Restoration and the Congress of Vienna: 19th Century Europe

Restoration and 19th Century Revolutions

The Congress of Vienna (1814-1815)

After Napoleon’s defeat and exile to the island of Saint Helena, the victorious countries met at the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815). Prussia, Russia, and Austria were absolutist; only Britain had a constitutional monarchy. Three objectives were proposed at the meeting:

• Legitimism: To restore absolutism under a new name. The kings were the only ones with legitimacy to govern. The old dynasties were restored in several European countries. In France, the Bourbon monarchy was reinstated under Louis XVIII.
• The Holy Alliance: To create an alliance between the absolutist monarchs to protect them from any attempted revolutions. Great Britain did not join this alliance. The alliance had to be ratified at several congresses, during which the absolutist powers would decide whether or not to intervene in places where liberal changes were taking place. Six of these congresses were held. At the sixth, in Verona in 1822, the decision was made to invade Spain to restore absolutism under Fernando VII.
• The Map of Europe: To restore the boundaries which had changed dramatically during the Napoleonic era. This would have important consequences for European politics in the 19th century.

Repercussions of the Congress of Vienna

• This alliance of absolutist countries caused great alarm in America, where it was feared European countries would try to recover the colonies that some powers, such as Great Britain, Spain, and Portugal, had lost a few years before. The United States therefore implemented a new foreign policy with a slogan coined by President Monroe: "America for the Americans".
• Two new kingdoms were created to control France’s expansion to the east: the Kingdom of the Netherlands, formed of Holland and Belgium; and the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia in northwest Italy, which gained Nice and Savoy.
• The territories of present-day Germany and Italy remained divided. Part of northern Italy remained under the control of the Austrian army.
• Eastern Europe was divided between three great empires—Austria, Russia, and Turkey—and one kingdom, Prussia. However, the populations of the three empires were formed of people of many different ethnic backgrounds, with different religions and languages, and this would lead to conflicts in the future.