Research Assignment 1

The Congress of Vienna :

Intervention

For the Sake of Peace

HI345

Randy J. Carlberg

September 16, 2012

During the course of history there has been times when others intervened in the affairs of men for the sake of peace. Such was the case after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815. Author Thomas Neill wrote the following in his book titled Modern Europe : A Popular History “ Napoleon gave France her moment of glory. More lastingly, he modernized France by consolidating the sound accomplishments of the revolution, codifying her laws, setting up an excellent centralized administration, giving her financial efficiency, and indoctrinating all Frenchmen in the grandeur of la belle France. Many of these benefits he consciously applied to those parts of Europe that fell under his control.”(Neill,Thomas, 1970).

Having endured years of war and with Napoleon now defeated , the time came when the Vienna Congress could lay the groundwork for peace in Europe. Jacques Barzun refers to this period of time in his book From Dawn To Decadence writing “After Waterloo had been fought and Napoleon was at England's mercy, France was occupied by the Allies and the Bourbons were restored to the throne, The Treaty of Vienna was signed, and the victorious powers formed a defensive alliance. The task then facing Europe was twofold : containment of the revolution and reconstruction in culture. Each of these dominant concerns had it's opponents. Containment was to be achieved by the Russian tsar's Holy or the Powers' Quadruple Alliance. But force of arms could serve only against new uprisings after the fact.

Some other force was needed for preventive restraint.” (Barzun, Jacques, 2000).

In establishing the Congress of Vienna, it is important to outline the intent and the objectives of this Congress and to judge it's effectiveness in Europe in the post Napoleon era. To simply state what must be done to...