The Congress of Vienna (September 1814 – June 1815) Representatives of the major powers of Europe, including France, met to redraw territorial lines and to restore1, as far as possible, the social and political order that existed before the Revolution and...
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The Congress of Vienna (September 1814 – June 1815) Representatives of the major powers of Europe, including France, met to redraw territorial lines and to restore1, as far as possible, the social and political order that existed before the Revolution and Napoleon. The rule of legitimacy2 was one primary goal: to return the „rightful” rulers of Europe to their thrones. A return to balance of power3 that would guarantee peace was the other. The August assemblage4 consisted of Klemens von Metternich (1773-1859), chancellor5 of Austria; Viscount Castlereagh (1769-1822), foreign minister6 of England; Czar Alexander of Russia (r. 1801-1825); Prince Hardenberg of Prussia; and Foreign Minister Tallyrand (1754-1838) of France. The settlement7 To prevent8 future expansion9, France was surrounded by a numer of strong states – a newly united Holland and Belgium called the Kingdom of the Netherlands, a Prussian satellite area on the Rhine, and Austrian buffer states10 in Northern Italy. In Germany
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