Within days, Metternich was making plans to depart Vienna. Unfortunately, the civil guard took one look at the unfolding revolution and decided to side with the revolutionaries. Coalition of Russia, Austria and Prussia created in 1815 at the request of Alexander I of Russia, signed in Vienna on September 26, 1815. Eventually, the nationalistic feelings would explode into revolutions, and new nations would be formed. Across Europe, cries of victory went up.
Britain meanwhile sent over a guy called Viscount Castlereagh, who broadly agreed with Metternich about not destroying France, and not giving Russia and Prussia everything. And he was about to plunge Europe into chaos. Under his guidance, post-Napoleon Europe was forged into a conservative system that would last nearly 100 years. It also succeeded in its mission to keep the peace. What were the three goals of the Vienna Congress? Not only that, he got promoted.
They just wanted an end to his system. What the heck did everyone do now? What were Metternich goals? Napoleon changes warfare Fast movement of large armies New battle plans for each fight Why? The French Revolution had exposed the limits of this century old treaty. In mid-1813, he tried to broker a peace between France and Russia and Prussia that would allow Napoleon to stay on the throne. He would hold the post for 40 years. The center of Europe was dominated not by Germany, but by something known as the Holy Roman Empire, a millennia-old collection of tiny states all joined together. It was time for war again.
Unfortunately for the teenage Metternich, France at the end of the 1780s was a ticking timebomb. Puts friends and family on thrones of Europe. But while Metternich the man was gone, the system he created would stay in place for another 60 years. Somehow, Metternich convinced them to hold it in Vienna. Just three months after that, the Poles also went into rebellion against their Russian overlords. As the entourages of these great men descended on Vienna in the fall of 1814, the pendulum of history could have swung any one of a trillion ways. When the dust finally settled, though, one thing was clear.
Not that Metternich made many good policies himself. By February, 1815, the final shape of the congress was clearly visible. Prussia sent a delegation who were led from behind the scenes by the big boss, Frederick Wilhelm III. He wanted to make sure Austria would not become a victim of French aggression again, and he wanted there to be a balance of powers among neighboring countries. It was founded in Vienna in 1815 and collapsed with the start of the Great War a century later. What was the point of the quiz about the Concert of Europe? As the great men of history drank and danced and seduced their way across the capital, Metternich was working the crowd like a Silicon Valley hotshot. Arresting people for dissent, giving them nowhere to air their legitimate grievances.
Reception of Grand Duke Alexander Nikolayevich by Prince Metternich in the Vienna Hofburg in 1839 Although the table was designed for four people, there was one last guy in the mix. Even France simply replaced the July Monarchy with the dictatorship of Napoleon III. With it went the era of revolution, the era of Napoleon. In 1809, Austria rolled everything on a surprise attack. Of a well placed word on the dancefloor. But, as the clock ticked down and the situation got uglier, reality finally dawned on the aging Chancellor.
That day a French government ban on holding banquets triggered a revolution that toppled the July Monarchy. Metternich deeply believed that most Europeans were natural conservatives who preferred order and safety to the madness of revolution. Whatever the correct metaphor, the cavalry were sent in at exactly the wrong strength. Prince Klemens Von Metternich had three main goals. But the big, headline news was the establishment of the congress system. The rulers of Europe clamped down hard on nationalist feeling, which must have left Metternich feeling pretty vindicated.
Between the Congress of Vienna and WWI, the biggest war fought in mainland Europe was the Franco-Prussian War. . So successful were these that Francis I made Metternich Chancellor of Austria. He also headed a string of Great Power conferences. More and more, people saw democracy as the best way to ensure equality and justice for all.