What about the results of the Congress of Vienna. Congress of Vienna. Distribution of forces in Europe

The collapse of the Napoleonic empire posed the question before the victors: what to do with all this legacy left by the era of wars that lasted almost a quarter of a century? The matter was complex, difficult, and to resolve this complex and difficult matter, a congress gathered in Vienna on November 1, 1814, which brought together some sovereigns, including Tsar Alexander I, who at that time enjoyed special prestige as the leader of the coalition that deposed Napoleon - and many ministers, ambassadors and other statesmen, among which should be noted the Austrian minister Prince Metternich and the French Commissioner Talleyrand, once a figure in the revolution, then serving Napoleon, now acting under the authority of the new french king LouisXVIII.

Representatives of European states at the Congress of Vienna: 1 - Wellington (England), 6 - Metternich (Austria), 8 - Nesselrode (Russia), 10 - Castlereagh (England), 13 - A. Razumovsky (Russia), 19 - Humboldt (Prussia) , 21 - Hardenberg (Prussia), 22 - Talleyrand (France)

At the Congress of Vienna, in essence, a new division of the booty was to take place, but a quarrel is always possible during the division, which actually happened. Among the sovereigns of the Rhine Confederation most loyal to Napoleon was the Saxon king, who at the same time owned Grand Duchy of Warsaw. After Leipzig battle this ally of Napoleon was even taken into custody, and at the Congress of Vienna the question of the fate of his two states was raised: Prussia laid claim to the entire Saxon kingdom, Russia to the entire Warsaw Grand Duchy, and in order to fulfill these aspirations, both states concluded between themselves more close union. Other great powers, i.e. Austria, England and France, on the contrary, did not in any way want to allow Prussia and Russia to divide among themselves the entire inheritance of the King of Saxony and the Grand Duke of Warsaw - and also concluded an alliance between themselves.

The Congress of Vienna was in danger of an early end because of the war that was about to break out between the two hostile alliances, when Louis XVIII was replaced in France by Napoleon, who learned what was being done at the Congress, and thought to take advantage of the said contention to separate his enemies. His return to France (see the article One Hundred Days) not only, however, did not stop the work of the congress, but even forced its members to put an end to the discord that was beginning. A little over a week before the Battle of Waterloo, in its “final act” (July 9, 1815), the Congress could already sum up the general results under its decisions, after Alexander I renounced part of the Warsaw Grand Duchy (from Poznań) in favor of Prussia , which was satisfied with only about half of the Saxon kingdom.

Creating a new map of Europe, Congress of Vienna strove both to restore legitimate dynasties to their thrones, and to reward those who especially contributed to the liberation of Europe, and to punish the accomplices of its enslaver, and to take measures to protect Europe from the ambitious aspirations of France, but he did not want to accept one thing and in fact did not took into account - the aspirations of those whose fate he decided in his decisions. They counted and recalculated the number of square miles in the territories to be torn away and annexed and the number of souls numbered in them, but what kind of souls they were, where they gravitated or what they wanted, not the slightest attention was paid to this.

Europe in last years before the Congress of Vienna

Now let's see who got what or who was arranged how.

Russia, which in 1809 took possession of Finland, and in 1812 Bessarabia, was strengthened by the accession to it of most of the Warsaw Grand Duchy, which received the name Kingdom of Poland, but refused in favor of Austria from part of Galicia (Tarnopol district with a Little Russian population), acquired in 1809. Alexander I gave his new Polish kingdom a constitution in the same 1815 to the displeasure of Austria and Prussia, who also had Polish subjects. It must also be added that the Congress of Vienna made the city of Krakow with its district a small republic (“free city”) under the protectorate of the three powers that divided Poland among themselves. (This small territory became part of Austria in 1846.)

Tyrol, Salzburg, Lombardy and the old territory of Venice were annexed to or returned to Austria, which together formed the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, the Tarnopol district and Dalmatia. With its western regions, which belonged to the former Holy Roman Empire, Austria was part of the new German Union, in which it was given the chairmanship, and in addition, Tuscany and Parma were given to the members of the dynasty reigning in Austria (the latter to Napoleon's wife Marie-Louise).

Prussia, as well as Austria, included in the German Confederation by those of its provinces that were listed in the old German Empire, regained the possessions beyond the Elbe, lost by it under the Treaty of Tilsit, and part of the Warsaw Grand Duchy, under the name of the Duchy of Poznan, and received again almost half of Saxony and a large territory on the banks of the Rhine, in its middle and lower reaches, where it previously owned only a small territory and where there were possessions of spiritual electors. The new Rhenish Prussia constituted one of the strongholds against France, and between this region and the old parts of the kingdom on the Elbe, Oder and Vistula were some minor German states (Kingdom of Hanover, Hesse-Kassel Electorate, etc.).

Germany was completely reorganized by the Congress of Vienna. Sovereigns Confederation of the Rhine, who profited from mediatization and secularization, in general retained both their possessions and new titles, but received back their lands and those sovereigns whom Napoleon deprived of power, for example, the sovereigns of Hanover, Oldenburg, etc. Instead, however, approximately 360 states that were in the former Germany before the destruction of her French Revolution and Napoleon, now it was ten times smaller, and all these states with the above-mentioned parts of Austria and Prussia, as well as with the duchies of Luxembourg and Holstein, which were subject to one from the king of the Netherlands, the other from the king of Denmark, formed a German Confederation with a permanent Union Diet, chaired by Austria and seated in Frankfurt am Main. The German Confederation consisted of one empire (Austria), five kingdoms (Prussia, Bavaria, Hanover, Saxony and Württemberg), one electorate (Hesse-Kassel or Kurgessen), seven grand duchies, ten duchies, ten principalities and four free cities (Frankfurt- am Main, Hamburg, Lübeck and Bremen). The political unification of Germany, about which the Baron Matte, remained a dream of patriots. All German states were declared sovereign, and the goal of their union was to ensure their external and internal security.

The Congress of Vienna arranged Italy in the following way. In its northern part, the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom was formed, given to Austria, and the Sardinian kingdom, returned to the Savoy dynasty with the addition of the territory of the former Genoese republic, which also became a stronghold against France, from which Savoy was separated in favor of this kingdom. In Central Italy, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, given to his brother Austrian emperor, and the Papal States, and to the north of them lay the small duchies of Modena, Lucca and Parma, given to members of the Bourbon-Spanish and Austrian houses. In the south, in the Kingdom of Naples, at the cost of betraying Napoleon, his son-in-law, Joachim Murat, held out in 1814, but during the Hundred Days he went over to the side of Napoleon and decided to fight with Austria for the independence and unification of Italy. After the victory of the Austrians over him, the Kingdom of Naples was returned to the legitimate Bourbon dynasty, which continued to reign in Sicily in the Napoleonic era under the protection of the English fleet; in other words, in southern Italy the former kingdom of the Two Sicilies was now fully restored.

Europe after the Congress of Vienna. Map

It has already been mentioned above that the Congress of Vienna created a kind of stronghold on the borders of France from the Kingdom of Sardinia and Prussia by the Rhine. This cordon also included Switzerland, which was declared an eternally neutral state, and the new Kingdom of the Netherlands, composed of Holland and Belgium under supreme authority The House of Orange, to which Luxembourg in Germany was also given.

On the Iberian Peninsula, no changes were made to the borders, and everything was limited to the restoration of the Bourbons in Spain, and the House of Braganza in Portugal.

But important changes have taken place in the Scandinavian north. Norway was taken from Denmark and given to Sweden, whose king, however, had, as a result of the resistance shown by the Norwegians to a simple annexation, to recognize for their country the position of a separate kingdom under his rule, but with its restriction by a democratic constitution (1814). Recall at the same time that Holstein belonged to the Danish king in Germany.

Finally, England emerged from the struggle with Napoleon with colonial acquisitions. In Europe, she kept Malta and acquired a protectorate over the Ionian Islands, turned into a republic. to the English king the principality of Hanover, which belonged to him in Germany, was returned, significantly enlarged and elevated to the rank of a kingdom.

Such were the territorial changes, partly created, partly only recognized by the Congress of Vienna, which concluded the period of wars and ushered in an era of lasting peace. With very few exceptions, the new map Western Europe remained unchanged until 1859.

Congress of Vienna - international congress that ended the Napoleonic wars; took place in Vienna in September 1814 - June 1815. It was attended by representatives of all European states, except Turkey. The former dynasties were restored, the borders were revised and fixed, a number of treaties were concluded, resolutions and declarations were adopted, which were included in the General Act and annexes. The system of relations between the leading European states, developed at the Congress of Vienna, lasted until the second half of XIX in. Already after the end of the congress, on September 26, 1815, Russia, Austria and Prussia signed in Paris an act on the formation of the Holy Alliance.

the Vienna Congress of 1814-1815, the international congress that ended the wars of the coalitions of European powers against Napoleonic France; was convened on the initiative of the victorious powers - Russia, England, Austria and Prussia, to-rye carried out the actual. guidance to them.

Held in Vienna from September 1814 to June 1815. Representatives of all European countries took part in V. to. powers other than Turkey. The goals of V. to. were: the restoration of the feuds, the orders liquidated during the Great French. revolution and Napoleonic wars; restoration of a number of overthrown dynasties; fight against revolution. and nat.-liberate, by movement; the creation of stable guarantees preventing the resumption in France of the Bonapartist regime and attempts to conquer Europe; satisfaction ter. the claims of the victors of Napoleon by redistributing Europe and the colonies. On a number of issues, the goals of the participants in the V. to. did not coincide. England sought to trade and economic. domination in Europe, to the strengthening of Prussia in opposition to both France and Russia, the creation of a barrier from neighboring states near the borders of France and the preservation of the invaders. her during the French wars. and goal. colonies. Austria did everything possible to prevent the strengthening of Russia and Prussia and to ensure its hegemony in Germany. The Prussian policy was based on the desire to get Saxony and strategically important lands on the Rhine, which did not meet the interests of Austria and France, who preferred to see Saxony as an independent buffer near the borders of Prussia. Russia intended to create a Kingdom of Poland under its own auspices, which caused discontent in England, Austria and France and brought these powers closer in positions of opposition to Russia. The contradictions between the allies skillfully took advantage of the head of the French. the delegation of Talleyrand, who achieved the promotion of France to the number of leading states. Jan 3 1815 England, Austria and France signed a secret treaty against Prussia and Russia. These two countries had no choice but to make concessions on the Polish-Saxon issue. When solving the Italian question, Austria sought to establish its dominance in Italy and suppress any tendencies towards its unification. Austria was actively supported by England. When the work of V. k. was nearing the end, the news came of the landing of Napoleon in France on March 1, 1815 (see "One Hundred Days"). The members of the congress stopped the disputes and created a new coalition against Napoleon. The Great Revolution, which culminated in the signing of the final (general) act on June 9, 1815, redrawn the map of Europe, disregarding the national interests of the peoples of Europe. It provided for the deprivation of France of conquests and the creation of barrier states near its borders. The strongest barrier against France was the Rhine provinces of Prussia. Switzerland was strengthened by expanding its borders and incorporating strategically important mountain passes into its composition. The Kingdom of Sardinia was restored in northwestern Italy, and Austrian Lombardy and Venice played the role of bridgeheads against France east of it. The former Grand Duchy of Warsaw (received the name of the Kingdom of Poland) went to Russia, except for Thorn, Poznan, Vost. Galicia and Krakow with the district, to-rum was. given the status of a "free city". Austria again established its dominance in the North-East. Italy, received Vost. Galicia and secured the dominant influence in the newly formed German Confederation, created primarily to repel a possible French attack. Prussia acquired the sowing. part of Saxony, Poznan, as well as extensive ter. on the left bank of the Rhine and most of Westphalia - important in the economy. and strategist, regarding the area of Germany. As a result of acquisitions in the west, Prussia began to border on France and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, formed by the union of Belgium and Holland. But ter. Prussia turned out to be consisting of two divided parts. In the future, this gave her additional arguments to justify her expansionist policy. Prussia also received Fr. Rügen and Swede. Pomerania (see Kiel peace treaties 1814), Norway was given to Sweden. Italy was fragmented. on a number of individual state-in. V. to. legalized the colony, the seizures of England, which secured part of the colonies of Holland and France (the island of Malta, the Cape colony in southern Africa, the island of Ceylon). In conclusion, the general act of V. to. as appendices included: Declaration on the cessation of the slave trade; Decree on free navigation on rivers; position regarding diplomacy. agencies (Vienna Regulation); Act on the constitution of the German Union and other documents. The system of relations created by V. K. was supplemented by the formation of the “Holy Alliance” (1815), concluded by the reactionary. pr-you European. state-in to strengthen the fight against the revolution. and national-liberate. movements. Nov. 1815 the second Peace of Paris was signed. Engels wrote that “after 1815, in all countries, the anti-revolutionary party held the reins of government in its hands. Feudal aristocrats ruled in all offices from London to Naples, from Lisbon to St. Petersburg ”(Marx K., Engels F. Soch. Ed. 2nd. Vol. 2, pp. 573-574). The first feels. blows to the system of the Vienna treaties of 1815 were inflicted by revolutions in France, Spain, Portugal and southern Italy in the beginning. 30s 19th century led to its final downfall Crimean War(1853-1856), the reunification of Italy (1860-61) and the unification of Germany (1866-71).

S. I. Povalnikov.

Materials of the Soviet military encyclopedia in 8 volumes, volume 2.

Literature:

Marx K. The question of the Ionian Islands.-Marx K., Engels F. Soch. Ed. 2nd. T. 12, p. 682;

Engels F. The role of violence in history. - Right there. T. 21, p. 421;

History of diplomacy. Ed. 2nd. T. 1. M., 1959;

Narochnitsky A. L. International relations of European states from 1794 to 1830, M-, 1946;

3ak L. A. Monarchs against the peoples. Diplomat fighting on the ruins of the Napoleonic army. M., 1966.

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Congress of Vienna 1814-1815 - An international congress held in Vienna from September 18, 1814 to June 9, 1815, which ended the wars of the coalition of European powers with Napoleonic France.

At the Congress of Vienna, negotiations were underway on a new political and territorial structure of Europe after the deposition of Napoleon I.

The congress was attended by 216 representatives of all European countries, with the exception of Turkey. The leading role was played by Russia (Alexander I), Great Britain (Foreign Minister R. S. Castlereagh), Austria (Franz I, Foreign Minister K. L. Metternich) and Prussia (Chancellor K. A. Hardenberg).

The leaders of the congress defended the principle of "legitimism", that is, the restoration of the rights of monarchs who had lost their possessions. The participants in the congress were interested in weakening France and making it impossible to revive Napoleonic Empire.

At the Congress of Vienna, a number of treaties were concluded, declarations and resolutions were adopted, a significant part of which was included in final act Congress of Vienna (06/09/1815). As a result, Europe was for the first time covered by a system of general treaties that lasted until ser. 19th century.

There were serious disagreements between the victorious powers, mainly on the Polish and Saxon issues. An acute diplomatic struggle dragged out the work of the congress. These disagreements were taken advantage of by the representative of France, Sh.M. Talleyrand, who won the right to participate in negotiations on an equal footing with the four allies, which meant the recognition of France as one of the great powers.

The Congress of Vienna redrawn the map of Europe. France was supposed to return to the borders of 1792. The so-called "barrier" states were formed around it. The Southern Netherlands (future Belgium) and the Netherlands were merged into the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The borders of Switzerland were expanded, the Swiss Confederation of 19 cantons was proclaimed an eternally neutral state. Poland was divided between Russia, which received most of the former Duchy of Warsaw, Prussia and Austria. In connection with the liquidation of the Holy Roman Empire on August 6, 1806, a new association of states was created in Germany - the German Union (June 8, 1815), in which the predominant influence of Austria was ensured. Prussia received almost half of Saxony, the Rhine province and part of Westphalia, which significantly strengthened its position. In Italy, the Sardinian kingdom was restored, to which Savoy and Nice were returned. Austria received Venice and Lombardy, and the duchies of Tuscany, Parma and Modena became the property of the offspring of the House of Habsburg, which ensured the actual dominance of Austria over parts of Italy. The Congress of Vienna restored the Church State (Papal States). From Denmark, a former ally of Napoleon, Norway was separated, which joined Sweden on the basis of a personal union. Congress legalized the colonial conquests made by the British during the war. England retained its commercial and maritime dominance. In November 1815, after the Battle of Waterloo, a new four-power treaty was concluded with France, which reduced it to the borders of 1790 and obliged it to pay an indemnity.

The Final Act of the Congress of Vienna included 17 annexes, including the Declaration on the Cessation of the Slave Trade.

The decisions of the Congress of Vienna consolidated the fragmentation of Germany, Italy and Poland. At the same time, the congress ensured for a certain time the balance of power of the leading European powers. To fight the national liberation and revolutionary movement The system of relations created by the Congress of Vienna was supplemented on September 26, 1815 by the Holy Alliance, which included all European states, with the exception of England and the Papal States.

Settlement of disputes about the political structure of Europe

Congress of Vienna (1814-1815), a peace conference of European states in Vienna in September 1814 - June 1815 to resolve the political situation in Europe in the face of the defeat of Napoleonic France. Convened under the terms of the Paris Treaty of May 30, 1814 between France and the Sixth Coalition (Russia, Great Britain, Austria, Prussia), which was later joined by Spain, Portugal and Sweden.

In September 1814, preliminary negotiations were held in Vienna between the victorious countries, which made an attempt to work out a common position before the start of the Congress; Russia was represented by Emperor Alexander I and diplomats Prince A. K. Razumovsky and Count K. V. Nesselrode, Austria by Emperor Franz I and Foreign Minister Prince K. L. W. Metternich, Great Britain by Foreign Minister Lord R. S. Castlereagh , Prussia - Chancellor K. A. Hardenberg and Minister of Education and Cult K. V. Humboldt. The negotiations, however, ended in failure due to serious contradictions between the participants. Russia claimed the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, formed by Napoleon in 1807-1809 from the Polish lands belonging to Austria and Prussia, but such a strengthening of Russia did not meet the interests of its allies. Prussia intended to annex Saxony, allied to Napoleon, but this was strongly opposed by Austria, who intended to turn Germany into a federation of monarchies under her rule; the Austrian Habsburgs also planned to establish their hegemony in Italy. The allies were united in only one thing - to deprive France of its leading role in Europe and reduce its territory to the borders of 1792. On September 22, they agreed to remove France, along with Spain, Portugal and Sweden, from real participation in the work of the Congress. But the French delegation, which arrived in Vienna on September 23, headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Ch.-M. Talleyrand managed to achieve full participation in the negotiations.

The Congress opened in early November 1814; it was attended by 450 diplomats from 126 European states, with the exception of Turkey. Decisions were made at meetings of representatives of the five powers (Russia, Great Britain, Prussia, Austria, France) or in special bodies - the Committee on German Affairs (established on October 14), the Committee on Swiss Affairs (November 14), the Statistical Commission (December 24), etc. .d.

The main and most acute issue was the Polish-Saxon one. Even at the stage of preliminary negotiations (September 28), Russia and Prussia concluded a secret agreement, according to which Russia was obliged to support Prussian claims to Saxony in exchange for supporting its claims to the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. But these plans ran into opposition from France, who did not want the expansion of Prussian influence in Northern Germany. Appealing to the principle of legitimism (restoration of legal rights), Sh.-M. Talleyrand attracted Austria and the small German states to his side. Under pressure from the French, the British government also changed its position in favor of the Saxon king Frederick-August I. In response, Russia withdrew its occupation troops from Saxony and handed it over to Prussia (November 10). There was a threat of a split in the Sixth Coalition and a military conflict between Russia and Prussia with Great Britain, Austria and France. On December 7, the German states made a collective protest against the Prussian occupation of Saxony. Then Russia and Prussia proposed the creation of a state on the left bank of the Rhine under the rule of Frederick-August I as compensation for his abandonment of Saxony, but this project was strongly rejected by the rest of the Congress. January 3, 1815 R. S. Castlereagh, C. L. Metternich and S.-M. Talleyrand concluded a secret treaty providing for concerted action in the Polish-Saxon issue. Russia and Prussia had to make concessions, and by February 10, the parties reached a compromise solution.

The subject of discussion at the Congress were other important issues - the political structure of Germany and the borders German states, the status of Switzerland, the political situation in Italy, navigation on international rivers (Rhine, Meuse, Moselle, etc.), trade in blacks. Russia's attempt to raise the question of the position of the Christian population in Ottoman Empire and on granting her the right to intervene in his defense did not meet with the understanding of other powers.

One of the most difficult was the question of the Kingdom of Naples. France demanded to deprive the Napoleonic marshal I. Murat of the Neapolitan throne and restore the local branch of the Bourbon dynasty; she managed to win Great Britain over to her side. However, the plans to overthrow Murat were opposed by Austria, which in January 1814 guaranteed the inviolability of his possessions as a price for betraying Napoleon and for going over to the side of the Sixth Coalition.

March 1, 1815 Napoleon, leaving the place of his exile on Fr. Elba, landed in France. On March 13, the participating powers of the Peace of Paris outlawed it and promised assistance to the legitimate King Louis XVIII. However, already on March 20, the Bourbon regime fell; Murat, breaking off relations with the allies, invaded the Papal States. On March 25, Russia, Great Britain, Austria and Prussia formed the Seventh Anti-French Coalition. Napoleon's attempt to split it and negotiate with Alexander I failed. On April 12, Austria declared war on Murat and quickly defeated his army; On May 19, the power of the Bourbons was restored in Naples. On June 9, representatives of the eight powers signed the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna.

Under its terms, Russia received most of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. Prussia abandoned the Polish lands, retaining only Poznan, but acquired Northern Saxony, a number of regions on the Rhine (Rhine Province), Swedish Pomerania and about. Rügen. Southern Saxony remained under the rule of Friedrich August I. In Germany, instead of the Holy Roman Empire, which was abolished by Napoleon in 1806 and consisted of almost two thousand states, the German Confederation arose, which included 35 monarchies and 4 free cities, under the leadership of Austria. Austria regained Eastern Galicia, Salzburg, Lombardy, Venice, Tyrol, Trieste, Dalmatia and Illyria; the thrones of Parma and Tuscany were occupied by representatives of the House of Habsburg; the Kingdom of Sardinia was restored, to which Genoa was transferred and Savoy and Nice were returned. Switzerland received the status of an eternally neutral state, and its territory expanded at the expense of Wallis, Geneva and Neufchatel. Denmark lost Norway, which passed to Sweden, but received Lauenburg and two million thalers for this. Belgium and Holland formed the kingdom of the Netherlands under the rule of the Orange dynasty; Luxembourg entered its composition on the basis of a personal union. England secured the Ionian Islands and about. Malta, in the West Indies Saint Lucia and about. Tobago, in the Indian Ocean, the Seychelles and about. Ceylon, in Africa the Cape Colony; she achieved a complete ban on the slave trade.

The borders of France were established already after the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo (June 18) and the restoration of the Bourbons (July 8): The Second Peace of Paris on November 20, 1815 returned it to the borders of 1790.

The Congress of Vienna was the first attempt to establish a lasting peace in Europe on the basis of a collective agreement of all European states; concluded contracts could not be terminated unilaterally, but they could be changed with the consent of all participants. To guarantee European borders in September 1815, Russia, Austria and Prussia created the Holy Alliance, which France joined in November. The Vienna system ensured a long period of peace and relative stability in Europe. However, it was vulnerable, since it proceeded more from a political-dynastic rather than a national principle and ignored the essential interests of many European peoples (Belgians, Poles, Germans, Italians); it consolidated the fragmentation of Germany and Italy under the hegemony of the Austrian Habsburgs; Prussia was divided into two parts (western and eastern), which were in a hostile environment.

The Vienna system began to crumble in 1830–1831, when an insurgent Belgium seceded from the Kingdom of the Netherlands and gained independence. The final blow was dealt to her by the Austro-Franco-Sardinian War of 1859, the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and Franco-Prussian War 1870, as a result of which the united Italian and German states arose.

VIENNA CONGRESS(1814-1815), a peace conference of European states in Vienna in September 1814 - June 1815 to resolve the political situation in Europe in the face of the defeat of Napoleonic France. Convened under the terms of the Paris Treaty of May 30, 1814 between France and the Sixth Coalition (Russia, Great Britain, Austria, Prussia), which was later joined by Spain, Portugal and Sweden.

In September 1814, preliminary negotiations were held in Vienna between the victorious countries, which made an attempt to work out a common position before the start of the Congress; Russia was represented by Emperor Alexander I and diplomats Prince A.K. Razumovsky and Count K.V. Nesselrode, Austria by Emperor Franz I and Foreign Minister Prince K.L.W. , Prussia - Chancellor K.A. Hardenberg and Minister of Education and Cult K.W. Humboldt. The negotiations, however, ended in failure due to serious contradictions between the participants. Russia claimed the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, formed by Napoleon in 1807-1809 from the Polish lands belonging to Austria and Prussia, but such a strengthening of Russia did not meet the interests of its allies. Prussia intended to annex Saxony, allied to Napoleon, but this was strongly opposed by Austria, who intended to turn Germany into a federation of monarchies under her rule; the Austrian Habsburgs also planned to establish their hegemony in Italy. The allies were united in only one thing - to deprive France of its leading role in Europe and reduce its territory to the borders of 1792. On September 22, they agreed to remove France, along with Spain, Portugal and Sweden, from real participation in the work of the Congress. But the French delegation, which arrived in Vienna on September 23, headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Ch.-M. Talleyrand, managed to achieve full participation in the negotiations.

The main and most acute issue was the Polish-Saxon one. Even at the stage of preliminary negotiations (September 28), Russia and Prussia concluded a secret agreement, according to which Russia was obliged to support Prussian claims to Saxony in exchange for supporting its claims to the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. But these plans ran into opposition from France, who did not want the expansion of Prussian influence in Northern Germany. Appealing to the principle of legitimism (restoration of legal rights), Ch.-M. Talleyrand attracted Austria and small German states to his side. Under pressure from the French, the British government also changed its position in favor of the Saxon king Frederick-August I. In response, Russia withdrew its occupation troops from Saxony and handed it over to Prussia (November 10). There was a threat of a split in the Sixth Coalition and a military conflict between Russia and Prussia with Great Britain, Austria and France. On December 7, the German states made a collective protest against the Prussian occupation of Saxony. Then Russia and Prussia proposed the creation of a state on the left bank of the Rhine under the rule of Frederick-August I as compensation for his abandonment of Saxony, but this project was strongly rejected by the rest of the Congress. January 3, 1815 R. S. Castlereagh, K. L. Metternich and S.-M. Talleyrand concluded a secret agreement providing for coordinated actions in the Polish-Saxon issue. Russia and Prussia had to make concessions, and by February 10, the parties reached a compromise solution.

The subject of discussion at the Congress were other important issues - the political structure of Germany and the borders of the German states, the status of Switzerland, the political situation in Italy, shipping on international rivers (Rhine, Meuse, Moselle, etc.), the trade of blacks. Russia's attempt to raise the issue of the position of the Christian population in the Ottoman Empire and to grant it the right to intervene in its defense did not meet with the understanding of other powers.

On March 1, 1815, Napoleon, having left his place of exile on the island of Elba, landed in France. On 13 March, the participating powers of the Peace of Paris outlawed it and promised aid to the legitimate King Louis XVIII. However, already on March 20, the Bourbon regime fell; Murat, breaking off relations with the allies, invaded the Papal States. On March 25, Russia, Great Britain, Austria and Prussia formed the Seventh Anti-French Coalition. Napoleon's attempt to split it and negotiate with Alexander I failed. On April 12, Austria declared war on Murat and quickly defeated his army; On May 19, the power of the Bourbons was restored in Naples. On June 9, representatives of the eight powers signed the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna.

Under its terms, Russia received most of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. Prussia abandoned the Polish lands, retaining only Poznan, but acquired Northern Saxony, a number of regions on the Rhine (Rhine Province), Swedish Pomerania and the island of Rügen. Southern Saxony remained under the rule of Friedrich August I. In Germany, instead of the Holy Roman Empire, which was abolished by Napoleon in 1806 and consisted of almost two thousand states, the German Confederation arose, which included 35 monarchies and 4 free cities, under the leadership of Austria. Austria took back Eastern Galicia, Salzburg, Lombardy, Venice, Tyrol, Trieste, Dalmatia and Illyria; the thrones of Parma and Tuscany were occupied by representatives of the House of Habsburg; the Kingdom of Sardinia was restored, to which Genoa was transferred and Savoy and Nice were returned. Switzerland received the status of an eternally neutral state, and its territory expanded at the expense of Wallis, Geneva and Neufchatel. Denmark lost Norway, which passed to Sweden, but received Lauenburg and two million thalers for this. Belgium and Holland formed the kingdom of the Netherlands under the rule of the Orange dynasty; Luxembourg entered its composition on the basis of a personal union. England secured the Ionian Islands and about. Malta, in the West Indies, Saint Lucia and Tobago, in the Indian Ocean, the Seychelles and Ceylon, in Africa, the Cape Colony; she achieved a complete ban on the slave trade.

The Vienna system began to crumble in 1830–1831, when an insurgent Belgium seceded from the Kingdom of the Netherlands and gained independence. The Austro-Franco-Sardinian War of 1859, the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 dealt the final blow to it, as a result of which the united Italian and German states arose.

Ivan Krivushin