Through the ‘Vienna Congress’ the following agreements were made: first, the Duchy of Warsaw was mostly given to Russia and also the Russians were allowed to keep Finland, Prussia was given parts of Duchy of Warsaw, Rhineland, Danzig, and two fiths of Saxony, the neutrality of Switzerland was guaranteed, the ‘Grand power Alliances’ decided not to give rise to French feelings of revenge, etc… Basically the congress mostly adopted a fair policy of no great rewards and no great punishments, every nation was treated fairly.
Although the agreements were to be made equally and fairly, the nations had different view points about it, and mostly they wanted to fulfill the demands for themselves. Russia for example wanted to have a Polish State under Russian control which would provide greater security for Russia, a divided Germany that would create no threat to Russia, and they wanted Prussia to control Saxony which would keep it away from Poland. Friedrich Wilhelm III, the King of Prussia, wanted France to suffer (according to Webster most Prussians had ‘an undying hatred’), and he wanted the expansion of Prussian territory by expanding into North Germany, and taking Saxony. Klemens von Metternich (Foreign Minister of Russia) wanted a strong central Europe, under the influence of Russia in order to balance Russia and France, he also wanted to stop Russian and Prussian ambitions, and also he wanted the continuance of monarchical government and aristocratic leadership. Viscount Robert Stewart Castleragh (British Foreign Secretary) wanted peace and stability, the retention of Britain’s wartime gains overseas, and humanitarian liberalism. Charles Talleyrand-Perigord (who represented France) wanted legitimacy (the right of a ruler to hold power by tough inherited law), restrictions on Prussian expansion so that Prussia would not introduce a direct threat to France, and to stare clearly France as a major power. Basically some nations including host Austria and England were generous towards the agreement whereas some other nations such as Russia and Prussia aimed more to fulfill their demands.
Although France was not to be harmed, the ‘Grand power Alliances’ faced problems which was to make sure that France would never attack again. Due to this reason the allies tried to create strong buffer states on the boundaries of France (sometimes referred as Cordon Sanitaire.). Holland and Belgium were to become the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, Luxembourg was to have Prussian armed force, Prussian territory was to be extended on the left bank of the Rhine and in the old Napoleonic Kingdom of Westphalia, the neutrality and independence of the Swiss Confederation of 22 cantons was recognized by all ‘Great Powers’, and the past independent Republic of Genoa was to be formed into the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia to improve the boarder. Basically these were all done in order to prevent another great war by France.
Although many historians and people believe that the Congress of Vienna has prevented lots of Conflicts among the nations, there were few criticisms about it too. First the French historians were quite antagonistic. They blamed the Vienna Congress for causing the 1830 and 1848 revolutions in France and felt that Louis XVIII was excessively punished for the crimes of Napoleon Bonaparte. It has also been argued that the Vienna Congress was ‘incomplete’ since it relied very heavily on the Great Powers to impose it and presumed their continuing wish to work together. Nations like Austria was left with commitments that were far beyond its financial and military resources and United Kingdom on the other hand was to grow increasingly independent over the following years and less inclined to cooperate with the other Great Powers.
In general the Vienna Conference can be agreed that the main purpose was to maintain peace and security in Europe; although there were some minor arguments among several countries, it was able to prevent the territorial dispute, and also France was able to maintain most of its territory, meaning that the ‘Grand power Alliances’ decided not to revenge on France. Basically if the congress was not focused on maintaining peace than probably the nations might see another war (due to territorial dispute) and France would automatically be eradicated.