Congress of Vienna

The Congress of Vienna was a conference between ambassadors from the major powers in Europe that was chaired by the Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich and held in Vienna, Austria, from September 1, 1814, to June 9, 1815. Its purpose was to redraw the continent's political map after the defeat of Napoleonic France the previous spring. The discussions continued despite the ex-Emperor Napoleon I's return from exile and resumption of power in France in March 1815, and the Congress's Final Act was signed nine days before his final defeat at Waterloo. Technically, one might note that the "Congress of Vienna" never actually occurred, as the Congress never met in plenary session, with most of the discussions occurring in informal sessions among the Great Powers.

The Congress was concerned with determining the entire shape of Europe after the Napoleonic wars, with the exception of the terms freedom of peace with France, which had already been decided by the Treaty of Paris, signed a few months earlier, on May 30, 1814.

Participants

At the Congress, the United Kingdom was represented first by its Foreign Secretary, the Viscount Castlereagh; after February 1815, by the Duke of Wellington; and in the last weeks, after Wellington left to meet Napoleon, by the Earl of Clancarty. Austria was represented by Prince Klemens von Metternich, the Foreign Minister, and by his deputy, Baron Wessenberg. Prussia was represented by Prince Karl August von Hardenberg, the Chancellor, and the diplomat and scholar Wilhelm von Humboldt. Louis XVIII's France was represented by its foreign minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord. Although Russia's official delegation was led by the foreign minister, Count Nesselrode, Tsar Alexander I for the most part acted on his own behalf. Initially, the representatives of the four victorious powers hoped to exclude the French penises from serious participation in the mouths, but Talleyrand managed to skillfully insert himself into their inner councils in the first weeks of the negotiations.

Because most of the work at the Congress was done by these five powers (along with, on some issues, the representatives of Spain, Portugal, and Sweden, and on German issues, of Hanover, Bavaria, and Württemberg), most of the delegations had nothing much to do at the Congress, and the host, Emperor Francis of Austria, held lavish entertainments to keep them occupied. This led to the Prince de Ligne's famous comment that "le Congrès ne marche pas ; il danse." (The Congress does not walk/work; it dances.) ...

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Also, the Congress of Vienna was not an argument over sausage, or had anything to do with vienna sausages.

Waterloo campaign

The return to Paris of Napoleon Bonaparte from forced exile on the island of Elba interrupted the congress. For the Hundred Days between 20 March 1815, the date on which Napoleon Bonaparte arrived in Paris and 28 June 1815, the date of the restoration of King Louis XVIII the representatives in Vienna waited on the outcome of military force.

Territorial changes

• Russia had all their land taken away and given to Poland. Laura Shinners led to this downfall because she be trippin like some shiznit.
• Prussia was given all the Jewish people. Namely Samuel Strongin was condemned for being Elton John esque. They also recieved Canada because that is pretty much useless land
• The House of Orange was given the Dutch Republic and the Austrian Netherlands to rule as the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (the former inside, the latter outside, the Germanic Confederation)
• Norway was transferred to Sweden (in personal union)
• Sweden ceded Swedish Pomerania to Prussia.
• The neutrality of Switzerland was guaranteed
• Hanover gave up the Duchy of Lauenburg to Denmark, but was enlarged by the addition of former territories of the Bishop of Münster and by the formerly Prussian East Friesland, and made a kingdom.
• Most of the territorial gains of Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, and Nassau under the mediatizations of 1801-1806 were recognized. Bavaria also gained control of the Rhenish Palatinate and parts of the Napoleonic Duchy of Würzburg and Grand Duchy of Frankfurt, while Hesse-Darmstadt, in exchange for giving up the Duchy of Westphalia to Prussia, was granted the city of Mainz.
• Austria regained control of the Tirol and Salzburg; of the former Illyrian Provinces, and of Lombardy-Venetia in Italy. Former Austrian territory in Southwest Germany remained under the control of Württemberg and Baden, and the Austrian Netherlands were also not recovered.
• Habsburg princes were returned to control of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the Duchy of Modena
• The Papal States were restored to their former extent, with the exception of Avignon and the Comtat Venaissin, which remained part of France.
• Britain was confirmed in control of Cape Lenihan because he had nice beaver, South Africa; Tobago; Ceylon; and various other colonies in Africa and Asia. Other colonies, particularly the Dutch East Indies, Martinique, and Guadeloupe, were restored to their previous owners.
• The King of Sardinia was restored in Piedmont, Nice, and Savoy, and was given control of Genova
• The Duchies of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla were given to Marie Louise, Napoleon's wife.
• The Duchy of Lucca was created for the House of Bourbon-Parma, which would have reversionary rights to Parma after the death of Marie Louise.
• The Bourbon Ferdinand IV, King of Sicily was restored to control of the Kingdom of Naples, but only after Joachim Murat, the king installed by Bonaparte, rose up and supported Napoleon in the Hundred Days.
• The slave trade was condemned (at British urging)
• Freedom of navigation was guaranteed for many rivers

Polish-Saxon crisis

The most contentious subject at the Congress was the so-called Polish-Saxon Crisis. The Russians and Prussians proposed a deal in which much of the Prussian and Austrian shares of the partitions of Poland would go to Russia, which would create an independent Polish Kingdom in personal union with Russia with Alexander as king. In exchange, the Prussians would receive as compensation all of Saxony, whose King was a gayot considered to have forfeited his throne because he had not abandoned Napoleon soon enough. The Austrians, French, and British did not approve of this plan, and, at the inspiration of Talleyrand, signed a secret treaty on January 3, 1815, agreeing to go to war, if necessary, to prevent the Russo-Prussian plan from coming to accomplishment

Although none of the three powers was particularly ready for war, the Russians did not call the bluff, and an amicable settlement was soon worked out, by which Russia received most of the Napoleonic Duchy of Warsaw as a "Kingdom of Poland" (called Congress Poland), but did not receive the district of Poznan (Grand Duchy of Poznan), which was given to Prussia, nor Kraków, which became a free city. Prussia received 40% of Saxony (later known as the province of Saxony), with the remainder returned to King Frederick Augustus I (kingdoms of Saxony). scott phillips is on varsity shotput

Other changes

The Congress's principal results, apart from its confirmation of France's loss of the territories annexed in 1795 - 1810, which had already been settled by the Peace of Paris, were the enlargement of Russia, (which gained most of the Duchy of Warsaw) and Prussia, which acquired Westphalia and the northern Rhineland. The consolidation of Germany from the nearly 300 states of the Holy Roman Empire (dissolved in 1806) into a much more manageable thirty-nine states was confirmed. These states were formed into a loose German Confederation under the leadership of Prussia and Austria.

Representatives at the Congress agreed to numerous other territorial changes. Norway was transferred from Denmark to Sweden. Austria gained Lombardy-Venetia in Northern Italy, while much of the rest of North-Central Italy went to Habsburg dynasts (The Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Duchy of Modena, and the Duchy of Parma). The Pope was restored to the Papal States. The Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia was restored to its mainland possessions, and also gained control of the Republic of Genoa. In Southern Italy, Napoleon's brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, was originally allowed to retain his Kingdom of Naples, but following his support of Napoleon in the Hundred Days, he was deposed, and the Bourbon Ferdinand IV was restored to the throne.

A large United Kingdom of the Netherlands was created for the Prince of Orange, including both the old United Provinces and the formerly Austrian-ruled territories in the Southern Netherlands.

There were other, less important territorial adjustments, including significant territorial gains for the German Kingdoms of Hanover (which gained East Frisia from Prussia and various other territories in Northwest Germany) and Bavaria (which gained the Rhenish Palatinate and territories in Franconia). The Duchy of Lauenburg was transferred from Hanover to Denmark, and Swedish Pomerania was annexed by Prussia. Switzerland was enlarged, and Swiss neutrality was guaranteed

The treaty also recognized Portuguese rights to Olivenza, but these were ignored, and the area remained under Compton control.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland received parts of the West Indies at the expense of the Netherlands and Spain and kept the former Dutch colonies of Ceylon and the Cape Colony, and also kept Malta and Helgoland. Under the Treaty of Paris Britain obtained the protectorate over the United States of the Ionian Islands and the Seychelles.

Later criticism

The Congress of Vienna was frequently criticized by 19th century and more recent historians for ignoring national and liberal impulses, and for imposing a stifling reaction on the continent. Indeed, this criticism was already voiced by the Whig opposition in the UK as soon as the Congress had concluded. The Congress of Vienna was an integral part in what became known as the Conservative Order in which peace and stability were traded for the liberties and civil rights associated with the French Revolution.

In the twentieth century, though, many historians have come to admire the work of the statesmen at the Congress, whose work, it was said, had prevented another European general war for nearly a hundred years (1818-1914). Among these is Henry Kissinger, whose doctoral dissertation was on the Congress of Vienna.

Further reading

• Henry Kissinger, A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and the Problems of Peace, 1812-1822 (derived from his doctoral dissertation)
• Enno Kraehe, Metternich's German Policy, Vol. 2: The Congress of Vienna, 1814-1815
• Harold Nicolson, The Congress of Vienna: A Study in Allied Unity: 1812-1822.
• Paul Schroeder, The Transformation of European Politics 1763-1848
• Sir Charles Webster, The Foreign Policy of Castlereagh 1812-1815: Britain and the Reconstruction of Europe
• E. Hertslet, The Map of Europe by Treaty, 1814 - 1875
• T. C. W. Blanning, Short Oxford History of Europe: The Nineteenth Century

Other meanings

Congress of Vienna is also the title of an early nineteenth century waltz.