1. AP US History Mr. Meester
The Congress of Vienna
AP US History
Mr. Meester

2. Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna met in to redraw the map of Europe after the Napoleonic era, and to provide some way of preserving the future peace of Europe.
Europe was spared a general war throughout the remainder of the 19th century, but the statesmen at the Congress failed to recognize the factors unleashed by the French Revolution:
Nationalism and Liberalism
Change vs the Status Quo

3. The Big Four
The Vienna settlement was the work of the representatives of the 4 nations that had done the most to defeat Napoleon.
Prince Klemens Von Metternich (Austria)
Epitomized conservative reactionsim.
Lord Castlereagh (England)
Principal objective was to achieve a balance of power on the continent and surround France with larger stronger states.
Karl Von Hardenberg (Prussia)
Goal was to recover Prussian territory lost to Napoleon & gain additional territory in northern Germany (Saxony).
Czar Alexander I (Russia)
Advocated an independent Poland under Russian control

4. Talleyrand Periogord Talleyrand was the French Foreign Minister.
Talleyrand was not initially included in the early deliberations
He became a mediator where the interests of Prussia and Russia clashed with those of England and Austria.
By such actions, Talleyrand brought France into the ranks of the principal powers.

5. “The Dancing Congress”
The gathering was held amid much pageantry.
Parties, balls, and banquets reminded the delegates what life had been like before 1789.
This was intended to generate favorable “public opinion” and occupy the delegates since they had little to do of any serious nature.

6. The 3 Principles The main principles of the Congress of Vienna were:
Legitimacy
Returning to power the ruling families deposed by more than two decades of revolutionary warfare.
Dynasties restored in Holland, Sardinia, Tuscany and Modena
Compensation
Territorially rewarding those states which had made considerable sacrifices to defeat Napoleon.
Balance of Power
Meant arranging the map of Europe so one state couldn’t upset the international order and cause a general war.
Various adjustments were made in the countries of Europe in order to surround France.

7. Europe After 1815

8. The German Confederation 1815

9. Back to the Status Quo
Several arrangements to guarantee the enforcement of the status quo were debated at Congress of Vienna:
The “Holy Alliance”
An unpractical attempt to unify Europe, only taken seriously by Alexander I of Russia.
The “Quadruple Alliance”
Russia, Prussia, England and Austria provided for concerted action to arrest any threat to the peace or balance of power.
England and Austria differed on their definition of concerted action

10. Evaluation
The Congress of Vienna has been criticized for ignoring the liberal and nationalist aspirations of so many peoples.
The statesmen at Vienna were arguably more successful in stabilizing the international system than in the 20th century.
Not until the unification of Germany in , was the balance of power upset.
Not until World War I in 1914, did Europe have another general war.
The leading statesmen at Vienna underestimated the new nationalism and liberalism generated by the French Revolution.