ABSTRACT
In the light of the parallel evolution of British Cabinet thinking, the fate of the Vienna peace process now depended upon the nature of the refusal. Once more the Russians played into the hands of the Turkish hawks and aggressive Anglo-French imperialism. Under a general illusion that Russia was still in a strong position, and unwilling under any circumstances to admit a change of line, Nesselrode had his redactor in chief, Ksaveri Labenski, quickly prepare an examen or analysis of the Modifications. Nesselrode's essential goal was to demonstrate that these denied a legitimate basis for the entire Menshikov Mission, which had aimed to reaffirm the privileges and immunities of the Greek Church and Russia's rights stemming from the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji. Despite Anglo-French hostility to Russia's recent circulars with similar arguments, he hoped that the examen would be persuasive in London and Paris, or so he wrote, even though it misrepresented what the Sultan actually was supposed to pledge.
