The Congress of Vienna

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The Congress of Vienna
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Europe in 1812
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The Congress of Vienna(September 1, 1814 June
9, 1815)
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Coin Commemorating the Opening of the Congress of
Vienna
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Main Objectives

• Its job was to undo everything that Napoléon had
  done
• Reduce France to its old boundaries ? her
  frontiers were pushed back to 1790 level.
• Restore as many of the old monarchies as possible
  that had lost their thrones during the Napoléonic
  era.
• Supported the resolution There is always an
  alternative to conflict.

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Key Players at Vienna
Foreign Minister, Viscount Castlereagh (Br.)
Tsar Alexander I (Rus.)
The HostPrince Klemens von Metternich (Aus.)
King Frederick William III (Prus.)
Foreign Minister, Charles Maurice de Tallyrand
(Fr.)
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Key Principles Established at Vienna

• Balance of Power
• Legitimacy
• Compensation

• Coalition forces would occupy France for 3-5
  years.
• France would have to pay an indemnity of
  700,000,000 francs.

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Changes Made at Vienna (1)

• France was deprived of all territory conquered
  by Napoléon.
• Russia was given most of Duchy of Warsaw
  (Poland).
• Prussia was given half of Saxony, parts of
  Poland, and other German territories.
• A Germanic Confederation of 30 states (including
  Prussia) was created from the previous 300, under
  Austrian rule.
• Austria was given back territory it had lost
  recently, plus more in Germany and Italy.
• The House of Orange was given the Dutch Republic
  and the Austrian Netherlands to rule.

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The Germanic Confederation, 1815
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Changes Made at Vienna (2)

• Norway and Sweden were joined.
• The neutrality of Switzerland was guaranteed.
• Hanover was enlarged, and made a kingdom.
• Britain was given Cape Colony, South Africa, and
  various other colonies in Africa and Asia.
• Sardinia was given Piedmont, Nice, Savoy, and
  Genoa.
• The Bourbon Ferdinand I was restored in the Two
  Sicilies.
• The Duchy of Parma was given to Marie Louise.
• The slave trade was condemned (at British
  urging).
• Freedom of navigation was guaranteed for many
  rivers.

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Europe After the Congress of Vienna
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What was the legacy of the Congress of Vienna?
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Compensation

• Following Congress of Vienna
• Russia
• Got 1. Finland
• 2. Part of Poland
• Sweden
• Lost Finland, but got Norway
• Prussia
• Got 1. Various German territories (some
  bordering the Rhine River)
• 2. 40 of Saxony

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Compensation

• Following Congress of Vienna
• German Confederation
• 39 state with an Austrian emperor as president
• Confederation made up of separate and
  independent states which have power over the
  central government
• Austrian Empire
• Got 1. Italian Provinces of Lombardy and
  Venetia
• 2. Croatia and Dalmatia

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Compensation

• Following Congress of Vienna
• Britain
• Got colonial possessions it had occupied during
  the war
• 1. West Indies from Spain
• 2. Malta off the coast of Italy
• 3. Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from Dutch
• 4. South Africa from Dutch
• Holland/Netherlands
• Lost Ceylon and South Africa, but got Belgium

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Compensation

• Following Congress of Vienna
• Switzerland
• Remained neutral
• France
• Was not rewarded because they started it all!
• 1. Pay 700 million francs
• 2. Return art work
• 3. Returns to 1789 borders (prior to French
  Revolution)
• Note This is not everything only a sampling of
  some of the decisions made at the Congress of
  Vienna

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The Dancing Congress