The Conservative Order (1815-1830)

European History

How to stop the spread of revolutionary ideas in 1815? – Try to reinstate as

much of the ancien regime as possible.

The Congress of ViennaThe Congress System

Holy Alliance

Congress of Vienna, 1814-1815

• Peace settlement process lead by Clemens von Metternich, Austrian foreign minister and later prime minister

• Main participants• Quadruple Alliance = Great Britain, Austria,

Prussia and Russia (the most powerful victors decide what is to become of Europe)

• France, Bourbon monarchy restored w/ Louis XVIII and France is allowed to participate in the peace talks

Congress of Vienna, 1814-1815

• Outcomes: • Fear of Russia turning into a Napoleonic France

addressed by making Poland into the Congress of Poland, which makes it autonomous to Russia

• France avoids punishment for Napoleon’s action, but must return any land that was not French before 1795

• France must pay an indemnity to Europe • In France, Louis XVIII restored to throne, but

there is a constitution and he must share power with a legislative body

• Prussia gained territory west of the Rhine River that Napoleon had incorporated into France

Congress of Vienna, 1814-1815

Outcomes: •German states’ rulers are restored, but total number reduced from 300 to 39 (ranging in size and significance from Prussia and Austria to Lichtenstein with only 5,000 people•Netherlands regained (after Napoleon) independence and acquired land in southern provinces that once belonged to Spain, then Austria•Spanish Bourbons restored to the throne, King Ferdinand had agreed to work with liberals, then turning into an absolute monarch•Papal states restored.

The Congress System 1815-1823

A.K.A. the concert of Europe• established by Metternich

• Made up of the Great Powers: Prussia, Austria, Russia, and Great Britain (later France)

• The Great Powers planned to meet together frequently for regular congresses to root out any potential revolutions, even if this meant interfering in other states/nations. • Interfering was considered less threatening than

revolution

Principle of Intervention at Work

• In 1821 A, Pr, & R do send troops to Italy to stop a rebellion and restore Ferdinand I of Naples

• In 1822 France given go ahead to invade Spain, stop rebellion against king and restore Ferdinand VII

• GB does not agree with this principle, as a result the Concert of Europe begins to break down

Holy Alliance

• The Guiding Principal of the Congress System

• Suggested by Alexander I of Russia

• Fellow monarchs agree to lead their countries under Christian principals

The REAL Guiding Principal

• Metternich wants• to ensure that Russia cannot get too powerful • to expand Austrian influence• to ensure that a multinational country, like

Austria, where nationalism was a threat, that any revolutionary ideals can be squashed

Balance of Power

Definition: distribution of power among several states such that no single nation can dominate or interfere with the interests of another.

1. Why were the members of the Quadruple Alliance so concerned with the balance of power at this time?

2. What kind of threat did France still pose and how did the Quadruple Alliance choose to deal with this threat? Explain on map…

Beginning of Modern Ideology

ConservatismLiberalism

Nationalism

Conservatism• GOAL: to contain liberal and nationalist forces

unleashed by the French Revolution.

• General beliefs• Obedience to political authority• Organized religion was crucial to social order• Community more important than individual rights –

society must be ordered and organized• Unwilling to accept civil liberties, representative

governments, or nationalistic aspirations• Hated revolutionary upheavals, change will come but

SLOWLY according to Edmund Burke (Reflections on the Revolution in France) no one generation may seek to destroy the relationship between a state and its people

Liberalism• GOAL: to institute the ideals of constitutionalism,

civil rights, and the rule of law.

• General beliefs: • Optimistic about human nature and transforming the

world for the better• Liberty and Equality

• Equality before the law • Freedom of speech, press, assembly, peaceful opposition

• Opposed traditional forms of authority, i.e. monarchs or the pope

• Oppose government interference in the economy• Free trade

• Hesitant to grant full political rights to poorer and less educated, as well as women

• Religious toleration / separation of Church & State

Nationalism• GOAL: the unification of groups that share

cultural backgrounds, real or imagined,

• General Beliefs: • Try to turn cultural unity into political reality• Territories of each people could create new

states/countries• Common languages, traditions = unity• This could create common loyalty and self-

government• See the emergence of nation-states