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The Poland– Further Reading
Saxony Dispute Albrecht-Carrié, R. (1973). A diplomatic history of Europe since the Con-
gress of Vienna. New York: Harper and Row.
A disagreement over eastern Europe very nearly dis-
Alsop, S. (1984). The Congress dances. New York: Harper and Row.
rupted the Congress. Alexander I made clear that he Bertier de Sauvigny, G. (1962). Metternich and his times. London: Dar-
wanted to gain control over all of Poland, including Pol- ton, Longman and Todd.
Bridge, F., & Bullen, R. (1980). The great powers and the European states
ish provinces previously ruled by Prussia. By way of com- system, 1815–1914. New York: Longman.
pensation, the Prussians were to be given the wealthy Chapman, T. (1998). The Congress of Vienna: Origins, processes and
results. New York: Routledge.
German kingdom of Saxony. The Austrians and British
Ferrero, G. (1941). The reconstruction of Europe:Talleyrand and the Con-
protested, fearing the growth of Prussian and Russian gress of Vienna, 1814–1815. New York: Putnam.
power in central and eastern Europe. The dispute soon Grimsted, P. (1969). The foreign ministers of Alexander I: Political atti-
tudes and the conduct of Russian diplomacy, 1801–1825. Berkeley:
escalated to serious proportions. Talleyrand saw an University of California Press.
opportunity to split the victorious alliance and regain Gulick, E. (1955). Europe’s classical balance of power: A case history of
the theory and practise of one of the great concepts of European state-
French influence in Europe. He sided with the British and
craft. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
Austrians, and on 3 January 1815, the three powers Kissinger, H. (1957). A world restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and the
signed a secret alliance. Each signatory pledged 150,000 problems of peace, 1812–1822. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Kraehe, E. (1963). Metternich’s German policy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
troops in the event of war. However, Europe had suffered University Press.
enough war and a compromise was found. Russia gained Nicolson, H. The Congress of Vienna:A study in allied unity: 1812–1822.
London: Constable.
most, but not all, of Poland. Prussia gained about 40 per-
Rich, N. (1992). Great power diplomacy, 1814–1914. New York:
cent of Saxony, with the rest remaining independent. McGraw Hill.
Webster, C. (1931). The foreign policy of Castlereagh, 1812–1815. Lon-
don: G. Bell.
The Final Act and
Long-Term Impact
In late February Napoleon escaped from exile and landed
in France on 1 March 1815. Napoleon forced Louis
XVIII to flee Paris, raised an army, and went to war again Constantine
with the allies. However this had little impact on the Con-
gress of Vienna.The Final Act was signed on 9 June, and the Great
Napoleon was defeated for the last time at the Battle of (reigned 306–337 ce)
Waterloo on 18 June 1815. Roman emperor
Most historians agree that the Congress of Vienna cre-
ated a durable peace in Europe.Although wars broke out hough not baptized as a Christian until he lay upon
among individual European states in the nineteenth cen- This deathbed, for the bulk of his reign Constantine
tury, there was no general war until 1914, a reflection of favored Christians by promoting them into the Imperial
the fact that no one power left Vienna with unresolved administration and giving them a variety of tax breaks
grievances. Britain was arguably the big winner, having and financial incentives—all to the disadvantage of mem-
won dominance over shipping routes all around the bers of other religions (notably the pagans); by presiding
globe, setting the stage for Britain’s remarkable imperial over their Ecumenical Councils and settling doctrinal dis-
expansion in the nineteenth century. putes among them—including the first state-sponsored
persecutions of Christian “heretics”; by restoring and
Paul W. Doerr
building churches (such as the original St. Peter’s in
See also Austro-Hungarian Empire; Napoleonic Empire Rome and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, both