ABSTRACT
European peace after 1815 had depended in part on the successful use by Metternich of the fear of revolution as a means of hypnotizing Russia into a passive policy towards Turkey. By 1853 the Holy Alliance had been gravely weakened. Its architect, Metternich, long in decline, was no longer in power. Its chief exponent, Nicholas I, who unlike either Metternich or Alexander I was an autocrat without qualification, had, after 1839, escaped from Metternich's influence and had shown a strong disposition to prefer the company of Palmerston and Aberdeen. Aberdeen, the Prime Minister, saw quite clearly that the method of negotiation was the correct one: but he was not in control of the situation. He lacked authority as Prime Minister, and he lacked, when it came to foreign affairs, that authority derived from the efficient mastery of his subject which had been the hallmark of the vigorous and clearheaded Palmerston.
