The Congress of Vienna

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The Congress of Vienna
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Europe in 1812
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The Congress of Vienna(September 1, 1814 June
9, 1815)
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Main Objectives

• Its job was to undo everything that Napoleon had
  done
• Reduce France to its old boundaries ? frontiers
  were pushed back to 1790
• Restore as many of the old monarchies as possible
  that had lost their thrones during the Napoleonic
  era.
• Supported the resolution There is always an
  alternative to conflict.

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Key Players at Vienna
Foreign Minister, Viscount Castlereagh (Br.)
Tsar Alexander I (Rus.)
The HostPrince Klemens von Metternich (Aus.)
King Frederick William III (Prus.)
Foreign Minister, Charles Maurice de Tallyrand
(Fr.)
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Key Principles Established at Vienna

• Balance of Power
• Legitimacy
• Communication Concert of Europe
• Conservatism
• Compensation
• France would have to pay an indemnity of
  700,000,000 francs.
• Punishment
• Coalition forces would occupy France for 3-5
  years.

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Changes Made at Vienna (1)

• France was deprived of all territory conquered by
  Napoleon
• Russia was given most of Duchy of Warsaw
• Prussia was given half of Saxony, parts of
  Poland, and other German territories.
• A Germanic Confederation of 30 states created
  from the previous 300, under Austrian rule.
• Austria was given back territory it had lost
  recently, plus more in Germany and Italy.
• The House of Orange was given the Dutch Republic
  and the Austrian Netherlands to rule.

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The Germanic Confederation, 1815
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Changes Made at Vienna (2)

• Norway and Sweden were joined
• Neutrality of Switzerland guaranteed
• Hanover enlarged and made a kingdom.
• Britain was given Cape Colony, South Africa, and
  various other colonies in Africa and Asia.
• Sardinia given Piedmont, Nice, Savoy, and Genoa.
• Bourbon Ferdinand I restored in the Two Sicilies
• Duchy of Parma was given to Marie Louise.
• Slave trade condemned (at British urging)
• Freedom of navigation guaranteed for many rivers
  (trade)

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Europe After the Congress of Vienna
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Before / After the Congress of Vienna
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Analysis

• Gentlemen's Agreement" - verbal, no constitution
• Conservative if not Reactionary
• Common goal prevent another revolution
• Liberties and rights of American and French
  Revolutions de-emphasized
• The Burkean Rev - Edmund Burke Chief job of
  the state is to guarantee the passage of property
  from one generation to another. Political changes
  must be gradual so as not to disrupt the passage
  of property from one generation to another. Ev /
  Rev
• Big 4 as Policemen against Rev

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British caricaturist and social critic George
Cruikshank drew this nightmarish image of "Social
Reform" menacing the rich and powerful in 1819 to
satirize conservative fears of change. "I'm
coming! I'm coming! I shall have you!" the
monster cries. "And though I'm at your heels now,
I'll be at your heads presently."
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Analysis

• The 2 great 19th Century European Movements -
  liberalism and nationalism - halted,
  temporarily. 
• Not crushed Italy under Garibaldi and Cavour,
  Prussia under Bismarck
• Britain appeared to acquire minimal advantages in
  the settlement, given that she had spent 600
  million on the wars.  She got no land in Europe,
  but did gain colonial strength which helped her
  trade and commerce. Britain became THE European
  colonial power
• Austria won undue influence

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Analysis

• Communication
• 1815 Congress of Vienna
• 1818 Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle
• 1820 Congress of Troppau
• 1821 Congress of Laibach
• 1822 Congress of Verona
• League of Nations ? UN
• Prevented widespread European war for nearly 100
  years (18151914)