Congress of Vienna

1. Congress of Vienna

4. In this unit we will study the following aspects of
the Congress of Vienna.
• Politics
• International Relations
• Map of Europe
• Consequences

5. Definition
What is the Congress of Vienna?
It was basically an International Conference that
was called after the fall of Napoleon in order
to restore the Ancient Regime, to remake the
map of Europe and to create a system of
Congress that will rule the International
Relations.

6. Political Aspect
• In the Political aspect the consequences of the
Congress of Vienna were decisive and will
mean the coming back of the main ideas of
Ancient Regime, that are:
oAbsolutism
oDivine Right
oUnion between Monarchy and Religion (“Altar
y Trono”).

7. International Relations
In International Relations there are also many important
changes that have to be considered:

Creation of a system of Congresses to organise
international relations.

Success of the idea of Balance of Power.

Creation of the Holy Alliance (Russia, Prussia, Austria
and eventually France). (It was a coalition of these
countries and all of them agreed on the terms of
imposing Ancient Regime and repressing liberal ideas).

Imposition of the ideas of Ancient Regime allowing
foreign intervention in the case of any Revolution.

8. Map of Europe
In the map of Europe there were important
changes:
• In France there was a return to the frontiers
previous to the Revolution.
• Creation of buffer states (estados tapón):
bigger states surrounding the French borders.
These states can stop France in case of a
possible future expansion.
• Compensation to the winner countries.

9. Map of Europe
Buffer states:
• The Netherlands: received Belgium
• Prussia: received Rhine Province (Renania,
Westphalia and Saxony).
• Piedmont: received Savoy and Nice

10. Map of Europe
Compensation to the winner countries
• Russia: received Finland, Poland and Besarabia.
• Austria: received German territories, and Italian
territories (Lombardy, Venice, the Adriatic Coast, and
also the control of Parma, Modena and Tuscany)
• Prussia: received Rhine Province (Renania), Westphalia
and Saxony.
• Sweden: received Norway.
• Great Britain: received strategical islands or ports, such
as Malta, Ionian Islands, Channel Islands, Cape Town,
Ceylon...

11. Consequences
• One of the most important consequences in the denial of
the following new forces:
– Liberalism (movement that asks for Constitutions,
Parliaments and census suffrage).
– Nationalism (fragmentation of the national identities
of Italian, Polish and German people).
• In a short-term we can talk about the success of the
ideas of the Restoration, thanks to the defeat and
repression of the uprisings in Spain and Naples in 1820.
• In a long-term we can talk about failure because the
Revolutions of 1830 and 1848 determined and extension
of parliamentary regimes throughout Europe (France,
Belgium, Greece, Spain, Portugal...)

12. The final document of the Congress of Vienna, signed on
June 9, 1815, to establish lasting peace in Europe after the
Napoleonic Wars.