The Congress of Vienna
Few men so define a period as Prince Metternich, the Austrian diplomat at the Congress of Vienna and the pioneer behind both the Concert of Europe and the ideal of a European balance of power. His vision for a European balance to avoid another major war remain largely intact until the great war a century later. At Vienna he was joined by Viscount Castlereagh of Great Britain, Minister Talleyrand from France and Prince Hardenerg of the newly founded Kingdom of Prussia. Between them these four men redrew the map of Europe and the Americas.
The Congress was put under direct threat by the restoration of Napoleon I that lasted through most of 1815 but during this time the Congress preceded full steam although the final treaty was not signed until 1816.
One of the main points of contention was the future of the Papal Empire.
In the year 1813 a new Pope – John Paul I – was elected by the College of Cardinals. John Paul described the Papal institution as a sick beast, poisoned by the intoxicant of Empire that required purging. Indeed colonialism and forced the Papacy to stray far from the true path, in a modern world the Pope would have to return to his religious roots. When the Congress of Vienna was formed in 1814 John Paul approached the Congress and informed them of his plan: he wished to grant the entire Papal Empire to the Congress to distribute to secular powers in return for the city of Rome (which the Papacy would rule totally independently), John Paul also demanded a say on who his lands would go to (most likely to limit or prevent gains for the Protestant Germans states of Prussia (Ossolinskite) and Austria (Lutheran).
The Congress’ conclusion on the Americas was the first to be agreed to. The interior borders of the USA, CSA, LSR (Louisiana) and Habsburg North America were all officially established for the first time. The Congress agreed that the unclaimed territory in the centre of North and South America would have its fate decided at a future date. Moreover the Congress agreed unanimously to recognise all existing American states. An agreement was also reached that no nation should intervene in the colonial troubles of another and that should anymore American states gain recognition from the previous owner then those nations would receive recognition from all signatories of the Treaty of Vienna. Finally the problem of the Papal colonies in America was solved. The port of Santana was granted to Brazil, the Pope’s Caribbean island colonies were granted to Great Britain and finally the large colony of Guyana was given independence. The new Kingdom would be ruled by Meinhard von Hohenzollern, the former Catholic Duke of one of the tiny German statelets destroyed by Napoleon, he was seen as an ideal compromise being a German (thus gaining the favour of Prussia and Austria) and a Catholic (gaining the favour of the Pope, Britain and France).
The disputes over Africa were perhaps the most civil of all and all major parties left feeling pleased. Spain was granted the territory between Morocco and its holdings in Senegal. The French received additional territory in West Africa, the gained the Papal enclave in Madagascar and they gained the Papal enclave in South-West Africa. Metternich pulled off a masterstroke with regards to Alexandria – somehow the master diplomat convinced the Pope to hand over Egypt’s great city to a Lutheran Empire. Meanwhile the British were perhaps the biggest winners in Africa as the gained Nigeria, a large and wealthy colony in West Africa, while the Netherlands (a newly founded state dominated by Britain) was given the most valuable of all the Pope’s former colonies as the Congo was ceded to the Dutch state.
Europe was to be totally reformed.
Iberia
With the fall of Joseph Bonaparte in Spain the nation was without a King. The only other realistic claimant was now the King of Brazil and he seemed uncertain about returning to Europe (the Spanish people were largely against it). So the British proposed a solution – the former King of Portugal (Pedro IV Braganza) was to be made King Pedro I of Spain. The new Monarchy would rule over a united peninsula, Iberia was to be ruled by one King for the first time since the fall of Rome.
France
France gained lands in the South-East and in the Alps from the wars of the past decades but lost control of the invaluable Dutch lands in the North and was even more isolated from the tantalising prize of the Rhine. Yet the new French Monarchy would rule over an almost entirely French speaking nation putting it in a much better position that many other states in Europe.
Britain, the Netherlands and Scandinavia
The new nation of the Netherlands had been the 4th member of the Fifth Coalition that defeated Napoleon once and for all and was born as an extremely wealthy nation. The Netherlands ruled over some of the most valuable territories in the former French Kingdom and later Empire and was also granted the Congo in Africa. However the new state was dominated by the British and had a minor Stewart (the ruling dynasty in Britain) on its throne. Like its larger protector the Netherlands was ruled by a Constitutional Monarchy in which it was Parliament who held the true power.
Britain had been forced to dissolve the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Scandinavia and Ireland by the Congress and had replaced it with the more modest United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The British state retained the former Scandinavian colonies in Iceland and Greenland but a new united Scandinavian state with its own Parliament was created. However King Thomas V of Britain would also rule Scandinavia as King Thomas I. The nations would be separate but under the same King. Scandinavia also benefited from the annexations of Finland and Karelia as the ex-Mongol lands wilfully joined with their Nordic brethren.
The British did extremely well from the Napoleonic saga. Although it lost New England Britain became the foremost naval, technological and economic power on earth and in 1816 dominated both Scandinavia and the Netherlands giving the Kingdom a powerful continental presence. The Kingdom’s Mediterranean influence was also increased as Malta was added to Britain’s Empire.
Northern Germany
The new Kingdom of Prussia under King Gerhard I stretched from Friesland to Riga. It was undeniably a Great Power and truly was a Kingdom formed by an army. Its General-King ruled over the country with an authoritarian iron grip that unsettled even the famously reactionary Metternich. However the King is praised as a hero by his army and the Kingdom’s core peoples in East Prussia, Brandenburg and Hannover.
Meanwhile between Austria and Prussia there exist two Grand Duchies – the Grand Duchy of Hesse and the Grand Duchy of Saxony. They were formed with almost the sole purpose of acting as buffer zones betwixt Prussia and Austria but rule over wealthy lands.
Italy
The Kingdom of Italy was the brainchild of Napoleon, its first King, and the Congress decided, despite vehement opposition by Austria, to keep the nation united. Italy is a significant if not major power – comparable to Spain in strength but much more populous. Meanwhile Rome is ruled by the Pope John Paul I.
Habsburg Empire
The Habsburg Empire’s vast array of vassals across Europe was totally dismantled. Austria was much weaker than it had been before the French Revolution in terms of European dominance but Metternich was able to compensate the nation for a loss of vassals with territorial acquisitions for the Austrian Empire. In the South the Duchy of Modena, a centuries old vassal, was annexed whilst Piedmont was split with France – Turin going to Austria. In Switzerland Austria lost territory whilst to the North Baden was annexed. Karl II had initially wanted to annex the treacherous Hungarian sate entirely (he blamed the Hungarians as the sole reason why Vienna fell in 1807) however he was forced to make do with Slovakia. Finally Metternich’s two greatest achievements were the annexations of Silesia (a former vassal but abundant in raw materials of use for industry) and of course the Rhineland. The fate of the Rhineland was a major issue and Metternich had sacrificed a lot (giving support to the British for their plans in Spain, the Netherlands and Nigeria whilst helping support French gains in the South East of their Country) to get enough support to secure the vital territory for Austria. The annexation of this land allowed Austria to remain as the strongest state in Europe even if things were not nearly so clear cut as in the past.
Eastern Europe
Poland lost land and its dynasty through the Napoleonic Wars. East Prussia was lost to Blücher’s new sate whilst, despite angry demonstrations in Poland, the Habsburg dynasty was forcible removed from the Kingship of Poland. The Habsburgs had been popular Kings and the dynasty’s position had forever guaranteed Poland the support of Austria. However the Congress agreed that a Habsburg in Poland would upset the balance of power and instead a local dynasty was raised to the throne.
In the former Mongol lands one Baltic and three Russian Principalities received official recognition from the Congress. It took little more than this for the Mongols to be forced to give up claims to their European lands.
Meanwhile the Republic of Ruthenia was restored to its former borders with only minor border adjustments made.
The Balkans
Although Hungary lost much thanks to its alliance with Napoleon it was not destroyed and was in fact reunited with Transylvania – the former Kings of Transylvania (Orthodox Hungarians like those they replaced) were elevated to Kings of Hungary displacing the ‘’traitor dynasty’’ (the words actually used by Karl II). Meanwhile brave little Croatia, which survived for years in the besieged port of Ragusa, was rewarded for its plucky resistance with huge territorial gains into lands far beyond those inhabited by Croats. The new Kingdom of Rumania was also formed as the Principalities of Moldova and Wallachia were united. A Serb state was also created. Bulgaria survived with largely unchanged borders.
Greece, Anatolia and the Middle East
The Congress chose not to change the status quo in Greece and Anatolia. The ever warring Greeks had seen three separate civil wars since 1785 and the Roman Empire had managed to restore some more land whilst the minor despotates remained strong.
In Anatolia there was peace during the Napoleonic era as Syria remained too powerful for the Turks to even contemplate attacking. The Greek Islamic Republic took advantage of the Golden Horde’s woes during its conflict in Russia and seized its Black Sea shore. The Republic then decided to settle these lands with Muslim Greeks from overpopulated Thrace.
It is notable that both the Greek Islamic Republic and the Roman Empire were actually towards the forefront of European technological progress. Both Constantinople (GIR capital) and Thessalonica (Roman capital) were in the early stages of industrialisation making the two cities the largest industrial centres East of Vienna.
Few men so define a period as Prince Metternich, the Austrian diplomat at the Congress of Vienna and the pioneer behind both the Concert of Europe and the ideal of a European balance of power. His vision for a European balance to avoid another major war remain largely intact until the great war a century later. At Vienna he was joined by Viscount Castlereagh of Great Britain, Minister Talleyrand from France and Prince Hardenerg of the newly founded Kingdom of Prussia. Between them these four men redrew the map of Europe and the Americas.
The Congress was put under direct threat by the restoration of Napoleon I that lasted through most of 1815 but during this time the Congress preceded full steam although the final treaty was not signed until 1816.
One of the main points of contention was the future of the Papal Empire.
In the year 1813 a new Pope – John Paul I – was elected by the College of Cardinals. John Paul described the Papal institution as a sick beast, poisoned by the intoxicant of Empire that required purging. Indeed colonialism and forced the Papacy to stray far from the true path, in a modern world the Pope would have to return to his religious roots. When the Congress of Vienna was formed in 1814 John Paul approached the Congress and informed them of his plan: he wished to grant the entire Papal Empire to the Congress to distribute to secular powers in return for the city of Rome (which the Papacy would rule totally independently), John Paul also demanded a say on who his lands would go to (most likely to limit or prevent gains for the Protestant Germans states of Prussia (Ossolinskite) and Austria (Lutheran).
The Congress’ conclusion on the Americas was the first to be agreed to. The interior borders of the USA, CSA, LSR (Louisiana) and Habsburg North America were all officially established for the first time. The Congress agreed that the unclaimed territory in the centre of North and South America would have its fate decided at a future date. Moreover the Congress agreed unanimously to recognise all existing American states. An agreement was also reached that no nation should intervene in the colonial troubles of another and that should anymore American states gain recognition from the previous owner then those nations would receive recognition from all signatories of the Treaty of Vienna. Finally the problem of the Papal colonies in America was solved. The port of Santana was granted to Brazil, the Pope’s Caribbean island colonies were granted to Great Britain and finally the large colony of Guyana was given independence. The new Kingdom would be ruled by Meinhard von Hohenzollern, the former Catholic Duke of one of the tiny German statelets destroyed by Napoleon, he was seen as an ideal compromise being a German (thus gaining the favour of Prussia and Austria) and a Catholic (gaining the favour of the Pope, Britain and France).
The disputes over Africa were perhaps the most civil of all and all major parties left feeling pleased. Spain was granted the territory between Morocco and its holdings in Senegal. The French received additional territory in West Africa, the gained the Papal enclave in Madagascar and they gained the Papal enclave in South-West Africa. Metternich pulled off a masterstroke with regards to Alexandria – somehow the master diplomat convinced the Pope to hand over Egypt’s great city to a Lutheran Empire. Meanwhile the British were perhaps the biggest winners in Africa as the gained Nigeria, a large and wealthy colony in West Africa, while the Netherlands (a newly founded state dominated by Britain) was given the most valuable of all the Pope’s former colonies as the Congo was ceded to the Dutch state.
Europe was to be totally reformed.
Iberia
With the fall of Joseph Bonaparte in Spain the nation was without a King. The only other realistic claimant was now the King of Brazil and he seemed uncertain about returning to Europe (the Spanish people were largely against it). So the British proposed a solution – the former King of Portugal (Pedro IV Braganza) was to be made King Pedro I of Spain. The new Monarchy would rule over a united peninsula, Iberia was to be ruled by one King for the first time since the fall of Rome.
France
France gained lands in the South-East and in the Alps from the wars of the past decades but lost control of the invaluable Dutch lands in the North and was even more isolated from the tantalising prize of the Rhine. Yet the new French Monarchy would rule over an almost entirely French speaking nation putting it in a much better position that many other states in Europe.
Britain, the Netherlands and Scandinavia
The new nation of the Netherlands had been the 4th member of the Fifth Coalition that defeated Napoleon once and for all and was born as an extremely wealthy nation. The Netherlands ruled over some of the most valuable territories in the former French Kingdom and later Empire and was also granted the Congo in Africa. However the new state was dominated by the British and had a minor Stewart (the ruling dynasty in Britain) on its throne. Like its larger protector the Netherlands was ruled by a Constitutional Monarchy in which it was Parliament who held the true power.
Britain had been forced to dissolve the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Scandinavia and Ireland by the Congress and had replaced it with the more modest United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The British state retained the former Scandinavian colonies in Iceland and Greenland but a new united Scandinavian state with its own Parliament was created. However King Thomas V of Britain would also rule Scandinavia as King Thomas I. The nations would be separate but under the same King. Scandinavia also benefited from the annexations of Finland and Karelia as the ex-Mongol lands wilfully joined with their Nordic brethren.
The British did extremely well from the Napoleonic saga. Although it lost New England Britain became the foremost naval, technological and economic power on earth and in 1816 dominated both Scandinavia and the Netherlands giving the Kingdom a powerful continental presence. The Kingdom’s Mediterranean influence was also increased as Malta was added to Britain’s Empire.
Northern Germany
The new Kingdom of Prussia under King Gerhard I stretched from Friesland to Riga. It was undeniably a Great Power and truly was a Kingdom formed by an army. Its General-King ruled over the country with an authoritarian iron grip that unsettled even the famously reactionary Metternich. However the King is praised as a hero by his army and the Kingdom’s core peoples in East Prussia, Brandenburg and Hannover.
Meanwhile between Austria and Prussia there exist two Grand Duchies – the Grand Duchy of Hesse and the Grand Duchy of Saxony. They were formed with almost the sole purpose of acting as buffer zones betwixt Prussia and Austria but rule over wealthy lands.
Italy
The Kingdom of Italy was the brainchild of Napoleon, its first King, and the Congress decided, despite vehement opposition by Austria, to keep the nation united. Italy is a significant if not major power – comparable to Spain in strength but much more populous. Meanwhile Rome is ruled by the Pope John Paul I.
Habsburg Empire
The Habsburg Empire’s vast array of vassals across Europe was totally dismantled. Austria was much weaker than it had been before the French Revolution in terms of European dominance but Metternich was able to compensate the nation for a loss of vassals with territorial acquisitions for the Austrian Empire. In the South the Duchy of Modena, a centuries old vassal, was annexed whilst Piedmont was split with France – Turin going to Austria. In Switzerland Austria lost territory whilst to the North Baden was annexed. Karl II had initially wanted to annex the treacherous Hungarian sate entirely (he blamed the Hungarians as the sole reason why Vienna fell in 1807) however he was forced to make do with Slovakia. Finally Metternich’s two greatest achievements were the annexations of Silesia (a former vassal but abundant in raw materials of use for industry) and of course the Rhineland. The fate of the Rhineland was a major issue and Metternich had sacrificed a lot (giving support to the British for their plans in Spain, the Netherlands and Nigeria whilst helping support French gains in the South East of their Country) to get enough support to secure the vital territory for Austria. The annexation of this land allowed Austria to remain as the strongest state in Europe even if things were not nearly so clear cut as in the past.
Eastern Europe
Poland lost land and its dynasty through the Napoleonic Wars. East Prussia was lost to Blücher’s new sate whilst, despite angry demonstrations in Poland, the Habsburg dynasty was forcible removed from the Kingship of Poland. The Habsburgs had been popular Kings and the dynasty’s position had forever guaranteed Poland the support of Austria. However the Congress agreed that a Habsburg in Poland would upset the balance of power and instead a local dynasty was raised to the throne.
In the former Mongol lands one Baltic and three Russian Principalities received official recognition from the Congress. It took little more than this for the Mongols to be forced to give up claims to their European lands.
Meanwhile the Republic of Ruthenia was restored to its former borders with only minor border adjustments made.
The Balkans
Although Hungary lost much thanks to its alliance with Napoleon it was not destroyed and was in fact reunited with Transylvania – the former Kings of Transylvania (Orthodox Hungarians like those they replaced) were elevated to Kings of Hungary displacing the ‘’traitor dynasty’’ (the words actually used by Karl II). Meanwhile brave little Croatia, which survived for years in the besieged port of Ragusa, was rewarded for its plucky resistance with huge territorial gains into lands far beyond those inhabited by Croats. The new Kingdom of Rumania was also formed as the Principalities of Moldova and Wallachia were united. A Serb state was also created. Bulgaria survived with largely unchanged borders.
Greece, Anatolia and the Middle East
The Congress chose not to change the status quo in Greece and Anatolia. The ever warring Greeks had seen three separate civil wars since 1785 and the Roman Empire had managed to restore some more land whilst the minor despotates remained strong.
In Anatolia there was peace during the Napoleonic era as Syria remained too powerful for the Turks to even contemplate attacking. The Greek Islamic Republic took advantage of the Golden Horde’s woes during its conflict in Russia and seized its Black Sea shore. The Republic then decided to settle these lands with Muslim Greeks from overpopulated Thrace.
It is notable that both the Greek Islamic Republic and the Roman Empire were actually towards the forefront of European technological progress. Both Constantinople (GIR capital) and Thessalonica (Roman capital) were in the early stages of industrialisation making the two cities the largest industrial centres East of Vienna.
