The measures to maintain the Balance of Power were also very successful. The ambitions of Russia and Prussia were checked. The influence of the Bourbons and the Habsburgs was balanced. Austria and Prussia were both included in the new German Confederation so that neither country could become too powerful. France was treated as one of the Big Five to preserve the overall Balance of Power in Europe. As a result, no power could pursue aggressive policies without fact international opposition.
The Congress of Vienna embodied the idea of a “Concert of Europe”, that is, the joint settlement of problems and the collective maintenance of security. The statesmen aggress to hold occasional conferences to discuss important issues. In this way I was hoped that disputes could be settled peacefully, without resort to war.
Other important achievements were the opening up of European rivers for peaceful use and the abolition of the slave trade. The Holy Alliance also raised two very important ideas. The first was the formation of international organization committed to the higher goal of universal love and justice. The other was the idea of disarmament, as a means of perverting war, and a move towards a more humane world.
In conclusion, the Vienna Settlement did not contain a single arrangement which would offend any one of the powers and give them a pretext for war. Therefore, it is fair to say that the settlement did not contain the seeds of a future a war. In this respect, the Vienna Settlement helped to maintain peace in Europe for nearly a century.
Although a general war did not break out in Europe until 1914, European society underwent continuous internal upheavals during the 19th century. Widespread revolts against the provisions of the Vienna Settlement broke out in the 1820s, in 1830 and in 1848. After 1848, little of the Vienna Settlement remained in operation, suggesting that the Vienna Settlement had serious weaknesses.
The Vienna Settlement ignored the force of liberalism. It was drawn up by aristocratic statesmen of the old order, who had little understanding of the new age. They thought that revolution was accidental, without realizing that it was caused by the failure of the old political system to meet changing social and economic needs. As a result, they used 18th-century principles to settle 19th problems. They resorted the practice of absolute monarchy, in which the people’s rights and freedoms were not protected. Where the restored monarchs restored to repression to maintain their owner, the struggle of the future brought them under constitutional constraints.
The Vienna Settlement also ignored the force of nationalism. Traditionally, European rulers inherited territories through marriage and family succession, if not through conquest and diplomatic arrangements. It was common for monarchs to rule over a foreign country where the people’s languages and customs were very different from their own. The international order was based on the cousinhood of kings. Therefore, the aristocratic statesmen at Vienna saw nothing wrong with slicing up territories and exchanging land and people among rulers; the wishes of the inhabitants were disregarded. For example, Belgium, Norway, Finland and Poland were given away or partitioned to suit the designs of the Big Powers. Germany and Italy were divided; parts of their territories were dominated by Austria and other powers.
However, the peoples under these rulers considered that the monarchs had no right to dispose of them and their country as their country as they pleased. Where a foreign government was installed, the struggles of the future were to fight for self-determination. As a result, revolution and unification movements appeared throughout Europe after 1815, causing general unrest.
The Vienna Settlement was drawn up by the great powers and mainly served their interest, ignoring the interest of smaller states. For example, Sweden was made to give up Finland to Russia; Belgium was made to unite with Holland; Lombardy and Venetia were given to Austria. These arrangements would certainly cause trouble in the future.
The statesmen also underestimated the tension generated by religious differences. For example, Catholic Belgium was farced to unite with Protestant Holland. This resulted in conflict between these two people over the next fifteen years. Catholic Poland was placed under the rule of the Russian Czar, who headed the Eastern Orthodox Church. Russian domination was bitterly resented by the Poles.
Username: b0011222
