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Rishi Garg
IB European History, 2nd Period
Mr. Swan / Mr. Duran
30 October 2008

Who were the winning and losing nations as a result of the Vienna Settlement?

The purpose of the Vienna Settlement was to establish an international framework for

continental cooperation and the maintenance of the balance of power. Each nation that

participated in the Settlement, including Britain, Austria, France, Prussia, and Austria, had its

own goals and aims. One can only classify a nation as “winning” or “losing” by comparing the

nation’s goals with the results of the Settlement. By analyzing these two important factors, all

participating nations except France “won” overall as a result of the Final Act of June 1815, albeit

they all conceded something.

Britain was represented at first by Viscount Castlereigh, and later by the duke of

Wellington. Its main goals were to secure Britain’s maritime and commercial interests on the

continent, to prevent the resurgence of France, and to make Prussia a formidable power in

central Europe. Britain had no interest in land on the continent, because any territory

controlled by it would be too difficult to manage, largely due to the fact that Britain was and

still is an isolated island. Because of Britain’s disinterest in continental land, it served as a

nonpartisan mediator between other countries. As a result of the Vienna Settlement, trade was

officially restored between Britain and the continent, and Britain lost many of its colonial

conquests. However, the restoration of trade was one of Britain’s most important goals, so one

can conclude that Britain gained much more than it lost.

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Russia was represented by Tsar Alexander I personally. In fact, Russia was the only

country to be represented by its political leader. Its main goals were to establish dominance in

drawing up peace, to create a Polish kingdom under Russian rule, and to keep monarchy alive in

Europe. As a result of the Vienna Settlement, a new Polish independent kingdom was created

under Russia’s rule. In addition, Spain’s monarchy was restored, and Russia was allowed to

keep its claim to Finland. Comparing the results to the goals, it is no exaggeration to say that

Russia lost almost nothing as a result of the Settlement.

Austria was represented by the clever Prince Klemens von Metternich. His goals for

Austria were to preserve its dominance over central Europe and to prevent the resurgence of

France. As a result of the Vienna Settlement, Austria received Galicia, Lombardy, Venetia, the

Illyrian provinces, Salzburg, and Tyrol. Austria did lose the Netherlands, however. A new

Germanic Confederation was created to replace the defunct Holy Roman Empire. This

Confederation included 39 states, including four free cities. The rule of this new Confederation

was placed in Austria’s power. It is interesting to note that Austria’s goal to preserve

dominance over central Europe and Britain’s goal of making Prussia a formidable power in

central Europe are opposing goals. In the end, Austria received considerably more territories in

central Europe than Prussia, which leads one to believe that Austria succeeded in its goal but

Britain did not. In this manner, Austria lost very little overall but won many things.

Prussia was represented by Prince Karl August von Hardenberg, who was of minimal

help to the country, due in part to his deafness and in part to the fact that Prussia’s king was

politically subservient to Russia’s Alexander I. As a result of this unfortunate combination of

factors, Prussia had neither solid goals at the beginning of the Settlement nor solid gains and
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achievements by the end. The only goal of Prussia that comes to mind is to gain as much land as

possible. As a result of the Vienna Settlement, Prussia received two-fifths of Saxony, Posen, and

a few territories in Germany. Logically speaking, although Prussia did not gain much at all, it did

not lose much either, so one may be tempted to say that Prussia emerged a winner.

Other nations that were affected heavily by the Vienna Settlement were the Kingdom of

Sardinia and the newly formed Germanic Confederation. As a result of the Settlement, Sardinia

received Piedmont, Genoa, Nice, and part of Savoy. These territorial gains greatly increased the

amount of land Sardinia possessed. The Germanic Confederation was a winner because of the

newly formed relations between the included states; many of the people in the Confederation

were of the same ethnicity and the states had fair and profitable trade agreements amongst

themselves. In addition to these two nations being winners, all of the nations of Europe won

something due to the fact that France was weakened by the Vienna Settlement and two

defensive barriers were placed around it. The first barrier was composed of the Netherlands,

Low Countries, German states, Switzerland, Sardinia, and Spain, and the second included

Prussia, Austria, and the remaining German states. In this manner, the European nations hoped

that France would never be able to dominate Europe again.

France was represented at the Vienna Settlement by Prince Talleyrand, whose main

goals for France were to retain as much land and power as possible. As a result of the

Settlement, France’s borders were moved back to the borders it had had in 1790. In addition,

the monarchy was restored in France with the introduction of Louis XVIII as king. In this

manner, France lost Napoleon’s military genius and strong desire to help the French people
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succeed, along with much of its land and power. One could indeed say that France lost as a

result of the Settlement.

Although the above arguments are quite clear, some might argue that all of the nations

of Europe were in chaos in the years following the Vienna Settlement (revolts against monarchs

throughout Europe), and therefore they were not winners. However, the main shared goal

between all nations, except France, was to reestablish continental stability and to prevent the

rise of a new Napoleon. All of the acts of the Vienna Settlement helped to gently push France

back to a normal condition (as it had been before the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars),

so that it would not rise up and revolt again. The nations of Europe were successful in

preventing another major war for 40 years after the Settlement, and no continent-wide war

occurred until 1914. Using this line of thought, the nations of Europe, of course except for

France, were all winners in a way.

When asked for a list of the “winners” and “losers” as a result of the Vienna Settlement,

it is a difficult and subjective matter to analyze because one must consider many different goals

and results of each nation. However, if one takes the time to study each nation’s aims and

compare them with the results of the Settlement that affected that nation, the answers

become clearer. Overall, the nations of the Quadruple Alliance (Britain, Austria, Russia, and

Prussia) fared well in both their land gains and measures taken for their most important goal –

the promise of peace throughout Europe.