Treaty of London and Luxembourg Neutrality
Luxembourg's position was an anomaly left over from 1815: a grand duchy in personal union with the Dutch crown, a member of the German Confederation, and garrisoned by Prussian troops in a fortress regarded as one of Europe's strongest. When the Confederation dissolved after Prussia's victory over Austria in 1866, the arrangement lost its legal basis, and Napoleon III — seeking compensation for having stayed neutral in that war — opened negotiations to purchase the duchy from King William III. Bismarck, who had privately encouraged French ambitions in the region, made the offer public, and German nationalist opinion made the sale politically impossible. With both powers mobilising rhetorically, a conference in London produced a compromise: William III retained the crown, Prussia withdrew its garrison, the fortress was demolished, and the Great Powers guaranteed Luxembourg's perpetual neutrality. Personal union with the Netherlands ended in 1890 when the Dutch throne passed to a woman and Luxembourg's succession law did not permit it.
- Year: 1867 CE
- Category: Diplomatic
