Preparing for Mutiny

This week our class was introduced to the Congress of Vienna, a conference with the ambassadors of the European states. Their main goal was to restore the chaotic borders Napoleon left behind after his grand vanquish.

The One and Only Congress of Vienna
http://www.aksitarih.com/history-of-ahmet-cevdet-vienna-congress.html

     In history class we learned Napoleon was quite the party pooper in Europe, leaving many distressed by the it's state. The citizens just wanted their rights, while the ones in power felt threatened by Napoleon. So in order to seek vengeance, on September 1, 1814, representatives from Russia, Austria, Prussia, Britain, and France, came together to defeat the threat of Napoleon. Their goal was to reconstruct the countries that were under Napoleon's rule. (You can learn all about Napoleon from my blog) Before we got started my class and I got a little overview of the situation Europe was in by watching a dramatized film excerpt (attached below) of a meeting between Napoleon and Klemens von Metternich, the statesman of Austria. We saw how rough their relationship was and it set the mood for the next activity- making decisions for the Congress of Vienna.
     To make us understand the situation Europe was in at the time, our history teacher gave us the three dilemmas the Congress faced. Our job was to predict and choose Metternich's decision (considering the fact that he was a conservative).
Europe was well aware of the chaos that was brewing, and the Quintuple Alliance (the Congress) wished to prepare for the possibility of future revolutions. France was well known for their revolts which impacted most of Europe; the revolutions caused decades of war, leaving towns and countries devastated, and leaders killed or removed. The ideas of revolt and fight for rights spread quickly through Europe, and the Congress were willing to take the chance of helping each other out to stop chaos. The Alliance introduced the 'Principle of Intervention', the ideology that gave the great powers the right to send troops into a country to stop revolution and restore monarchs. England, however, refused to take part in the intervention. This principle came in handy and "saved" several revolts, such as the Italian uprising in the 1820s.
     The representatives at the Congress were not necessarily best suited for their duty and were not in their country's best interest; their mood and nature was described as "sparkly chaos", that should pretty much say it all. I feel as if the monarchs were too dominating and did not allow enough, let alone any at all, freedom for their people. I'm not surprised that so many countries revolted against those bossy snobs. One of the options for to prepare for future revolutions was the following:

"Recognizing on the basis of enlightened reason that wars and revolutions bring chaos and disorder, 

the monarchs will act with more benevolence toward their peoples in the hope of quelling revolutionary ideas. European leaders will support religious toleration and greater freedom of speech. They will also develop and support the arts, sciences and education."

That is what people wanted; the powerful "leaders" should have been willing to sacrifice some of their power to make their people happy. I think if the Congress had thought more, and made a wise, and selfless, decision the people of Europe would have been pleased.