Diplomatic Consequences of Congress of Vienna.
Deplomatic Consequences of Congress of Vienna.
Introduction.
Despite the effects of the great powers of Europe to prevent conflict and war with the congress of Vienna in many ways the congress system failed by 1823. The rest of the 19th century was marked by more revolutionary fervar, more war and the rise of nationalism.
Key points
1. The congress of Vienna and the resulting concert of Europe, aimed at creating a stable and peaceful Europe after the Napoleonic wars, succeed in creating balance of power and peaceful diplomacy for almost a decade.
2. The great powers, the main participant of the congress l, also formed the Holy alliance and the Quadruple alliance, treaties to further the conservative vision of the congress.
3. In 1818, the British decided not to become involved issues that did not directly affected them and did not support the Tsar Alexander 1 in his version to prevent the revolution.
4. No congress was called to restored the old system during the great revotionary upheaval of 1848, this nationalism and liberalism began to triumph over the conservative of the congress system.
5. The diplomatic alliance that formed out of the congress were shattered during the Crimean war, in which Russia was defeated by the other powers.
Noted that the major alliances which were debates by diplomatic and historical scholars on which treaties were more effective after Napoleonic wars. Among the major alliances during diplomatic congress of Vienna were;
Quadruple Alliance
Quadruple alliance is a treaty signed in Paris on November 20,1815 by the great powers of the united kingdom, Austria, Prussia and Russia.
It renewed the use of the congress system which advanced European international relations.
Holy Alliance
Holy alliance is a coalition created by the monarchist great powers of Russia, Prussia and Austria. It was created to restrain republicanism and circularism in Europe in wake of devasting french revolution war.
also note the Crimean war is a military conflict fought from October 1853 to march 1856 in which the Russia empire lost alliance of France, britian, the ottoman empire and serdina.
The immediate cause was the christian minorities as part of ottoman empire.
International relations and diplomacy.
With the concert of Europe, the territorial boundaries laid down at the congress of Vienna were maintained and even more importantly were there was an acceptance of the theme of balance of power with no major aggressiveness, otherwise, the congress failed in 1823.
In 1818 the British decided not to become involved in continental issues that did not directly affect them. They rejected the plan of Tsar Alexander 1 to suppress future revolutions. The concert system fell apart as the common goals of the great powers were replaced by growing political and economic rivalries.
Artz says the congress of Verona in 1822 “marked the end”,there was no congress called to restored the system during the great revolutionary upheavals of 1848, which called for revision of the congress of vienna’s frontiers along the national lines.
The revolutions of 1848, known in some Countries as the spring of nations, people’s spring’s, spring time of the peoples, or the year of revolution were a series of political upheavals through out European in 1848. it the most widespread of revolutionary in European history.
These diverse revolutionary movement were in opposition to the conservative agenda of the congress of Vienna and marked a major challenge to it’s version for a stable Europe.
The revolutionary were essentially democratic in nature, with the aim of removing the old feudal structure and creating independent national states.
The revolutionary wave began in France, in February and immediately spread to the most of Europe and parts of latin America. Over 50 countries were affected, but with no coordinator or cooperation between their respective revolutionary according to Evans and von strandman(2000), some of the major contributing factors were widespread dissatisfaction with political leadership, demands for more participation in government and democracy, demands for freedom of press, demands made by the working class, the upsurge of nationalism and regrouping of established governmental forces.
The uprising were led by shaky adhoc coalition of reformers, the middle classes and workers which did not hold together for long. Tens of thousands of people were killed and many more were forced into exiles. Significant of lasting reforms included the abolition of selfdom in Austria and Hungary, the end of absolute monarchy in Denmark and the introduction of parliamentary democracy in the Netherlands, the state that would make up the German empire in the late 19th and 20th century , Italy and German empire.
Before 1850, Britian and France dominated Europe but by the ends of 1850s they had become deeply concerned by the grouping powers of Russia and Prussia.
The Crimea war of 1854-1855 and the Italian war of 1859 shattered the relations among the great powers in Europe victory over Napoleonic France left the British without any serious international rival, other than perhaps Russia in central Asia.
The Crimea war (1853-56) was fought between Prussia who tried expanding it influence in the Balkans against an alliance of great Britain, France, surdina and the ottoman empire. Russia was defeated.
In 1851, France under Napoleon III compelled the ottoman government to recognize it as the protector of christian site in the holy land. Russia denounced this claim, since it claimed to be the protector of all eastern Orthodox Christian in the ottoman empire.
France sent ot fleet to the black sea; Russia responded with it’s own show of force. In 1851, Russia sent troops into the ottoman provinces of the Moldavia and Wallachia Britain, now fearing for the security of the ottoman empire sent a fleet to join with the french, expecting the Russia would back down.
Diplomatic efforts failed. The sultan declear war against Russia in October 1851.
Following ottoman navel disaster in November, British and France decleared war against Russia. Most battles took place in the Crimean peninsula, which the allies finally seized. London, shocked to discover that France was secretly negotiating with Russia to form a post war alliance to dominate Europe, dropped it plans to attack st Petersburg and instead signed a one-sided armistice with Prussia that acheived almost none of its war aim.
The treaty of Paris, signed March 30, 1856 ended the war. It admitted the ottoman empire to the concert of Europe and the powers promised to respect it’s independence and territorial integrity.
Russia gave up a little land and relenquised it’s claim to a protectorate over the christian ls in the ottoman domains.
The black sea was demilitarized and an international commission was set up to guarantee freedom of commerce and nevigation on the Danube river.
After 1870 the creation and the rise of the German empire as a dominant nation restructured the European balance of power for the next twenty years, Otto Von Bismarck managed to maintain this balance by proposing treaties and creating many complex alliance between the nation such as the triple alliance.
The Holy Alliance and Quadruple Alliance.
As extension of the version of the congress of Vienna, the kingdom of Prussia and Austria and Russia empire formed the holy alliance (September 26, 1818) to preserve christian social values and tradition monarchism.
The attention of the alliance was to restrain republicanism and secularism in Europe in the aware of devastating french revolution wars, the alliance nominally succeed on this until the cremean war (1853-156).
Every member of the coalition promptly joined the alliance except for the united kingdom, a constitutional monarchy with liberal political philosophy.
Britain did however ratify the Quadruple alliance, signed on the same day as the second peace treaty of Paris (November 20, 1818) by the same three powers that signed the holy alliance on September 26, 1815.
It renewed the use of the congress system, which advance European international relations.
The alliance first formed in 1813 to counter France and promised aid to each other. It became the Quintuple alliance when France joined in 1818.
thses are the diplomatic consequences of the congress of Vienna. Students are expected to study the background of the Congress of Vienna and how it created balance of power, Territorial change in Europe and the participants of the Congress.
