Great Britain As A Liberal Nation example essay topic

The Congress of Vienna was held from September of 1814 to June of 1815. It was convened by the four European powers (Russia, Prussia, Austria and Great Britain), which had defeated Napoleon, to remake Europe after the downfall of Napoleon I. The first goal was to establish a new balance of power in Europe, which would prevent imperialism within Europe, and maintain the peace between the great powers. The second goal was to prevent political revolutions and maintain the status quo. The Congress of Vienna supported the resolution "There is always an alternative to conflict". All the European states are summoned. To entertain all these princes and diplomats, there were numerous theater presentations, concerts, balls, and other festivities.

This led the Prince de Ligne to say his famous words: "Le congres ne marche pas, il danse". (The Congress does not walk, it dances). The four great powers, which have consisted the Quadruple Alliance, were left to make most of the big decisions. The delegates appointed to the Congress were: O Prince Klemens von Metternich, who was the acting president of the Congress, represented Austria. O The Russians sent Alexander I, the emperor of Russia. The czar was interested in the territorial enlargement of Russia and the 'independence" of Poland, to which he would be appointed king.

O The main delegate from Prussia was Prince Karl August von Hardenburg, whose goal was the return of certain lands lost to Napoleon in 1807, and a few territories in northern Germany. O Great Britain was represented by Lord Castlereagh. His principal goal was the stabilization of the European continent through the strengthening of the borders around France. After February 1815, Duke of Wellington was the negotiator of Great Britain. O Prince Charles Maurice de Tallyerand represented France when France entered the Alliance.

The prince supported the idea that the deposed monarchical families had the right to return to their thrones. This theory was greatly supported by Metternich as a method of restoring order and equilibrium to the Continent. Napoleon, previous to his defeat in 1814, had been able to destroy the governmental institutions of Europe. Monarchs were dethroned, tax systems revamped, national boundaries altered and people got known new theories such as nationalism and liberalism. The problem that the great powers faced was that of returning the European continent to its former state without new outbreaks of war. In order to accomplish this goal many methods were employed: O The redrawing of the European map, which consisted of reducing France to its 1792 size, and the placement of strong border-states around France.

O The restoration to the throne of many of the deposed families. O The formation of alliances such as: the Quadruple Alliance of Austria, Prussia, Russia and Great Britain; the Quintuple Alliance, consisting of the above-mentioned nations and France. O The "Congress System". Under this system each issue of national or international concern would be submitted to the group of nations for deliberation. The most contentious subject at the Congress was the so-called Polish-Saxon Crisis.

Russia and Prussia presented a proposal whereby parts of Poland would go to Russia, which would create an independent Polish Kingdom in personal union with czar Alexander I as King. In exchange, Prussia would receive all of Saxony. Austria, France and Great Britain did not approve of this plan and signed a secret treaty agreeing to go to war, if necessary, to prevent the plan of Russians and Prussians from coming real. The three powers were not ready for war and finally an amicable settlement was worked out. Russia received most of the Grand-Duchy of Warsaw as a "Kingdom of Poland". Prussia got the district of Posen, 40% of Saxony and important parts of Westphalia and the Rhine Province.

Great Britain got several strategic colonial territories and France was deprived of all territory conquered by Napoleon. The goals of the Congress were simple. Return the former governmental institutions to Europe and stop France of becoming an expansionist nation once again. Metternich and his followers wanted to create a stable and peaceful Europe through the repression of nationalistic and liberal movements. While the goals were simple, the realities were more complex. The public had been exposed to the concepts of equality and freedom and it was difficult to return to a state of subservience and to the dominance of the aristocratic upper class.

Furthermore, the great power did not take into account the nationalistic stirrings. The new boundaries had been created to fulfill certain purposes: to create a boundary between France and other European nations and to compensate certain nations for certain losses during the Napoleonic wars. The great powers did not take into account the demographic aspect when they were redrawing the new European map. All these decisions were made without the consent of the concerned populations, with no respect for their nationalities or liberties. They left seeds of future conflicts, as evidenced by the Belgian Revolt in which the autonomous nation of Belgium was created from the southern part of the United Netherlands. The Congress System's dedication to the 1815 status quo was challenged in 1820 and 1821 by nationalistic and liberal revolts in the German ies, Greece, Spain, Italy and Latin America.

The most violent revolutions occurred in Spain and Italy. The Spanish liberals rebelled against the king and demanded a constitution and government. The Italians have followed the same path. They asked a constitution based on the Spanish model.

In 1822 the Congress allies met to consider the Spanish problem. They finally sent their armies to crush the liberals. The repression of the revolts in Spain and Italy marked the high point of the Congress System's success. Finally, there were ideological conflicts among the members of the Quintuple Alliance. Great Britain, as a liberal nation, was interested in promoting a stable environment to ensure its commerce, while the other members were interested in repressing liberal aspirations.

For this reason Great Britain declined to attend the Congress of Verona and eventually withdrew completely. The Congress took the important step of condemning the slave trade and also provided for freedom of navigation on rivers that traversed several states or formed boundaries between states. The Holy Alliance, the brainchild of Alexander I, was not directly a part of the Congress, but was associated with it. According to this Alliance, the various sovereigns of Europe agreed to abide by Christian principles. The Pope, the Sultan and the Prince-Regent of the United Kingdom did not agree.

Later, the Holy Alliance became associated with the forces of reaction in Europe and particularly with the policies of Metternich. The Congress was successful in achieving its goal. The peace in Europe remained undisturbed for 40 years, until 1850's, when the Crimean war had started. During this period of time we came across some terms that I will explain further down. O Legitimacy: the theory was proposed by Tallyerand and supported by Metternich.

According to this theory, those who were to lead the nations should and must be the legitimate heirs to their respective thrones. This was proposed in order to return stability and equilibrium in Europe by returning to the governmental institutions of pre-Napoleonic times. O Quadruple Alliance: Under this agreement the powers pursued their goals through what came to be known as the Congress System. Order, peace and stability were their key words. The Quadruple Alliance was the first truly experiment in collective security. Collective security works on the assumption that any potential aggressor would be deterred by the prospect of joint retaliation.

O Quintuple Alliance: In 1818 the Quadruple Alliance became Quintuple Alliance as France was admitted after having paid a large quantity of indemnities. O Nationalism: meaning the drive to achieve national unity, replacing systems of the old regime that were based exclusively upon the aristocracy, with systems of government based on mass support by people from all classes of the society. O Liberalism: meaning the drive to achieve equality of opportunity. It is the belief that people should have a lot of political and individual freedom. O Congress System: Diplomatic process under which all matters of international importance were discussed at meeting of all European powers in order to insure a common action on the part of all concerned. The creator of this system was Metternich.

O Balance of Power: As a theory, it predicts that rapid changes in international power and status will provoke counterbalancing actions. For this reason, the balancing process helps to maintain the stability of relations between states.