ABSTRACT
The Duke of Wellington’s victories in Spain made him a military hero even before the battle of Waterloo in June 1815, while Viscount Castlereagh, Britain’s foreign secretary since 1812, succeeded in consolidating the rather shaky alliance against France in the Treaty of Chaumont in March 1814. As late as 1813 the anti-French coalition was still riven with discord and disagreements. Castlereagh’s mission to the continent in January 1814 to coordinate the policies of the allies was a brilliant success. The British attitude to France was remarkably lenient, even after Napoleon’s escape from Elba and the battle of Waterloo. The vigorous defence of British maritime interests was only to be expected when Britannia ruled the waves. The settlement of central Europe, largely dealt with at the Congress of Vienna, which met from September 1814 to the summer of 1815, was probably the least satisfactory part of the peace settlement from Britain’s point of view.
