Capítulo 12: Chapter 12: Congress of Vienna.

The Congress of Vienna

"The Congress of Vienna does not walk, but it dances." -Charles-Joseph, seventh prince-bishop of Liège.

After the death of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna was convened to decide the future of Europe. It can be considered the greatest victory of the reactionary forces. The flames of the French Revolution had been extinguished, and the main demand of the Coalition, led, naturally, by the United Kingdom, was the restoration of the monarchy. Louis XVIII was crowned the new king of France. The Grande Armée, which still numbered in the hundreds of thousands and was loyal to Napoleon and his cause, opposed this, but the new French leaders managed to reach a compromise in the form of a constitutional monarchy, in the British style, much to the dismay of those who hated perfidious Albion.

Louis XVIII's most important priority was obviously to maintain France's power and prestige, but he also wanted to retain some of the territories conquered during the wars. France still had control over large swathes of land in Europe, had numerous puppets, and a huge army. Nevertheless, the king knew he had to make some concessions because he was sitting at the Congress as the loser, not the winner.

As in all congresses in our history, there has been controversy over Vienna. Its effects are still felt worldwide to this day. What we cannot deny, however, is that unlike other Congresses like Cúcuta, it was quite successful. For example, while the resolutions of Cúcuta and the peace only lasted about 13 years (in what is usually called the Latin American Congress), the resolutions of Vienna and the peace in Europe lasted much longer. In fact, no great power clashed again until about 30 years later, and a war as large as the Napoleonic Wars in which all the great powers participated did not take place until the First Great War.

The hot topic of the Congress was France's new borders. The new Kingdom could not endure the same, for it would mean that half of the Iberian Peninsula, the Italian Peninsula, half of Prussia, the Netherlands, and Dalmatia would remain in French hands. Finally, it was decided that in the south France would take Savoy and Nice, but would have to return Corsica. This was more of a blow to French pride, as Corsica was where Napoleon was born.

In the north, Austria lost control of the Austrian Netherlands, which were divided between France and the newly created Kingdom of the Netherlands, granted to William I. The northern part, "Flanders," was handed over to William, while Louis XVIII took the southern part, "Wallonia." There was much controversy over the fate of Brussels, an important city in Flanders that, however, the French claimed. Perfidious Albion saw its opportunity here and arranged that, in exchange for Brussels, France would have to cede Dunkirk, one of its best ports. This was done in such a way that France would lose its ability to match the Royal Navy, a capacity it never had nor would have. Knowing that any attempt to build a navy would meet with extreme violent reaction and therefore considering ports unnecessary at this time, Louis accepted.

In the east, France had to return all the territory it had taken from Prussia, and dreams of a border on the Rhine were crushed. The border was placed in Alsace-Lorraine. There was no attempt to revive the Holy Roman Empire, and the various small German states formed the German Confederation, under the leadership of Austria, to the great displeasure of Prussia. The exception was Luxembourg, which became part of the Netherlands.

mapa-D-1815.gif Map of the German Confederation.

Regarding the Italian peninsula, it was divided between French and Austrian influence. Lombardy and Venice fell under Austria, while France gained influence in Sardinia, Piedmont, and the Papal States. The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies became the largest Italian state, with its monarchy restored under King Ferdinand.

In Eastern Europe, it seemed that everyone wanted to act as if the existence of Poland had never happened. The Duchy of Warsaw was annexed by the Russian Empire, and France could do nothing about it. After that, borders were established both with Prussia and Austria.

In Scandinavia, Denmark was the big loser, with its fleet destroyed, Copenhagen plundered, and Norway seized. Then, Norway was handed over to Sweden, somewhat as a consolation prize for the loss of Finland to Russia.

In the Iberian Peninsula, the French withdrew from Portugal and Spain, and the legitimate kings returned. Spain was especially disillusioned with the outcome because when the war ended, there were still French forces occupying its important cities, and it seemed that guerrilla warfare and destruction were unnecessary. Additionally, Latin America was in revolution, and the tired and ruined Spain had no way to counterattack or supply the royalist armies. When the first significant Spanish relief convoy arrived in Lima, the Colombian Liberation Army was already marching there. Thus, the crown directed its attention to Mexico, where a destructive guerrilla war was being fought, not much different from that in Spain. The Reconquista began.

ferdinand-vii-2-tamaño.jpg King Ferdinand VII. Most of the Juntas of Latin America declared to govern in his name before starting to fight for total independence.

Portugal decided to become the United Kingdom of Portugal and Brazil, with its capital in Rio de Janeiro. This enraged the Portuguese people, especially the elites, who demanded the king's return to the homeland. King John VI denied it, fearing that Brazil would become independent if he left. However, the pressure was greater, and he returned to Portugal to contain a possible revolution. He did not stay there long, just over a year before returning to Brazil, which made the situation in Portugal even more critical. As for Brazil, this halted plans to invade the Eastern Provinces, and the gains made in the invasion during the Wars of Independence were lost. When the king arrived, he found South America at peace, and thanks to Cúcuta, any aggression against La Plata would put Colombia and perhaps even the British against him, so he had to abandon his ambitions.

Finally, what about perfidious Albion? The United Kingdom became the dominant power in the world, ruling the waves and establishing massive influence in the independent Latin American republics, the Iberian Peninsula, and other regions of the world. In addition to the restoration of the monarchy, the United Kingdom also demanded the dissolution of the French navy and prohibited them from building a fleet powerful enough to challenge the Royal Navy. Even then, the French Navy remained the second most powerful navy for a while, but it could have been completely destroyed by a fraction of the RN. Furthermore, the end of the war meant they could focus their attention on the annoying sideshow that was the War of 1814. British power and prestige finally reached their highest point in history. The British Pax had begun.