Russian embassy in Brussels and the January Uprising, 1863–1864

Following the conclusion of the Crimean War, Russia adopted a policy aimed at the abolition of the Treaty of Paris of 1856, which it perceived as humiliating. To this end, Russia commenced a process of rapprochement with France, resulting in the signing of an agreement in 1859. However, having secured Russian neutrality during the 1859 Italian War, France was reluctant to honour reciprocal commitments supporting Russian efforts to abrogate the terms of the 1856 Treaty. It became increasingly clear that Napoleon III’s policy was lacking in sincerity when the Polish question reached a new level of aggravation. In a joint initiative with the United Kingdom and Austria, France launched a comprehensive political and diplomatic offensive against Russia with the intention of exerting pressure and transforming the Polish question into an international issue. Russia, on the other hand, required peace to enable the continuation of internal reforms. Consequently, it sought to identify strategies to resist the interference of the great powers. Belgium, neighbouring France, emerged as a key player in this endeavour. King Leopold I, motivated by the objective of maintaining European equilibrium, wary of the French emperor, and intent on demonstrating that the Polish question could not impinge upon the bilateral relationship between Russia and Belgium, proved to be a pivotal intermediary in the diplomatic negotiations with Paris, London, and Vienna. The reports of the Russian envoy to Belgium, Nikolai Orlov, served to supplement the information that had been transmitted by other Russian embassies in Europe. However, adhering to the instructions that had been provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Orlov, who was known for his independent views and sympathetic attitude towards the fate of Polish émigrés, openly expressed his own judgements on the possible solutions to the Polish question in his dealings with Russian and European statesmen, as well as with representatives of the Tsar’s family. Consequently, during the Polish crisis, Napoleon III endeavoured to engage Orlov in the diplomatic process. In the article, the author analyses the activities of the embassy in Brussels in 1863–1864 drawing on a hitherto unexamined set of archival documents. In addition, she examines the extent to which the mission of Nikolai Orlov as a diplomat was successful. Furthermore, the article reveals new details of the diplomatic negotiations between European states that took place during the period of international tensions in the early 1860s.