ABSTRACT
Britain, the self-assured Lord Palmerston included, reacted too slowly to shifts in the balance of forces in Europe after 1848; in consequence its ability to influence Continental affairs was substantially reduced. Nicholas had discussed, with Aberdeen in 1844 and with the British Ambassador, Sir George Seymour, in 1853, the possibility of concerted Anglo-Russian action in case of Turkey's collapse. Britain's Crimean difficulties were compounded by a generation of military neglect. The perceptible decline of British influence in Europe is closely bound up with emergent nationalism. European nationalism exercised powerful contrary appeals which Britain could not reconcile. The Habsburg Empire was Britain's security against Russian expansionism in South and Central Europe. Nationalist risings affected its dominions in both Hungary and Italy. British diplomacy chalked up few triumphs in the 1860s and one reverse as humiliating as any since the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Britain's only significant contributions to European diplomacy in the 1860s concerned territorial guarantees.
