What was Treaty of Vienna ?

After centuries of almost continuous warfare, Europeans at last enjoyed an extended period of peace. This coincided with the Industrial Revolution and its momentous strides in manufacturing, transportation and communications. Stability on the continent of Europe also meant that European states—for better or for worse—exported their rivalries overseas and created new colonial empires in Africa and Asia.

Almost no part of Europe was left untouched.

Two hundred years ago, European rulers were in the midst of what may well have been the most extravagant celebration in history—the “Congress of Vienna.” After more than two decades of war against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, it was time for the victorious allied sovereigns, their ministers and generals to kick back and enjoy themselves.

The previous May, they had issued an open invitation to all interested parties to send representatives to Vienna, capital of the Austrian Empire, to participate in the reconstruction of Europe.

All across Europe, the Congress statesmen negotiated agreements and drew lines that continue to affect European borders today. They gave Salzburg to Austria, added Geneva to Switzerland, and Genoa to Piedmont.

The previous May, they had issued an open invitation to all interested parties to send representatives to Vienna, capital of the Austrian Empire, to participate in the reconstruction of Europe.

They inserted the new Swiss Constitution into the Vienna Final Act, and guaranteed the Swiss Confederation’s future neutrality. They secured the rebirth of an independent Netherlands, which Napoleon had incorporated into France. During the Congress of Vienna, the Prince of Orange announced he was assuming royal powers. It was during the Congress of Vienna, too, that Norwegians declared their independence.

The previous May, they had issued an open invitation to all interested parties to send representatives to Vienna, capital of the Austrian Empire, to participate in the reconstruction of Europe.

They objected to allied plans to end their dynastic union with Denmark and unite them with Sweden. In the end, Norwegians were forced to submit, but the constitution they drafted in 1814 remains the framework for their government to this day.

The previous May, they had issued an open invitation to all interested parties to send representatives to Vienna, capital of the Austrian Empire, to participate in the reconstruction of Europe.

Congress of Vienna, assembly in 1814–15 that reorganized Europe after the Napoleonic Wars. It began in September 1814, five months after Napoleon I’s first abdication and completed its “Final Act” in June 1815, shortly before the Waterloo campaign and the final defeat of Napoleon.

Hundreds of representatives and their entourages showed up, swelling the population of the walled city along the Danube by more than a third.

The Congress established the principle of the free navigation of European rivers.

Austria, Prussia, Russia, and Great Britain, the four powers that were chiefly instrumental in the overthrow of Napoleon, had concluded a special alliance among themselves with the Treaty of Chaumont, on March 9, 1814, a month before Napoleon’s first abdication.

The subsequent treaties of peace with France, signed on May 30 not only by the “four” but also by Sweden and Portugal and on July 20 by Spain, stipulated that all former belligerents should send plenipotentiaries to a congress in Vienna. Nevertheless, the “four” still intended to reserve the real decision making for themselves.

The Austrian Emperor and his foreign minister, Prince Metternich, played the hosts, and despite the perilous state of imperial finances, they spared no expense in lavishness.

The Congress established the principle of the free navigation of European rivers.

The Russian Tsar and the Kings of Prussia, Denmark, Bavaria and Wurttemberg all resided as special guests in the Hofburg Palace in the heart of Vienna.

The allied powers established the principle of freedom of navigation on major European waterways, and established the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine, arguably the oldest working international commission still in existence.

The Congress set an example of liberal humanitarianism by working towards religious toleration and abolition of the slave trade.

170 new imperial carriages were built just for the occasion, while thousands of sumptuous new uniforms were manufactured to clothe an expanded imperial staff.

Representatives began to arrive in Vienna toward the end of September 1814. All of Europe sent its most-important statesmen. Klemens, prince von Metternich, principal minister of Austria, represented his emperor, Francis II.

Tsar Alexander I of Russia directed his own diplomacy. King Frederick William III of Prussia had Karl, prince von Hardenberg, as his principal minister. Great Britain was represented by its foreign minister, Viscount Castlereagh.

The Congress statesmen opposed religious intolerance and included specific measures in the Vienna Final Act to protect the rights of German Jews.  They also held lengthy discussions on ending the slave trade. A general declaration against the slave trade was issued and the groundwork for its future abolition was laid.

Every night, hundreds of guests ate at the Emperor’s expense.