Speaker 1: Hello, and Welcome to Western CIV. Episode five hundred and twelve,
Speaker 1: The Congress of Vienna. The year was now eighteen fourteen,
Speaker 1: and Europe, bruised, exhausted, and coming out of a generation,
Speaker 1: literally a generation of war, all turned its eyes now
Speaker 1: to the glittering city of Vienna. The guns had finally
Speaker 1: fallen silent Napoleon Bonapartes, the insatiable conqueror who had upset
Speaker 1: the apple cart of Europe, who had redrawn maps like
Speaker 1: he was reshuffling cards and playing just a large game
Speaker 1: of risk, and finally abdicated in April and been sent
Speaker 1: to the island of Elba. But no treaty yet stitched
Speaker 1: the continent back together, and as a result, peace remained fragile.
Speaker 1: No principle explained how monarchies toppled and shaken by the
Speaker 1: French Revolution and decades of war could or would recover.
Speaker 1: There was honestly only one simple and yet impossible question
Speaker 1: for Europe to answer, what was the world going to
Speaker 1: look like after Napoleon? And into this uncertainty stepped the
Speaker 1: greatest diplomatic gathering that Europe had ever seen to date,
Speaker 1: the Congress of Vienna, the Congress that will dictate basically
Speaker 1: the terms of play through the rise of Germany, and
Speaker 1: that is a mass of achievement. Now. When the delegates
Speaker 1: began to arrive in September eighteen fourteen, Vienna became something
Speaker 1: like the capital of an empire of hope, and of
Speaker 1: course intrigue aristocrats, diplomats and military men flooded into the city.
Speaker 1: Contemporary observers joked quote, the Congress does not work, it dances,
Speaker 1: But behind the music deals were forged that would determine
Speaker 1: the structure of Europe for the next century. And at
Speaker 1: the center of the proceedings stood the glittering host, Prince
Speaker 1: Clements von Metterniche, Austria's foreign minister. Cunning, elegant, and tirelessly
Speaker 1: calculating meta Niche envisioned a Europe held together by conservatism,
Speaker 1: by tradition, and by careful balance of the great powers.
Speaker 1: He once quipped, when France sneezes, Europe catches a cold,
Speaker 1: and he didn't want any more epidemics of revolution. That's
Speaker 1: worth spending a couple of minutes and talking about Metterniche
Speaker 1: a little bit more. By the time Napoleon seized power
Speaker 1: in France, Metterniche had already begun to make his reputation
Speaker 1: as one of Austria's most promising young diplomats. His postings
Speaker 1: in Dresden and Berlin taught him the subtle balance of
Speaker 1: German politics, but it was his ambassadorship into Paris, beginning
Speaker 1: in eighteen o six that transformed him into a statesman
Speaker 1: of European stature. In Paris, he observed Napoleon at the
Speaker 1: height of his power, commandeering and utterly totally unbounded by
Speaker 1: traditional constraints. Metterniche studied him closely, almost clinically, understanding that
Speaker 1: France's new emperor could both destroy Europe and unknowingly maybe
Speaker 1: create the conditions for its renewal. As Napoleon reshaped the
Speaker 1: continent through the camp Pains of eighteen oh five, eighteen
Speaker 1: oh six and eighteen oh nine, Metterniche reported at home
Speaker 1: with a mixture of admiration and dread. He grasped earlier
Speaker 1: than most that Austria would need to survive this storm,
Speaker 1: not by bravado and military means, but by prudence and diplomacy.
Speaker 1: The turning point, of course, came in eighteen oh nine,
Speaker 1: when Austria suffered another shattering defeat at Wagram that Autumn,
Speaker 1: meta Niche became Austrian's Foreign minister, inheriting a state that
Speaker 1: was exhausted, humiliating, and honestly unsure of its future. His
Speaker 1: first task was to buy time, time for Austria to recover,
Speaker 1: to rebuild, and to choose its moment. It was Metterniche
Speaker 1: who engineered a marriage between Napoleon and the Archduchess Marie Luis,
Speaker 1: a gesture of conciliation that massed a much deeper calculation. Napoleon,
Speaker 1: he realized, was burning through his strength, and Austria would
Speaker 1: reap advantage by appearing coure operative until France's inevitable overreach.
Speaker 1: As Moscow went up in flames in eighteen twelve and
Speaker 1: Napoleon's army dissolved into the Russian Snow. Metterniche now saw
Speaker 1: his long awaited opportunity, and so by eighteen thirteen it
Speaker 1: was meta Niche who had maneuvered Austria into a position
Speaker 1: to join the Sixth Coalition, helping to bring down the
Speaker 1: empire that had dominated Europe for two decades. And when
Speaker 1: Napoleon finally fell from power in eighteen fourteen, it was Metterniche,
Speaker 1: elegant certain of his purpose, who stepped forward to guide
Speaker 1: the shattered continent toward the Congress of Vienna, determined to
Speaker 1: restore not only borders, but the very principle of order itself.
Speaker 1: Now meta niche wasn't the only powerful man present in Vienna.
Speaker 1: Other giants arrived in turn. Czar Alexander the First swept
Speaker 1: into Vienna with almost mystical ambitions. Part warrior saint, part
Speaker 1: idealistic reformer, Alexander the First saw himself honestly as the
Speaker 1: man who had liberated Europe from Napoleon's tyranny, and believed
Speaker 1: his destiny had placed him at the center of new
Speaker 1: world order. He was also a man who was highly
Speaker 1: cognizant of the price that the Russian people had paid
Speaker 1: to bring Napoleon down. Now, Britain sent its brilliant statesmen
Speaker 1: via Count castorlith steady and precise, representing an island nation
Speaker 1: that had funded the struggle against Napoleon for twenty years
Speaker 1: and now wanted a stable continent that wooden't threat in
Speaker 1: trade or peace. Prussia arrived with dreams of territorial expansion,
Speaker 1: hungry to strengthen its position after suffering under French occupation
Speaker 1: for over a decade, and then of course, there was France,
Speaker 1: the conquered, humiliated nation that had caused all the upheaval
Speaker 1: in the first place. Yet France, astonished, sent the one
Speaker 1: man who had become perhaps the most skillful voice at
Speaker 1: the Congress, tally Rand, the wily diplomat who had survived
Speaker 1: Revolution Empire in exile. He now came representing the restored
Speaker 1: Bourbon monarch of Louis the eighteenth, Claiming that France, though defeated,
Speaker 1: could not be treated as a pariah. Tally Brand would
Speaker 1: quickly turn his tables on his rivals in ways that
Speaker 1: few could be predicted. Now, the central work of the
Speaker 1: Congress of Vienna was to restore an equilibrium what Metterniche
Speaker 1: calls the balance of power. And this is going to
Speaker 1: be the deciding principle that is going to guide Europe
Speaker 1: really all the way up until the First World War,
Speaker 1: certainly until the Franco Prussian War. It's really the rise
Speaker 1: of Germany that's going to upset the apple cart with
Speaker 1: all of this. But the idea was that no single
Speaker 1: state should ever again become powerful enough to dominate Europe
Speaker 1: as France had under Napoleon. So the question was how
Speaker 1: to do this and really they only had a couple
Speaker 1: of tools at their disposal. They had land, they had
Speaker 1: economic power, and then they had population. You know, if
Speaker 1: you're thinking about it from a nineteenth century perspective, you know,
Speaker 1: those are the pieces that are on your board. You know,
Speaker 1: if the country's going to become more powerful and put
Speaker 1: in a position to dominate the rest of Europe, then
Speaker 1: it has to have those three things, and enough of
Speaker 1: those three things that they can actually overwhelm the combined
Speaker 1: weight of other territorial powers. So the first thing that
Speaker 1: had to happen were certain territories had to be shifted around,
Speaker 1: because the reality was that land was tied to economic productivity. Still.
Speaker 1: Although the industrial Revolution had now begun in England, and
Speaker 1: we'll come back to that actually really short over here,
Speaker 1: but it had not really taken over to the extent
Speaker 1: that now we were going to be dealing with this
Speaker 1: totally industrialized society. The vast majority of Europe was still
Speaker 1: by and large agrarian, and so the income that came
Speaker 1: from the land was really important establishing economic dominance. Likewise,
Speaker 1: you needed food to support a large population, and so
Speaker 1: land and population retied together. So as a consequence, territories
Speaker 1: got swapped around, just kind of traded back and forth
Speaker 1: like chess pieces in order to try to achieve this
Speaker 1: magical balance of power that Meturnetian everybody else thought was
Speaker 1: so important. First was the idea is that Austria would
Speaker 1: lose influence in the Holy Roman Empire, but in exchange,
Speaker 1: it was going to get control over a lot of
Speaker 1: northern Italy, including Lombardy and Venice, and Prussia would be
Speaker 1: the one who'd be compensated because they were now going
Speaker 1: to get large swaths of Saxony and the Rhineland territories
Speaker 1: that are actually going to sow the seeds of the
Speaker 1: destruction of the balance of power principle in general, because
Speaker 1: those are the territories that are going to allow Prussia
Speaker 1: to industrialize, and those are the territories that are going
Speaker 1: to allow Bismarck eventually to knit Germany together with iron
Speaker 1: Ore and Tracks. Now, Russia kept pressing for control of Poland,
Speaker 1: seeking a large Polish kingdom under Russian influence. This proposal, however,
Speaker 1: terrified both Austria and Britain and didn't want to change
Speaker 1: a French domination of Europe for a Russian domination of Europe.
Speaker 1: And so that was going to be checked. For the moment,
Speaker 1: Britain was least concerned with land. Britain didn't want land
Speaker 1: holdings on the continent. Britain, and a lot of his
Speaker 1: experience in the Americas as well, tended to see these
Speaker 1: pieces of land not as benefit but as ulcers, as
Speaker 1: territories that we're going to be requiring defending without not
Speaker 1: a ton of upside. Britain's gaze was now shifting to
Speaker 1: worldwide commerce, and their domination in that area is going
Speaker 1: to become principal to understanding our story as it goes forward.
Speaker 1: It wanted naval bases and it wanted colonial outposts that
Speaker 1: would protect its global trade routes, so that was its goal.
Speaker 1: Now the bargaining table was rather relentless. Tsar Alexander was
Speaker 1: determined to have Poland, insisting that he alone had the
Speaker 1: moral authority to restore Polish nationhood. Metter Niche resisted fiercely.
Speaker 1: He saw how close Russia would be to Austria if
Speaker 1: it got control over Poland, which was the only buffer
Speaker 1: state at the time, and if that happened, he realized
Speaker 1: that a poor little Austria simply wouldn't have the capacity
Speaker 1: to stand up to the Tsar. Now, meanwhile, Prussia continued
Speaker 1: to make demands for more and more of Saxony, whose
Speaker 1: king had actually sided with Napoleon. In the last little
Speaker 1: one hundred days, Europe seemed like it was on the
Speaker 1: brink of another war, this time actually amongst the victors
Speaker 1: of the last war. And that is when tally Rand
Speaker 1: stepped in. France had no right to leave these negotiations,
Speaker 1: and everybody kind of recognized this. Tallyrand saw, however, that
Speaker 1: there was a huge weakness in the Allied coalition. He
Speaker 1: argued with elegance that quote unquote, the great powers must
Speaker 1: act according to legitimacy. That it wasn't just a balance
Speaker 1: of power that was going to restore order to Europe.
Speaker 1: It was that overarching idea of legitimacy that kings or
Speaker 1: ruling powers had to be vested with that right to rule.
Speaker 1: The people who were under them had to see that
Speaker 1: they had that right to rule, because if they didn't
Speaker 1: have that, then you were just going to deal with
Speaker 1: space after space of French revolution cropping up in Prussia,
Speaker 1: then maybe Austria and then Spain again, and maybe even
Speaker 1: background to France. You know, there was never going to
Speaker 1: be any end to this carousel. So there had to
Speaker 1: be the restoration of rightful monarchs. And therefore he decided
Speaker 1: and argued that Saxony's king had to keep his throne
Speaker 1: because he was the proper king of Saxony. By siding
Speaker 1: with Austria and Britain against Prussia and Russia, France astonishingly
Speaker 1: found itself back in the circle of great powers only
Speaker 1: a year after Napoleon had been finally defeated. Talleyrand's maneuverings
Speaker 1: they saved Saxony, but more importantly, they checked Russian ambition
Speaker 1: and they re elevated France among its European peers. His
Speaker 1: success today remains one of diplomacy's greatest achievements. Now, by
Speaker 1: early eighteen fifteen, the diplomats had now pretty much finished
Speaker 1: up what they were going to be doing. But then
Speaker 1: came the shock, of course that we know that rippled
Speaker 1: like a thunder across Europe. And that was on March
Speaker 1: the first Napoleon escaped from Elba. As news spread through
Speaker 1: the ballrooms of Vienna, there was suddenly an eerie silence. Metterniche,
Speaker 1: who had built his entire worldview on containing the revolution's chaos,
Speaker 1: saw his fears materialized literally overnight. The great Powers reacted
Speaker 1: in unison, saying, quote, the outlaw is no longer an empire,
Speaker 1: he is a criminal. They vowed not to negotiate with him,
Speaker 1: each signing declarations that made war not against France but
Speaker 1: against Napoleon personally. And while the Congress continued its technical work,
Speaker 1: the armies, as we know, marched again, and one hundred
Speaker 1: days later at Waterloo, Napoleon was again and finally defeated again,
Speaker 1: as we know. The Congress then reconvened with grim determination
Speaker 1: to finish its work and to secure the peace terms forever.
Speaker 1: The final Act of the Congress of Vienna, which was
Speaker 1: signed on the ninth of June eighteen fifteen, became one
Speaker 1: of the most important diplomatic documents, really and honestly in
Speaker 1: the history of the w world. It's goals were conservative,
Speaker 1: but they were very visionary. A listen, the Congress of
Speaker 1: Vienna was a conservative body, like there's no doubt about it.
Speaker 1: Like the goal behind the Congress of Vienna was to
Speaker 1: turn back the clock to before the French Revolution. They
Speaker 1: didn't realize that there was no way to do that,
Speaker 1: but the reality was is what they were trying to
Speaker 1: do from a pragmatic standpoint, which is secure a world
Speaker 1: without war is something that we're still trying to do
Speaker 1: well today. And so should we fault them necessarily because
Speaker 1: it didn't work out? I can't say that. I think so.
Speaker 1: The idea was to create a Europe where no single
Speaker 1: power could ignite another continent wide war, and so I
Speaker 1: think there's a couple of key takeaways I want to
Speaker 1: go over. First is that, at least for the next oh, gosh,
Speaker 1: I'll say roughly century, one hundred years, the balance of
Speaker 1: power was restored. There was no state that emerged overwhelmingly dominant.
Speaker 1: Territory was distributed in such a way that equilibrium was kept.
Speaker 1: Traditional monarchies were also restored in France, Spain, Portugal and
Speaker 1: in parts of Italy. So there was that sort of
Speaker 1: legitimacy restoration that both Meta Niche and to an extent
Speaker 1: Tallyrand were looking for. And then there was the success
Speaker 1: of the German Confederation, because remember Napoleon ended the Holy
Speaker 1: Roman Empire kind of it really ended. However, during the
Speaker 1: Congress of Vienna. Now there was going to be a
Speaker 1: modern German Confederation, not some old holdover from the days
Speaker 1: arguably of Charlemagne going back to the ninth century. Now
Speaker 1: there's going to be a German Federation, a loose association
Speaker 1: of thirty nine German states, which replaced the Holy Roman
Speaker 1: Empire and came under at least temporarily Austrian leadership. Of course,
Speaker 1: there was the success of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Speaker 1: The Netherlands have been fighting for freedom forever, against Spain,
Speaker 1: Britain for a little bit, and then of course against France.
Speaker 1: And now the Kingdom of the Netherlands joined with Belgium
Speaker 1: to create a strong buffer state against France and anyone
Speaker 1: else around. In fact, Switzerland was now declared permanently neutral,
Speaker 1: a status that actually continues to this day. So if
Speaker 1: you look at things that have been accomplished several hundred
Speaker 1: years ago, it's pretty rare to find something, but we did.
Speaker 1: The slave trade was also officially condemned. The Congress issued
Speaker 1: one of the earliest multi national statements against the African
Speaker 1: slave trade, largely led by Britain. More on slavery next week.
Speaker 1: Perhaps the most enduring creation wasn't a map, but it
Speaker 1: was a system. It was a commitment among the great
Speaker 1: powers to consult with one another and resolve disputes through
Speaker 1: diplomacy rather than war. This Concert of Europe became kind
Speaker 1: of an early United Nations. It was informal, but it
Speaker 1: was effective at maintaining the peace, and so over almost
Speaker 1: a century, from eighteen fifteen to nineteen fourteen, there would
Speaker 1: be no general European war. The Congress of Vienna by
Speaker 1: and large achieved what few had expected, a real and
Speaker 1: lasting peace. Now, finally the delegates departed Vienna, and the
Speaker 1: city was able to breathe the sigh of I suppose
Speaker 1: a little relief. The waltzes forever faded, the carriages rolled away,
Speaker 1: but the imprint of the work that they did endured.
Speaker 1: Metterniche conservative order would dominate Europe's for decades, battling back
Speaker 1: revolutions in eighteen thirty and again in eighteen forty eight.
Speaker 1: The equilibrium that he built allowed states to industrialize, to modernize,
Speaker 1: and to compete without plunging immediately into chaos. Critics later
Speaker 1: condemned the Congress or resisting liberalism, for upholding the idea
Speaker 1: of absolute monarchies, for ignoring national self determination, in short,
Speaker 1: for resisting change, but they weren't entirely wrong. Yet. Even
Speaker 1: those critics acknowledged something remarkable. The Congress of Vienna created
Speaker 1: the most stable international system Europe had ever known, and
Speaker 1: in a century that had been defined by rapid change, nationalism, ideology,
Speaker 1: the railroads, we haven't even begin to talk about that yet.
Speaker 1: It kept the peace long enough for the modern world
Speaker 1: to take shape. So next week, and we've really kind
Speaker 1: of finally put a pin on the French Revolution episodes.
Speaker 1: Next week we've got to fly back across the Pond,
Speaker 1: and I'm going to kind of go back and also
Speaker 1: go forward. We're going to talk about a couple of
Speaker 1: presidential administrations and why they matter in the scope of
Speaker 1: Western civilization. But then we're also going to start to
Speaker 1: look at what is going to become by far and
Speaker 1: away the most pressing issue for the young American Republic,
Speaker 1: and that is, of course, shadow slavery. Shadow slavery is
Speaker 1: going to dictate everything that America does up and through
Speaker 1: the American Civil War, which is now sixty some years
Speaker 1: away from when we at least last left off in
Speaker 1: the War of eighteen twelve. So we're going to pick
Speaker 1: it back up. We're going to talk about that a
Speaker 1: little bit, and then we're going to continue in the
Speaker 1: Americas to visit a number of revolutions that are rocking
Speaker 1: Central and South America in ways that will continue to
Speaker 1: reshape the globe in ways that we continue to see
Speaker 1: them today as we continue this rapid roller coaster descent
Speaker 1: in our final year of Western civ Love