The Congress of Vienna: How Europe Was Redrawn

Between the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars upset the European social and political order, establishing a French hegemony in Europe. After the French emperor’s first abdication in 1814, his main adversaries—Austria, Prussia, Russia, and Great Britain—called for a general assembly to set a new and stable order in Europe. Known as the Congress of Vienna, the meeting had a lasting effect on the history of the continent.

After rising to power with a coup d’état in November 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte launched a series of military campaigns against the European powers. Starting with the defeat of Austria in 1800-1801, the conflicts, known as the Napoleonic Wars, upset the geopolitical balance of Europe, establishing a French hegemony on the continent. Indeed, in the early 19th century, Napoleon I’s strategic abilities led him to win significant victories against Austria, Prussia, and Russia. As a result, most of Europe, with the exception of Great Britain, fell under French control.

Besides the military aspect, the Napoleonic Wars also had a lasting political and cultural effect, spreading the ideas of the French Revolution throughout the continent. As the French emperor introduced his new civil code, educational system, and administration in the conquered countries, the traditional elites began to lose prominence. The erosion of the existing social hierarchies led to the rise of the middle class, whose members started to hold leading government and administrative roles.

By 1812, Napoleon had annexed part of western Germany and the Low Countries. He created a series of satellite states in Italy, Poland, Spain, and the rest of Germany. After cementing his hold on the continent with a combination of conquests and alliances, Napoleon I launched an attack against Russia in June 1812. Despite his initial optimism, the campaign did not result in a quick victory. After a slow advance into Russian territory, Napoleon’s troops entered Moscow in September 1812. The Russians, however, refused to negotiate a surrender. Thus, fearing the harsh winter, the French emperor ordered a retreat.

The following year, Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, and Russia formed the so-called Quadruple Alliance to oppose the French hegemony in Europe. In October 1813, at the Battle of Leipzig, a town in Saxony, the allied troops defeated Napoleon, forcing him to retreat behind the Rhine River. On March 31, 1814, the allied armies entered Paris, ending the long period of almost uninterrupted conflict.

The defeat of Leipzig marked the end of the Napoleonic empire. At the beginning of April 1814, the French senate deposed Napoleon and restored the Bourbon rule, asking Louis XVIII, a brother of Louis XVI, to establish a constitutional monarchy. On April 20, the former emperor left France for exile to Elba, an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The following month, each European power that had contributed to the defeat of Napoleon signed a peace treaty with France. The documents, almost identical in their key points, allowed the French to maintain the borders established in 1792 and did not include any demand for an indemnity for the cost of the wars. Article 32 of each treaty stated that the allies would convene in Vienna to “complete the provisions” of the Peace of Paris.

The idea to organize a summit of the principal allies against Napoleon predated the settlements signed in May 1814. Indeed, even before the defeat of the French emperor, the members of the anti-Napoleonic coalition became aware of the need to establish a new geopolitical order in the continent to prevent future hegemonic exploits. As the Napoleonic Wars had drastically altered the previous borders between the European states, the allies also faced the hazardous task of drafting a new map of the continent. In particular, the victorious powers would have to agree on the future configuration of the Italian peninsula, the Polish territories, and the German states.

A Settlement Between Great Powers

In September 1814, the representatives of the various countries began to arrive in Vienna. As the plenipotentiaries began to conduct preliminary talks, it became apparent that the great powers (Austria, Prussia, Russia, and Great Britain) intended to direct the negotiations, reserving the task of defining the crucial territorial settlements for themselves.

“The conduct of business must practically rest with the leading Powers,” remarked Viscount Castlereagh, the Prime Minister of Great Britain.

The allies’ plan to determine the outcome of the congress was opposed by Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, the French Foreign Minister, who arrived in Vienna toward the end of September. Upon meeting with the other representatives, Talleyrand refused to accept their protocol for the upcoming summit.

“The visible aim of this plan was to make the four powers … absolute masters of all the operations of the Congress,” complained the French representative to King Louis XVIII.

“Talleyrand … soundly berated us for two hours. It was a scene I shall never forget,” commented Friedrich Grentz, an Austrian conservative journalist and the advisor of Klemens von Metternich, the mastermind behind the Congress of Vienna.

As the four powers and the French could not agree to a common procedure, they opted to postpone the beginning of the official proceedings until November. However, despite the lack of an agreement, the main plenipotentiaries continued the negotiations over the partition of the previously French-controlled territories.

At the end of October, as the representatives met to discuss the protocol to adopt during the congress, they once again failed to reach a consensus. Thus, the official opening of the Congress of Vienna was postponed indefinitely.

The summit “never could exist as a deliberative assembly, with a power of decision by plurality of votes,” commented Viscount Castlereagh. Indeed, the representatives of all the countries present in the Austrian capital never met in an official session. As a result, only the so-called great powers drew the post-Napoleonic map of Europe.

Besides its geopolitical aims, the Congress of Vienna was also a social event. The solemn arrival of the most influential European sovereigns and diplomats, followed by large entourages, emphasized the symbolic aspect of the event. In this sense, the meeting represented a celebration of the end of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era. Full of pomp and theatrical displays, the Congress of Vienna was “a joyous ritual cleansing.”

This exceptional gathering of more than 200 diplomats, monarchs, aristocrats, performers, and intellectuals from numerous countries created a lively social life in Vienna. The Festival Committee, headed by the Prince of Trauttmansdorf, entertained the royal guests of the Habsburg court with almost daily balls, parades, dinners, operas, and hunting parties. The most memorable shows included the reenactment of a medieval jousting tournament, the performance of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony (conducted by the German composer himself), and numerous tableaux vivants. Among the undisputed protagonists of the social life of the Congress of Vienna were countless ladies and princesses who gathered artists, musicians, and exponents of the cultural elite in their salons.

The festivities surrounding the negotiations were not mere distractions. They also showcased the wealth and strength of the Habsburg monarchy, emphasizing its role in overthrowing Napoleon’s hegemony in Europe. In October, the Festival of Peace, held in the Prater (a large park in Vienna), celebrated the Battle of Leipzig. Klemens von Metternich organized dinner feasts for hundreds of people at the Chancellery. The most influential guests resided in the Hofburg, the Habsburg imperial palace.

While the almost endless series of balls and parties slowed the proceedings of the summit, it also gave politicians and diplomats ample opportunities to conduct informal meetings and negotiations.

At the Congress of Vienna, the great powers shared the goal of creating a so-called balance of power in Europe that would prevent France or any other state from establishing its hegemony through continental wars. After more than twenty years of armed conflicts, for the representatives gathered in Vienna, the only way to build a stable order was to ensure, as explained by Friedrich Gentz, that “no one among [neighboring states] can injure the independence or the essential rights of another, without meeting with effectual resistance.”

In particular, Castlereagh and Klemens von Metternich were among the most vocal advocates of what the Austrian statesman called a “just equilibrium.” Indeed, the British prime minister believed a durable peace would benefit Great Britain’s economic and commercial interests. On the other hand, Metternich sought to create a buffer zone around the borders of the Austrian empire, fearing the expansionist claims of Russia and Prussia.

Despite the common goal, the often conflicting declinations of the notion of balance of power led to several moments of friction during the Congress of Vienna. In particular, the representatives of the four powers clashed over the settlement of Poland and Saxony and the configuration of the German states. Between 1814 and 1815, the matter of Poland and Saxony resulted in a standoff in the negotiations, threatening the peace between the members of the congress. Ultimately, however, they managed to reach an agreement, allowing the proceedings to continue.

The Congress of Vienna did not halt even in March 1815, when Napoleon escaped from Elba and marched on Paris. On June 18, 1815, the allied forces, led by the Duke of Wellington, inflicted on Napoleon a final defeat at Waterloo, a village near Brussels. Napoleon’s brief second reign, the so-called Hundred Days, ended with his exile to the island of St. Helena. By the time the French emperor had been defeated, the participants of the Congress of Vienna had already finished their negotiations and published the Final Act of the summit. Signed on June 9, 1815, the document included all treaties and agreements among the European powers.

By the terms of the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna, Tsar Alexander I of Russia received most of the Duchy of Warsaw. Kraków became a free city. In return, the Russian monarch ceded Galicia to Austria. The remaining parts of the Polish duchy went to Prussia, whose sovereign also received two-fifths of Saxony. The German regional entities were united into a confederation of 39 states placed under the Austrian presidency. The Austrian emperor also annexed Lombardy and Venetia to his territorial possessions. The Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia returned to the House of Savoy, who also gained control of Genoa. In northern Europe, Belgium and the Dutch Republic were united in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The European states also recognized the future neutrality of Switzerland.

The Final Act of the Congress of Vienna also included an agreement on the navigation of international rivers and a joint declaration against the slave trade.

The gathering of thousands of European representatives in Vienna marked a turning point in the history of diplomatic relations. Klemens Metternich referred to the unprecedented situation as “Europe without distance.”

Indeed, the Congress of Vienna was the first international summit organized with the specific aim of securing lasting order and peace between the participants. The idea that the leaders of the most influential countries should guarantee stability and cooperation would become the basis for future peace talks and international organizations, including the League of Nations and the UN.

The impact of the Congress of Vienna on international diplomacy is further exemplified by the Regulation on the Procedure of Diplomatic Agents, a document included in the Final Act of the meeting. In the past, the lack of general rules regarding the issue of diplomatic precedence had caused several incidents, as representatives of the various states competed against each other to champion their honor and the reputations of their sovereigns.

To avoid future frictions, Article 4 of the regulation states that “Diplomatic Characters shall rank … according to the date of the official notification of their arrival.” Article 6 added that “ties of consanguinity, or family alliances between Courts, confer no rank on their diplomatic agents.”

The Concert of Europe & Restoration Era: Aftermath of the Congress of Vienna

After the Battle of Waterloo, the members of the anti-Napoleonic coalition signed another series of peace treaties with France, collectively known as the Second Peace of Paris. Napoleon’s escape from Elba, however, had revealed the fragility of the geopolitical order the allies sought to establish. Thus, to protect the future stability of Europe, the great powers decided to implement the so-called Congress System, an arrangement based on periodic conferences to avoid future conflicts and upheavals. In September 1815, the Holy Alliance, a partnership proposed by the Russian tsar, cemented the allies’ resolve to safeguard the balance of power.

Over the years following the Congress of Vienna, the Congress System led to a period of cooperation and consensus among the signatories of the Final Act, commonly known as the Concert of Europe. The first meeting of the new diplomatic procedure was held in 1818 at Aix-la-Chapelle. While the great powers eventually ceased to organize regular conferences, the broader outlines of the continental order established at Vienna lasted until the outbreak of World War I.

The powers gathered at the Congress of Vienna based their post-Napoleonic order on the principle of legitimacy, which consisted of restoring the previous ruling monarchs to their thrones. On the one hand, the policy of restoration aimed to achieve a lasting balance of power. On the other hand, the legitimist agenda was a means to counteract the impact of the French Revolution.

“The force that cemented the union between the four cabinets [of the congress] was the fear inspired by the Revolution personified by the man of St. Helena,” later remarked Ioannis Kapodistrias, a prominent diplomat of Greek origins who joined the summit as a representative for Russia.

Among the statesmen at the Congress of Vienna, Klemens von Metternich was one of the firmest opponents of “those principles subversive to the social order upon which Buonaparte had based his usurpation.”

While the principle of legitimacy allowed the great powers to build the Concert of Europe, the defense of the status quo led to political and social upheaval, with the liberal forces demanding the recognition of civil liberties and rights. In particular, the order established at the Congress of Vienna was challenged by those populations whose nationalist sentiments were overlooked in the territorial settlements. In the second half of the 19th century, for example, the German and Italian regional states rebelled against foreign control. The subsequent creation of the German Empire and the Kingdom of Italy upset the borders set in Vienna.