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| Prince Metternich http://www.emersonkent.com/images/klemens_von_metternich_bio.jpg |
The Congress of Vienna took place in Vienna, Austria when Napoleon Bonaparte’s rule of Europe ended. A representative from each country affected by Napoleon's rule was in attendance, including princes, tsars, and other influential leaders. There were several problems that still needed to be fixed, and several questions that still needed to be answered. Should they re-establish the hereditary monarchies? How could they make the countries more peaceful and prevent similar future incidents? The attendees had the power to make these decisions for all of Europe. Our class activity was to read through the different scenarios and try to decide which solution was best. We acted as Prince Metternich, a representative from Austria and had to make our choices based on what would be fair to both Austria and the other affected countries. We then learned which of the scenarios was actually correct and it was very interesting to see if our thinking was the same as the representatives that attended the Congress of Vienna, and were actually responsible for these problems, or if it was vastly different.
Metternich and the other leaders present at the Congress of Vienna were worried about how they would be able to handle more possible revolutions in the future. They used principles such as Holy Alliance and Intervention to provide safety for their governments. They worked together to create an alliance, which became known as the Quadruple Alliance, and later the Quintuple Alliance. They issued a statement that made the slave trade illegal and made civil rights available to Jews. By making more groups of people happier as giving them more rights, they hoped it would lead to less uprising from suppressed people. They wanted to make a plan to prevent revolt instead of dealing with it after it happened. They decided to put monarchs back on the thrones. They believed these rules were chosen through “the grace of God”. The leaders hoped to scare the citizens and considered any act against the rules treason against both the country and God.
I agree that forming an alliance between the countries most deeply affected by Napoleon, and that attempting to create more equality for slaves and Jews were both smart ideas made by the leaders. However, I do not think they should have re-established the monarchies. They feared that their power could be threatened or even removed by the citizens. They should have created a fairer government that had the best interest of the people. Because the powerful people were in charge of these decisions, they were not willing to sacrifice their power, and I would have thought that in a situation like this, after Europe was destroyed by Napoleon, these people would have been looking out for more than just themselves. They should have been more willing to give up some of their power if it meant their citizens would be benefiting. There are many different options that could have consisted of the representatives still keeping some of their power, but allowing the voices of the people to come through.
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| The Congress of Vienna http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_image.cfm?image_id=255 |
