VIENNA (PEACE OF). 



817 



the Netherlands, Denmark, Sardinia, Naples, &c. 

 Gentz drew up the protocol. The five powers 

 which had concluded the peace of Paris, Austria, 

 Prussia, Great Britain, Russia and France, under the 

 presidency of prince Metternich, deliberated on the 

 state of Europe ; in some particular cases, Spain, 

 Portugal and Sweden were admitted to their con- 

 sultations. A committee for the affairs of Germany 

 was formed by Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Hanover 

 and Wiirtemberg, to the deliberations of which also 

 the plenipotentiaries of the other German sovereigns 

 and free cities were subsequently admitted. The 

 settlement of the great variety of interests would 

 have been still more difficult than it was, had not 

 one purpose united all, which was to deprive 

 France of its power of making conquests for the 

 future. Dissensions were several times on the 

 point of breaking out ; but Napoleon's return from 

 Elba reunited the discordant powers, and suddenly 

 induced Austria, Great Britain, Prussia, Russia, 

 France, Spain, Portugal and Sweden to sign the 

 act of the congress, consisting of 121 articles, on 

 June 9, 1815. (See Scholl.) In these articles, 

 the principle of legitimacy was, in general, adopted 

 as the basis for the restoration of the European 

 political system. Austria received the following 

 territories, part of which had been taken from 

 her : the newly-created Lombardo- Venetian king- 

 dom, with the Valteline, besides "three aecundo- 

 geniturce ; Tuscany, Modena, Parma, the new king- 

 dom of Illyria, Venetian Dalmatia, with Ragusa 

 and the Golfo di Cattaro ; further, by treaties with 

 Bavaria, Tyrol and Vorarlberg, Salzburg, as far as 

 the Salza, with other territories which she had lost 

 in 1809 ; from Russia, the part of East Galicia 

 ceded, in 1809, to this power. (Respecting the 

 restorations made to the other states, see the arti- 

 ticles on them respectively.) We would only re- 

 mark here, that Warsaw was given to Russia under 

 the name of the kingdom of Poland ; Cracow be- 

 came a free city ; Prussia, whose possessions could 

 not be put on the same footing as before 1806, was 

 indemnified by a part of Poland, the new grand 

 duchy of Posen, half of the kingdom of Saxony, 

 Swedish Pomerania, Cleves and Berg, and the 

 greater part of the left bank of the Rhine as far as 

 the Saar, in order to form a strong barrier against 

 France. Denmark, which had ceded Norway to 

 Sweden, received Saxe-Lauenburg, and, as the 

 possessor of this country and of Holstein, became a 

 member of the German diet. Bavaria received, as 

 a compensation for her cessions to Austria, Wiirz- 

 burg, Aschaffenburg, the Rhenish circles, &c. Ha- 

 nover received the rank of a kingdom, and several 

 new provinces. Holland and Belgium were formed 

 into the kingdom of the Netherlands, with a forti- 

 fied frontier on the side of Fratice. The Nether- 

 landish province Luxemburg was made a grand 

 duchy, and became a member of the German con- 

 federacy. Great Britain retained Malta, Heli- 

 goland, several conquered colonies (see Britain}, 

 and protective sovereignty over the restored re- 

 public of the Ionian Islands. In Switzerland, 

 three more cantons were formed, and it was de- 

 clared perpetually neutral. The restored king- 

 dom of Sardinia received Genoa as a duchy, 

 with the grant of a free port ; and the succes- 

 sion to the throne was secured to the line of Carig- 

 nan. Tuscany, the duchy of Modena, the States 

 of the Church, and the kingdom of the Two 

 Sicilies, were also restored. Lucca was given to 

 the Spanish Infanta Maria Louisa, but was after- 



wards otherwise disposed of. (See Panaa and 

 Lucca.} It was intended that Spain should restore 

 Olivenza to Portugal, which, however, did not take 

 place, as Portuguese troops had occupied Monte 

 Video. June 8, 1815, the act of the Germanic 

 confederacy was signed. It is contained in the act 

 of the congress. (See Germanic Confederation.) 

 March 13, 1815, the congress declared Napoleon 

 an outlaw; March 25, 1815, Austria, Russia, Great 

 Britain and Prussia united anew against Napoleon. 

 (See Bonaparte, and Russian-German War.) Sar- 

 dinia, Portugal, Hanover, Bavaria, Saxony, Wiir- 

 temberg, the Netherlands, Denmark, Hessia, Baden, 

 &c., joined this alliance, but not Spain nor Sweden. 

 This last war of 1815 decided particularly the 

 Saxon question. Britain, and even Austria, had 

 agreed that Prussia should have the whole kingdom 

 of Saxony; but the objections of France, of the 

 duke of Saxe-Coburg, the king of Saxony, and, 

 perhaps, most of all, the force of public opinion, 

 induced Metternich to propose the division of 

 Saxony, in January, 1815. Metternich, Talley- 

 rand and Wellington negotiated with the king of 

 Saxony, who had been invited to Presburg. May 

 18, 1815, he signed the proposed division at Vienna. 

 The abolition of the slave-trade was also a question 

 before the congress (see Slavery), and the free 

 navigation of the Elbe, Weser and Rhine, which, 

 however, has been since the subject of long nego- 

 tiations. (See Rhine.} The original of the act 

 was deposited in the archives of the emperor. The 

 founders of this new political system of Europe 

 declared that it should be a free one. But as to a 

 political equilibrium, it was clear that it could not 

 exist whilst Russia, an absolute monarchy, received 

 so dangerous an increase of power by the addition 

 of Poland, and Great Britain was left without a 

 rival on the seas ; and as to the freedom of the 

 political system, it may be observed that, in fact, a 

 political aristocracy of the chief powers, originating 

 in the treaty of Chaumont, was confirmed and de- 

 veloped by the congress of Vienna, and continued 

 to operate, as far as respected the continental 

 parties to it, until the French revolution of 1830. 

 (See the articles Troppau, Laybach, Verona, &c., 

 Intervention, and Holy Alliance.) The holy alli- 

 ance, though Britain did not accede to it, and the 

 king of France joined it only in his personal char- 

 acter, was the bold and open anrtunciation of this 

 aristocracy. At present it has been obliged to give 

 up many of its pretensions ; but its activity is un- 

 abated. Time only can determine what success it 

 will have in future. The political system, as 

 established by the congress of Vienna, has suffered 

 four most important changes, by the separation of 

 ! Belgium from Holland, the annihilation of the king- 

 dom of Poland, de facto, and the decree of the 

 German diet of 1832, by which Prussia and Austria 

 have established a complete dominion over the 

 other states ; lastly, in the annexation of Cracow 

 to Austria, in Nov. 1846, by desire of Russia. The 

 pope protested against those parts of the act of the 

 congress of Vienna by which he remains deprived of 

 Avignon and Venaissin. The German church was 

 also not restored to her possessions ; and the knights 

 of St John sought for their re-establishment in vain. 

 Vienna, Peace of, or Peace of Schonbrunn, con- 

 cluded October 14, 1809. The war between 

 Austria and France, in 1809, had been ended by 

 the battle of Wagram, and the armistice of Znaim. 

 August 17, the negotiations began between Cham- 

 pagny and Metternich. The landing of the Bri- 

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