9.5 The Congress of Vienna

9.5 The Congress of Vienna
A Comprehensive European Peace Plan
• Commenced in September 1814, five months after Napoleon I's abdication.
• Completed "Final Act" in June 1815, before the Waterloo campaign and Napoleon's final defeat.
• Aimed to resolve issues from French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars.
• Delegation of virtually every European state in Vienna.
"Four Powers' Alliance and Napoleon's Overthrow"
• Austria, Prussia, Russia, and Great Britain formed a special alliance with the Treaty of Chaumont in March 1814.
• Peace treaties with France, Sweden, Portugal, and Spain were signed on May 30 and July 20 respectively.
• All former belligerents were required to send plenipotentiaries to a Vienna congress.
• The "four" aimed to retain their decision-making power.
European Diplomatic Delegations in 1814
• Key European statesmen arrived in Vienna in late September 1814.
• Klemen, Austria's principal minister, represented Emperor Francis II.
• Tsar Alexander I of Russia led diplomacy.
• King Frederick III of Prussia had Karl, Prince von Hardenberg as principal minister.
• Viscount Castlereagh represented Great Britain, replaced by the duke of Wellington.
• Lord Clancarty served as principal representative after the duke's departure.
Louis XVIII's Representation at Austrian Court
• Louis XVIII sent Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand.
• Spain, Portugal, and Sweden represented by moderately skilled men.
• Minor European states' rulers attended.
• Courtiers, secretaries, and ladies enjoyed Austrian court's social life.
• Friedrich Gentz managed protocol and secretarial organization.
• Social aspect of congress delayed results due to Metternich's subordination of business to pleasure.
Disputes in the 1815 Congress
• Major disagreements over Poland and Saxony's disposition, Sweden, Denmark, and Russia's claims, and German states' border adjustments.
• Austria, France, and England opposed Russia and Prussia, leading to a secret defensive alliance.
• Major final agreements included:
- Alexander returned Galicia to Austria, Prussia took Thorn and surrounding region, Kraków became a free town, and Warsaw was incorporated as a separate kingdom.
- Prussia received two-fifths of Saxony, and was compensated with Westphalia and Rhine River additions.
• Castlereagh urged Prussian acceptance of Saxony, suggesting compensation for the king of Saxony.
Castlereagh's War Strategy
• Castlereagh aimed for Prussia to protect Rhine territories against France and support the new Netherlands.
• Austria received compensation from Lombardy and Venice, regaining Tirol, Bavaria, Wurttemberg, and Baden.
• Hanover was expanded.
• Germany's constitution was drafted, a loose confederation, a triumph for Metternich.
• Denmark lost Norway to Sweden, but Lauenburg was obtained.
• Swedish Pomerania went to Prussia.
• Switzerland received a new constitution.
Italy's Political Changes
• Piedmont absorbed Genoa.
• Tuscany and Modena given to Austrian archduke.
• Duchy of Parma and Piacenza given to Marie-Louise.
• Papal States restored to pope.
• Naples given to Sicilian Bourbons.
• Agreements on free international river navigation and diplomatic precedence.
• Castlereagh's efforts to abolish slave trade rewarded with a pious declaration.
The Final Act of the Congress of Vienna
• Signed on June 9, 1815, by the "eight" powers, except Spain, which refused due to protest against the Italian settlement.
• The agreement established political boundaries for over 40 years, ensuring a balance of power.
• The concept of nationality was largely ignored, with territories bartered without reference to inhabitants' wishes.
• Historians often condemned the Vienna statesmen for their task, but they secured peace for Europe.
• The statesmen failed to adapt their work to the 19th-century forces, leading to its eventual destruction.

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