Congress Of Vienna

Eric Shrumm AP European History, Period 6 Congress of Vienna Essay, 1-12-09

The Congress of Vienna In the year 1814, while Napoleon was being exiled from the continent, a congress was held that guided European politics until the First World War While virtually every state in Europe was represented at the Congress of Vienna, from Spain to Switzerland, there were truly only five major players; Austria, Britain, Prussia, France, and Russia. These five countries would make decisions that shaped European foreign policy forever. Russia was notable in the Congress of Vienna for being the only country whose ruler came to the meeting. The main reason for this was that Alexander I, the current tsar, was hoping to become the kind of Poland. But, the British would not agree to this idea, as they thought it would upset the precarious balance of power as Napoleon had. Alexander also had a second goal; unite all of Europe in a Holy Alliance, which would unify the continent in Christianity, and force them to work together to suppress liberalism and nationalism, and uphold Christian principles. Unfortunately for Alexander, only Prussia and Austria ended up signing it, leaving his dream of a religiously unified continent unfulfilled. Prussia was represented by Prince Hardonburg, the Chancellor of the state. His main goal was to achieve Prussian annexation of Saxony, which unfortunately seemed almost impossible. So, he agreed to support Alexander I in his bid for the King of Poland if he supported Hardonburg in the annexation of Saxony. France was represented by its

foreign minister, Tallyrand. And, understandably so, he was mainly concerned that France stayed a country, and kept as much land as possible. After discovering that Russia and Prussia were agreeing to help each other, he went to the Austrian representative, Prince Metternich the Foreign Minister, and told him what had happened. Together, along with the British, they signed a treaty to fight against both the Poland and Saxony issues, as both would upset the balance of power. Austria, represented by Metternich, was looking mainly for war reparation, and to regain land lost while Napoleon was emperor. Austria also proposed to let France keep some war conquests, and leave Napoleon in power. Britain, represented by its foreign secretary Castlereagh, was entirely against this, as they were focused on punishing France, and ensuring that no one could ever control that much land again. This led to Britain supporting the strengthening of central Europe, Italy, and being against Alexander I becoming King of Poland and Prussia annexing Saxony. Also, Britain was vehement on the point that Napoleon could not keep any power whatsoever, going to far as to banish him to an island off the coast of Italy, and then a second time to an island in the southern Atlantic. Through the Congress of Vienna, Europe was united in a belief; maintaining the balance of power was the most important thing to do, understandably so. Napoleon had controlled more of Europe than any person, before or after him. It’s only natural that stopping that from happening again was a main concern of political action after that, even to the extend that it became the driving force of foreign policy in Europe for the next 100 years.