Napoleon’s Empire to Congress of Vienna

Ch. 7 section 5

Napoleon • 1805 Napoleon’s naval fleet is

defeated in the Battle of Trafalgar at the hands of British Admiral Horatio Nelson, forcing France to give up a British invasion.

• 1808 Peninsular War with Spain cost many lives and weakened empire.

• 1812 The attempted invasion of Moscow was defeated by Russian winter.

• 1814 Armies of the 6th Coalition entered France in March and eventually Napoleon was forced to give up his throne and was exiled to Elba.

 Although he never lost a pitched battle there, the Grand Army was almost completely wiped out within six months by freezing temperatures, food shortages, disease and Russian assaults.

After Napoleon’s defeat in 1814, the foreign minister of Austria, Klemens von Metternich, distrusted the democratic ideals of the French Revolution. He called on the 5 “great powers,” Austria, Prussia, Russia, Great Britain and France to settle the problems following the French Revolution and Napoleon. They tried to draw up a peace plan for Europe that would last many years. They called the meeting the Congress of Vienna. Metternich shaped the peace conditions that were accepted.

Thomas Lawrence’s portrait of Klemens von Metternich, 1815

Prussia In attendance on behalf of Prussia was

Kaiser Fredrick William III’s chancelor Karl von Hardenberg.

Russia Tsar Alexander

I controlled the Russian delegation which was formally led by the foreign minister, Count Karl Robert Nesselrode. The tsar had two main goals, to gain control of Poland and to promote the peaceful coexistence of European nations.

Later he succeeded in forming the Holy Alliance (1815), supposedly based on Christian love, but formed to combat any threat of revolution or republicanism.

Great Britain Great Britain was represented

first by its Foreign Secretary, Viscount Castlereagh; then by the Duke of Wellington, after Castlereagh's return to England in February 1815. In the last weeks it was headed by theEarl of Clancarty, after Wellington left to face Napoleon during the Hundred Days.

First Duke of Wellington

in Field Marshall’s

uniform adorned with the

Order of the Golden

Fleece.

France the "fifth" power, was

represented by her foreign minister, Talleyrand as well as the Minister Plenipotentiary the Duke of Dalberg. Talleyrand had already negotiated the Treaty of Paris (1814) for Louis XVIII of France; the king, however, distrusted him and was also secretly negotiating with Metternich, by mail.

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord

Louis XVIII

While the Congress of Vienna met, Napoleon was making his last ditch effort to rule…

Napoleon finds himself fighting against the 7th Coalition which crests with his defeat at Waterloo.

On arriving in Paris, three days after his defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon still clung to the hope of a national resistance; but the temper of the public was not supportive.

On 22 June 1815 he abdicated in favor of his son, Napoléon Francis Joseph Charles Bonaparte, knowing that it was a formality, as his four-year-old son was in Austria.

With the abdication of Napoleon a Provisional Government with Joseph Fouché as acting President, was formed.

The 7th Coalition forces continued to advance on Paris with the aim to seize Napoleon “dead or alive.”

The first days of July 1815 saw fighting near Paris and by July 3, 1815, the French provisional government capitulates to the Coalition forces in the Convention of St. Cloud.

July 7th, Coalition forces enter Parish July 8th , the French King, Louis XVIII, returned to

Paris, amidst the acclamations of the people, and again occupied the throne.

Napoleon surrenders on July 15th and is shipped to England where he would then be exiled to St. Helena.

Metternich had 3 goals at the Congress of Vienna:

prevent future French aggression by surrounding France with strong countries

restore the balance of power so that no country would be a threat to others

restore Europe’s royal families to the thrones they had held before Napoleon’s conquests.

The Congress took several actions to achieve these goals…

formed the Kingdom of the Netherlands

created a German Confederation of states

recognized the independence of Switzerland•added Genoa to the Kingdom of Sardinia.•Required France to return territories conquered by Napoleon but left France a major power.

This final act was signed June 9, 1815 which was a few days before Waterloo.

Across Europe, kings and princes reclaimed their thrones. Most of them were conservatives and did not encourage individual liberties. Czar Alexander I of Russia, Emperor Francis I of Austria and King Frederick William III of Prussia signed the Holy Alliance, in which they pledged to base their relations with other nations on Christian principles in order to combat the forces of revolution. They did not want any calls for equal rights. However, many people still believed in the ideals of the French Revolution. They thought that all people should be equal and share in power. Later they would fight for these rights again.

The national boundaries within Europe are set by the Congress of Vienna, 1815.

Metternich sought to maintain peace between European nations by creating a balance of power among rival countries so no country would be a threat to the others. To guard against revolutions, he set up a series of alliances called the Concert of Europe, which required nations to help one another if a revolution erupted.

People in the Americas also felt the desire for freedom. Spanish colonies in the Americas revolted against the restored Spanish king. Many nations won independence from Spain. National feeling grew in many places in Europe, too. Soon people in areas such as Italy, Germany, and Greece would rebel and form new countries. The French Revolution had changed the politics of Europe and beyond.

Legacy of the Congress of Vienna

Metternich is considered the first true modern politician setting a standard for modern political negotiations and nation building.

System of alliances, disregard of nationalism and the ideals of the Enlightenment will lead to world wars.