History - West European Studies

Section A

The Congress of Vienna

The Congress of Vienna was set up in the year 1884 to restore the situation after the French Revolution (Schroeder, 1994). The participating statesmen, led by Austrian statesman Prince Metternich, tried to produce a balance among the European powers. This step resulted in a forty year period of peace in Europe. An important instrument of this act was the Holy Alliance, in which the powers of Europe joined together under the monarchical idea. Another alliance “Quadruple” joined the act which include; Austria, Russia, England and Prussia. The shortcoming of the restoration was to ignore the democratic progress of the French Revolution.

System of Alliances that Emerged during and after the Congress of Vienna

Holy Alliance

The Holy Alliance was a treaty signed by the monarchs of Austria, Russia and Prussia on 26th September, 1815 after the defeat of Napoleon. The three Christian principles that were invoked to keep the political relations were; precepts of justice, charity and peace. The alliance was supposed to base international relations on Christianity and declared it open to anyone who accepts these principles, leaving outside the non-Christian powers such as the Ottoman Empire. However, in practice, it hardly played any effective role unless it became a political slogan. The monarchs belonging to these three countries became united to avoid revolutionary influence in their countries, especially the French Revolution.

Quadruple Alliance

After experiencing the Napoleonic wars, there was trend to build alliances. The treaty was signed in Paris on 20th November, 1815 (Bridge & Bullen, 1980).The Quadruple Alliance was aimed to continue the hard work after destroying Napoleon. The countries included in this alliance were; Britain, Austria, Prussian and Russia. All these countries agreed to resolve the matter concerning Europe by way of meetings. The alliance renewed its aims in the year 1818 after defeating Napoleon which was initially made in 1813. The Quadruple alliance is actually the continuation of Chaumont Treaty of 1814 comprising the same members which aimed to defeat France. At the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, there were two problems faced by the victorious powers; how to control France, and how to stop the effects of revolution. These issues resulted in the formation of the Quadruple Alliance.

Quintuple Alliance

The Quadruple Alliance turned into the Quintuple Alliance after the joining of France in 1818 with original members, which include; Britain, Austria, Prussian and Russia at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle (Albrecht-Carrie, 1958). After Aix-la-Chapelle, the countries of Quintuple Alliance met on three occasions. They include; the Congress of Troppau in 1820, the Congress of Laibach in 1821 and the Congress of Verona in 1822. The members of the alliance became successful in empowering Austrian military in Italy in the year 1821 and intervention of France in Spain in the year 1823, though the British was sleeping partner in these activities. Due to lack of interest of the British, the alliance started to lose its effectiveness after the mid 1820s.

Goals of the Congress of Vienna

The Balance of Power

The establishment of a balance ...