Congress of Vienna

Congress of Vienna put an end to one of the most ambitious attempts to unify Europe - the one undertaken by Napoleon in the beginning of the XIX century . Constituting and constructing disintegration - the Congress was mainly about that - was , ironically , its main achievement . By showing how integration should not be achieved , the bosses of European diplomacy succeeded in forming a firm basis for long-lasting stability on the continent , which at the time meant in the world

Defeating Napoleon was not an easy task . Despite the fact that France was overwhelmed by several

subsequent coalitions in terms of demographic , industrial , economic and military potential , its strategic advantages in organization , mobilization and ideology as well as distrust and suspicion among its primary rivals (first of all those between Great Britain and Russia ) allowed for some brilliant victories both military and diplomatic . Napoleon succeeded in conquering significant part of the continent and spreading ideology onto its bigger part . Those two aspects became of primary concern for post-war settlement . Reducing France 's geopolitical capacities and minimizing ideological damage : these were goals common for all long-standing traditional rivals such as Prussia and Russia , Russia and Austria Britain and Austria and Britain and Russia

The rise of France to a hegemonic position was rapid . In 1802 Napoleon was pronounced a life-long first Council . In May of 1804 he became Emperor . Since 1808 France turned into Empire

Imperial power of France was original . It was built , unlike many others on the ideological basis . Civil Code , elaborated in France was implemented in every captured territory . French power spread via a number of satellite states in Europe . It was not usual to use this kind of approach , while most empires were built upon technical , technological or cultural domination

Already in times of Consulate Napoleon started his great affair . In 1800 after Second Italian Campaign Austria was defeated . France gained territories on the left bank of Rein and Belgium . On the 2 of December Napoleon defeated Austrian and Russian armies at Austerlitz , which made Austria withdraw from Italian and German affairs and to accept Napoleon 's rule over Venice . In 1806 Prussian army was defeated and French Emperor entered Berlin . In 1807 Alexander I of Russia signed Tilsit treaty with Napoleon . In 1808 French army occupied Madrid . During first decade of the XIX century Napoleon created a chain of satellite states along French borders , headed by his own relatives

This gave him considerable advantages . French superiority over European states which was formed under Louis XIV now began to turn into hegemony threatening virtually every other actor on European political scene . By 1810 Napoleon was left with no big rivals in Europe except isolated England and rebelling Spain . His next step was to impose a blockade on the first by obliging all satellites to stop trade relations with England and to initiate a preventive war against the latter . This was a pre-defined mistake , which was inescapable and practically pre-destined by the previous foreign policy . By ruining buffer states in the Central...