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.