6:The Concert of Europe and the 19th century balance of power

Question 1

who were the great powers in 1815?

Answer 1

France
Britain
Austro-Hungarian Habsburg empire
Russia
Prussia

Question 2

France as a power in 1815.

Answer 2

defeated but still regarded as a front-rank military power

Question 3

Britain as a power in 1815

Answer 3

-the dominant industrial, economic and naval power
-doesnt project a lot of military power at this point

Question 4

the Habsburg empire as a power in 1815

Answer 4

-militarily week, but a central diplomatic actor
-political capital as it was in Central Europe

Question 5

Russia as a power in 1815?

Answer 5

-Economically backwards
-a great power just by the size of her armies
-low levels of industrialisation/agricultural
-demographic capacity for large armies/can cope with large losses

Question 6

Prussia as a power in 1815

Answer 6

-regarded as the weakest
-had great industrial/military potential

Question 7

when was the Congress of Vienna?

Answer 7

1814-1815

Question 8

purpose of the Congress of Vienna

Answer 8

A diplomatic conference to determine the nature of post-napoleonic Europe

Question 9

what were the Key territorial and political issues for the Congress of Vienna?

Answer 9

-containment of French power
-Russia wanted an independent Poland, congress decided to split is between Russia and Prussia
-political structure to organise German states

Question 10

why did Russia want an independent Poland?

Answer 10

something they could dominate by sphere of influence

Question 11

why did the Congress see the organisation of small German states as an issue?

Answer 11

they were all small, weak states, more power if unified

Question 12

How did the Congress of Vienna change the balance of power in Europe?

Answer 12

-it consolidated 300+ pre-Napoleonic German states into the German confederation
- it was powerful enough as a force to stop French expansionism, but not destabilise Europe itself

Question 13

Aix-la-Chapelle conference

Answer 13

1818
restored France’s status as a great power

Question 14

what did the Great powers want to do from 1815?

Answer 14

Maintain international peace and stability through conference diplomacy

Question 15

Major conferences, where and when

Answer 15

Carlsbad-1819
Troppau-1820
Laibach-1821
Verona-1822
London-1830 & 1832

Question 16

what were the key principles of the concert system?

Answer 16

1.The great powers should work together to maintain the post-1815 status quo
2. respect for treaties
3. willingness to enforce decisions of the majority by group action

Question 17

Role of the concert system in 1820-22

Answer 17

France and Austria suppressed revolts in Spain, Naples and Piedmont

Question 18

Wars that the concert system had a role in

Answer 18

1821-29: Greek war of independence
Russian-Turkish war: it was initially averted by British-Austrian led conference diplomacy and Russian restraint, only worked temporarily

Question 19

What was the role of the concert system in the Eastern Crisis 1826-29

Answer 19

-Russo-turkish resulted in an ottoman defeat
-negotiated peace and an independent kingdom of Greece from the ottoman empire

Question 20

what was the role of the concert system in 1830 revolutions across Europe?

Answer 20

the great powers agreed to the establishment of an independent Belgiuma

Question 21

What was the Metternich system?

Answer 21

a conservative order where intervention in the domestic affairs of states was justified to defend the monarchy, and oppose liberalism and nationalism

Question 22

what was the significance of the Metternich system?

Answer 22

it legitimised French intervention in Spain and Austrian Intervention in Italy in 1820s

Question 23

Price Klemens von Metternich

Answer 23

Austrian Foreign Minister 1809-1848
“a very silly man” A.J.P. Taylor

Question 24

when did the effectiveness of the concert system decline/

Answer 24

second half of 19th century
-fall of Metternich (no longer in power)
-european revolutions of 1848
-failure to contain nationalism and liberalism

Question 25

what were the new challenges that made maintaining the balance of power diplomatically, difficult?

Answer 25

the eastern question
The Crimean war
The unification of Italy
The unification of Germany

Question 26

why did both, the Unification of Italy and the Unification of Germany, cause the decline of the concert system?

Answer 26

both changed the distribution of power fundamentally in Europe

Question 27

1848 Revolutions in Europe

Answer 27

• a wave of liberal, nationalist revolutions swept the continent
  -but divisions between middle and working class reformers allowed a revival of conservative elites and regimes

Question 28

Great power responses to the 1848 revolutions in Europe

Answer 28

• Britain & Russia exerted strong diplomatic influence to preserve peace
  -Austria & Prussia eliminated Feudalism by 1850
  -France retained universal male suffrage
  -1867 Ausgleich: Habsburg empire granted more self-determination to Hungary

Question 29

what was the eastern question?

Answer 29

what would happen to the balance of power if the Ottoman Empire collapsed?

Question 30

what impact did the eastern question have on the Concert system?

Answer 30

potential cause for great power conflict if the Ottoman Empire declined in the face of European encroachment-especially Russian

Question 31

Events in the east as a result of the weakening Ottoman Empire

Answer 31

1921-29: Greek war of independence
1853-56: Crimean war-attempt to prevent Russian influence in the Balkans
1878: congress of Berlin to determine future of the Balkans

Question 32

what were the consequences of the Crimean war?

Answer 32

-500’000-750’000 dead
-exposed the shortcomings of a british colonial army sent to fight a European war
-Russian expansionist ambitions were checked for the next 20 years
- france gets more military prestige

Question 33

name of the Italian nationalist movement

Answer 33

the Risorgimento

Question 34

aim of Giuseppe Mazzini’s Young Italy group

Answer 34

aspired to a united Italy as a republic via political and social reform

Question 35

events of the Italian unification

Answer 35

1859: france and Piedmont evicted Austria from Lombardy
1860: Garibaldi’s victories in the south established a new kingdom of Italy
1866: Italy seized Venetia
1870:Rome incorporated into newly united Italy

Question 36

events of German unification

Answer 36

1864: Danish-prussian war
1866: Austro-prussian war
1866: North German confederation
1870-71:Franco-Prussian war

Question 37

what did the Franco-Prussian war result in?

Answer 37

Prussia’s Wilhelm I becoming the first German emperor (kaiser)

Question 38

what did the unification of Germany mean for the balance of power in europe?

Answer 38

the centre of europe was dominated by a single, large powerful nation-state for the first time in the modern era

Question 39

who was Bismarck?

Answer 39

German Chancellor, 1871-90

Question 40

Key points of Bismarck’s Diplomacy

Answer 40

-prioritise European balance that ensures German security
-little interest in colonial expansion
-fear of Franco-russian alliance against Germany- two front war
-German-russian-austro-hungarian Dreikaiserbund (league of 3 emperors)

Question 41

Why was Bismarck ousted in 1890?

Answer 41

-forced to resign 2 years into the reign of Wilhelm II, who was in favour of a more ambitious global foreign policy

Question 42

what was the name of Wilhelm II’s foreign policy

Answer 42

Weltpolitik