Concert of Europe
Encyclopedia : C : CO : CON : Concert of Europe
The Concert of Europe describes the broad cooperation between Europe's great powers after 1815. Its purpose was to maintain the peace settlement concluded at the Congress of Vienna following the defeat of Napoleonic France. The Concert of Europe was also known as the Congress System, a method of collective security promoted by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich and the Viscount Castlereagh, among others. Specifically, the aim of the Concert of Europe was for the leading nations in Europe - Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia - to work together to prevent the outbreak of revolution in each nation.
History
The French Revolution of 1789 spurred a great fear among the leading powers in Europe. The Revolution instilled great fear of the lower classes violently rising against the Old Regime. After the defeat of Napoleon I of France in 1814, the Great Powers at the time, Austria, Prussia, Russia, Great Britain, and the newly restored Bourbon dynasty in France convened at the Congress of Vienna to discuss issues concerning Europe. It represented a shift toward international cooperation in Europe on a level never before seen. The long lasting effect of the Congress led to further congresses at Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) in 1818, Troppau in 1820, Laibach in 1821 (really just a continuation of Troppau as they had dismissed for Christmas holidays), and Verona in 1822. All led to cooperation between the major powers to solve the pressing issues (mainly suppressing revolutions against monarchs) at the time. However, the Congress System began to deteriorate with Britain removing itself and a bitter debate over the Greek War of Independence. Even though one more Congress was held between the five major powers at St. Petersburg in 1825, the Congress system had already broken down. Despite that, the "Great Powers" continued to meet and mainted peace in Europe. It started a framework of international diplomacy and negotiation in a continent torn by war. One good example of this is in 1827 when the Great Powers joined in the Battle of Navarino to defeat the Ottoman Empire.
Varying Perspectives
The Concert was divided throughout by the differing ideological perspectives of its principal participants. While the Continental powers sought to maintain the political status quo in western and central Europe to the extent of armed intervention against revolutionary outbreaks which might threaten conservative order, British statesmen from the 1820s pursued a less reactionary policy, notably in opposing any threat to the revolutions against Spanish and Portuguese rule in Latin America. Britain similarly stood aside from the Continental monarchies' authorization of Austrian military intervention in the 1821 Italian Carbonari insurrections and French intervention in Spain in 1823. The July Revolution of 1830 eroded the unity of the Continental powers by bringing France under a more liberal monarchy.
Results of the Concert
The Concert's principal accomplishments were the securing of the independence of Greece (1830) and Belgium (1831). In 1840 the powers (except France) intervened in defense of the Ottoman Empire (against which they had supported Greece) to end Egypt's eight-year occupation of Syria.
The Demise of the Concert
Fatally weakened by the European revolutionary upheavals of 1848 with their demands for revision of the Vienna frontiers along national lines, the last vestiges of the Concert expired amid successive wars between its participants - the Crimean War (1854-56), the Franco-Austrian War (1859), the Austro-Prussian War (1866) and the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71).
See also
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.