Let's briefly summarize what the consequences of the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte and the end of the French Empire were.

Before illustrating the main events which are at the origin of the contemporary world and to better understand the changes that have taken place, let us briefly summarize the consequences of the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte and the end of the French Empire.

The Napoleonic Empire in 1812

In order to return to the old boundaries, or in any case to give Europe a new territorial and political asset, the Congress of Vienna was called under the invitation of the Austrian foreign minister, Metternich. They met on the 1st of November 1814, but were interrupted almost immediately upon the news of the escape from exile: Napoleon's captivity. Contemporarily with the work of the Congress, in 1815, Napoleon had managed to return to his homeland and to establish the ‘Kingdom of a hundred days’. The anti-Napoleonic alliance (to which new states had been added), therefore decided to accelerate the negotiations (which were stopped for months) for the future of Europe.

Napoleon was finally defeated in Waterloo, and was exiled to Sant’ Elena, where he died in 1821. Following his defeat, the congress of the victorious powers ended on the 9th of June, 1815.

In addition to Austria, Prussia, Russia, England and Sweden, more than 400 representatives of the coalition that had defeated Napoleonic France arrived in Vienna. However, in reality, the final decisions were made only by the victorious powers: the Russian Empire led by Tsar Alexander I and the Austrian Prime Minister Metternich himself (perhaps the main promoter of the assembly). As the representative of the state “at fault”, Prince de Talleyrand was in a tough position: he had been the foreign minister of Napoleon, as well as ambassador of Louis XVIII. However, he cleverly managed to present himself as the representative of a different France: a France whose sovereign had been removed of Napoleon, and of which its supporters had long fought against the emperor. Therefore the King was not to be punished but rather - like other sovereigns overthrown by Napoleon - he was able to claim his legitimate rights to the  throne at the Congress of Vienna.

Europe in 1815 (Congress of Vienna)

What elements were approved at the Congress of Vienna?

• The principle of legitimacy, with which every sovereign would return to their ruling regions. However, this principle was not applied always, especially when there were negative consequences for the victorious nations.
• The principle of legality, by which the sovereign was chosen by the divine will
• The principle of security: a policy of balance between states was initiated where all interposed territories were added: the so-called buffer states between France were added to the neighboring states’ territories in order to guarantee security and defense. For example, Liguria was annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia.

“Legitimism” and Joseph de Maistre

Of these three principles, the most difficult to achieve was that of legitimacy. According to this principle, supported majorly by the representative of the French monarchy, Talleyrand (1754 - 1838), the legitimate sovereigns that Napoleon had removed were to be restored on the thrones of Europe. This principle meant to return to the political situation prior to the French Revolution and Napoleon. Talleyrand supported the return to the monarchical absolutism of the 18th century and, reaffirming that dynastic power has an absolute value since by divine right it is assigned "by the grace of God", he consequently demanded the restoration of the legitimate sovereigns. For this reason, this political doctrine was called legitimism.

However, the real ideologue of the Restoration was Joseph de Maistre (1753–1821). He supported the conception of history as the custodian of transcendent ethical values. In the Middle Ages, the Church was the support of social order. This made it superior to the civil power, and therefore the only legitimate custode and interpreter of the divine will. The enlightenment theories on natural freedom of man are mere idiocies and evil oddities. Man is too diabolical and wicked to be free, he was naturally born a servant and was so until Christianity freed him. Authentic Christianity is the one represented by the Roman pope who proclaimed universal freedom and is the only one, in the general weakness of all European sovereignties, to have preserved its strength and prestige. De Maistre shares with other authors his analysis on the false claim regarding the majority prevailing over the minority while "the very small has always fed the great". It is for this reason the aristocracy has a legitimate right to take over the leadership of the country.

Throughout Europe, kings and old aristocrats returned from exile to resume their ancient possessions and privileges. In France, Louis XVIII (1814-1824) ascended the throne: he was the younger brother and legitimate heir of Louis XVI, who had been beheaded twenty-two years earlier.

The principle of balance

A pure and simple return to the past was impossible. Too many things had changed in Europe: some states had disappeared, changed their borders, and some were still decided upon. Furthermore, the principle of legitimacy was not always convenient: it could be the cause of new wars. If this were to be the case, the principle of balance would be applied.

And in fact, after decades of disastrous wars, the main concern of international diplomacy became to avoid new conflicts. States had to achieve a balance of power among themselves; only in this way would the peace remain. Napoleon's empire was divided amongst the powers who won. Peoples, regions, and cities were exchanged as if they were any commodity, so that those who lost on one side would get compensation on the other. The will of the people was not taken into consideration. The principle of balance essentially was to prevent one state from becoming too strong in relation to others.

The safety principle

The third principle was exerted by the formation of buffer states around France. This was done through the appropriation of Sweden to Norway and more towards the East (through the union of Belgium and the Netherlands) and the annexation of Liguria to Piedmont. Great Britain kept the colonies conquered in the French wars and kept some strategic units by the sea, such as Malta and the Ionian islands. To protect this arrangement, Russia, Austria and Prussia formed the Holy Alliance proposed by the Tsar, which held the task to repress any independence revolts using military forces. A little later, Great Britain joined these powers, giving life to the Fourfold Alliance: an alliance with the responsibility of diplomatically resolving any potential disturbance to the balance of power.

The German states saw an internal increase in the presence of William III’s Prussia, which expanded west with modernization of agriculture. The German Habsburg empire, whose center of gravity now shifted towards Italy and the Balkans, was greatly dominated by a police regime and a rigid bureaucratic centralism system. It was through these means that Metternich attempted to solve the fragility of the empire which Francis I had created. The fragility was due to the poor cultural, social, and economic development of many of his territories and the spinning forces of the ethnic groups that populated them.

In Italy, the Lombard-Venetian front belonged to Austria, autonomous by law, but strictly dependent on Vienna. The Austrians largely preserved and kept the same legislation as the Italian Kingdom, paying attention to the effectiveness of public administration and education.

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