Name: The Congress of Vienna: Crash Course European History #23
Uploaded: 2020-03-30T02:34:59.000Z
Duration: 14 min 1 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Hi I'm John Green and this is Crash Course European History.

So how did Europe restore order after the social and political upheaval of the French

Well, European leaders got together and set up a committee--or a “Congress”--that

So, when Europe looked around at the previous century with its endless wars, the reign of

reason seemed disastrous, and so Europe turned to its past, and a conservatism that embraced

They believed that Enlightenment ideas, like the support of individual rights, had caused

too much turmoil and misery, and so they wanted to go back to simpler times--when kings were

kings, peasants were landless, and obedience mattered more than thinking.

[Intro] So, even as Napoleon was on his way back to

the continent in 1815 to retake his empire, the Congress of Vienna had been meeting to

Its members included representatives from Russia, the Habsburg Empire, Prussia, Britain,

and France, which though defeated was central to discussions of how to return to the old

The first step was to bring back the French royal family, starting with the executed king's

brother, Louis XVIII, who was known as “the desired” because presumably that was the

only way to get him to take the job that killed his brother.

The second step was to balance out great power interests.

This meant ensuring that France was no longer a menace and that no state felt aggrieved

A major player at the Congress was, oddly enough, a once-leading minister of Napoleon:

In the bajillion years since I graduated high school, my high school French teacher has

But at the same time, I'm glad she is not here to hear me speak French.

So, during Napoleon's reign, Talleyrand had been a relentless womanizer and also a

Like a lot of people who succeed in politics, he was mostly a moth that flew toward the

With Napoleon's defeats, Talleyrand switched sides to support Louis XVIII, and was just

the kind of well-connected wheeler-dealer the Congress needed.

The Congress's initial ideas for a settlement with France involved basically leaving France

and its restored monarch alone to enjoy a good number of the revolutionary conquests.

But those moderate terms became harsh when Napoleon returned to France in the spring

of 1815 to much acclaim from many of his French followers, including especially veterans of

After Napoleon and his forces were defeated at Waterloo in June of 1815, the Allies imposed

an indemnity, meaning France would be responsible for some of the losses they caused.

And the Allies decided that they would occupy France until that indemnity was paid.

The presiding spirit over the Congress and its negotiations was the Austrian minister

Through his arch-conservative eyes, there was a lot to worry about.

One concern was the resurgence of revolution, a possibility he worked to prevent through

the use of secret police, spies, and censorship.

But for him, stopping revolution also entailed closing down student fraternities as breeding

Basically, attempts to restore rights, freedom, or achieve any part of the liberal program

of the revolutionaries were seen as criminal.

Metternich was also concerned about Russia, which was now the strongest continental power,

and he wanted to prevent its further expansionism.

He felt a strong monarchy in France would help make France powerful enough to check

the power of Russia, thereby bring Europe into sociopolitical balance.

So, you're gonna hear this phrase balance of powers a lot in the next 200 years.

The idea is that if we can just distribute power among communities, the way that we distribute

the load of Jenga pieces...even if something goes wrong, the thing doesn't fall.

Oh gosh, Stan says that there's a World War I coming.

The Congress also divvied up available territories and resources.

Britain received some of France's territory in the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean for

instance, while Prussia was allocated part of Saxony and Austria was given Italian and

There was also the leftover question of Poland; so, remnants of the Duchy of Warsaw state

fell to Russian control, with the remaining pieces going to Prussia and Austria.

Basically, the Congress of Vienna settlement had something for everyone.

We're beginning the “This was good news for everyone except for the Poles” period

of European history, which ends --when did it end, Stan? in 1991.

In terms of international politics, the Congress's major achievements were twofold.

First, the Congress aimed for a “balance of power,” which would guide European international

developments for decades to come, and eventually provide a model for 20th century geopolitics

We see this emphasis on “balance” in the tradeoffs and parceling out of benefits, but

also in the general attitudes of great power leaders.

So in addition to working toward the balance of powers, the Congress established a “congress”

system for arriving at agreements and enforcing them.

For one thing, it helped change the way we understand how people come into power.

like, the Congress did not imagine kingship as deriving from divine power but instead

from the decision making of the combined “great powers.”

And the group acted with one voice, arriving at common policies, which was key to their

This system is often called the “Concert of Europe,” and in some ways it did presage

Subtitles ListPlay Video

The Congress of Vienna: Crash Course European History #23

intense

individual

embrace

instance