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DISCOVERY 



The Concert of Europe in 

 the Nineteenth Century 



By F. J. G. Hearnshaw, M.A., LL.D. 



Prolessor o/ History in King's College, Uniuersilg o/ London 

 I 



I TAKE it that one of the primary aims of Discovery 

 is to make new knowledge concerning the past, and 

 new revelations concerning the present, available for 

 the guidance of the future. Now, there can be no 

 doubt that the hope of the future largely centres round 

 the successful organisation and working of the League 

 of Nations. It cannot, therefore, be without profit to 

 ask what light histor}' throws upon the difficulties and 

 dangers which beset the path of those who attempt 

 to constitute some form of International Government. 

 The pages of historj', particularly those that treat of 

 the period subsequent to the break-up of Medieval 

 Christendom in the sixteenth centurj', contain many 

 illuminating stories of efforts to co-ordinate mankind 

 and establish perpetual peace among diverse sections of 

 the human race. It is not the paper schemes of idealists 

 like St. Pierre or Kant that are of supreme interest and 

 importance. It is rather the practical attempts of 

 statesmen and jurists to institute International Councils, 

 to formulate an authoritative jus gentium, and to 

 develop the machinery requisite for mediation and 

 arbitration in disputes between peoples. To deal with 

 these attempts at all completely would of course be a 

 task far beyond the limits of a magazine article. But 

 since the most significant of them are the latest, it may 

 be profitable to give some special attention to these, 

 and to ask what was the extent of the success and what 

 were the causes of the failure of the Concert of Europe 

 in the nineteenth century. 



II 

 The Concert of Europe in the nineteenth century 

 came into existence during the Napoleonic Wars. It 

 was built up on the grand alUances which WilUam 

 Pitt and his successors organised for the deliverance of 

 the Continent from the Corsican yoke. Its definite 

 formulation may be assigned to the Treaty of Chaumont 

 (March lo, 1814), the sixteenth article of which runs : 

 " The present Treaty of Alliance having as its object 

 the maintenance of the Balance of Power to secure the 

 repose and independence of the Powers and to pre\-ent 

 the invasions which for so many years have devastated 

 the world, the High Contracting Parties ha\-e agreed 

 among themselves to extend its duration for twenty 

 years from the date of signature, and they reserve 

 the right of agreeing, if circumstances demand it, th.ree 



years before its expiration, on its further prolongation. 

 This compact marks a serious effort to establish a League 

 of Nations, and to substitute for the tyranny of Napo- 

 leon an Ampliictyonic Council of the Great Powers. 

 The period which saw the most perfect manifestation 

 of tile operation of this cmbrj'onic Concert of Europe 

 was that period of eight years, 1814 to 1822, which was 

 marked by the overthrow of Napoleon and the re- 

 settlement of Europe on the old djTiastic lines. The 

 tremendous perils through which the nations had passed, 

 the awful sufferings which they had endured, the 

 strenuous and combined efforts which they had been 

 compelled to exert in order to regain their freedom, 

 had given them a sense of community such as they had 

 never had before. Their leading statesmen had come 

 to know one another intimately ; they had learned the 

 magnitude of their common interests ; thej- had become 

 accustomed to act together. This was particularly 

 the case with the monarchs and ministers of the four 

 Great Powers who had concluded the Treaty of Chau- 

 mont — viz., Alexander I and Nesselrode of Russia, 

 Francis II and Mettemich of Austria, Frederick 

 William III and Hardenberg of Prussia, \\'ellington 

 and Castlereagh of Britain. Round this inner circle 

 there gathered in close though less influential co- 

 ordination the representatives of Spain, Portugal, 

 Savoy, and Sweden. Outside, but seeking some pre- 

 text for admission, hovered Louis XVIII and Talley- 

 rand, the diplomatic chiefs of chastened and subjugated 

 France. 



The first achievement of the Concert of Europe as 

 constituted in 1814 was the negotiation and conclusion 

 of the Treaty of Vienna. This is not the place in which 

 to discuss the merits and defects of this famous re- 

 construction of Europe which determined the course of 

 Continental pohtics for three-quarters of a centurj-. 

 Suffice it to say here that in the circumstances no settle- 

 ment could possibly have been satisfactory and final, 

 and therefore that the gravest defect of the Treaty was 

 that it contained no pro\asion for the reconsideration 

 or revision of any of its terms. They were all regarded 

 as sacrosanct and immutable. The conclusion of the 

 Treatj' in 1815, however, did not lead, as on all similar 

 occasions pre\-iously, to the dispersal of the negotiators 

 and the cessation of their Conferences. For one thing, 

 the period of the discussions at \'ienna had witnessed 

 the escape of Napoleon from Elba, his return to France, 

 and his inauguration of the Hundred Da^-s' campaign. 

 When the Final .\ct of \'ienna was concluded (June 9, 

 1815), the Battle of Waterloo had yet to be fought. 

 It was necessarj', then, for monarchs and ministers to 

 keep together in order to complete the new campaign, 

 and in order to decide on the new terms of punishment 

 to be imposed on turbulent and unrepentant France. 

 For another thing, there was a general dread of " The 



