Treaty of Paris (1814)

The 1814 Treaty of Paris, signed on May 30, 1814, ended the war between France and the Sixth Coalition of the United Kingdom, Russia, Austria, Sweden and Prussia. It also enforced the abdication of Napoleon I, and also restored the Bourbon Monarchy in the form of Louis XVIII.

To facilitate this restoration, the terms of the treaty were reasonably lenient towards France: she was allowed to retain her boundaries of 1792, including some 3280 sqaure miles of territory captured since 1790, notably Avignon and Venaissin. Most of the colonies which France had lost in the course of the war were also to be returned, with the exception of Malta, Tobago, St Lucia and the Isle of France, all of which were transferred to Britain. Nonetheless, the victorious powers were still concerned to prevent France becoming a danger again, and with this in mind, Belgium and Holland were united under the House of Orange to form a strong buffer state, the Netherlands; there were similar provisions in the south to strengthen Piedmont. There was also a secret provision that Venetia should be transferred to Austria.

Elsewhere, it was agreed that the German vacuum left by the collapse and defeat of the Holy Roman Empire would be replaced by a federation of independent states; likewise, Italy was to be divided into various independent states. Furthermore, Switzerland was to be granted independence.

The Treaty also envisaged that France would abolish the slave trade.

Finally, it was agreed that a further congress would be held in Vienna to resolve the outstanding European issues