6. If I was put into France’s point of view, I would personally think that some of the Congress of Vienna’s decisions weren’t the fairest. In 1814-1815, after the downfall of Napoleon, representatives from the five “great powers” met to establish long-lasting peace and stability. The three goals of the Congress of Vienna were to surround France with strong countries, to prevent French aggression. The next step of the congress was to restore a balance of power, so that no country would be a threat to others. The main concern of this action, was what they were going to do to France.
They couldn’t severely punish France because it would encourage them to take revenge. As a result, France remained a major but diminished European power. While France’s power diminished, Britain and Prussia’s power increased. This made it so no European country could easily overpower another. The third and final concern was to resort Europe’s royal families to the thrones they had held before Napoleon’s conquest. This was called principle of legitimacy, agreeing that as many of the rulers that Napoleon had driven from their thrones be restored to power.
The participants of the congress believe that the return of the former monarchs would stabilize political relations among the nations. The Congress of Vienna was a political triumph in many ways. It was the first time the nations of a continent had cooperated to control political affairs. The Congress of Vienna created a time of peace in Europe. While the Congress of Vienna was a success, some of the decisions caused great division in France. The rulers of Europe were concerned about the legacy of the French Revolution, and the ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity ould encourage revolutions elsewhere.
Finally a series of alliances called the Concert of Europe ensured the nations would help one another if any relations broke out. Across Europe, conservatives held firm control of the governments, but could not contain that ideas of the French Revolution. This is what ultimately divided France. While conservatives were happy with the monarchy of Louis XVIII, the liberals wanted the king to share more power with the legislature. And many people in the lower classes, stayed committed to the ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity.
While many of Napoleon’s decisions were based off of greed and caused great trouble around Europe, many of his actions as first consul were for the better of France. Such as, creating a stable economy and having a uniform taxing system to create equality, setting up lycees, and establishing the Napoleonic Code. I agree with the people of the lower classes, to have had fought and established ideals, that opened equal opportunities for people of all classes, and have those completely dismissed out of fear would’ve had me believing that the Congress of Vienna was unfair.
This division of beliefs and ideas wasn’t just happening in France, it was happening in other countries as well. This contributed directly to revolutions in 1830 and 1848. Despite their efforts to undo the French Revolution, the leaders could not rewrite the past. The Revolution had given Europe its first experience in a democratic government. Although it failed, it set up new political ideas and beliefs of the people. As much as the Congress of Vienna tried to prevent this from happening, the basis of power and authority had changed permanently because of the revolution.
Many people saw democracy as the best way to ensure equality and justice for all. The French Revolution had changed the social attitudes and assumptions that had dominated Europe for centuries. 7. Liberals and conservatives differed over who should have power for many reasons. A liberal is defined as someone who is open to new opinions and behavior and are willing to discard traditional values. Liberals also are in favor for maximum individual rights and freedoms. On the other hand, conservatives are defined as someone who is averse to change and innovation. A conservative holds traditional values and attitudes.
Liberals and conservatives differ about many decisions because their beliefs are complete opposites. In this case, they disagreed about who should have power after the Congress of Vienna. The conservatives supported the ways of a monarch as it was before rule of Napoleon. Conservatives also held firm control of the governments, and were happy with the monarchy of Louis XVIII and were determined to make it last. The conservatives were completely opposed to the ideas of the revolution which included, equality, liberty, and fraternity and the experience of democracy.
While the liberals weren’t completely thrilled with the ways of the king, they had hopes that he would share more power with the legislature. Also, the liberals had no opposition for the ways of the revolution and welcomed the change. The ideas of the equality, liberty, and fraternity were feared by the conservatives and that these ideas would cause another revolution and bring up more change. On the other hand, the liberals welcomed these ideas because of the change and the fact they could enable individual freedom and rights for people of all classes.
The disagreement of who should have power between these two groups were caused by their beliefs and the ideas that they wanted to be put into action. Ultimately, the disagreements between these groups led to great divisions in many countries and would start new revolutions in 1830 and 1848. The French Revolution had changed the basis of power and authority forever. More people saw democracy as a way to ensure equality and justice for all. Change was coming and a new era had started, no matter how much people disagreed about how things should be then, they could not change what happened in the past.
I believe that the statement “The French Revolution let the genie out of bottle,” means that the revolution opened up new opportunities for the people, and that their concepts they hoped for were “granted. ” While many of Napoleon’s decisions were based off of greed and caused great trouble around Europe, many of his actions as first consul during the revolution were for the better of France. Such as, creating a stable economy and having a uniform taxing system to create equality, setting up lycees, and establishing the Napoleonic Code. These actions brought up new concepts and ideas, that people only hoped for.
The three main ideals that the French Revolution brought up were liberty, equality, and fraternity. In some ways, these ideas act as the three wishes that were granted during the n. The idea of liberty was a dream come true for people of lower classes. Liberty would enable them not to be judged based off of their social status and wouldn’t be faced with prejudice everyday. Equality was an idea people still wish for in today’s society. Equality during this time would grant people new opportunities. People of every class were able to attend lycees and were given opportunities at the public office based off of merit not connections.
Equality also caused a uniform tax system and laws. The last idea that was granted was fraternity. Although fraternity is a concept that people all over the world still work on today, the French Revolution took a big step for the idea of fraternity for all. The French Revolution made these three wishes possible for people. Although, these concepts were feared of by leaders after the Congress of Vienna, more and more people started to support these ideas. No matter how hard the leaders tried, these concepts were going to change Europe as they knew it and there was no stopping it.
