Castlereagh And Canning

Castlereagh and Canning’s policies
Castlereagh (1812-22) and Canning (1822-7) were Foreign Secretaries at a very difficult time for Britain. First, Napoleon had to be defeated and then aninternational settlement had to be agreed which involved negotiations with international major powers who pursued very different aims. They were largely successful in securing British interests because thecountry continued to be a leading power throughout this period.
Castlereagh was a poor public speaker whereas Canning was more fluent and witty. Wellington won the military victories against Napoleon butit was Castlereagh who did much to hold together the Fourth Coalition of Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia. He was then Britain’s leading representative at the Congress of Vienna and was veryimportant in shaping the settlement. Other politicians and the public were not very interested in foreign affairs and Castlereagh was given a lot of freedom to make decisions about policy. He wanted tobalance the defense of British interests with the avoidance of involvement in continental affairs. Castlereagh had only one important interest on the Continent: to ensure trade with the Low Countries,especially Antwerp in Belgium. This is why he secured control of Heligoland and free trade on the River Scheldt. It was more important to Castlereagh to secure gains in the wider world. Britain gainedMalta and the Ionian Islands as trading bases in the Mediterranean. To resolve tensions between the European powers, Castlereagh was willing to support the idea of regular meetings or congresses andBritain became a member of the Quadruple Alliance in 1815 with Austria, Prussia and Russia. However, he became increasingly suspicious of the way in which the autocratic powers, especially Austria andRussia, wished the congresses to become decision-making bodies to intervene in the affairs of more liberal countries. He was particularly suspicious of the Holy Alliance which was proposed by...