the different Princes and States of the Empire which shall suffer losses of territory and of rights in consequence of the stipulations of the present treaty of peace, or later, in consequence of the treaty which shall be concluded with the German Empire, shall obtain appropriate indemnities in Germany; which indemnities shall be determined in common accord with the French Republic. This applies especially to the Electors of Mainz, Trier and Cologne, the Elector Palatine of Bavaria. the Duke of Würtemburg and Teck, the Margrave of Baden, the Duke of Zweibrücken, the Landgraves of Hesse-Cassel and of Hesse-Darmstadt, the Princes of Nassau-Saarbrücken, of Salm-Kyrburg, Löwenstein-Wertheim and of Wiedrunkel and the Count of Leyen.
- The troops of His Majesty the Emperor shall evacuate within twenty days after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty, the city and fortress of Mainz, Ehrenbreit-stein, Phillippsburg, Maunheim, Königsstein, Ulm and Ingol-stadt, as well as all the territory belonging to the Germanic Empire as far as his hereditary possessions.
- The present secret articles shall have the same force as if they were inserted word for word in the open treaty of peace signed today. These shall be ratified at the same time by the contracting parties and the acts of ratification shall be exchanged in due form at Rastadt.
Fournier, Napoleon, 99-100, 108-110; Rose, Napoleon, I, 128-130, 155-157; Sloane, Napoleon, II, 12-16; Lanfrey,
Napoleon, I. Ch. IX; Lavisse and Rambaud, Histoire Generale, VIII, 439-440.
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