Balancing Out Europe

Political power and status have always been an exceptionally valuable asset to society. Power can be spread across a nation or be placed in the hands of a single person. But what happens when people of high status have their power threatened? This is the essential question discussed in class while on the topic of the Congress of Vienna. Upon the fall of Napoleon’s empire, diplomats from all of Europe would congregate in Vienna, Austria in order to solve many issues that had arisen after the French conquest. In class, we took the role of Klemens von Metternich, Prince of Austria, and made several decisions in order to rebuild Europe in the best way possible. Out of three choices, we were to select one that would best resolve issues such as redrawing the map of Europe, establishing a new French government and preparing for future alliances. The following explains how the decisions made by Metternich utilized specific concepts in order to eliminate threats to their power.

Congress of Vienna. Digital image. Emerson Kent. N.p., n.d. Web.

The concept of balance of power was used by Metternich and the diplomats of the Congress of Vienna to eliminate France as a potential threat to their power. The balance of power is the idea that the security of a nation is increased when power is distributed evenly among nations so one cannot overpower another. When addressing the issue of recreating the map of France, the Congress of Vienna decided to distribute power to the the nations of Europe in order to suppress France from continuing any form of future domination. This was the solution that our group selected in the class activity as well. The French empire was reduced to its borders before the time of Napoleon. Prussia was granted more territory surrounding France in order to create a strong border around France. The Netherlands was also created to border the remaining part of France. Both Austria and Prussia were given additional territory to compensate for their losses during Napoleon's conquest. The goal of this redistribution of land was to balance the power among many of the European nations to prevent any possible attempts of French expansion in the future. The Congress of Vienna was successfully able to eliminate any threats to their power by utilizing the concept of balance of power.

I personally believe that the decision made by the Congress of Vienna was appropriate for the situation. Around the fall of Napoleon’s conquest, France was still considered a major threat for a possible resurgence of conquest and expansion. Bordering France with strong countries such as Prussia and the Netherlands would make it near impossible for France to take control of Europe again. France was not reduced to anything smaller than it was before Napoleon’s conquest. The Congress of Vienna did not use emotional bias when deciding on Europe’s new borders. France was not punished after Napoleon’s, they were simply reset to what they were before any conflict. Countries that were subject to severe difficulties were granted extra land as a condolence. This decision is justified because these nations had to endure unnecessary hardship and deserve some sort of payoff. In the case of the redrawing Europe's borders, diplomats were not required to sacrifice some of their power to come to a final solution. The powerful should be willing to give up some of their authority if it is for the cause of the nation. A person in power is typically a leader of a group of people, like a nation. This person should be willing to do what it takes in order to make a situation optimal for his or her followers. To conclude, the Congress of Vienna took the right steps in redistributing land among European nations while utilizing the concept of balance of power to make their decisions.