A History of Modern Europe - From the Renaissance to the Present

576 Ch. 15 • Liberal Challenges To Restoration Europe

The Concert of Europe

To preserve the settlements enacted at Vienna, the five major European
powers (Great Britain, Prussia, Austria, Russia, and France) formed a “Con­
cert of Europe.” In this extension of the Congress of Vienna, representa­
tives of the powers would meet annually. If necessary, they would join
together to put down movements that could threaten the status quo. Met­
ternich’s Austria had the most to fear from national claims for indepen­
dent states. Austria was both a state in the German Confederation and the
most important province within its empire of many nationalities. The Aus­
trian Empire stretched from the stately elegance of Vienna through the
plains of Hungary, to isolated Romanian and Croatian villages. German
was the language of the imperial bureaucracy, and of many of the towns,
but one could find eleven major languages within the borders of the
empire. The Habsburg monarchy depended on the support of the nobles
of the favored nationalities—principally Austrian, Hungarian, and Croat—
and the German-speaking middle classes. Metternich exploited the fear
that the upper classes of the favored nationalities felt toward any awaken­
ing from the lower classes, particularly of other ethnic groups. This kept
most Magyar (Hungarian) nobles loyal to the Habsburg dynasty, although
some desired ultimate independence.
Tensions remained between the allies. Prussia and particularly Austria
feared that Russia was seeking to expand its influence in the Balkans, espe­
cially among peoples of the Orthodox faith. Metternich therefore was willing
to use Austrian armies to maintain the status quoy but he sought to avoid any
joint Congress military action that might bring Russian armies into Central
Europe or the Balkans. He thus wanted to keep alive the Austrian alliance
with Britain against any future French, Prussian, or Russian aggression.
Castlereagh, on the other hand, was less concerned by Russia’s expanded
interests in Central Europe than about containing France. But he had
reservations about the appropriateness of the Quadruple Alliance s inter­
vention in the internal affairs of European states. The British participated
in the annual gatherings of representatives of the Concert powers, but
gradually withdrew from the Congress system. At Aachen in 1818, the
allies agreed to withdraw their remaining troops from France, which, hav­
ing paid off the war debts, now joined the Holy Alliance.

Restoration Europe

The monarchs, diplomats, and nobles at the Congress of Vienna were guided

by conservative principles of monarchical legitimacy, with the right to the

thrones of Europe to be determined by hereditary succession, and by close

ties to the prerogatives of the established churches.