Although the Bourbons got rid of Talleyrand, they knew that he was accustomed to playing tricks, so they did not dare to offend him too much. After he stepped down, he still had an annual salary of one hundred thousand francs. He was still a lifelong employee of the House of Lords and retained the title of Lord Chamberlain. He began writing "Memoirs" and told his family that the memoirs could not be published until thirty years after his death.
Of course, Talleyrand still couldn't forget about making money. On January 12, 1817, he wrote to Metternich stating that he wanted to sell some documents signed by Napoleon. These documents were stolen from the state archives during his short term as head of government. They were all correspondence between Napoleon and Talleyrand and his successors. Metternich paid half a million francs for the 832 documents, only to find that only 73 of them had Napoleon's signature.
Talleyrand also still wanted to return to the political stage. He not only watched with cold eyes as the Bourbons dug their own legs, but also took active actions to oust the Bourbons. Based in London, he gathered some people, founded a newspaper, and openly opposed Bourbon's policies. In 1824, Louis XVIII died, and his younger brother, Count Charles of Artois, came to the throne and was called Charles X. He was more reactionary than Louis XVIII. Talleyrand began to associate with the leading figures of the liberal bourgeoisie and became a central figure among them. They often met at his home. From 1829, Talleyrand began to get close to Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, who was closely related to the big bourgeoisie. In August 1820, Charles X appointed Polynyak as Prime Minister. This man always advocated the comprehensive restoration of the autocratic system. His coming to power meant that France's political situation once again shifted sharply to the right. On July 25, 1830, the king and Polignac announced the dissolution of the House of Commons, the restoration of press censorship, and changes to the electoral system so that only people of noble origin had the right to vote. The people of Paris could not bear it and launched an armed uprising on July 27. On July 29, the Tuileries Palace was captured.
On the second day after the uprising broke out, when the government troops retreated outside the city, Talleyrand predicted that the revolution was about to win. He immediately wrote to Louis Philippe, urging the latter to take the opportunity to overthrow the Bourbon branch. Louis Philippe trusted Talleyrand's political vision and rushed to Paris to stand with the revolutionaries. However, Charles X announced his abdication on July 30, passing the throne to his grandson, the Grand Duke of Bordeaux, and appointing Louis Philippe as his guardian.
Louis Philippe faced a choice: either serve as a "guardian" to serve the "legitimate" king until he comes of age and take power himself; or break with the Grand Duke of Borde immediately and seize the crown. His supporters advised him Be a king. Louis Philippe was undecided, so he sent someone to ask Talleyrand for advice. Talleyrand asked him to accept the crown.
On August 9, 1830, Louis Philippe was proclaimed king by the large industrial, commercial and financial bourgeoisie, thus ending the rule of the Bourbon dynasty in France.
The French "July Revolution" consolidated the victory of the bourgeoisie over the reactionary forces of the feudal aristocracy, and surprised various European dynasties. The most angry one was Tsar Nicholas I who insisted on using Armed intervention to overthrow the "Barricade King" Louis Philippe and restore the Bourbon throne. He secretly ordered the Warsaw authorities to prepare to send troops, and at the same time asked Prussia to also send troops to intervene in France.
In order to break the diplomatic isolation, Louis Philippe sent people to London to ask Britain to recognize his regime. At that time, due to the intensification of domestic class contradictions, the United Kingdom decided to change its foreign policy and was unwilling to interfere in France's internal affairs; and Louis Philippe had been in exile in the United Kingdom for many years and was a pro-British faction. He always followed the United Kingdom as an example when formulating domestic and foreign policies. Therefore, the United Kingdom He was quickly recognized, and within six days of the British government recognizing the new French regime, Talleyrand was appointed ambassador to London by Louis Philippe. Because he is not only experienced. He was an old but capable European celebrity and had a personal relationship with British Prime Minister Wellington. This news reached St. Petersburg. Russia felt that the relationship between Britain and France had been consolidated and did not send troops to attack France. Instead, they pointed the finger at the Poles who were anti-Tsarist Russia and needed to be dealt with vigorously, so they had no choice but to recognize the regime of Louis Philippe. In September 1830, Talleyrand, who had been away from politics for fifteen years, triumphantly returned to officialdom. On the 24th, he and Dorothy arrived in London. That day, his carriage was decorated with tricolor stripes and swaggered through the city, seeming to indicate to the British people that a revolutionary French representative had arrived. Sure enough, he won loud cheers from the British working people. At night, he went to and from the upper class, wearing gorgeous silk robes and diamond jewelry. His appearance was melancholy and his speech was gorgeous. He seemed to be a noble gentleman, which made the British aristocrats feel more friendly. As ambassador, Talleyrand did not take French Foreign Minister Maulet seriously. He directly contacted the king or the king's sister Princess Adelaide; or asked Dorothy to correspond with Thiers, who was already influential at the time. Relations were tense when the Foreign Secretary discovered that foreign policy was made not in his ministry but in the embassy in London. But Talleyrand relied on his friendship with Louis Philippe to be confident. His mission was to establish and consolidate friendly relations between Britain and France, and on this basis, unite Austria against Russia and Prussia. This is exactly what he has always advocated, so he can implement it easily. His mission was accomplished well.
Of course, many people in China are still worried about Talleyrand.
They were particularly suspicious that he would betray French interests in Algeria and Belgium in order to curry favor with Britain.
The so-called Algerian question refers to the colonial war in June 1830 when the Polynac government sent an expeditionary force to conquer Algeria. Louis Philippe continued the war. The UK has always opposed it out of its own interests. The so-called Belgian issue is even more complicated. It turned out that the Congress of Vienna transferred Belgium, which had been annexed by Napoleon, to the Netherlands. However, on August 25, 1830, a revolution broke out in Belgium due to the influence of the French July Revolution. The revolutionaries immediately demanded separation from the Netherlands and declared Belgium independent. A war began between Belgium and the Netherlands. At the same time, other Belgian communists demanded that Belgium be annexed to France. They were supported by some people in France, but Britain, Russia and other countries were firmly opposed.
On the above two issues, Talleyrand's ideas were consistent with those of Britain, but he considered them based on France's interests. He believed that the Algerian people resisted France heroically, and the war obviously could not end in the short term. This would not only cost France a huge amount of manpower and financial resources, but would also encounter strong opposition from international public opinion, so it was better to withdraw its troops as soon as possible. But under the pressure of Molay and French public opinion, he gave in. As for the Belgian issue, how to deal with it in a way that not only conforms to France's interests but also obtains international consent is a matter of considerable consideration. Talleyrand believed that the only solution was for Belgium to become independent. To this end, he proposed an international conference in London.
On November 4, 1830, Russia and Prussia. The London Conference attended by representatives of Austria, the Netherlands, and France was held, and Talleyrand attended on behalf of France. He and Wellington suggested that the Netherlands and Belgium should cease fighting first during the meeting. The armistice agreement they drafted also stipulated that the Dutch and Belgian military ministries should stay where they were, which was equivalent to recognizing Belgium as a country. The next day, Talleyrand proposed France's plan: 1. Belgium would separate from the Netherlands and establish an independent country under the rule of a monarch; 2. The monarch could be the Prince of Orange of the Dutch royal family; 3. If Orange cannot become the monarch, Then the Belgians will elect their own king; 4. The fortresses on the border between France and Belgium cannot be handed over to any other country except Luxembourg.
In this plan, the most important issues are obviously independence and who should be king. In early November, before any decision had been made at the London Conference, the Belgian Parliament had voted to establish a monarchy and to make Prince Nemours, son of Louis Philippe, king of Belgium. Talleyrand immediately advised the King of France to reject the request.
Russia, Austria, and Prussia initially unanimously opposed Belgian independence. On December 20, the London Conference lasted for seven consecutive hours. Talleyrand was unyielding and tried his best to safeguard the Belgians' desire for independence. Finally, with the support of Britain, the conference finally reached an agreement agreeing to Belgian independence. The London Conference also chose Prince Leopold of Germany, whom Talleyrand favored, as King of Belgium after long and arduous discussions. This person has a close relationship with the British royal family because his late ex-wife was the British Crown Princess. At the same time, he was pro-French and opposed to Russia and Prussia. Therefore, he received strong support from Britain and France. Talleyrand also planned to give Leopold a French bride to make him more pro-French (soon after, Louis Philippe's eldest daughter became the Queen of Belgium). On July 21, 1831, Leopold was sworn in in Brussels.
On November 15, 1831, representatives of the major powers signed the London Protocol on the permanent neutrality of Belgium. In addition, when Belgium became independent, Talleyrand immediately demanded the dismantling of the fortifications built by the Netherlands on the border between Belgium and France after the Congress of Vienna. These fortifications were built to defend France, and the major powers gave the Netherlands 45 million francs for this purpose. On January 23, 1832, the new king signed a document dismantling the border fortifications between Belgium and France.
The successful settlement of the Belgian problem can be said to be Talleyrand's masterpiece during his tenure as ambassador to London. For this reason, he received many congratulatory letters, especially Louis Philippe, who was sincerely happy to have a friendly neighbor in the northeast of France. He said in a trade letter to Talleyrand: "The treaty is a great milestone. "The more days go by, the more France will praise your achievements." However, many poems and cartoons appeared in newspapers and magazines, accusing him of betraying Belgium and France. There is a cartoon that depicts the ugly image of Talleyrand, with the following explanation: "Talleyrand, nicknamed Sunflower (always turning his head towards the sun), mass-produced shackles, censorship of books and periodicals, created contradictions and inscriptions, Epitaphs; sold and bought new crowns, and sometimes concocted constitutions, charters and restorations; had piles of cap badges, flags and sashes, and agreed to go abroad. ”
Actually, Belgium’s Independence was the result of the struggle of the Belgian people and the product of compromise between the major powers at that time. Talleyrand could neither create nor sell it. He was simply doing his best as a French diplomat. What he deserves to be scolded the most is for being greedy for money and accepting bribes. This eighty-year-old European tycoon's love for money has become a disease. In this diplomatic affair, he accepted another "gift" of fifteen thousand pounds from the King of the Netherlands. The Queen of Belgium once complained that Talleyrand had accepted bribes from the King of the Netherlands, so he tried his best to favor the Netherlands on the issues of dividing territory and sharing national debt between the Netherlands and Belgium. At that time, she was just talking and had no basis. But a hundred years later, in 1934, her conjecture was confirmed by documents released by the Dutch government.
When Talleyrand was stationed in Britain, although relations between Britain and France were friendly, he had a bad relationship with British Foreign Secretary Palmerston. Because Talleyrand often heard the latest news from Palmerston, he would immediately send his cronies to the exchange to seek benefits for him.
In April 1832, Talleyrand signed a series of extremely important agreements with Britain, Spain, and Portugal on the Iberian Peninsula, guaranteeing mutual support and opposing attacks on each other, thereby preventing the Spanish from attacking each other. The battle for the throne may lead to war involving Austria, Prussia and other countries. It is not easy to accomplish such a career at the age of nearly eighty. Talleyrand even won praise from his political opponents.
In November 1834, Talleyrand, who had been in love with officialdom for a long time, finally retired. On May 17, 1838, he died in his huge and gorgeous Valencia Castle. At Dorothy's insistence, Talleyrand reconciled with the church before his death. He obtained forgiveness from the Pope and accepted the priest's last prayers.