On March 31st 1814, troops from the anti-Napoleonic coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Great Britain and a number of smaller countries marched triumphantly into Paris. On 4 April, the self-proclaimed Emperor of the French Empire, Napoleon Bonaparte, peacefully signed a declaration of resignation in front of his generals and closest supporters and voluntarily went into exile on the small island of Elba, not far from the Italian coast. The punishment was too severe and Elba too close, so he returned in a coup d’état and was finally defeated only at the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815.
The prelude to Napoleon’s end began as early as 1812, when the remnants of his humiliated, exhausted and decimated army were marching out of Russia towards France. The French did make it as far as Moscow and were more defeated by the Russian winter than the Russian army, but they proved more vulnerable than ever before to the rest of Europe. Despite losing most of his 600,000-strong army, Napoleon still confidently believed that he could raise a new one in the short term. But other European rulers were beginning to realise that he was finally catching his breath, and Tsar Alexander of Russia said to his generals: “Gentlemen, you have not only saved Russia, you have saved Europe.”
Word of Russia’s dominance over the hitherto indestructible French army spread like lightning across the continent, and Alexander was hailed as “the saviour of Europe”. But it was only a successful alliance with other European powers that could truly put a stop to Bonaparte’s insatiable ambitions. Since the beginning of the wars, no fewer than seven politico-military coalitions had been concluded, but not until 1812 did all the great powers participate in any one at the same time. With the exception of Great Britain, the only consistent mortal enemy of France, a member of all the coalitions and the main payer of the anti-French wars, the others had all calculatingly allied themselves with Napoleon in the hope of territorial gains. And Russia, too – despite Alexander’s clamour to drive the French out of his territory – it was through an earlier alliance with them that Finland and parts of Poland were gained.
The whole period was marked by political bargaining and intrigue in favour of national and personal interests. After the victory over Napoleon, the Allies wanted to clip France’s wings and ensure peace and a balance of power that would preserve it. This raised a number of outstanding territorial issues. Long negotiations and secret deals were conducted by a handful of skilful diplomats whose interactions were intertwined with the geopolitical interests of the countries they represented. In doing so, they left the greatest mark on an era that culminated in the Congress of Vienna. It was there that a new European political order was being created and borders were being redrawn across Europe.
The most influential group of men who gave a face to the beginnings of the new Europe, gave it a lasting peace, but at the same time returned it to the suffocating conservative trajectories of the 18th century, consisted not only of the arrogant Russian Tsar, but also of the calculating and influential Foreign Minister of Austria, Prince Metternich, and the Foreign Secretary of Great Britain, Viscount Castlereagh, the most European of British politicians. The reticent King Frederick William III of Prussia and the vacillating Emperor Franz I of Austria also played important roles, which they were not always able to exploit. All were driven by secret agendas and opportunism.
The Eternal Metternich
The chief architect of the new order and the first master of international diplomacy in the history of modern Europe was undoubtedly Prince Klemens Wenzel Lothar von Metternich. The Metternich system is named after him, the name given to the political system of maintaining the balance of power between the great powers by holding regular meetings or congresses. Congress diplomacy and summits are still an indispensable part of foreign policy today.
One of the most influential diplomats of the 20th century and the architect of American foreign policy, Henry Kissinger, as a young man, meaningfully chose the period before, during and after the Congress of Vienna as the subject of his doctoral dissertation. He looked closely at Metternich’s diplomacy and his relationship with Castlereagh. He held both in immense esteem and said of Metternich that he was “a man who for a quarter of a century controlled every coalition in which he participated, who was trusted by foreign monarchs more than his own ministers, and who was, in fact, Prime Minister of Europe for three years”.
Given the achievements of his political career, Kissinger clearly took Metternich as a role model. In a few years, he put a militarily weakened, politically tepid and financially impoverished Austria at the centre of the action and made it a foreign policy heavyweight.
Metternich was able to take advantage of the uncertainty in Europe, which needed a sense of stability and a return to peace. During more than twenty years of military conflict (1793-1815), various armies crossed European soil. These were the largest troops of all time – more than half a million men fought at the Battle of Leipzig alone, for example. And because the borders kept changing during this period, many people did not even know which country and ruler they were supposed to belong to when the Congress of Vienna began. Everyone expected an early solution to all the problems of the last twenty years. “All Europe is in my waiting room”, said Metternich.
The Habsburgs also lost a great deal during the wars; in addition to the largely symbolic title of Holy Roman Emperor, they lost the Austrian Netherlands (the territory of present-day Belgium), Lombardy, Venice, the Rhineland, Illyria and Tyrol. After many defeats, Emperor Francis I gave his daughter Marie-Louise to Napoleon as his wife, at Metternich’s urging. This ensured Austria’s peace, at least temporarily, and at the same time a special place among the European states – Napoleon’s heir to the throne was therefore of Habsburg descent! At the beginning of 1813, Austria was still an ally of France, but under Metternich, it skilfully broke free of its grip and sided with the victors at a crucial moment.
In addition to Napoleon’s territorial conquests, the whole ideological order of old Europe had been shaken since the French Revolution of 1789. Even more than the loss of territories, absolutist and conservative monarchies were concerned with the spread of Enlightenment ideals such as human rights, constitutions and, in general, the political awareness of the masses. Despite his autocratic style of leadership, Napoleon preserved and promoted many of the progressive gains of the French Revolution. The foundations on which the old Europe of the privileges of the nobility and the clergy had been built were cracked. But they were swiftly and skilfully reinforced by the victors over Napoleon. The credit for this goes almost exclusively to the political and diplomatic talent of one man, Prince Metternich.
The scion of an old aristocratic family and an ambassador father, he learned diplomatic skills from an early age. At the age of just 19, he was overwhelmed by the magnificent coronation of Holy Roman Emperor Franz II in Reims (after the dissolution of the Empire, he became Emperor Franz I of Austria). Throughout his life, he remained a loyal follower of the principle of dynastic monarchy and the system of separate social classes with different rights and privileges.
He married into a very prominent and wealthy Austrian family, the granddaughter of the famous Chancellor of Empress Maria Theresa, Prince Kaunitz. While she was of mediocre appearance, Metternich was considered very attractive, charming and amusing, and above all a tireless conqueror of women’s hearts. Despite his many affairs, he and Eleonora had a harmonious marriage which produced seven children. After her death, he married twice more, and the number of his official and unofficial mistresses is impossible to guess.
When he was on the road, he wrote to his wives and mistresses regularly and extensively, and Metternich’s rich written correspondence in general offers a fascinating insight into his thinking. He was constantly making notes about himself, describing what he thought, spoke, wrote or did, and reminding himself of the brilliance of his own thoughts and actions. His most obvious characteristic was certainly vanity. As one historian has said: ‘Metternich was, in his own opinion, the light of the world, and he fooled himself by the reflection of his image in a mirror which he held constantly before his eyes. He suffered from chronic ego hypertrophy. /…/” He once wrote to one of his mistresses: “I will do everything I can to save this world.”
He paid excessive attention to his appearance, especially his hairstyle and clothes. He loved music and Italian opera in particular often brought him to tears. Women fell under his haughty charm and the door to the bedrooms of the greatest beauties of the age was open to him. Sometimes he behaved like a teenager in his amorous exploits, wearing, for example, a bracelet made of the hair of his mistress Caroline Murat, sister of Napoleon and wife of the King of Naples.
The Metternich Policy
Metternich believed that a lasting peace could only come about if central Europe was under the patronage of Prussia and Austria. They would control each other, but at the same time they would be a shield against the over-expansion of influence of the French from the West and the Russians from the East. He was convinced that he was capable of carrying out such a solution independently.
He and Emperor Franz I were lifelong confidants. They shared an obsessive fear of revolution and conspiracies and wanted to be well informed at all times. With the Emperor’s support, Metternich developed a true police state. He had hundreds of spies and informers, and he put the whole intelligence system on its feet. The notorious Austrian secret police had unlimited powers of surveillance and interference in private and public affairs. Censorship was at its height, with dozens of officials sifting and copying all the letters circulating in the kingdom. Even today, Austrian archives are full of copies of intercepted letters, from private correspondence to diplomatic despatches, among foreign diplomats and politicians alike. Even members of the Imperial family were not exempt. The Austrian secret service had offices all over Europe and was a kind of forerunner of Interpol.
As a young diplomat, word of his abilities even reached Napoleon, as it was Metternich who orchestrated the formation of the Third Anti-Napoleonic Coalition between Russia, Prussia and Austria. Napoleon was fascinated. When Austria became a temporary ally of the French, the French Emperor demanded that the Prince become ambassador in Paris.
“Talking to him has always had a special charm for me that I find hard to explain,” Napoleon said of Metternich, adding, “Prince Metternich is the only true statesman to emerge in Europe since the French Revolution. He systematically destroyed me, and I helped him with my mistakes.” Metternich also agreed with this assessment: “I am not sure that Napoleon’s idea of having me by his side was a good one. In addition to having the opportunity to admire his brilliant abilities, I also learned about his weaknesses, which ultimately destroyed him and liberated Europe…” And apparently Napoleon’s magnetism also got the better of him: “I spent the best years of my life with him.”
In 1809, war broke out between Austria and France, and Metternich, acting as a peace broker, proposed a family link between royal house and Bonaparte. Princess Marie-Louise of Habsburg was sacrificed for the existence of the Habsburg monarchy and had to marry Napoleon. The wedding had a bad taste because of the still fresh memory of the tragic fate of Marie-Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI and victim of the guillotine. Metternich, clear-sighted as ever, prevented Napoleon’s marriage to a Russian princess by this move, as a Russia-France alliance would have endangered Austria.
At that time he was already Austrian Foreign Minister, a position he held for 39 years! He was held in high esteem by his colleagues and subordinates, who were warm and understanding. He developed the most professional diplomatic service in Europe and, by leaving diplomats in the same position for many years, accumulated reliable information and built personal trust with other diplomatic services.
But after decades of successfully steering Austrian policy, Metternich was increasingly reviled, at home and abroad, for his stubborn resistance to reform and his insistence on an absolutist Europe. When the March Revolution and the Spring of Nations took place in 1848, it was Metternich’s repressive and reactionary policies that were largely responsible. The elderly politician sought refuge in Britain with his third wife, but returned triumphantly to his homeland after the revolution was crushed, lived to the venerable age of 77 and died in 1859.
A temperamental mystic from the East
The Russian Tsar’s successful defiance of Napoleon earned him the respect and esteem of his contemporaries. Attractive, clever and self-confident, he was considered the ideal monarch by the people. Wherever he appeared during his triumphal march across Europe, crowds gathered to catch a glimpse of the exotic ruler of the East. He was all too aware of the impression he made on his surroundings and exploited it – he was arrogant and self-important. To keep his youthful appearance and firm skin, he would, for example, wash his face every morning with ice-cold water.
Alexander, who had a hand in plotting the assassination of his own father, Tsar Paul I, was full of contradictions. A supporter of strict absolutism, he flirted with Enlightenment principles and wanted to transform Russian society. He also had an ambivalent attitude towards Napoleon. He admired his military talent and envied his success in introducing progressive social and political reforms. For some years they were even allies. On the other hand, he resented the fact that Bonaparte had crowned himself Emperor, thereby carelessly trampling on the ancient divine rights of an hereditary monarchy. Like other European rulers, he saw the war against France as a crusade, a struggle against revolution and an attack on the established order.
His foreign policy ambitions were not moderate either. He wanted to become the main architect of international relations and had many megalomaniacal plans to expand Russian influence. He never forgot the personal humiliation of his defeat by the French at Austerlitz in 1805, when he had to flee the battlefield and the Russian army disintegrated before his eyes.
Always very religious, over the years he became more and more immersed in mysticism and mystical literature. As he watched helplessly Napoleon’s devastation of Russia, he consoled himself with the will of God. Even when fate turned in the Russians’ favour, he saw this as an expression of God’s will. He once wrote to a friend about how, during a military conference, he was overcome by an overwhelming desire to pray. He retreated to an adjoining room, heard the voice of God, and immediately felt “a sweet peace in my mind, a perfect serenity, a strong will, and a clear consciousness of the essence of life”.
His relations with other European leaders have been stormy. He found the British selfish and saw them as rivals. He was particularly disturbed by the British insistence on their exclusive “maritime” rights. When he became the “saviour of Europe”, his influence began to spread dangerously across Western Europe, to the dislike of neither Austria nor Britain. He easily manipulated the indecisive and short-sighted King Frederick William of Prussia. He often proved unreliable in negotiations, at the same time promising support to completely conflicting interests. He and Metternich often quarrelled, but in the end Metternich won him over with his sophisticated diplomacy and promises. Even before the official start of the Congress of Vienna, they talked for hours, because Metternich knew well how important Russia’s constructive cooperation was for the success of the Congress.
They certainly also found common ground in their concern for European unity. Tsar Alexander, despite his unpredictability, was in favour of a lasting peace in Europe and even proposed the creation of a pan-European army. It was to be based in Brussels and he recommended the brilliant Duke of Wellington as commander-in-chief. But this precursor to NATO was rejected by others precisely because they feared too much Russian influence.
Over the years, his religious mysticism began to border on madness. Already during the Congress, rumours began to circulate in Vienna that he had once hosted a dinner for a small circle of invitees, leaving an empty place at the table for Jesus Christ. Towards the end of his life, he was increasingly attacked by delusions and many today believe that he was actually schizophrenic.
Another major player in the Vienna saga, the British negotiator and Foreign Secretary Viscount Castlereagh, met a tragic end.
Britain’s most European politician
The young Robert Stewart was born in Northern Ireland to Scottish Presbyterians of no aristocratic background. His father, who became a member of the Dublin Parliament, rose through two lucrative marriages to a host of noble titles, from baron, viscount, earl and finally marquis. Robert, too, was thus able to wear the courtesy title of Viscount, and even inherited the title of Marquis on his father’s death. Born in the same year as Napoleon (1769), he was influenced by the events of the turbulent times in which he lived.
As a young man, he was an enthusiastic supporter of change and a champion of the American and French Revolutions. He was enthusiastic about Irish independence and even toasted “to the rope that will hang the King”. But when he visited Belgium and France in 1792 and 1793, his enthusiasm for the Revolution quickly waned. For at that very moment, the French Revolution was in its most bloodthirsty ‘Robespierre’ period of terror, when the heads of the revolution’s opponents and imaginary enemies were falling as if on a conveyor belt in the name of ‘liberty, equality and fraternity’.
So he soon exchanged his youthful ideals for law and order. Nevertheless, he stood for a democratic society, the spread of rights, the development of civil society, freedom of speech. He was happily married, although his wife was not the most respectable, and he most enjoyed gardening and hunting. Reserved, quiet and shy, he hid behind a mask of cool politeness in public, although he was a handsome and privately very pleasant man. He loved music, played the cello and sang whenever the opportunity presented itself.
In 1812, at a crucial moment for Europe, he became Foreign Secretary of Great Britain. Negotiations on a post-Napoleonic settlement had already begun, but Britain was isolated and virtually without influence on the continent. Its position was, of course, geographically conditioned, but it was partly of its own choosing. Indeed, at that very moment, Britain’s military efforts were directed towards war with the USA.
The Viscount’s biggest shortcoming was his ignorance of Europe and its geostrategic challenges. He quickly understood this and immediately began looking for reliable allies. Castlereagh’s well-developed sense of diplomacy dictated an alliance with the powerful Metternich. And indeed the two diplomats got on famously. Metternich wrote: “I am Lord Castlereagh’s equal, and he is my equal, because when it comes to feelings and principles he is good, in fact excellent, no doubt as I am.” Metternich was never known for his modesty.
At home, however, Castlereagh often found it harder than at the negotiating table with European diplomats, and he became very unpopular. His active involvement in European affairs was uncharacteristic and unwelcome for a British politician. For example, he had to spend four hours defending the final agreement of the Congress before Parliament. He was also accused of being too close to the conservative European aristocrats and of having too much fun with them. The reserved Briton did indeed look too deeply into his glass on many occasions during the Congress of Vienna and even fought in bars. His wife, often shockingly accomplished, was in any case one of the more notorious party-goers in Vienna. But in the end, Lord Castlereagh went down in history above all as the British diplomat who radically changed British policy towards continental Europe.
He too was increasingly suffering from mental disorders – paranoia in particular. In 1822, he suffered another in a series of nervous breakdowns, and although he was constantly watched by his family, he took advantage of a few minutes of solitude to cut his throat with a small kitchen knife.
But his political sense never left him, and a few months before his death, he said in a conversation, “Austria is the centre of Europe”. And so it has been since 1812.
The last sighs of the French Empire under Napoleon
Between 1812 and 1814, Metternich’s diplomacy was instrumental in the design of the post-Papoleonic order. Always one step ahead of the others, he set himself a long-term plan on how best to protect Austria’s interests. It was a period of general suspicion, empty promises and secret alliances. Envoys were sent from court to court by all the Länder to better understand their intentions and their willingness to negotiate. Each had its own vision of the best possible alliances and its own interpretation of the others’ interests. Metternich flourished because he was able to show his best diplomatic skills in such a situation.
He knew he had to somehow get Austria out of its alliance with France and on the winning side. At the same time, he had to prevent her from allying with others behind his back. He was particularly sympathetic to Alexander’s conquering appetites, which were a source of unease. The only solution was therefore a balance of power and an alliance between the great powers. This, then, was Metternich’s plan – to forge a pan-European alliance in which no one country was too powerful and there were no bilateral alliances.
He had already offered himself to Napoleon as a peace broker in December 1812. Although the general initially only pretended to be ready to negotiate, he too was tired of war. “I want peace; the world needs it”, he declared at the opening of the Legislative Assembly in February 1813. But he wanted it on his terms and only as a victor. But the ring around him was closing and soon he could no longer dictate terms – Prussia had declared war on him, Russia was on Prussia’s side, and Austria no longer wanted to join any coalition on his side.
Metternich was taking a big risk, as Austria could have paid heavily for France’s treachery. Emperor Francis was no hero and did not like to take risks, and his daughter was married to Napoleon. “Papa Franz”, as Napoleon called him, eventually agreed to Austrian participation in the anti-Napoleonic coalition. The British also realised that Napoleon’s end was near and did not want to be excluded from the negotiations. Lord Castlereagh appeared on the scene.
Metternich was the main player in all negotiations and agreements. In keeping with his proverbial vanity, he complained in a letter to his daughter about how exhausting it was to be the most important person on whom the fate of 80 million Europeans depended. He wrote to his wife Eleanor as follows:
“I too am beginning to believe in my star, as Napoleon believes in his, when I see the whole of Europe turning in the direction I have set. /…/ Crowds of people are constantly standing outside my window, hoping to hear what I think.”
All this playing god left him plenty of time for worldly sins. His mistress at the time was Princess Wilhelmina Sagan, who made love to many distinguished men, including Tsar Alexander. Metternich was completely taken by her and they had a long-lasting affair: “My love, you have intoxicated me with love, I love you, I love you a hundred times more than my own life.”
When Napoleon realised that Austria would no longer fight on his side, he tried to bribe her with the Illyrian provinces. At the Dresden negotiations in June 1813, he summoned Metternich to win him over to his side. The meeting lasted nine hours, but Metternich did not relent despite Napoleon’s choleric outbursts, during which the general shouted and threw things around.
Opening bars to the Congress of Vienna
A series of failed attempts at negotiation between the Great Powers and Napoleon, which were more farce than honest intentions, led to the biggest conflict of the Napoleonic Wars. Called the Battle of the Nations because virtually all of Europe took part, the Battle of Leipzig, fought between 16 and 18 October 1813, brought the Allies a decisive victory over France. Metternich was at the height of his career and two days after the battle the Emperor conferred on him the title of Prince.
Wilhelm wrote: “What feelings overwhelm me. The world has been reborn before my eyes and my political reputation has doubled.” He had an incredible sense of power: “With Tsar Alexander I had to settle a few minor points concerning the fate of the world, and then I had to rush to our Emperor to do the same.”
Surprisingly, the rulers of the three main allies, Tsar Alexander of Russia, King Frederick William III of Prussia and Emperor Franz I of Austria, were present at the battle. Among other things, the “Four Great Powers” undertook not to conclude individual treaties with France, and Castlereagh promised them a five million pound “incentive” in return.
Meanwhile, European dignitaries and their entourages flocked to the celebrating city. Princes, princes, dukes of smaller countries, all wanted to ensure a bright future for their countries. Moral values were at an all-time low and debauchery set in, with lovemaking and cheating all round, and there was no end to the gala dances, theatrical plays and concerts. The atmosphere that would later completely take over Vienna was heating up.
Until Napoleon’s surrender in April the following year, the four superpowers – which have gone down in history as the Quadruple Alliance – were at loggerheads, trying to resolve outstanding territorial issues. They did not even agree on whether or not to occupy France. The vengeful and capricious Tsar Alexander, in particular, insisted on humiliating Napoleon and wanted to march triumphantly into Paris. Others were worried about the exhaustion of the soldiers and the weariness of the people. Moreover, Metternich did not want France too weakened, as he was already forging a pan-European balance of power in his mind. But in the end, the Russian Tsar had the last word. The Allies marched into Paris on 31 March 1814.
They had already been in contact with the French opposition, especially its unofficial leader, the Marquis Talleyrand. Talleyrand was a man of all regimes. A descendant of the old French aristocracy, he had been bitter all his life because he was born with a club foot and, because of his limp, could not join the army, as was the custom at the time for first-born children. He was extremely intelligent, but depraved. He was driven solely by fame, women and money, and was even suspected of having a love affair with his niece.
Although he was inspired by the philosophers of the Enlightenment, joined the French Revolution and even participated in the writing of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, he turned exclusively to the wind. He escaped the Jacobin terror and then offered his services to Napoleon, who appointed him Foreign Minister. But Talleyrand abandoned him as soon as he realised that there was no future for him there.
He and Metternich met when Metternich was Ambassador in Paris. The two men were dangerously similar in many ways, but above all they were both diplomatic geniuses and clairvoyants. Just as Metternich is credited with restoring Austria’s pride, Talleyrand is credited with ensuring that France was not humiliated and that it retained an important role in Europe. Talleyrand was also obsessed with appearance and spent hours every day on his toilet. Napoleon described him as “a dirtbag in silk stockings”. He was indeed obsessed with silk stockings and favoured black ones with gold patches.
On 3 April 1814, Talleyrand was recognised by the victorious forces as head of the provisional government. Napoleon resigned the next day, but Metternich still suspected that the Frenchman was not yet ready to admit defeat. Two days later, Louis XVIII, King of Bourbon, who had waited patiently in exile for years, was on the French throne. He was the brother of Louis XVI, beheaded during the French Revolution. And while France was reverting to the past, Paris was rejoicing in oblivion. As if there had never been a war, everyone, French soldiers, revolutionaries, allies, was socialising. The party that had begun in Frankfurt continued.
On 30 May, eight countries sign the Peace Treaty: Russia, Prussia, Austria, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Sweden and France. The terms of the first Treaty of Paris were very kind to the losing side. It lost the territories it had gained during the wars and had to return to the borders of 1792. But it got its colonies back and did not have to pay reparations or disarm. This ended the wars in a spirit of reconciliation. The agreement also provided for a meeting in Vienna to decide the fate of the disputed territories.
Vienna dances, the chosen forge Europe’s destiny
The primary aim of the Congress was to devise a political settlement that would prevent a repeat of the All-European War, so that no country would be too strong. On paper, the aim was noble, but in reality it was about political bargaining and the distribution of the spoils of war. What is more, the Congress represented the triumph of conservative values over progress. It lasted from November 1814 to June 1815 and ended just a few days before Napoleon’s farewell act at Waterloo.
Vienna had 200,000 inhabitants at the time, but by the time of the Congress of Vienna, the number had risen to 300,000. Everyone who mattered in Europe at that time flocked to the city where one of the most important chapters of Europe was being written. But its true writers were only a handful, Alexander, Metternich, Castlereagh, Frederick William III and, later, Talleyrand. Initially uninvited, the latter found a procedural loophole in the Treaty of Paris, which stated that all those who signed the agreement were members of the Congress. Moreover, the British wanted a French presence to counterbalance the other three continental powers, especially the unpredictable Russia.
As many as 215 more or less important rulers, princes, dukes, princes and counts gathered, and they all brought wives, mistresses, children, maids, medical staff, entertainers, cooks and many more. Thousands of poor people came to Vienna hoping to find work. Prices rose overnight and the imperial kitchens never closed their doors. The generous Emperor Franz I ordered 40 tables every evening for all the noble and less noble guests and 300 carriages to take them around the city. The Congress cost Austria around 100 million euros in today’s money.
While some were negotiating, most were having a short time. Vienna quickly gained a reputation as a city that has fun. Half of the aristocratic women brought their daughters in the hope of finding them husbands. “Congress dances” were the headlines that filled newspapers in Europe and America. There was no end to the parties and Emperor Franz was so exhausted that he half-jokingly threatened to resign if the rhythm continued.
The Viennese waltz’s worldwide fame can be attributed to this period, as it was just in vogue and completely swept the Viennese guests off their feet. Metternich and his mistress were seen by everyone and even the womaniser Talleyrand reproached him for spending three quarters of his time at parties. Even the otherwise reserved Castlereagh often overindulged and got drunk, while his notorious wife danced until dawn with her husband’s underwear in her hair.
But behind the apparent veil of frivolity, there was serious work going on. During the exhausting negotiations, which lasted several hours, everyone tried to defend his or her powers. For the first time in history, countries were separated into big and small; only the big countries took all the essential decisions, while the others were invited exclusively to sign.
Alexander, acting as his own foreign minister, almost destroyed the Congress and threatened a new war if he did not win Poland. But neither Metternich nor Castlereagh agreed with too much Russian influence.
The other Allies gave Alexander an ultimatum, as Metternich had very cleverly managed to win the small German states and Prussia to his side, thus isolating Russia. At one point, the Tsar waved his sword on the table and challenged Metternich to a duel: “You are the only man in Austria who dares to speak rebelliously to me.” Only Franz managed to calm the situation. In the end, the issue of Poland (and Saxony) was settled in February 1815 and divided between Russia, Austria and Prussia.
Legacy of the Congress of Vienna
One night, after a hard night’s negotiations, Metternich did not go to bed until 4am. At six o’clock, he was woken by a servant with an urgent dispatch from the Austrian consul in Genoa – Napoleon had disappeared from Elba. Metternich’s premonitions were again correct. Within an hour, all the Allied armies were in readiness to march on France. There was not too much panic among them, although by 20 March Napoleon was back in the royal palace in the middle of Paris with a more formidable army than he had had in 1814.
The Congress continued almost uninterrupted. The Final Act was signed in June and contained a huge number of territorial provisions, including: the creation of a German Confederation of 39 states as a descendant of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian acquisitions or returns in Italy, Poland, (today’s) Slovenia and Croatia, the Netherlands became an independent state after British insistence, Switzerland was granted neutrality, Russia was allowed to keep Finland and was given parts of Poland, borders were also changed between Sweden, Denmark and Norway, and many colonies were given new or old owners. Among the more progressive provisions were the condemnation of the slave trade, the introduction of free navigation on most European rivers, and the adoption of rules for international diplomacy.
A week after the signing of the agreement, Napoleon saw the end. Even if the Battle of Waterloo was not as successful and efficient as the Allies would have liked, they were going to be victorious. It was over before all the Allied armies got there, and at the same time the British promised to fund a million troops if that proved necessary.
Metternich and Castlereagh skilfully took the reins back into their own hands, and although many now wanted a much stricter peace agreement, the final one was still quite accommodating towards the French. But Napoleon met a very different fate this time, ending up in exile on one of the most remote islands in the world, the tropical St Helena.
The Second Treaty of Paris was signed in November 1815. This time, France lost more territory, had to pay compensation, return all stolen works of art and accept a three-year occupation by the Coalition army.
Thus ended the era that Napoleon Bonaparte made the greatest mark on. The “Age of Metternich”, marked by the return of conservatism, but also by relative peace in Europe, was also to blame for the suppression of national ideas and nationalism, which led to the many revolutions of the 19th century and, in the opinion of many, to the First World War.
One of the key innovations introduced to international diplomacy by the Congress of Vienna is the congress system as a key part of international diplomacy. A group of countries began to resolve disputes through diplomacy and diplomatic law at regular summit meetings. Article 6 of the Treaty of Paris read: “The Parties to the Treaty undertake to meet regularly /…/ and to devote themselves to matters of common interest /…/ and to the maintenance of peace in Europe.”
For Kissinger, this was a milestone in European history, and in 1957 he wrote: “European unity was probably never more real than between 1815 and 1821.”
Today, international politics is almost unimaginable without summits, and the most crucial for the functioning of the political system is on European soil, in the form of the European Union. Interestingly, at the moment, it is the country that has been most intensively involved in Europe since the time of the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna, with only one foot in Europe.
