The Congress of Vienna Case

The Congress of Vienna was a successful peace settlement established by the Four Great European powers of Great Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia. The different conservative political and social views of the representatives from these countries shaped the formation of the settlement. After the settlement was agreed upon, there were many lasting consequences on 19th century Europe. The Congress of Vienna was formed on the basis of pre existing conservative views and as a result European countries adopted new laws that were predominantly conservative.

One of the major underlying conservative beliefs that was present at the congress of Vienna was the restoration of Absolutism. The four great powers, especially Metternich of Austria, believed that for European society to run smoothly, there needed to be an absolute ruler. They believed that everything about current society should go back to the way it was before the French Revolution. They wanted to restore all power in the countries that were taken over by Napoleon and they believed absolutism was the best form of government to be instituted. In addition, conservatives' views called for the end to all non-conservative beliefs. These beliefs included but were not limited to nationalism, liberalism, and constitutionalism. All of the big four representatives at the congress held the view that these new belief groups that were forming would only threaten harmony in Europe and the conservative societies that they wished for.

As a result of the pre-existing conservative views that were set forth at the congress, many new laws and agreements were created which had impactful consequences on Europe at the time. One of the major laws that was set forth was the Carlsbad Decrees. This was the official law set my Metternich to assure that liberalism, constitutionalism, nationalism, and all other beliefs that threatened conservative Europe were banned. In addition the quadruple alliance was formed as a result of the congress. This was the alliance between Europe's four greatest powers. This alliance was vital to Europe to assure that no one country like France, could take over others. The Concert of Europe put this into specific terms stating that if one of the four countries is threatened in any form, the others should help to put down the threat. This was to re assure a proper balance of power for Europe which was one of the Congress' main goals.

Conservative