The Age of Metternich1815-1848

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 Burke’s 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:1785-1857) 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. France was deprived of all territory conquered by Napoleon

2. The Dutch Republic was united with the Austrian Netherlands to form a single kingdom of the Netherlands under the House of Orange.

3. Norway and Sweden were joined under a single ruler

4. Switzerland was declared neutral

5. Russia got Finland and effective control over the new kingdom of Poland

6. Prussia was given much of Saxony and important parts of Westphalia and the Rhine Province.

7. Austria was given back most of the territory it had lost and was also given land in Germany and Italy (Lombardia and Venice)

8. Britain got several strategic colonial territories, and they also gained control of the seas.

9. France was restored under the rule of Louis XVIII.

10. 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:

Liberalism

1. Freeing of serfs in Russia

Conservatism

1. Congress of Vienna

Your turn: add nine more examples from Chapter Fivefor each category. Read the entire chapter for this. Duenext 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 Metternich’s policies Monarchs Concert of Europe Balance of power Carlsbad Decrees Congress system Troppau Protocols Collective security Quadruple Alliance Censorship Police states