Paris, Congress of
Paris, Congress of,
1856, conference held by representatives of France, Great Britain, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), Sardinia, Russia, Austria, and Prussia to negotiate the peace after the Crimean WarCrimean War, 1853–56, war between Russia on the one hand and the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, France, and Sardinia on the other. The causes of the conflict were inherent in the unsolved Eastern Question.
..... Click the link for more information. . In the Treaty of Paris (Mar. 30, 1856), Russia agreed to the neutralization of the Black Sea, which was to be closed to war vessels and opened to the merchant marines of all nations. The Danubian principalities (MoldaviaMoldavia
, historic Romanian province (c.14,700 sq mi/38,100 sq km), extending from the Carpathians in Romania east to the Dnieper River in Moldova. Land and Economy
Moldavia borders on Ukraine in the northeast and on Walachia in the south.
..... Click the link for more information. and WalachiaWalachia
or Wallachia
, historic region (29,568 sq mi/76,581 sq km), S Romania. The Transylvanian Alps separate it in the NW from Transylvania and the Banat; the Danube separates it from Serbia in the west, Bulgaria in the south, and N Dobruja in the east; in the
..... Click the link for more information. , after 1859 called RomaniaRomania
or Rumania
, republic (2015 est. pop. 19,877,000), 91,699 sq mi (237,500 sq km), SE Europe. It borders on Hungary in the northwest, on Serbia in the southwest, on Bulgaria in the south, on the Black Sea in the southeast, on Moldova in the northeast, and on
..... Click the link for more information. ) were recognized as quasi-independent states under Ottoman suzerainty; to them Russia ceded the left bank of the mouth of the DanubeDanube
, Czech Dunaj, Ger. Donau, Hung. Duna, Rom. Dunarea, Serbo-Croatian and Bulg. Dunav, Ukr. Dunay, great river of central and SE Europe, c.1,770 mi (2,850 km) long, with a drainage basin of c.
..... Click the link for more information. and part of BessarabiaBessarabia
, historic region, c.17,600 sq mi (45,600 sq km), largely in Moldova and Ukraine. It is bounded by the Dniester River on the north and east, the Prut on the west, and the Danube and the Black Sea on the south.
..... Click the link for more information. . The lower Danube was placed under an international commission. The boundaries of Russia and the Ottoman Empire in Asia were restored to their prewar limits (to the detriment of Russia). The Ottoman Empire became a member of the European concert, and its integrity was guaranteed; the sultan in turn promised to improve the status of his Christian subjects. Several principles of international law were adopted by the congress in the Declaration of Paris. The provisions of the treaty were altered (1878) by the Congress of BerlinBerlin, Congress of,
1878, called by the signers of the Treaty of Paris of 1856 (see Paris, Congress of) to reconsider the terms of the Treaty of San Stefano, which Russia had forced on the Ottoman Empire earlier in 1878.
..... Click the link for more information. .
Bibliography
See C. D. Hazen et al., Three Peace Congresses of the Nineteenth Century (1917).