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Austria The Congress of Vienna
From September 1814 to June 1815, representatives of the
European powers met in Vienna. Guided by Metternich, the Congress
of Vienna redrew the map of Europe and laid the foundation for a
long period of European peace. The Habsburg Empire emerged with
boundaries both more extensive and compact than it had had for
several centuries. Belgium and the Habsburg lands in southwest
Germany were lost, but Austria regained all other possessions
that it had held in 1792 and virtually all of those it had
obtained during the long years of war, including Salzburg
(see
fig. 3). The Holy Roman Empire was not resurrected but was
replaced with a German Confederation composed of thirty-five
sovereign princes and four free cities. Austria held the
permanent presidency of the confederation and probably had more
real influence in Germany than it had had under the Holy Roman
Empire. Austria also enjoyed the dominant position on the Italian
peninsula, where it possessed the northern territories of
Lombardy and Venetia.
The wartime allies--Austria, Britain, Russia, and Prussia--
concluded the Congress of Vienna by signing the Quadruple
Alliance, which pledged them to uphold the peace settlement. In a
secondary document, the European monarchs agreed to conduct their
policies in accordance with the Christian principles of charity,
peace, and love. This "Holy Alliance," proposed by the Russian
tsar, was of little practical import, but it gave its name to the
cooperative efforts of Austria, Russia, and Prussia to maintain
conservative governments in Europe.
Although Austria emerged from the Congress of Vienna as one
of the great powers in Europe, throughout the nineteenth century
its status and territorial integrity depended on the support of
at least one of the other great powers. As long as the allies
were willing to cooperate in the "Congress System" to maintain
the peace, order, and stability of Europe, Austrian interests
were protected. But the other great powers, which were better
able to defend their interests by force, did not always share
Austria's devotion to Metternich's creation.
Data as of December 1993
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