Congress of Vienna?

Question

How did the congress of vienna restore the balance of power to Europe and how was the balance of power finally upset

Answer 1

The Congress of Vienna 1814-1815 never really met 'in Congress' but relied on a number of meetings between various of the powers. Castlereagh, the British Foreign Secretary and delegate wanted to ensure a 'buffer' state between the German Confederation and the Channel, and got that in the United Netherlands, later The Netherlands and Belgium. Russia, Prussia and Austria managed to do a deal over Poland. The Austrian Empire, later the Austro-Hungarian Empire was formed to keep the balance in Central Europe and parts of the Balkans.France was, of course, represented at the Congress by its Foreign Minister, Talleyrand and effectively agreed to France returning to its historic borders. (although this was really the result of the Treaty of Paris 1814) The checks and balances could be said to have, by and large, remained until the First World War resulted in another radical redrawing of the boundaries of Europe. There were , of course, internal revolutions within the states - particularly those of 1848 and the continued annexation of the Balkan States by Austro-Hungary was to prove the catalyst for WWI. One continuing effect of the Congress is the fact that it guaranteed the neutrality of Switzerland, something that remains to this day. Apart from the Crimean and Franco-Prussian Wars the Congress could be said to have kept the peace in Europe for 100 years (remember how war-weary people were - the Napoleonic Wars had lasted, on and off, for a quarter of a century)