THE VIENNA CONGRESS The defeat of France didn’t remove the threat of international revolution and 1) Riding the Tiger war. One major objective with the viennasettlement was to maintain peace and To those rulers who believed it would be impoissible to dam the forces of stability. The Austrian chancellor, Prince Metternich introduced the idea of revolution completely the solution would be to attract support for the some sort of league between European rulers which would maintain the government and weaken the revolutionary forces by making moderate reforms. settlement and police the continent (The Metternich system). It was to be in Britain in the 1820s­40s where this policy was most succesfully applied. A series of economic, social and political reforms enabled the To the ruling classes in Europe the French revolution had been an traumatic aristocracy to maintain the real power and attract the support of the middle­ experience and one concluded that once change started it would get out of classes. control and produce chaos, terror, military dictatorship and international war. The rulers came up with two possible responses to this situation; jan 12­19:30 jan 12­19:31 2) Stemming the Torrent ASSESSING WHETHER THE PEACEMAKERS IN 1815 WERE GUIDED BY The more conservative rulers on the contrary feared that reforms would NATIONAL INTERESTS OR BY IDEALS AND PRINCIPLES. trigger off revolution. An obvious alternative was to stop the whole process of change before it had a chance to start. Metternich was the main architect of this view. jan 12­19:31 jan 12­19:31 .A. 1﴿Restauration, of the political situation of 1792 THE POLITICAL PRINCIPLES OF THE CONGRESS: Both Russia and Britain shared the common wish to settle the problems of Europe Though the Vienna settlement was a compromise between the rival aims and as a whole ­ other states ﴾especially France and Austria﴿ could and did benefit from ambitions of the great powers, there was also a considerable degree of general this. agreement at the congress about its purpose and the principles by which this Metternichs idea to reach a balance of powers was in danger to collapse already should be achieved. before the congress while Russia wanted to annex Poland and Prussia Saxony. As The statesmen of the Great Powers ﴾France included﴿ wanted a settlement which a result of Metternich's mediation ﴾1813﴿, and esp. under the impact of Napoleons would provide stability in Europe and prevent the outbreak of another general war. return from Elba, the powers reached a compromise. The balance of power This benefited Austria ­ The state would be in grave danger of collapse and between the 5 great powers was restored in june 1815. disintegration without this ­ The allies were ready to preserve and strengthen the Austrian empire. The German confederation ­ 39 states ﴾38 + Austria﴿. The purpose was to prevent the smaller states falling under French influence. Although Austria received quite a .lot of influence ﴾Metternich's objective﴿ it was bound to be rivalled by Prussia jan 12­19:31 jan 12­19:34 1 INTERNATIONAL PEACE ­ would best be maintained if no state was in a position to threaten the independence of the rest ­ A rule to guide the decisions made in 2﴿ Legitimacy ­ justification of the dynastic claims of the old rulers ­ actually .Vienna. ﴾Important when decisions upon territorial settlements were made, for Talleyrands idea to justify the claims of the Ancien Régime example both Austria and France accepted the settlements in Germany and Italy, FRANCE though they both had interests there﴿ When Napoleons defeat was obvious Foreign minister Talleyrand managed to restore the old monarchial rule in France and got the acceptance by the allied The statesmen of Vienna thought that revolutions comes from wars not viceversa. leaders ­ the restauration of the Bourbons. The First Treaty of Paris ﴾may 1814﴿ was lenient because the alliance didn't want to make it difficult for the new monarchy. The principle of Legitimacy was never of supreme importance in making of the settlement. Frontiers were redrawn and previously independent states extinguished in defiance of it ­ The principle of Legitimacy was definetely subordinate to the more important principle of the balance of power. jan 12­19:35 jan 12­19:35 Solidarity, common policies of the legitimate princes against the revolutionary THE QUADRUPLE ALLIANCE ­ Uphold the settlement with France, prevent the ﴿3 ideas and movements. return of Napoleon and maintain the army of occupation. The HOLY ALLIANCE was used by Metternich as an effective weapon to enforce This included the idea of possible meetings to settle international questions quickly his conservative policies. and peacefully. Both Britain and Austria feared an extension of Russian influence ﴾Austria ­ in Balkan and the german states, Britain ­ maritime and colonial powers, a Russian .﴿challenge to the Brittish commands of the seas jan 12­19:36 jan 12­19:36 BRITAIN B. The principle was to establish peace in Europe ­ a peaceful, settled Europe from NATIONAL INTERESTS whom Britain didn't have to fear no threat. Britain wanted to maintain her naval B.1. Before the Congress in Vienna supremacy and had no wish to extend her land frontiers AUSTRIA in Europe. In 1813 Metternich preposed a deal to Napoleon; Austria could join France in a Britain introduced the idea to abolish slave trade at the Congress ﴾The government military alliance if Austria would get full supremacy in Germany and Italy ­ no deal .had to take account of opinion at home﴿ ­ no final settlement on this issue. but definetely shows that Austria had great national interests When Metternich realized that there was nothing to gain from an alliance with France, Austria joined the European coalition against France. jan 12­19:37 jan 12­19:38 2 PRUSSIA B.2. The Congress of Vienna The first treaty of Paris ﴾1814﴿ was replaced by the Second Treaty of Paris in Though we discuss in terms of THE FOUR GREAT victorious Powers RUSSIA and BRITAIN november 1815 ﴾after the come­back of Napoleon﴿ and eventhough this was were foremost among these powers. They had played the most important part in defeating .harsher it still was a very lenient peace for France ﴾France lost some territory along Napoleon and were now each in their own way, in an outstanding position at the Congress RUSSIA was the decisive military power on the continent with an army of almost one million the border ﴾Savoy, Nice to Piedmont and Saar to Prussia﴿ but not for example men in 1815. .﴿Alsac­Lorraine to Prussia ­ Russia and Britain resisted this ﴾balance of power BRITAIN hadn't been defeated and now emerged with her superiority in industrial development, worldwide trade and naval strength increased. Both Russia and Britain shared the common wish to settle the problems of Europe as a .whole ­ other states ﴾especially France and Austria﴿ could and did benefit from this ,Through the Treaty of Vienna ﴾1815﴿ Britain and Russia achieved the aims they desired while Prussia and Austria were dependent upon the wishes of the other two powers, who were not always in agreement. jan 12­19:39 jan 12­19:39 RUSSIA BRITAIN Tsar Alexander I had quite traditional and farstretching national objectives; During the wars, Britain had made considerable overseas gains ­ colonies belonging to expansion towards the Balkan ﴾competition with Austria﴿ France, Spain and Holland. Castlereagh insisted that the Congress should not concern itself­ expansion towards the Baltic ﴾competition with Prussia﴿ with the question of overseas possessions and that it should be settled by a series of­ .Poland ﴾Austria, Prussia and Britain﴿ ­ Claimed the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, proposed that separate treaties with the countries concerned­ Prussia would be compensated for the loss of her polish territory by annexing the whole of Britain kept some profitable colonies and especially the colonies with strategic value. Saxony. Russian troops occupied both Poland and Saxony. Castlereagh and Metternich feared that this would undermine the balance of Power in Europe. Two of the territorial changes made on the continent were also desired by Britain for Talleyrand saw his opportunity to benefit from the conflict, France was still the strongest strategic reasons. country ﴾next to Russia﴿ on the continent. France ­ Britain ­ Austria joined in a defensive 1﴿ The transfer of Norway ﴾Denmark­Sweden﴿­ The entry to the Baltic was no longer Triple Alliance to oppose Russia. The threat forced Alexander I to compromise = Prussia controlled by a single state. and Austria received some Polish territory. Prussia = 3/5 of Saxony and Russia ­ 'Congress Poland'. 2﴿ The union of Holland and Belgium into a united kingdom ­ The mouths of the rivers Rhine and Scheldt in the possession of a neutral state. ﴿.Russia kept the gains it had made during the wars ­ Finland ﴾Sweden﴿ and Bessarabia ﴾Britain also assissted the Dutch government in fortifying the frontier with France ﴿Turkey﴾ jan 12­19:40 jan 12­19:40 AUSTRIA PRUSSIA While it was quite obvious that Austria couldn't gain any real predominance in Germany Minister, Prince Hardenberg wanted Prussia to regain the power and prestige she Metternich looked instead for the creation of Austrian power over the several states in Italy ­ had lost through her defeat by Napoleon. Weak position and could only hope to tried to persuade the other powers that peace and good government in the peninsula benefit from the possible disagrements between the other powers. needed this. Though Prussia didn't receive the whole of Saxony ﴾3/5﴿ it was Prussia that made Fear of a renewal of French influence in Italy lad the allies to support Metternich's wish to the relatively the greatest territorial and economic gains. The territory in Saxony gain compensation for Austria's inferiority ﴾lägre ställning﴿ in Germany and loss of the was rich and industrial.