DAILY CLASS NOTES

NCERT: World History

Lecture - 06
Vienna Congress||European
Revolution||Unification of Germany
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Vienna Congress||European Revolution||Unification of Germany

❖ Vienna Congress

➢ Basics of Vienna Congress

➢ Participants of Vienna Congress

➢ Problems before Vienna Congress

➢ The Decision of Vienna Congress

❖ European Revolution

➢ Revolution in Spain

➢ Revolution in Portugal

➢ French Revolution of 1830

➢ French Revolution of 1848

❖ Unification of Germany

➢ Bismarck

Vienna Congress

Basics of Vienna Congress:

❖ It was held in 1815 in the capital of Austria i.e. Vienna.

❖ It was organized in the aftermath of the War of Nations fought between a group of
European nations and Napoleon. Napoleon was defeated and sent to Elba Island.

❖ Afterwards the Vienna Congress was organized by all the European countries, except
Turkey, to restore the map of Europe which was disturbed by Napoleon through his
wars and conquests.

❖ They also wanted to punish countries who supported Napoleon and reward those who
fought against Napoleon.
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➢ The head of the Congress was Metternich, the Chancellor of Austria. He wanted to
revive the old Bourbon dynasty in France so that he could restore the system of
absolute monarchy of the King, the role of the Church, and privileged society.

➢ This system was ended by Napoleon and instead, he brought nationalism, liberty,
and equality not just in France but also in other European countries, which was
called Progressive Rule.

❖ But there was no unity among the participant countries.

❖ Seeing this as an opportunity, Napoleon again attacked France but he was finally
defeated in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. He was sent to St. Helena. Napoleon died
in 1821.

Participants of Vienna Congress:

❖ Metternich from Austria (He was the most important participant as Austria played a
very significant role in defeating Napoleon.)

❖ Tzar Alexander from Russia

❖ Talleyrand from France

❖ Castlereagh (England)

Problems before Vienna Congress:

❖ To restore peace in Europe, which was disturbed due to the wars fought by Napoleon.

❖ To redefine the boundary of France.

❖ To reduce the military power of France.

❖ To punish countries that supported Napoleon and reward those that fought against
Napoleon.

❖ To redefine the role of the Church.

❖ To solve the issues of compensation, that had to be taken from the countries that lost
the war or sided with Napoleon.

❖ To establish a balance of power in Europe so that the peace of Europe would not be
disturbed in the future.
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The Decision of Vienna Congress:

❖ About France:

➢ Its boundaries were limited.

➢ France was surrounded by strong nations.

➢ Louis XVIII was made the king or absolute monarch.

❖ About Italy:

➢ Napoleon had unified Italy but it was again divided into many smaller states such
as Naples, Piedmont, Tuscany, Modena, Sardinia, etc.

❖ About Germany:

➢ Napoleon unified the 300 smaller states by forming a confederation of 39 states

in Germany.

➢ The Vienna Congress accepted this system but put Germany under the control of
Austria.

❖ About Spain:

➢ The Bourbon dynasty was restored. Some of the prominent features of this dynasty
include absolute monarchy, a privileged society, and the dominant role of the
Church.

❖ About Poland:

➢ It was divided into three parts and each part was given to Russia, Prussia, and
Austria.

❖ About Britain:

➢ It benefitted the most of all participating nations of the Congress.

➢ It got many colonies of other countries like

✓ French colonies in Malta, St. Lucia, Tobago, and Mauritius.

✓ Spanish colonies in Trinidad, Honduras.

✓ Holland’s colonies in Ceylon, Cape of Good Hope.

European Revolution

❖ Napoleon wanted to extend the boundary of France by occupying the territories of

other surrounding European countries.
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❖ He was able to do so because all these European countries were in a state of upheaval
due to the revolutions started by the masses, inspired by the French Revolution of
1789.
❖ He started influencing the thoughts of the masses and asked them to unify all the
smaller states to bring down the rule of monarchs. He started investing in those
countries by setting up factories and supplying raw materials.

❖ In this way, he was satisfying his imperialistic motives. He was using these European
countries as his colonies and their economies to strengthen France's economy.

❖ But after the defeat of Napoleon in the Battle of Waterloo, the Vienna Congress
restored the boundary of France. Matternich reestablished the Bourbon dynasty in
1815 and the system of absolute monarchy, the role of the Church, and privileged
society.

❖ The common people who already got the taste of freedom and liberty under Napoleon
were not able to forget it under the new system of Matternich, therefore they revolted
against his system. Finally, the Matternich system ended in 1848.

Revolution in Spain:

❖ The revolution began as an impact of the French Revolution. The masses wanted to
restore their rights of equality, liberty, and nationalism.

❖ The king of Spain tried to stop it.

❖ Civil war began in 1820. It was suppressed with great difficulty.

❖ Again revolution began in 1830, inspired by the French Revolution of 1830. This
became successful.

❖ As a result, the king had to set up a responsible government.

Revolution in Portugal:

❖ Like Spain, the people revolted to get their rights of liberty, equality, and nationalism
back.

❖ Before 1815, Portugal was under the control of Napoleon while after 1815 it was
under the control of Britain.
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❖ Britain was ruling the territory on behalf of the King of Portugal while he resided in
Brazil.

❖ People stood against Britain and demanded their rights back.

❖ Civil war began in 1821 and continued till 1834.

❖ Finally in 1834, some reforms were introduced namely:

➢ Established constitutional monarchy.

➢ Property of the Church was confiscated.

➢ End of privileged society.

❖ Thus, the revolution became successful.

French Revolution of 1830:

❖ Background:

➢ After 1815, Louis XVIII became the absolute monarch.

➢ The king, the Church, and the privileged society became the symbol of reactionary
force. The people were not happy with this system.

➢ Due to the increased mode of transportation, industrialization, and intellectual

development of people, the masses started demanding their rights of equality, liberty,
and fraternity back.

➢ They revolted by getting inspired by the French Revolution of 1789, the Revolution
in Spain, and the Revolution in Portugal.

❖ Role of Charles X

➢ Louis XVIII was the king but the actual rule was under a Count (meaning a Feudal
Lord who was the head of a small area) named Charles X.

➢ Finally he became the monarch by replacing Louis XVIII.

➢ He introduced some reactionary policies by passing ordinances like restriction of

freedom of the press, dismissal of the new Assembly, and voting rights for 25% of
the population.

❖ Revolution of 1830:

➢ The people demanded their rights back.

➢ The revolution became successful.

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➢ The ordinances were suspended.

➢ The constitutional monarchy was restored. France was made Republic.

➢ The Bourbon dynasty and the Matternich system ended.

French Revolution of 1848:

❖ Problems of Louis Philippe: Louis Philippe became king after 1830. He faced many
problems such as

➢ Representative Council: The council had a total of 430 members but out of that only
219 members supported him.

➢ Reactionary Forces: The reactionary elements of the society didn't support his liberal
policies. He ruled in a somewhat liberal way.

➢ Bonapartist Party: It was the party of Napoleon. It wanted the descendants of

Napoleon to be the successor of Napoleon in France and not Louis Philippe.

➢ Republic Party: This party didn't like him as he did not set up a republic government.
The leader of this party was Lyons.

➢ Catholic Religion: Louis Philippe made France a secular state. Seeing this, the Church
revolted and wanted to make the Catholic religion the religion of the State.

➢ Foreign Policy: Louis Philippe did not want to oppose the European countries.

❖ Work of Louis Philippe:

➢ He adopted a middle policy i.e. Policy of Just Mean. He neither wanted to leave old
values nor wanted to adopt new values.

➢ Trade organizations were banned in 1835.

➢ Heavy penalties were imposed on editors.

➢ He banned newspapers and Republican’s meetings.

➢ He made special laws to suppress opponents.

❖ Revolution of 1848:

➢ Louis Philippe ran away and reached Britain.

➢ Monarchy ended and France was made a Republic.

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Unification of Germany

❖ Before unification, Germany was

divided into 300 states.

❖ The Rhine River divided Germany,

also called Rhine states (at center),
into Northern and Southern parts.

❖ Badan and Bavaria were the main

states in the southern part. They
were followers of the Catholic
religion.

❖ In the northern part, Prussia,

Saxony, Hanover, and Frankfurt
were the main states. They were followers of the Protestant religion.

❖ There was no unity among these states and they were fighting among themselves.

❖ The process of unification of Germany started after getting inspired by the French
Revolution of 1789.

❖ This process continued under Napoleon, who made Germany a federation of 39 states.

❖ The Vienna Congress accepted this federation of Germany but kept it under the control
of Austria. Thus, the process of unification was discontinued for a while.

❖ The process of unification

again started and was
finally completed under
the reign of Bismarck in
1870. However, the
unification of Germany
done by him was not
ratified by international
organizations.
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Bismarck

❖ Bismarck hailed from Germany and entered politics in 1847.

❖ He considered Austria and France his enemies as these two countries were against the
unification of Germany.

❖ He started to sign pre-war peace treaties with other countries to make his position
stronger in Europe. In this way, he started forming his group of allies, which would
support him in his time of need.

❖ Seeing this, France also started doing the same. Eventually, the world got divided into
two groups which ultimately came face to face and fought World War I.
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