Transcript The Congress of Vienna

Evaluation of Napoleon’s Rule
First egalitarian dictatorship of modern times.
Positive achievements.
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Revolutionary institutions consolidated.
Thoroughly centralized French government.
Made a lasting settlement with the Church.
Spread positive achievements of French Revolution to the rest of
Europe.
Liabilities
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Repressed individual liberty
Subverted republicanism
Oppressed conquered peoples throughout Europe.
Caused terrific suffering as a result of war.
Congress of Vienna
September 1814 – June 1815
The “Big Four”
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Austria, England, Prussia, and Russia
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Klemens Von Metternich represented Austria.
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Epitomized conservative reaction.
Opposed to the ideas of liberals and reformers because of the impact such forces would
have on the multinational Hapsburg Empire.
England represented by Lord Castlereagh.
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Sought a balance of power by surrounding France with larger and stronger states.
Prussia sought to recover Prussian territory lost to Napoleon in 1807 and gain additional
territory in northern Germany (Saxony).
Tsar Alexander I represented Russia
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Demanded “free” and “independent” Poland, with himself as its king.
France later became involved in the deliberations.
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Represented by Talleyrand, the French Foreign Minister.
Charles Maurice de
Talleyrand
Klemens Von
Metternich
Tsar Alexander I
Lord Castlereagh
Principles of Settlement
 Three key themes: Legitimacy, Compensation, Balance of
Power.
 “Legitimacy” meant returning to power the ruling families
deposed by more than two decades of revolutionary warfare.
 Bourbons (Louis XVIII)was restored in France.
 Dynasties restored in Holland, Sardinia, Tuscany, Spain , Naples,
and Modena.
 Papal States were returned to the Pope.
Principles of Settlement Continued…
 “Compensation” meant territorially rewarding those states which had
made considerable sacrifices to defeat Napoleon.
 England received naval bases (Malta, Ceylon, Cape of Good Hope)
 Austria recovered the Italian province of Lombardy, Galicia (from Poland),
and the Illyrian Provinces along the Adriatic.
 Russia was given most of Poland, as well as Finland and Bessarabia
(modern-day Moldova and western Ukraine).
 Prussia awarded the Rhineland, 3/5 of Saxony and part of Poland.
 Sweden received Norway.
Principles of Settlement Continued…
 “Balance of Power”: arranged the map of Europe so that never
again could one state upset the international order and cause a
general war.
 Encirclement of France achieved through the following:
 A strengthened Netherlands.
 United the Austrian Netherlands (Belgium) with Holland to form the
Kingdom of the United Netherlands north of France.
 Prussia received Rhenish lands bordering on the eastern French
frontier (left bank of the Rhine)
 Switzerland received a guarantee of perpetual neutrality.
Arrangements to Guarantee
Enforcement of Status Quo
The Congress included arrangements to guarantee
enforcement of the status quo as defined by the
Vienna settlement
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Highly conservative in nature
Quadruple Alliance
Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Britain
Provided for concerted action to put down any threat to the peace
or balance of power.
France was usually seen as the possible violator of the Vienna
settlement.
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No Bonaparte should ever again govern France.
Austria believed concerted action meant the great powers
defending status quo as established at Vienna against any change
or threat to the system.
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Liberalism and nationalism were seen as threats to the existing order.
The “Holy Alliance” of Czar
Alexander I of Russia
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Proposed for all monarchs to sign a statement agreeing to
uphold Christian principles of charity and peace throughout
Europe.
All signed it except the pope, the sultan, and Britain
No one except Alexander took it seriously.
Liberals came to view it as a sort of unholy alliance of
monarchies against liberty and progress.
Evaluation of the Concert of Europe
Congress of Vienna has been criticized for ignoring liberal and
nationalist aspirations of Europeans.
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Underestimated the new nationalism generated by the French
Revolution
Yet, the Congress of Vienna may have been more successful in
stabilizing the international system than those in the 20th century.
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Not until the unification of Germany in 1870-71 was the balance of
power in Europe upset.
Not until WWI did Europe have another general war.
Congress System (1815-1822)
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European international relations were controlled by
series of meetings held by great powers to monitor
and defend the status quo.
Principle of collective security required unanimity
among members of the Quadruple Alliance.
Britain eventually bowed out
French Revolution Evaluated
Results of the Revolution
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Old social system destroyed and replaced with a
new one based on equality, ability and the law.
Guaranteed triumph of capitalism
Gave birth to notion of secular democracy
Laid foundations for establishment of modern
nation-state.
Challenges to the Origins of the
French Revolution
Some modern historians have challenged the traditional view
of the origins of the French Revolution.
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Some argue that key sections of the nobility were liberal.
Others point out that the nobility and the bourgeoisie were not
necessarily economic rivals.
Historians have traditionally concluded the French
Revolution ended in failure.
Numerous Successes of the
Revolution
The Revolution can be seen as having numerous successes
After fall of Robespierre, solid middle class, with its liberal philosophy and Enlightenment
world-view, reasserted itself.
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Under the Directory, it salvaged a good portion of social and political gains that it and the
peasantry had made between 1789 and 1791.
Old pattern of separate legal orders and absolute monarchy was never re-established.
Napoleon built on the policies of the Directory
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Added support of old nobility and the Church to that of the middle class and the
peasantry.
Promoted reconciliation of old and new orders.
Centralized government.
Careers open to Talent
Louis XVIII had to accept French society based on wealth and achievement.
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Granted representative gov’t and civil liberties.
Core of the French Revolution thus survived a generation of war and dictatorship.
How did the French Revolution
Embody the Ideas of the
Enlightenment?
Desire for Political Reform
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Scientific and rational thought led to a desire for political
reform.
Progress in all fields, including government, was seen as
necessary and possible.
Political science could be based on natural laws. The
economy, too, was made more “rational” through the ending
of internal barriers to trade.
Phase One: The Age of Montesquieu: Pre 1789
– The Monarchy
In The Spirit of the Laws (1753), Montesquieu argued for a
constitutional monarchy and a liberal government.
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Advocated a separation of powers (three branches) among the
nobles, the monarchy, and the representatives of the cities to
replace the Old Regime.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man called for the
freedom of expression, representative government, and
equality before the law.
Montesquieu
Phase Two: The Age of Rousseau: September 1792 –
November 1799–The Republic
The Social Contract expressed the following republican views:
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Popular Sovereignty—To have freedom, the people must
control their own government.
Christianity should be replaced by a civil religion.
Force might legitimately be used to bring about freedom; a
strong government might be needed to express the “general
will.”
These ideas were adopted not only by the Republic, but also
by the Committee of Public Safety.
Rousseau
Phase Three: The Period of
Voltaire: 1799 – 1815–Napoleon
Voltaire had argued for “enlightened absolutism.”
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An efficient, organized state was the best design to bring about
“progress.”
A centralized state was not necessarily a threat to freedom; in fact it
might increase freedom by reducing the power of the Church and the
Parlements.
Napoleon was attracted to Voltaire’s updating of the “philosopherking” concept.
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Napoleon believed he was bringing “scientific” government to France
and to Europe.
Napoleon’s use of the plebiscite had not been contemplated by
Voltaire, nor would Napoleon’s military campaigns been approved of
by Voltaire.
Voltaire
Napoleon
Essay Questions
 Note: This sub-unit is a low probability area for the AP exam. In
the past 10 years, 1 question has come in large part from the
material in this chapter. However, Napoleon cannot be ignored
for future AP exams! Below are some practice questions that will
help you study the topics that have appeared on previous exams
or may appear on future exams.
Essay Questions Continued…
To what extent was Napoleon and “Enlightened Despot”? Contrast Napoleon’s
rule with that of Frederick the Great, Catherine the Great, and Joseph II.
To what extent did Napoleon maintain the ideals of the French Revolution?
To what extent was the balance of power maintained in Europe by 1815?
To what extent did each of the following social groups succeed in achieving
their goals during the Napoleonic Era?
1.
2.
3.
4.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Aristocracy
Bourgeoisie
Urban working class
Peasantry
Women