LONDON CONFERENCE

several international conferences held at London, England, in the 19th and 20th cent. The following list includes only the most important of these meetings. At the London Conference of 1830–31 the chief powers of Europe met to discuss the status of Greece. It was decided that Greece should be a fully independent principality, instead of an autonomous state as had been provided in the London Protocol of 1829. The territory of Greece was, however, considerably reduced from that provided in the London Protocol, and the decision was rejected by the Greeks. A new protocol (1831) that restored the 1829 border but retained the sovereign status of Greece was accepted. While the Greek problem was under discussion, the Belgians revolted against the Dutch king. The matter was taken up at the conference, which ordered (Nov., 1830) an armistice between the Dutch and the Belgians. The first draft for a treaty of separation of Belgium and the Netherlands was rejected by the Belgians. A new draft (June, 1831) was rejected by William I of the Netherlands, who resumed hostilities. Franco-British intervention compelled the Dutch to evacuate their forces from Belgium late in 1831, and in 1833 an armistice of indefinite duration was concluded. William's designs to recover Luxembourg and Limburg led to renewed tension, and the London Conference of 1838–39 followed. This prepared the final Dutch-Belgian separation treaty of 1839 and divided Luxembourg and Limburg between the Dutch and Belgian crowns. The neutrality of Belgium was guaranteed. For the London Conference of 1852, see Schleswig-Holstein; for the London Conference of 1867, see Luxembourg, duchy; for the London Conference of 1908, see London, Declaration of. The London Conference of 1933 was the World Monetary and Economic Conference, which had as its object the checking of the world depression by means of currency stabilization and economic agreements. Unbridgeable disagreements among the participants and the attitude of the United States made the meeting a total failure; customs and currency restrictions instead became increasingly stringent throughout the world. After World War II several meetings of the Council of Foreign Ministers took place at London. For the London Conference of 1954, see Paris Pacts.

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