The Age of Metternich

1815-1848
The Congress of Vienna
&
Its Impact on Europe

Prince Metternich (1773-1859)

Austrian diplomat.
Architect of the
Congress of
Vienna
Conservative: a
believer in Edmund
Burkes ideology.

Edmund Burke (1742-1797)

Traditions
Status Quo
Liberalism leads to
MOB RULE

"To me the word freedom has not the value of a

starting-point,
but of an actual goal to be striven for. The word order
designates
the starting-point. It is only on order that freedom
can be based.
Without order as a foundation the cry for freedom
is nothing
more than the endeavour of some party or other for
an end it has in view. When actually carried out in
practice, that cry for freedom will inevitably
express itself in tyranny. At all times and in all
situations I was a man of order, yet my endeavour
was always for true and not for pretended liberty.
-Prince Metternich

Conservatism

Ideological position which upholds law

and order, tradition, and authority.
Resistance to change.
Reaction to the liberal and nationalist
ideas of the French Revolution.

Congress of Vienna

Two important issues:

Legitimacy:

Re-establish monarchial rule in Europe, i.e.

the Bourbons (Spain and France) and the
Hapsburgs (Austria and Italy)

Balance of Power

Boundaries are redrawn: no kingdom to

become too powerful/check the expansion of
another.
Buffer zone.

Who Attended?

Austria: Prince Metternich

Prussia: King F. William III
Russia: Czar Alexander I
Britain: Lord Castlereagh
But to be nice:
France: Talleyrand

Princess Lieven (Dorothea

Christorovna Benckendorff:17851857)

Metternich used this

young, attractive
woman as
A spy on Lord
Castlereagh and
Alexander I.
Lived the high society
life all the way to
England.
Was a Lady in Waiting
in the Russian Court.

Congress of Vienna (1815)

1.

2.

3.

4.

France was deprived of all territory

conquered by Napoleon
The Dutch Republic was united with the
Austrian Netherlands to form a single
kingdom of the Netherlands under the
House of Orange.
Norway and Sweden were joined under a
single ruler
Switzerland was declared neutral

5.

6.

7.

Russia got Finland and effective control

over the new kingdom of Poland
Prussia was given much of Saxony and
important parts of Westphalia and the
Rhine Province.
Austria was given back most of the territory
it had lost and was also given land in
Germany and Italy (Lombardia and Venice)

8.

9.

10.

Britain got several strategic colonial

territories, and they also gained
control of the seas.
France was restored under the rule of
Louis XVIII.
Spain was restored under Ferdinand
VII

The Impact on Europe

Balance of power.
Collective security: Quadruple Alliance
(Russia, Britain, Austria, Prussia)
Congress System led to alliances all in
hopes of putting down revolution and
liberal ideology, but failed to
address nationalism.

Congress System (Meetings)

Aix-la-Chapelle 1818:

Removal of foreign troops from France

Reparations
Fr. admitted to Quadruple Alliance, now
Quintuple Alliance.

Troppau Protocols 1820:

Reaction to rebellions in Sicily and Spain

against Bourbon monarchs

Declared a combined alliance against

these revolutionaries, but
Britain felt differently, thus
Alliance begins to split: France and
Britain are the Liberal Bloc; Austria,
Prussia, and Russia are the Conservative
Bloc

Problems within the Metternich

System

Britain clearly opposed to intervention

in domestic affairs.
Austria is a multi-ethnic state; thus
suppressive tactics are utilized.
Russian interests in the Dardanelles
and Bosporus Straights
Russian, British, and French support
for Greek independence.

Rebellions in France against the

Bourbon government (Charles X)
Rebellions in the Netherlands by
Belgians. Britain supports Belgians

Friedrich Ludwig Jahn

Father of gymnastics
Invented the parallel bars,
the rings, vaulting horse,
balance beam, and
horizontal bar.
Burschenschaft member
and Prussian patriot

Forces at Work:

1.

Liberalism
Freeing of serfs in
Russia

1.

Conservatism
Congress of
Vienna

Your turn: add nine more examples from Chapter Five

for each category. Read the entire chapter for this. Due
next class.

Liberal Acts

Charter under Louis

XVIII
Burchenschaft
Greek independence
Mazzini Young Italy
Movement
Second French
Republic
Belgium independence
1848 Revolutions
Br. and Fr. not joining
Troppau Protocol

Conservative Acts

Congress of Vienna
Metternichs policies
Monarchs
Concert of Europe
Balance of power
Carlsbad Decrees
Congress system
Troppau Protocols
Collective security
Quadruple Alliance
Censorship
Police states