Age of Metternich

Metternich advocated for a Westphalian balance of power on the continent. He had a significant impact on international relations in Europe during his tenure. For this reason, this period is known as the age of Metternich.

• The Peace of Westphalia (1648) ended the devastating Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) in Europe. These were a series of agreements signed in Münster and Osnabrück by the participants. The longest-lasting and vital aspect of this postwar settlement was the concept of a balance of power. A balance of power in international relations means that independent states can coexist without dominating each other.

Dutch Envoy Adriaan Pauw entering Münster in 1646 for Peace Negotiations, Gerard Terborch, ca. 1646. Source: Wikipedia Commons (public domain).

The Age of Metternich: Summary

The Enlightenment greatly influenced Metternich—the 17th-18th-century European intellectual movement focused on humanitarian ideals, rational thought, and scientific progress. This influence affected his perception of international relations. He was a statesman in Austria, an empire of many languages and ethnicities. To Metternich, this diversity represented all of Europe:

Klemens von Metternich: Biography

Klemens Wenzel von Metternich (1773-1859) was an Austrian statesman. He is also considered one of the most impactful politicians in the history of Europe. Metternich was the Foreign Minister of Austria between 1809 and 1848. He was also the country's Chancellor from 1821 to 1848.

Metternich was one of the leading statesmen to formalize the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) after the Napoleonic Wars that ravaged the continent. This agreement was meant to establish lasting peace. Except for international conflicts like the Crimean War (1853-1856)—when Britain and France invaded Russia—or the Prussian wars against France and Austria. This relative peace lasted until World War I. Metternich, along with other statesmen, was able to achieve a balance of power supported by European congresses, including Troppau in 1820 and Laibach in 1821.

Portrait of Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, Thomas Lawrence, 1815. Source: Wikipedia Commons (public domain).

For a time, Metternich was a well-known diplomat at home and abroad. However, his influence waned, and in the 1830s, he solely worked on foreign-policy concerns. His career ended as a result of the Revolutions of 1848. The statesman had to resign because he was perceived as a reactionary force in the Austrian government. He spent a part of his exile in England. In 1851, Metternich returned to Vienna, where he lived for the rest of his life.

The Age of Metternich: French Revolution

The French Revolution took place in 1789, and its direct effects lasted until 1799. One of the most iconic events of the French Revolution was the storming of the Bastille on July 14 of that year. The most important results of this revolution were the dissolution of the old French monarchy and the founding of a secular, egalitarian republic.

However, these changes did not last, and a period of Terror occurred between 1793 and 1794. This campaign was led by Maximilien de Robespierre and focused on rooting out the opposition through arrests and executions.

The Storming of the Bastille, Jean-Pierre Houël, 1789. Source: Wikipedia Commons (public domain).

Eventually, the Coup of 18 Brumaire resulted in the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), who became Emperor in the early 19th century. In the view of most historians, this was the end of the French Revolution and its egalitarian, republican ideas. The French Revolution also made other countries examine their own domestic situations, and, in some places, like Prussia, strong, reactionary governments arose.

The Events During the Age of Metternich

The most important events in the age of Metternich were the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna, which outlined the postwar European arrangement. A series of congresses, like the one in Laibach in 1821, also took place to maintain peace in Europe. The event that ended the age of Metternich was the Revolutions of 1848.

The Napoleonic Wars

Napoleon’s rule also led to a period of wars on the continent. These wars included Napoleon’s conquest of Europe between 1805 and 1812. For example, the French fought the English and defeated an alliance between Austria and Russia. In 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia and suffered his first severe defeat. After the Battles of Leipzig (1813-1814) and Waterloo (1815), Napoleon’s army was vanquished, and he had to give up his throne.

Napoleon on his Imperial Throne, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, 1806. Source: Wikipedia Commons (public domain).

The Congress of Vienna and Its Results

The Napoleonic Wars concluded with the Congress of Vienna, which was a new peace settlement for Europe. This Congress of major European powers took place between November 1814 and June 1815. Metternich chaired this event as the Europeans decided on the balance of power after defeating Napoleon.

Upon arriving at a new European balance of power, Metternich worked on maintaining it in a way that no single country could be more dominant than others. For example, he talked the Russian Tsar Alexander I into limiting his engagement in the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire. At this time, the Russian tsars had increasingly taken on the role of defending their fellow Orthodox Christians abroad. Metternich sought to prevent a big war in Europe if the Ottoman Empire fell apart. At the same time, the Greeks, with the Russian, French, and British help, attained independence in 1832. The Ottoman Empire lasted until the end of the First World War.

Metternich was able to maintain this power balance for quite some time. However, the Revolutions of 1848 pushed him out of office.

Age of Metternich: Dates

The Revolutions of 1848

The Revolutions of 1848 took place in several European countries that year. Their reasons and demands were complex. By and large, the insurgents sought the liberalization of conservative politics of their respective monarchies, economic reform for the working class, a freer press, and nationalism. A revolution began in Palermo with an uprising by the republicans. This event was followed by the French Revolution of 1848 and similar uprisings in the German states, Denmark, Hungary, Sweden, and others, totaling about 50 countries. In Ireland, famine was one of the leading causes.

In the short term, many of the uprisings were suppressed. However, in the longer term, they resulted in reforms, such as the abolition of absolute monarchy in Denmark. Austria, Hungary, and Russia emancipated the serfs—unfree peasants bound to the land.

This year, 1848, the Austrian-Viennese revolutionaries forced Metternich to resign, and he went into exile.

A caricature featuring the defeat of the Revolutions of 1848, Ferdinand Schröder. Source: Düsseldorfer Monatshefte, Wikipedia Commons (public domain).

Aftermath

The second half of the 19th century until the First World War was relatively peaceful. One major exception was the aforementioned Crimean War of the mid-19th century. Prussia also engaged in short wars against Denmark, Austria, and France between 1864 and 1871. These wars were part of the 1871 German unification led by Otto von Bismarck, the country's first Chancellor. This new political entity affected the balance of power in central Europe. Similarly, the reunification of Italy completed that same year affected the status quo in southern Europe.

¹ Kissinger, Henry, World Order. New York: Penguin Books, 2015, p. 74.

² Ibid, 75.