The Magnificent Congress of Vienna

The essential question of our lesson on the Congress of Vienna was this: What should people in power do when their power is threatened? In class, we quickly paired up, read a quick paper on the Congress of Vienna and discussed the circumstances, mood, questions asked there, and attendees with out partner. Following this, the class read up on Klemens Von Metternich, who was one of the driving forces behind the congress. He advocated for a balance of power, saying that none should have too much authority. He also proposed a redrawing of the map of Europe, redistributing countries’ borders. Within our groups, we had to decide what we thought Metternich would have chosen, from a selection of 3 options. 

An animation of the congress’ final solution can be found here; Metternich and the congress also had to decide who would rule France, and what needed to be done to prevent future revolutions. Metternich’s answer to these questions were to put King Louis XVIII back on the throne, and to create the Holy Alliance, the Principle of Legitimacy, the Principle of Intervention, and the basic balance of power. But here, I’m going to focus on the Principle of Intervention.

The Principle of Intervention basically said that if there is an uprising or revolution that seems threatening enough to actually take over a country, then other countries/parties may step in and shut it down. This maintained a general balance of power across Europe, keeping the working governments in charge and the people in check. This was widely accepted (Except for England) and also widely successful.

I think the powerful people of the Congress of Vienna made the right choice. There were a couple of revolutions following the congregation, but they were shut down pretty quickly. Those in power did a good enough job ruling, and things went on well enough, so I’d say the Congress of Vienna was successful.