The Congress of Vienna

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The Congress of Vienna

• November, 1814 June, 1815
• Its goal Deal with the mess that Napoleon left
  Europe in after his abdication and exile to Elba.

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I. Europe After Napoleon

• Congress of Vienna (1814-1815)
• Almost every state in Europe sent a
  representative.
• Leading political figures from the four powers
  gathered in Vienna to decide the fate of Europe.
• - Austria Clemens von Metternich
• - Russia Czar Alexander I
• - Great Britain Lord Robert Castelreagh
• - Prussia Prince Karl Hardenburg

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The Four Leaders
Clemens von Metternich
Lord Robert Castelreagh
Prince Karl Hardenburg
Czar Alexander I
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The Congress of Vienna convenes under the
leadership of Metternich
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Europe After Napoleon

• Congress of Vienna (1814-1815)
• Most of Europes leaders hoped to nullify
  revolutionary and Napoleonic reforms and restore
  the old order (pre-1789).
• - Under the principle of Legitimacy they
  hoped to restore the original rulers to the
  thrones of countries that Napoleon conquered or
  created.
• - Under the principle of Compensation the map
  of Europe was redrawn to compensate countries for
  their losses to Napoleon and/or to reward them
  for their contributions to the defeat of
  Napoleon.

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Changes to the map instituted by the Congress of
Vienna
Europe 1815
Europe 1812
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Changes to the map instituted by the Congress of
Vienna

• EXAMPLES
• Russia received most of the former Grand Duchy of
  Warsaw, Finland (from Sweden) and Bessarabia
  (from the Ottoman Empire)
• Prussia received two-fifths of Saxony, Westphalia
  and Swedish Pomerania from the HRE they also
  received the Rhine River provinces from France

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Changes to the map instituted by the Congress of
Vienna (cont.)

• Austria received Lombardy, Venetia, Illyria,
  Dalmatia and Galicia
• Britain received overseas colonies such as Cape
  Colony, Ceylon, Mauritius, Malta, the Ionian
  Islands and Heligoland (two islands of the coast
  of Germany)
• Switzerland became independent and neutral

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Changes to the map instituted by the Congress of
Vienna (cont.)

• The German Confederation replaced the HRE. It
  consisted of 39 states rather than 300 states of
  the HRE
• The Italian Peninsula was divided into various
  kingdoms
• The Kingdom of the Netherlands (Holland) gained
  Belgium, as a defense against France

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Europe After Napoleon

• Frances representative, Charles Talleyrand was
  able to convince the Congress that France should
  remain a strong, respected country.
• The guiding principle of international relations
  at the Congress of Vienna was Balance of Power.
  Its purpose was to establish a lasting peace in
  Europe.
• Originally, the four powers established a
  Quadruple Alliance whose purpose was to prevent
  war in Europe. Later, France was added to
  establish the Quintuple Alliance.
• Russian Czar Alexander I proposed a Holy
  Alliance of Christian nations against
  revolutionary upheavals anywhere in Europe.
• - Austria Prussia agreed, Britain didnt.
• - Britain wanted to reserve the right to act
  according to its interests, not anyone
  elses.
• The decisions made at Vienna ensured peace in
  Europe until 1850 and no major wars until World
  War I (1914).

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Hard Work and Play

• The Congress of Vienna was noted for its lavish
  parties, great feasts, romances, and consumption
  of alcohol all in the name of Diplomacy.