Helpful? I don't think so...

This week in Honors History 10, we learned about the Congress of Vienna. The Congress of Vienna met in 1814 to figure out how to recover after Napoleon’s domination of many European countries and how to redraw the map of Europe. Representatives and rulers from Austria, France, Prussia, Britain and Russia met in Austria to discuss this. Our essential question for the unit related to this: What should people in power do when their power is threatened? In order to draw conclusions, we were asked questions and were given options. We chose one of these options for the answer to the question we were asked and posted our response on Padlet, basically a place to post on an online wall.

Drawing of the Congress of Vienna by Jean- Baptiste Isabey
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/628086/Congress-of-Vienna

Klemens Von Metternich, the Austrian representative and host of the Congress of Vienna, along with other representatives and European rulers established the Principle of Intervention as a way to secure their power in their respective countries. The Principle of Intervention was an ideology that gave Austria, France, Prussia and Russia the power to intervene and send troops into a country in which its people were revolting. It gave these countries the right to stop revolution and restore monarchs to the throne. This ensured that monarchs would continue to rule in their respective countries. This answers our essential question because these rulers of Austria, France, Prussia and Russia used the Principle of Intervention to ensure their power even when it was threatened. The Principle of Intervention  was only one accomplishment that was made at the Congress of Vienna. The Congress of Vienna undid the changes that Napoleon had made in Europe during his rule, such as conquering many countries and stealing artwork and wealth from Venice. By the end of the Congress of Vienna, the map of Europe was very different than how it had been during Napoleon’s rule, and even prior to Napoleon's rule. France had many ‘buffer’ countries around it. These countries were countries with great power and were there to ensure that no one would ever do as much damage as Napoleon had to Europe. Stolen artwork was returned to Venice and compensation was paid to some countries for their suffering during their defeat by Napoleon. The Congress of Vienna also maintained a balance of power between Russia, Prussia, Britain, France and Austria. After the Congress in 1814, there were no wars between these major powers until 1853. And lastly, the monarchy was re-established in France by the Congress, but the people of France weren't blamed for Napoleon's actions.

The decisions that the powerful people at the Congress of Vienna made were not the right decisions made for the people. This is because the powerful people of Austria, Prussia, Russia, France and Britain only cared for themselves, and for expanding and increasing their power. Under certain circumstances, monarchs should be willing to sacrifice some of their power. By implementing the Principle of Intervention, Balance of Power, Holy Alliance and the Principle of Legitimacy, monarchs gave themselves more power, protected themselves and used this power to maintain a stricter control over their people.  And their subjects obviously didn't agree with some of the decisions monarchs made in their countries because they revolted, only to be put down by troops from other countries. Also, in order to make sure France never took control of Europe as Napoleon had led France to do, Austria, Prussia and Russia extended the boundaries of their countries to act as a buffer for France. By doing this, other smaller countries were ‘enveloped’. They were forced to be part of larger countries. The powerful people didn't make the right choice by suppressing their people’s rights.