Congress of Vienna

Essential Question: What should people in power do when their power is threatened?

     In class, we have been studying Napoleon and his conquests. Obviously Napoleons reign did not last forever. Eventually Napoleons power was threatened, and he was exiled to the island of St. Helena where he died in 1821. This begs the question, what should people in power do when their power is threatened? To answer the question, we have been reading documents and watching reenactments about the decisions of Klemens Von Metternich and the Congress of Vienna.
     When Metternich and the other powerful people at the Congress of Vienna noticed that their power was being threatened by Napoleon, they eliminated him with the concept of balance of power.
The Congress of Vienna decided to bring French territory back to its boundaries as existed prior to expansion. Further, expand Prussian territory so as to surround France with a stronger neighbor. Establish the Kingdom of the Netherlands as another stronger border state. Give Russia and Austria additional territory as a condolence for the difficulties faced under Napoleon’s conquest. This land redistribution will ensure a balance of power for the allies in the face of any later attempts at French expansion. The reason for this was because it maintained a balance of power between Russia, Austria, Prussia, Britain, and France. It also reversed the changes of Napoleon's conquest. The impact that the Congress of Vienna had was peace among the major European powers. There were no wars between the 5 major powers of Europe up to 1853.
     I believe that the Congress of Vienna made the right decision. There would have been no need to punish France by taking additional land away. The only way that the Congress of Vienna could peacefully restore order was to only take back the land that Napoleon acquired during his conquest. Also, by surrounding France with strong neighbors and redistributing land, France could no longer expand like it did before. This choice may have not been the most popular among some people, but it was definitely the right one. In this situation, it is crucial to be willing to give up some of your power for the greater good. If the European powers were not willing to give up some of their power, there would have been no land redistribution, and no solution to protecting their power form Napoleon.

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