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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 on June 18, 1815. 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 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, Viscount Castlereagh; after Castlereagh's return to England in February 1815, by the Duke of Wellington; and in the last weeks, after Wellington left to face Napoleon in the Hundred Days, 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-Périgord. 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 from serious participation in the negotiations, but Talleyrand managed to skillfully insert himself into their inner councils in the first weeks of the negotiations.

The Allies' indecision on how to conduct their affairs without provoking a united protest from the lesser powers led to the calling of a preliminary conference on protocol, to which both Talleyrand and the Marquis of Labrador, Spain's representative, were invited on September 30, 1814. Congress Secretary Friedrich von Gentz (1764-1832) would report that "The intervention of Talleyrand and Labrador has hopelessly upset all our plans. Talleyrand protested against the procedure we have adopted and soundly *rated us for two hours. It was a scene I shall never forget."Susan Mary Alsop, The Congress Dances (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1984), 120. The embarrassed representatives of the Allies replied that the document concerning the protocol they had arranged actually meant nothing. "If it means so little, why did you sign it?" snapped Labrador.

Talleyrand’s policy, directed as much by national as personal ambitions, demanded the close but by no means amicable relationship he had with Labrador. Talleyrand regarded Labrador with "Olympian disdain"Wenceslao Ramírez de Villa-Urrutia, Marqués de Villa-Urrutia, España en el Congreso de Viena según la correspondencia de D. Pedro Gómez Labrador, Marqués de Labrador. Segunda Edición Corregida y Aumentada (Madrid: Francisco Beltrán, 1928), 13.; of Talleyrand, the testy Spaniard would remark: "that cripple, unfortunately, is going to Vienna."Antonio Rodríguez-Moñino (ed.), Cartas Políticas (Badajoz: Imprenta Provincial, 1959), 14 (Letter IV, July 10, 1814). Labrador’s letters are full of such pungent remarks, and include his crotchety opinions on bad diplomats, the state of the postal system and the weather, and his non-existent salary and coach and accompanying livery for the Congress. Talleyrand skirted additional articles suggested by Labrador: he had no intention of handing over the 12,000 afrancesados ("frenchified" Spanish fugitives who had sworn fealty to Joseph I Bonaparte), with whom he had shady business connections, nor the bulk of the documents, paintings, pieces of fine art, and works of hydrography and natural history that had been looted from the archives, palaces, churches and cathedrals of Spain.Villa-Urrutia, España en el Congreso de Viena, 61-2. The French had stripped an enormous amount of art from the country. Joseph had left Madrid with an enormous baggage train containing innumerable pieces of art, tapestries, and mirrors. The most rapacious of the French was Marshal Nicolas Soult, who left Spain with entire collections, which have disappeared to unknown, separate locations around the world. At least, sighs Juan Antonio Gaya Nuño, "paintings have come to spread the prestige of Spanish art around the whole word."

Most of the work at the Congress was performed by the five main powers (Great Britain, Russia, Prussia, Austria, France).

On some issues, these powers cooperated with:

Most of the delegations, however, 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 work; it dances. lit. but also a play on words as "marcher" means "walk" as well as "work".)

Territorial changes

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 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 Poznań (Grand Duchy of Poznań), 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).

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 Treaty 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 Spanish 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 and American Revolutions.

In the twentieth century, though, many historians have come to admire the statesmen at the Congress, whose work, it was said, had prevented another European general war for nearly a hundred years (1815-1914). Among these is Henry Kissinger, whose doctoral dissertation was on the Congress of Vienna. Prior to the opening of the Paris peace conference of 1918, the British Foreign Office commissioned a history of the Congress of Vienna to serve as an example for its own delegates to achieve an equally successful peace.

Notes

See also

German treaties | History of Europe | Peace treaties | 1815 | History of Poland (1795–1918)

Виенски конгрес | Congrés de Viena | Vídeňský kongres | Wienerkongressen | Wiener Kongress | Congreso de Viena | Viena kongreso | Congrès de Vienne | Bečki kongres | 빈 회의 | Kongres Wina | Congresso di Vienna | קונגרס וינה | Consilium Vindobonum | Wiener Kongress | Vienos kongresas | Congres van Wenen | ウィーン会議 | Wienerkongressen | Kongres wiedeński | Congresso de Viena | Congresul de la Viena, 1815 | Венский конгресс | Viedenský kongres | Dunajski kongres | Wienin kongressi | Wienkongressen | Congrès d' Wîne | 维也纳会议

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Congress of Vienna".

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