The Congress of Vienna: Reestablishing Europe's Balance

1. French Revolution:The Congress of Vienna Convenes

2. Objectives: • Understand the decisions that were made at the Congress of Vienna and how they reflected a new turn in European political thought • Analyze how the ideas of the French Revolution continued to influence people throughout Europe

3. The Congress of Vienna (1815) • The members invited • Klemens von Metternich – Austria’s Foreign Minister * in charge of controlling the Congress • Tsar Alexander I – Russian ruler • King Frederick William II – leader of Prussia • Britain – govt. representative • France – same http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/history/hunt/classes/1c/1848.htm http://firstempire.0catch.com/Biographies/Alexander_I/Alexander_I_by_Gerard/alexander_i_by_gerard.html http://www.newgenevacenter.org/movers/enlightenment2.htm#Frederick%20Wilhelm%20II

4. 3 Major Goals • Containment – France’s power must be limited • Balance of Power- all European nations must be equal in strength • “Legitimacy”- rulers should have “legal”claim to rule

5. 3 Major Goals • Containment of France • must limit French power/aggression while not reducing its strength enough to invite a takeover • strengthen the nations that surround France • created the Kingdom of the Netherlands • combined 39 small states into the German Confederation • Sardinia given Genoa to increase its power (Italy) • Switzerland made an independent neutral nation • effect was to “build a wall around France”

6. Create/Maintain a Balance of Power • must not completely destroy France’s power • France required to give up all territories taken by Napoleon • France’s boundaries before the revolution stayed the same • Allowed to keep a few New World possessions • Kept its army • Maintained an independent govt. • France was a major but diminished power • All major nations in Europe approx. equal in power

7. Re-establish the governments in Europe that had been disrupted in the Napoleonic Wars • Principle of “legitimacy” • Legitimate ruling families who had ruled before Napoleon should be restored to their thrones • France – Louis XVIII (bro. Of Louis XVI) returned to throne • Est. a constitutional monarchy • Spain – Bourbon family restored to the throne • Hapsburgs returned to areas in northern Italy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XVIII_of_France

8. Success of the Congress of Vienna • settlements were fair enough that it did not encourage future wars • 1st time that the nations of one continent were cooperating together to try to control political affairs in the future • preserved an era of peace and stability in Europe almost until the 20th century

9. Europe Beyond Vienna • A Conservative Atmosphere • Organizations created to monitor and combat revolutionary ideals/movements • The Holy Alliance (Russia, Prussia, Austria) • Concert of Europe • Alliances against revolutions • Revolutionary ideas (liberty, self-govt., human rights, etc.) continued to grow throughout Europe http://www.russian-nobilityusa.org/?Page=24

10. Revolutions in Latin America • The ideas of the French & American revolutions inspired peoples in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, & Venezuela to overthrow their European rulers • Leads the US to develop its Monroe Doctrine (1825)

11. Long-Term Legacy • Power of France decreased while Britain and Prussia’s power grew • Nationalism became a powerful force that eventually will lead to the formation of new nations in Italy and Germany • Conditions in the Americas changed as colonies took opportunity to declare independence from European nations • New Era in Political Thought is Born • principles of democracy replaced old ideas of Divine Right and absolutism • equality of all classes economically and politically come to be accepted by majority