Congress Of Vienna

sep 1814 - june 1815

The concert of Europe

 Significance

►Congress of Vienna was founded by the powers of Austria,

Prussia, Russia, and the Great Britain.
►The congress of Vienna marked the establishment of a new
political and legal order for Europe after more then two decades
of war.
► To create a balance among European countries as to prevent
future wars.
►Almost all the countries of Europe joined this conference.
►It was the first attempt in history to build a peaceful
continental order based on active co-operation of major states.
►In a technical sense the congress of Vienna was not properly a
congress- it never met in plenary session, and most of the
discussion occurred in informal session among the great powers
of Russia, Prussia, Great Britain, France, and Austria- with no or
limited participation by other states.
THIS SETTLEMET FORMED THE
FRAME WORK FOR THE
EUROPEAN POLITICS AND
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS.
Background

»French revolution(1789)
»Napoleon wars
»Treaty of Chaumont(1814)
 objectives
­To stop the nationalist ideas that were prevailing
after French revolution.
­To establish the terms of long lasting peace between
European powers.
­To maintain the powers of major European powers.
­To oppose revolutionary movements and to weak
the forces of nationalism.
­To restore and resize the European boundaries to
uphold the balance of power.
PROCEDINGS

Major negotiations and decisions took place in the

committee of 5 major powers.
Under the leadership of Melternich, the prime
minister of Austria and lord Castlereagh, the foreign
minister of Britain, the congress setup a system to
preserve the peace under the concert of Europe.
Decisions
Territorial changes
France lost all of its territorial conquest.
Russia gained areas of Poland, while Prussia added smaller German
states in the west, some areas of Sweden and 40% of the kingdom of
Saxony.
A confederated Germany was created with 39 states.
The Italian peninsula divided into several parts under the control of
different powers.
Britain received parts of west indies at the expense of Netherlands and
Spain and kept former Dutch colonies of Ceylon and the cape colony as
well as Malta and Helgoland.
The French monarch was restored under the rule of
Louis.
Austria was given back most of the territory it had lost
and was also given land in Germany and Italy(lombardy
and Venice).
Russia got Finland and control over the new kingdom
of Poland.
Prussia was given much of the Saxony and important
parts of Westphalia and the Rhine river.
Norway and Sweden was joined under the single ruler.
Switzerland was declared independent and Spain was
restored under Ferdinand.
 Political and
international outcomes

»Succeeded in creating balance of power and

peaceful diplomacy.
»Holy alliance and Quadrpule alliance.
»It opened door for the modern alliance system and
international co-operation
»Frame work for European politics.
Economical

•Sea ports that were located in Mediterrian sea gained their importance.
•East of Galicia, Lom Bardinia and Vendic were given to Austrian empire.
•Britain was given Malta and Heligolond, Mauritius, Tobago and Santa
Lucia form France.
•They took Ceylon and cape of good hope from Holand and Trinidad
from Spain, Russia held Bessarabia, taken form ottoman empire in 1812.
Why fail?

•By 1823, the diplomatic system had failed.

•No congress was called to restore the old system
during the great revolutionary upheaval of 1848.
•The concert of Europe endured until 1914, but
the dream of perpetual peace in Europe died at
the siege of 1854 during Crimean war.
Conclusion

Congress of Vienna achieved its goal and its established a

general peace on the continent for some 40 years. The
participants of the congress, who were all representatives of
monarchs had a deep distrust of nationalism, because it was
associated with revolution and republican values. The failure
to accommodate nationalist sentiments in the congress
ultimately led to the growth of nationalism and this was to
destabilize Europe in the late 19th and well into 20th century.
QUESTIONS