Concert of Europe
and European Conservatism

Explore how the Great Powers forged a system of diplomacy after Napoleon, guided by conservative ideology to preserve order and suppress revolution across the continent.

AP European History

What Was the Concert of Europe?

The Concert of Europe was an informal agreement among the Great Powers: Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and later France: to maintain the balance of power and prevent any single nation from dominating the continent. It emerged from the settlement that followed the Napoleonic Wars.

Defining European Conservatism

In the early 19th century, conservatism was not just a vague preference for tradition. It was a formal political philosophy rooted in the belief that established institutions: monarchy, aristocracy, and the church: provided social stability. Conservatives feared that rapid change would produce chaos, as they believed the French Revolution had demonstrated.

Edmund Burke

British thinker whose Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) became the founding text of modern conservatism.

Joseph de Maistre

French philosopher who argued that monarchy and papal authority were divinely ordained and essential to social order.

The Congress of Vienna (1814-1815)

The Congress of Vienna was the founding moment of the Concert system. Delegates from across Europe gathered to redraw the map after Napoleon's defeat. Three guiding principles shaped every decision:

1

Legitimacy: Restoring monarchs who had been deposed by Napoleon to their rightful thrones.

2

Balance of Power: Ensuring no single state could dominate, by adjusting borders and creating buffer zones.

3

Compensation: Rewarding the victorious allies with territorial gains to keep them invested in the new order.

The Key Architects

Metternich

Austrian foreign minister and the dominant figure at Vienna. Mastermind of the conservative order who suppressed nationalism and liberalism for three decades.

Castlereagh

British foreign secretary who championed balance of power but resisted intervention in other nations' internal affairs.

Tsar Alexander I

Russian emperor who proposed the Holy Alliance: a mystical pact binding Christian monarchs to govern by religious principles.

The Alliance System After Vienna

Core Principles of the Conservative Order

1

Monarchical legitimacy: Hereditary rulers have a sacred right to govern; popular sovereignty is dangerous.

2

Institutional tradition: The church, aristocracy, and guild systems anchor society against chaos.

3

Suppression of revolution: Liberal and nationalist movements threaten the established order and must be crushed.

4

International cooperation: Great Powers should collectively intervene against revolutionary threats anywhere.

Conservatism vs. Liberalism

	Conservatism	Liberalism
Source of Authority	Tradition, hereditary monarchy	Consent of the governed
View of Change	Suspicious; gradual at most	Necessary for progress
Individual Rights	Subordinate to social order	Natural, inalienable
Role of Religion	Central to governance	Separate from state
Nationalism	Threat to multi-ethnic empires	Basis for self-determination

How the Concert System Worked

1

Identify the crisis: A revolution, territorial dispute, or nationalist uprising emerges.

2

Call a congress: The Great Powers convene a diplomatic conference to discuss the situation.

3

Negotiate a response: Powers debate whether to intervene militarily, apply diplomatic pressure, or accept the change.

4

Act collectively: The agreed-upon power (often Austria or France) intervenes to restore order.

5

Reassess at next congress: Adjustments are made to address new grievances and maintain the balance.

Key Congresses and Interventions

1818

Aix-la-Chapelle

France admitted to the alliance; withdrawal of occupation troops.

1820

Troppau

Troppau Protocol: powers claim the right to intervene against revolutionary governments.

1821

Laibach

Austria authorized to crush revolts in the Italian states of Naples and Piedmont.

1822

Verona

France authorized to intervene in Spain; Britain splits from the Concert over interventionism.

1823

French Intervention in Spain

100,000 French troops restore Ferdinand VII; Concert's most dramatic action.

The Metternich System in Practice

Metternich's Austria became the enforcer of conservatism within Central Europe. Two key tools defined his approach:

Carlsbad Decrees (1819)

Imposed censorship on the press, dissolved student nationalist organizations (Burschenschaften), and placed universities under government surveillance across the German Confederation.

Secret Police Networks

Austria and its allies monitored suspected liberals and nationalists. Informers infiltrated literary clubs, salons, and university lectures across the empire.

Britain's Divergence from the Concert

Britain shared the goal of preventing French dominance, but it disagreed fundamentally with the Continental powers on intervention. British foreign policy under Castlereagh and later Canning held that each nation's internal affairs were its own business.

1

Troppau Protocol (1820): Britain refused to endorse the right of intervention against revolutions.

2

Congress of Verona (1822): Britain formally withdrew from the Congress System over the planned intervention in Spain.

3

Greek War of Independence (1820s): Britain supported Greek independence partly from liberal sympathy, partly to check Russian expansion.

Challenges to the Conservative Order

The Revolutions of 1830 and 1848

1830 Revolutions

France replaced Charles X with the "citizen king" Louis-Philippe. Belgium won independence from the Netherlands. Revolts in Poland, Italy, and Germany were suppressed.

1848 Revolutions

The "Springtime of Nations" swept nearly every European state. Metternich himself was forced to flee Vienna. By 1849, however, conservative forces had largely restored the old order.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

✕ Concert = Formal Organization

The Concert was informal: no charter, no headquarters, no permanent staff. It was a habit of consultation, not an institution like the UN.

✕ All Powers Agreed on Intervention

Britain consistently rejected the right to intervene in other nations' internal affairs. The Concert fractured precisely over this issue.

✕ Conservatism = No Change

Conservatives accepted gradual reform when necessary. Even Metternich made pragmatic concessions. They opposed revolutionary change, not all change.

Summary: Key Concepts at a Glance

Concept	Definition	Key Figure
Concert of Europe	Informal Great Power diplomacy to maintain balance	Metternich
Congress of Vienna	1814-15 settlement redrawing post-Napoleonic Europe	Castlereagh
Conservatism	Philosophy defending tradition, monarchy, and order	Burke / de Maistre
Holy Alliance	Symbolic Christian monarchical pact	Alexander I
Carlsbad Decrees	Censorship and university surveillance in Germany	Metternich

Question 1 of 5

Which of the following was NOT a guiding principle of the Congress of Vienna?

National self-determination was a liberal and nationalist goal that the conservative architects of Vienna actively opposed. The Congress sought to restore monarchies, not create nation-states.

Question 2 of 5

Why did Britain withdraw from the Congress System after the Congress of Verona in 1822?

British foreign policy, under both Castlereagh and Canning, held that the Concert should maintain international balance without dictating the internal politics of sovereign states. The decision to authorize French intervention in Spain crossed that line.

Question 3 of 5

The Carlsbad Decrees of 1819 were primarily aimed at suppressing which of the following?

The Carlsbad Decrees targeted student nationalist organizations (Burschenschaften) and imposed press censorship across the German Confederation. They were Metternich's direct response to radical student activity.

Question 4 of 5

Metternich wrote in 1820: "The governments, having lost their balance, are frightened, intimidated, and thrown into confusion by the cries of the intermediary class of society, which, placed between the Kings and their subjects, breaks the sceptre of the monarch and usurps the cry of the people."

▼ Tap to read passage

In this passage, Metternich is expressing alarm about the growing power of which group?

Metternich's "intermediary class" refers to the liberal bourgeoisie: lawyers, journalists, professors, and merchants who demanded constitutions and representative government. He saw them as undermining both monarchical authority and genuine popular interests.

Question 5 of 5

What was the most significant long-term consequence of the failure of the 1848 revolutions for European conservatism?

The 1848 revolutions showed that conservative regimes could be shaken but not destroyed. Leaders like Louis-Napoleon and Bismarck later adopted selective reforms and nationalist rhetoric to co-opt popular movements while preserving authoritarian power structures.

Concert of Europeand European Conservatism

What Was the Concert of Europe?

Defining European Conservatism

The Congress of Vienna (1814-1815)

The Key Architects

The Alliance System After Vienna

Core Principles of the Conservative Order

Conservatism vs. Liberalism

How the Concert System Worked

Key Congresses and Interventions

The Metternich System in Practice

Britain's Divergence from the Concert

Challenges to the Conservative Order

The Revolutions of 1830 and 1848

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Summary: Key Concepts at a Glance

Question 1 of 5

Question 2 of 5

Question 3 of 5

Question 4 of 5

Question 5 of 5

Concert of Europe
and European Conservatism