The Congress of Vienna

If their power is threatened people should do whatever they can to avoid losing it.  In the Congress of Vienna, many difficult decisions that had to do with the risk of potentially losing power were made.  After the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte, representatives from many European countries gathered together to discuss how to recreate a functional government system.  To get a good understanding of the Congress of Vienna, our entire class participated in an interactive moc-congress type experience.  After being divided up, each group read a scenario from the Congress of Vienna and were given three solutions to choose from.  By viewing different situations and interactively engaging in them, our class received an interesting point of view regarding what kinds of decisions people should make when their power is threatened.

Above is a photo which my family and I took when we visited Austria last summer.  The Schӧnbrunn Palace can be seen up close, along with the rest of the city of Vienna in the background.

                An example was when the congress had do decide what they should do to prevent future revolutions.  The host of the congress, Prince Clemens von Metternich of Austria, spent more than ten years witnessing rebellions and revolutions tearing apart nearby countries.  Revolutions were quite popular during this time period, so the congress had to do their best to prevent future ones from happening.  The congress discussed this issue and came up with a few ideas, one example being the Principle of Intervention.  Basically, this ideology allows the great powers or fellow European countries to send their troops into another country to help stop any revolution occurring there.  Our group originally thought it would be best to consider any acts of rebellion sinful and if people still rebelled, the government would thus crush it.  But after hearing this idea, it seems like a better one.  It is less assuming that the people will not rebel based off of fear, and more being prepared in case something still happens.

Above is a map of what Europe looked like during this time period. 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Map_congress_of_vienna.jpg/450px-Map_congress_of_vienna.jpg

            However, the system does still have some flaws.  The Principle of Intervention went back to a monarchy based society.  If the people disagreed with this, they would be more likely to rebel.  Also, what happens if some countries, like England for example, decide not to take part in the system?  If a rebellion happens there, than how will it be resolved?  Finally, it would be difficult to maintain the Principle of Intervention if the countries claim new land.  If countries start claiming new land in faraway areas, it would be difficult for an army to intervene if a rebellion was to happen in this colony because it would be so far away.  However, if a rebellion were to happen, the system would still most likely be functional, despite having its flaws.  While there could have been a few modifications, overall, the Congress of Vienna made plenty of well thought and potentially beneficial decisions that should be able to prevent any countries from losing their power.