The Congress of Vienna.

What should people in power do when their power is threatened? In class we tried to answer this question as we discussed the event that came during Napoleons conquest: The Congress of Vienna. This was held on September 1, 1814 as a meeting of representatives from all of the major powers of Europe. It was located in Vienna, Austria, and lasted until June 8, 1815. The leaders came to Vienna to discuss how to deal with Napoleon and how to fix Europe after he was gone. In class, we watched a video of actors playing Klemens von Metternich, Austria's Foreign Minister, while he goes to Napoleon who is asking for peace, while Metternich's demands are for Napoleon to give up his conquest and restore the old boundaries of Europe, or they will declare war. We then read an article about the Congress and the representatives that were present. They were all there because their power was threatened by Napoleon, who could potentially conquer them all.
When the major powers of Europe felt that their power was in danger, and that there was a risk of them all being conquered, they came up with a solution. Not just one, nut several, all applying to different problems that Napoleon had caused. One of these presented solutions was the Holy Alliance. This idea was initiated by Czar Alexander of Russia, and was a principle that stated that all monarchs of the major powers in Europe had divine right, or that their power as ruler came directly from God. This also meant that any revolution against the monarch was not only treason, but heresy for defying God's choice of ruler, leading to a more severe punishment. All of the major powers agreed with this, except for Britain who did not take part. This concept was used to lessen threats against their rule because nobody would rise up against the monarch, or they are technically rising up against God.
It is difficult to state whether the people at the Congress of Vienna made the correct choice when dealing with the many issues presented. However, with the situation of Napoleon conquering a large portion of Europe, these leaders made the correct choices that would protect their power. They even gave themselves more territory and authority, making it harder for them to lose their power to others. Their idea was to preserve the traditional monarchies of Europe, and to divide Europe into large, major countries that could withstand another invasion. Also, Napoleon was viewed as the enemy, and not France, so there was no severe punishment for the country or its people. There may have been a better solution, such as not combining smaller, minor countries into new ones or giving more rights to the people, but the only ones that had a say at the time were the powerful representatives of the nations. However, the powerful should be willing to sacrifice some of their power for the benefit of all, but the lower classes did not have say and therefore could not argue for equality.