Vienna settlement

1814/15
By Amigo tutor :Theresa Shamiso Sibanda
Email add :[email protected]
Cell :0774658065
Mount Pleasant high school
Great powers representatives at
Vienna settlement. (congress)
• Metternich of Austria
• Francis 1 of Prussia
• Castlereagh of Britain
• Talleyrand of France
• and Tsar Alexander of Prussia
Background history of Vienna
settlement
• This conference started in 1814 and was disrupted by
napoleon escape from st Elba and continued in 1815
• This conference was held after the defeat of Napoleon
Bonaparte
• French Revolution and napoleon had caused war and
turmoil for 20years
• Great powers were worried about how to maintain peace
after the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte
• All discussions at Vienna were surrounded by fear of
possible war and desire to maintain peace in Europe.
• This meeting was held in Austria in the city of Vienna .
Prince Metternich of Austria
• Austria was made up of people of different nationalities.
• These include, Austrians, checzs, magyrs, poles, slavs,
Hungarians
• If these people were given liberty to form their governments,
Austria will become a weak state

• So Metternich was influenced by this fear of nationalism and

liberalism.
• Metternich at Vienna was vocal about suppression of
nationalism and liberalism.
• These selfish reasons also shaped Vienna settlement
Talleyrand of France
• Felt if ancien rulers deposed by Napoleon are
restored their powers they will check on on forces
of liberalism and nationalism that disturbed peace
in Europe for over 20years.
• Acient despotic rulers had zero tolerance to
liberalism
Britain
• Britain was worried about maintaining balance of
power.
• No one country should dominate a region
• Had selfish reasons like protecting her islands for
trade purpose and coastal states that were strategic
to her trade.
• Wanted countries to be restored of former
territories lost during napoleonic Era
Russia
• Was mainly interested in dominating the
Mediterranean sea and Polish states or grand
Dutch of War saw
Prussia
• Was interested in dominating Saxony
• Conservatism maintain status quo in Europe before
the French Revolution and napoleon era
• So Vienna settlement became the melting pot of
these ideas. Selfish motives plus fear of further
french aggression and desire to maintain peace in
Europe
• So what ever aims great powers crafted had a
bearing on these factors.
Aims of Great powers at Vienna
settlement
• To share spoils after the final defeat of Napoleon
(repossess territories once colonised by napoleon
Bonaparte.)
• How maintain peace in Europe after 20 years of
Turmoil
• Form an alliance of great powers and meet
regularly in congresses (birth of congress system)
• How to prevent further french aggression
• How to divide spoils in a manner acceptable by all.
Principles to be adopted
• 1.principle of legitimacy
• 2 principle of balance of power
• 3 principle of suppression of liberalism and
nationalism
How to achieve these aims
• Creation of buffer states
• Supression of liberalism and nationalism
• Principle of balance of power
• Principle of legitimacy
Features of conservatism
• Restoration of legitimate rulers who were dictators
• Suppression of nationalism and liberalism
Reactionary policies
• Principles of legitimacy
• Suppression of nationalism and liberalism
Creation of buffer states
• Great powers created buffer states to protect
themselves from further french aggression.
• Northern frontier = joined Belgium and Holland to
created Netherlands
• Rhine frontier =joined Rhine states
• Italia frontier =joined Northern Italian states*
• Nb* created strong defensive lines
Criticism levelled against
creation buffer states
• Buffer states protected great powers and sacrificed
small powers. Served selfish interest.
Sharing of spoils Austria got :
• Lombardy and Venetia given to Austria
• Austria got 39 German states
Britain got:
• Ceylon
• Island of Malta
• Trinidad
• Tobago
• Mauritius
• West indies
• Heligoland
• Cape of good hope
Prussia got:
• Prussia got Posen
• Prussia took Rhineland
• 2/5 of Saxony
Russia got :
• Russia took Finland
• 3/4of Poland
Holland got :
• Holland was joined to Belgium to form Netherlands
• In Belgium there were pro revolutionary groups
• Holland was rewarded for refusing napoleon 's
Continental system.
• Small powers also benefited from the Vienna
settlement.
• Great powers punished supporters of Napoleon
and rewarded napoleon opponents
Piedmont
• Port of Genoa was added to piedmont
• Small powers also benefited from the Vienna
settlement
Criticism
• The divided the spoils using 1804map.
• Division was characterized by greed.. Smaller states
were sacrificed and their interest were not
considered. Serbs fins and poles.
Principle of balance of power
• It principle that prevented one powers from
dominating a particular region
Principle of legitimacy
• Ancient rulers deposed by Napoleon Bonaparte and the
French Revolution were to be restored of their claims to the
throne
• Restored despotic leaders who had zero tolerance to
liberalism and nationalism.
• Conservatism and reactionary forces are seen at play
• Conservatism means maintaining status quo especially of
the ancient regime.
• Reactionary means reverting to earlier position.
• Revolution had taken people to another stage. So
reactionary policies were reverting to the old order
Examples of legitimate rulers
restored
• Fednand I restored in Naples.
• Fednand vii restored in Spain
• Louis xviii restored in France
• Princes related to Austrian hapsburg monarchy
restored in the 3dutchies of Parma Modena and
Tuscany
• Victor Emmanuel 1 in piedmont Piedmont
• Pope and pius ix in the papal states
Principle of balance of power
• It's a principle to that aims to balance power and
prevent other countries from dominating a
particular region.
Principle of suppression of
nationalism and liberalism
• Nationalism is struggle for self determination.
• Many states wanted self rule.
• Wanted to be independent from dominant powers
Examples of liberalism to be
suppressed
• Demanding a constitution
• Freedom of association
• Freedom of speech and publication
• Relaxed censorship
• Trial by jury system and no arbitrary arrest
• Staging revolts and demonstration or petitions
Criticism levelled
• Principle of liberalism was suppressed.
• Ignored concept of liberalism
• Reactionary forces dominated the conference
• Supression of liberalism was retrogressive and
conservative of ancien regime principles.
• Supressed nationalism.
• Ignored independence of Small states and joined
states with different lifestyle eg Belgium and
Holland
Small states that also benefitted :
piedmont
• Holland
• Piedmont
• Denmark
Did they achieve their aims
• Formed alliance of great powers and met regularly
in congresses
• Formed quadruple alliance and later quintruple
alliance.
• Met in congresses aix LA Chapelle, troppau, liabach
and Verona
• They maintained peace for 40 years.
• They shared spoils in a manner acceptable by all
Controversy
• Russia wanted the Grandy Dutchy of Warsaw
• Prussia wanted the whole of Saxony
• This didn't go well with other great powers like France Britain
and Austria and formed an alliance against those two.
• Napoleon Bonaparte took advantage of this confusion and
escaped from st Elba
• The great powers united against napoleon and defeated
napoleon Bonaparte at waterloo.
• After that date Russia and Prussia agree to compromise.
• Saxony and Polish states were shared among European powers
Practice questions
• Assess the main features of the Vienna settlement.
• To what extent was the Vienna settlement
characterized by the forces of reaction?
• How true is the verdict that the Vienna settlement
served interest of great powers.
The end
• AmigoTutor : Theresa Shamiso Sibanda
• Email address :[email protected]
• Cell :0774658065
• Mount Pleasant high school