Vienna Settlement as a Reasonable and Moderate Compromise

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Vienna Settlement as a Reasonable and Moderate Compromise

Answer: After the Napoleonic upheaval巨變, the representatives代表of

hundreds of victoriouså‹åˆ©çš„ European states met at Vienna in 1814-15 to

redraw釿–°åŠƒå®š the map版圖 of Europe. The Settlement was dominated by the

"Big Five五強", that is Castlereaghå¡è˜‡é‡Œ of Britain, Czar Alexander

I沙皇阿歷山大一世 of Russia, Metternich梅特涅 of Austria, Hardenbergå“ˆç™»å ¡ of

Prussia and Talleyrand塔力蘭 of France. With their guiding principles ―

the principles of legitimacy正統, balance of power勢力å‡è¡¡, containmentåŒ…åœ of

France, compromiseå¦¥å” and compensation補償, etc. ― they reached an

agreement. At the Congress of Vienna, a new political map of Europe

was created. The victorious states were also aimed at preventing a

recurrenceå†å‡ºç¾ of an upheaval and re-emergenceå†å´›èµ· of Napoleon

Bonaparte. Other than dividing the spoils戰利å“, they agreed to contain

France by setting up buffer statesç·©è¡åœ‹.

The Congress of Vienna was one of the borderlines界線 in European

history. The century after the Congress was rather peaceful than

before. There was no war among major powers until the outbreak of the

Crimean War克里米亞戰爭 in 1854. This long period of peace was partly

attributed歸功於 to the balance of power that the Vienna Settlement

introduced. Thus, David Thomsonå¤§è¡›æ¹¯éœ says, "In the context of its

time以它的時代來看, the Vienna Settlement was a reasonableåˆç† and moderate溫和

compromise."

According to R. Albrecht-Carrié, "balance of power" means that all

countries had equal right to exist生存, and none could enter...

... middle of paper ...

... and inefficient無能的 rule

to the people. It led to the outburst爆發 of liberal爭å–自由的 revolts動亂 in

1820-22, 1830 and finally the 1848 Revolution.

In a nutshell總而言之, David Thomson's statement說話 that the Vienna

Settlement was a "reasonable and moderate compromise" was largely

correct. Compared to the Paris Peace Settlement that dealt with the

aftermathäº‹å¾Œè™•ç† of the First World War, the Vienna Settlement was able

to produce a longer period of peace. According to David Thomson and

R.R. Palmer帕馬, nonetheless, the forces of changeæ”¹è®Šçš„åŠ›é‡ made new wine in

old bottles新酒舊瓶 impossible. At least至少 the Industrial Revolution gave

birth to a powerful middle class with modern outlooks人生觀. By the time

the war-weary generation厭戰的一輩 had passed, Europe was to change.

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