The Congress of Vienna Chapter 7 Section 5

I. Metternich’s Plan for Europe A. Klemens von Metternich 1. The Five great powers meet in secret Austria Prussia Great Britain Russia France

A. Klemens von Metternich 2. The most influential person in this secret meeting is Klemens von Metternich, the foreign minister for Austria

A. Klemens von Metternich 3. They had three goals Prevent future French Aggression by surrounding France with strong countries Restore balance of power so that no country was much stronger than the next Restore the Monarch (king) to France

B. The Containment of France 1. Austrian Netherlands and the Dutch Republic are combined to form the Kingdom of the Netherlands 2. Thirty-nine German States are combined to form the German Confederation, dominated by Austria.

B. The Containment of France 3. Switzerland becomes it’s own country 4. Kingdom of Sardinia is strengthened by the addition of Genoa.

C. Balance of Power 1. The Congress of Vienna did not want to punish France because they feared France might try to get revenge one day. 2. Instead, they chose to diminish France’s power.

D. Legitimacy 1. Legitimacy – an agreement to restore as many rulers as possible from the people that Napoleon had removed from their thrones. 2. Restoration took place in France, Spain, and several Italian states

D. Legitimacy 3. Political leaders believed this would stabilize political relations among everyone 4. The Congress of Vienna was deemed a success because it was significant that European nations had cooperated together with a common purpose.

D. Legitimacy 5. The balance of power lasted for 40 years, until the start of the Crimean War.

II. Political Changes Beyond Vienna A. Conservative Europe 1. To combat the ideals of the French Revolution – Russian, Austrian and Prussian Kings agreed to the Holy Alliance which pledged that they could combat future revolutions

A. Conservative Europe 2. Concert of Europe devised by Metternich ensured that nations would help end any revolutions 3. Despite their efforts to undo the revolutionary ideas, it was impossible and would soon directly contribute to revolutions in 1830 and 1848