Major territorial changes were unavoidable, partly because of previous secret agreements reached among individual allies and partly because of the pressure of power politics. The congress opened with a round of magnificent balls and entertainments, while its serious business was stalled by intrigues and rivalries. The principle of national self-determination, although invoked in certain cases, was neglected in practice. Although the principle of legitimacy-restoration of the pre-Revolutionary dynastic and territorial states-was often ceremoniously invoked, it was the determination to achieve a balance of power for the preservation of peace that guided congress decisions. The problems confronting the congress were extremely thorny and complex, for the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars had swept away the entire structure of Europe. All other European states, large and petty, that had legally existed before the Napoleonic upheaval were represented by an army of delegates and agents, but the important work was carried out in committees under the tutelage of the major powers. Fürst von Metternich was the chief Austrian negotiator and presided over the congress Viscount Castlereagh and, for a time, the duke of Wellington represented Great Britain the Russian delegation included Count Nesselrode, Count Capo d'Istria, and Carlo Andreo Pozzo di Borgo among the Prussian diplomats were Karl August von Hardenberg, Wilhelm von Humboldt, and Karl vom und zum Stein.Ī peace settlement with defeated France had been reached before the congress convened (see Paris, Treaty of, 1814), but France was represented by Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, who, by skillfully exploiting differences among the allies, soon obtained an equal voice with the four great victorious powers. Among the many monarchs to attend the congress the most important were Czar Alexander I of Russia and King Frederick William III of Prussia. The Austrian emperor Francis I (formerly Holy Roman Emperor Francis II) was the host. Vienna, Congress of, Sept., 1814–June, 1815, one of the most important international conferences in European history, called to remake Europe after the downfall of Napoleon I.
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