Canning's foreign policy Flashcards
What was Canning’s aim for the Congress System?
Less interested in maintaining good relations. Canning rejected the idea of international cooperation with monarchies - he was less pragmatic than Castlereagh and was more opposed to the absolute monarchies.
What was Canning concerned with?
British interest and creating a popular foreign policy that had less to do with the absolute monarchs of Europe.
What did Canning and Castlereagh agree on?
Canning and Castlereagh did agree on trying to oppose the influence of France and Russia.
What were the four main aspects of Canning’s foreign policy?
- Failure in the Spanish Crisis
- Success in South America
- Failure in relations with the USA
- Success in Portugal
What happened in the Spanish Crisis?
Canning broke from the Holy Alliance and decided to brake from the congress system Castlereagh had set up as well.
This led to the Holy Alliance returning Spain to an Absolute Monarchy.
What happened in South America?
Canning recognised Mexico and Columbia as independent countries, thus encouraging France and Spain to stay out of America and allow independence to happen, meaning that these countries soon became independent countries under their own government.
What happened with relations with the USA?
Canning criticised the USA’s President, not only destroying the alliance that Castlereagh had formed but also resulting in the USA cutting of all trade it had with Britain, and trade was a big part of Canning’s plans.
What happened with Portugal?
Canning sent 5,000 troops to Portugal to prevent the Holy Alliance from converting it into an Absolute Monarchy, which discouraged the Holy Alliance from doing so, thus keeping Portugal safe.
