The Congress of Vienna (2).ppt...........

The Congress of Vienna (2).ppt

1. The Congress of Vienna

2. Map of Europe (1789)- Before Napoleon’s Rise to
Power
2

3. Europe in 1812 at the Height of Napoleon’s
Power

4. E. Napp
After the defeat of Napoleon, European
ministers and rulers met at the Congress of
Vienna to redraw the boundaries of Europe.

5. Restoring Order & Peace
•Government leaders in Europe wanted to bring peace and
stability back to the continent
•It should be noted that almost all states of Europe had
been affected by the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.
–For twenty five years, Europe had been a battlefield.
•Consequently, boundary lines had been pushed back and
forth; old states had been wiped out and new ones
established
•Hence, many territorial questions would have to be settled
to create stable Europe.

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

7. Congress of Vienna
•A series of meetings held in Vienna
•They were called to set up policies to achieve the
goals of peace & stability
•Scheduled for 4 weeks, they actually met for 8
months
•Despite the ex-Emperor Napoleon I's return from
exile and resumption of power in France in March
1815, the discussions continued.
•The Congress's Final Act was signed nine days
before Napoleon’s final defeat at Waterloo, on
June 9, 1815.

8. Congress of Vienna
•The Congress did not meet together daily, as one
body, to discuss the important questions before it.
•The work was done mostly in small committee and
conferences.
•Most of the delegations had nothing much to do at the
Congress, and the host, Emperor Francis of Austria
held lavish entertainments to keep them occupied.
•This led to the Prince de Ligne's famous comment that
“The Congress does not walk; it dances."
•The Congress of Vienna was known as the “Dancing
Congress”.

9. DECISIONS OF THE CONGRESS
•The decisions of the Congress of Vienna were made
along conservative lines.
•There was a general agreement among the delegates
that the settlement should restore Europe as it had
been before the Revolution and Napoleon.
•The most contentious subject at the Congress was
the so-called Polish-Saxon Crisis.
•The Congress's principal results, apart from its
confirmation of France's loss of the territories, were
the enlargement of Russia and Prussia, which
acquired Westphalia and the northern Rhineland.

10. DECISIONS OF THE CONGRESS
•Representatives at the Congress agreed to numerous other
territorial changes.
–Norway was transferred from Denmark to Sweden.
–Austria gained Lombardy-Venetia in Northern Italy, while much
of the rest of North-Central Italy went to Habsburg dynasts.
–The Pope was restored to the Papal States.
–The Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia was restored, and also gained
control of the Republic of Genoa.
–In Southern Italy, Napoleon's brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, was
originally allowed to retain his Kingdom of Naples, but he was
deposed, and the Bourbon Ferdinand IV was restored to the
throne.
–A large United Kingdom of the Netherlands was created for the
Prince of Orange, including both the old United Provinces and the
formerly Austrian-ruled territories in the Southern Netherlands.

11. Holy Alliance
•Agreement between Russia, Austria & Prussia
•Pledged to base their relations with other nations
on Christian principles in order to combat the
forces of revolution

12. DECISIONS OF THE CONGRESS
•To conclude, the Congress of Vienna was frequently
criticized by 19
th
c. and more recent historians for
ignoring national and liberal impulses, and for imposing
a stifling reaction on Europe.
•The Congress of Vienna was an integral part in what
became known as the Conservative Order.
•However, in the 20
th
c., many historians have come to
admire the work of the statesmen had prevented another
European general war for nearly a hundred years (1818-
1914).
•Nevertheless, the Congress ignored the desire of the peoples for
freedom, national independence and (German, Italy) national
unity.

13. Europe After the Congress of
Vienna

14. Opposition to the Settlement
•Advocates of change recall the Congress of Vienna as the
occasion during which aristocrats imposed reactionary
regimes on the peoples of Europe.
•Such critics cited not its realistic compromises but the
brutal shuffling of territory without regard to the claims
of nationality or constitutions.
•In fact, the new order was not as solid as it seemed.
•In 1820 and 1821 uprisings occurred in both Italy and
Spain, led by young army officers who were influenced
by memories of Napoleonic reforms.
•Therefore, the decisions encountered opposition from
those who desired the reforms of the French Revolution.

15. Legacy of the Congress
•Diminished the size and power of France
•Power of Britain & Prussia increased
•Nationalism spread in Germany, Italy,
Greece & other areas that congress had put
under foreign control
•Eventually feelings of nationalism would
lead to new revolutions & new nations
formed

16. Legacy of the Congress
•More European countries began
demanding their independence
•Ideas about the basis of power & authority
had forever changed
•People saw democracy as the only was to
ensure equality & justice for all
•Social attitudes & assumptions changed