The Congress of Vienna (Part 2) (1814 to 1815)
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Sources:
Eric Hobsbawm, "The Age of Revolution, 1789-1848" | tinyurl.com/mr3...
Adam Zamoyski, "Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna" | tinyurl.com/mxf...
Richard J. Evans, "The Pursuit of Power: Europe 1815-1914" | tinyurl.com/59x...
Wolfram Siemann, "Metternich: Strategist and Visionary" | tinyurl.com/c79...
A. Wess Mitchell, "The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire" | tinyurl.com/mry...
Robert K. Massie, "Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War" | tinyurl.com/4fw...
Adam Hochschild, "Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves" | tinyurl.com/8um...
Harry Dickinson, "Public Opinion and the Abolition of the Slave Trade" | bit.ly/2XRMLJC
The History of Parliament: The 5th Parliament of the United Kingdom | www.historyofp...
Music:
"Past," by Nctrnm
"While She Sleeps (Morning Edit)," by The Lights Galaxia
"Mell's Parade," by Broke For Free
"Day Bird," by Broke For Free
"Thomas Neutrality," by Enrique Molano
"Infados," by Kevin MacLeod
"The House Glows (With Almost No Help)," by Chris Zabriskie
"Hallon," by Christian Bjoerklund
...BEEFY
BEEF
BEEF
BEEFY
CHICKEN
BEEF
Of all the people there, Tsar Alexander seems to be the most timeless. Can imagine him in any century.
*cough* Putin *cough*
*tiresome
@@amylaneio there’s a big difference between claiming neighbors land for the pride and preventing your hostile neighbors from coming close. The best comparison is with the us especially the current president
@@luisandrade2254 Russia didn't claim Poland for "pride", but to prevent Prussian and Austrians from fully absorbing Poland and coming closer to Russian heartland. Basically the same excuse Putin has for Ukraine or soviets had for the rest of ther neighbors. Russian foreign policy has never changed
@@luisandrade2254
Lol
At least _try_ to disguise your bait as something more appealing than a steaming pile of bullshit xD
The Historia Civilis audience is more.... erudite than the average comment section ;)
Its noteworthy, that for all his bluster, the Tzar got most of what he wanted. I do wonder if there was some method to his madness, especially when dealing with strategic minds who seem much smarter than him
he is beyond our mortal comprehension
He did enter the congress in a realy strong position. France was defeted, Austria and Prussia paled compared to his mobilized armies, Britain could only be half bothered to deal with matters in Europe and not The Empire.
I will say the man knew how to through his weight around in negotiations. 😀
"Task failed successfully"
No matter what HC wants you to think it's very clear that Tsar Alexander was incredibly shrewd
@@superchacho777 hc is incredibly bluepilled, he understands solid politics but he has no understand of genius politics like aleksandr's or caesar's
Talleyrand: So about this whole Poland thing-
Alexander: You want to go to war?
Talleyrand: Wait what?!
Alexander: Yeah let's do it I'm down, let's go to war with them.
Talleyrand: That's not what I-
Alexander: Alright I'm gonna go hit the theater, we'll plan the war later.
14:20 -- The situation must have been dire. Tallyrand was never clear about _anything_ if he could help it. He was so well-known for saying things in oblique ways, and implying more than he actually said aloud, that when he died someone said to have remarked, "Died, has he? Now I wonder what he meant by that." (Variously attributed to Metternich or Louis-Philippe.)
I don't know which one, but that sure sounds like French humour. Edit: After some verifications, some say that Talleyrand said it himself after the death of another diplomat...
@@Xerxes2005 That's true too, and it's almost as characteristic that Tallyrand himself would take dying as having some other meaning.
@@Xerxes2005 that’s the most Talleyrand thing I have ever read
"If a diplomat says 'yes', he means 'maybe', if he says 'maybe' he means 'no' and if the says 'no' he is no diplomat". Was that Talleyrand?
Edit: Just googled it. Yes it was
when he asked 3 American diplomats for a bribe for himself and certain French officers in order to secure a treaty with Napoleon, he apparently referred to it as a "sweetener"
I find it hilarious that Austria's attempts to keep the French out of Italy is what eventually led to Italian unification and the gradual downfall of Austria as a great power. A strong Sardinia Piedmont will be able to resist outside influence, sure. But the French don't have any influence in Italy, it's all Austria, so Austria is going to be the main target of that resistance. And with French backing (looking to see a weakened Austria), Sardinia was able to snowball their way into the Kingdom of Italy
Wasn't it Garibaldi?
@@okbro3524 Garibaldi fought in the Italian war of independence on behalf of Victor Emmanuel II, king of Piedmont-Sardinia. Italian unification was basically Sardinia conquering the rest of Italy and then renaming themselves Italy.
Garribaldi did an expedition to Sicily and Napoli , and gave that lands to the Kingdom Sardinia-piedmont. But in war for Lombardia French army did heavy backing for Italians. Too bad they stopped early and not touched Venice that would have to wait 6 years more for unification.
Respectfully, I think this argument is made from hindsight. Austria had no way of knowing ethnic nationalism would be such a potent force
@@justinhighum2892 Oh absolutely.
Am I the only one who thinks that the Tzar’s actions were deliberate? He is the master of a juggernaut, Shows up making wild threats and enormous, unreasonable demands and then accepts far less than what he had originally asked for; eagerly. He was ether brilliant or mad.
He was brilliant. Despite what has been implied in these videos he was an outstanding diplomat. He had to be - his life was hanging by a thread from a very young age. His powerful grandmother adored little Alex, but hated his father and wanted Alexander to ascend to the throne instead of him. In this situation one wrong move could cost him his life real quick. The fact that he managed to survive tells us he was a very shrewd and clever man. Not only did he survive, but he also took part in the coup against his father without making it obvious, and later quietly removed from power the men who carried it out.
Hey we have to remember, the accounts taken are from the perspective of the other diplomats who happened to dislike him
It's clear that the man knew what he was doing and knew how far he could take things
@@leofwulf268 Well, that’s just it. Alexander not being liked by his rivals is presented as evidence of his faults as a ruler. Yeltsin and Gorbachev were well liked by the West - must have been great statesmen, those two..
@@Vukoslav_Miloradovich the Anglo nations have a deep hated of the Russians… it’s in their blood. Britain, Canada, and America are the most Anti-Russian nations - even more so than Poland and Lithuania.
@@Vukoslav_Miloradovich well yeah
All I'm saying is the dude despite derailing the whole thing and being weird knew what he was doing
Historia Civilis giving the people what they want: in-depth reviews of historical events. I see a new video drop and know I'm about to learn myself some great stuff.
True but I wish there was some closure on Octavius's time, but I would love if he re-oriented the channel around the French Revolution and the Revolutionary wars and Napoleonic wars
@@darioguerra3065 he’s probably gonna jump around a bit the next Rome video will be Antony vs Octavian and that’ll take a while so he’s probably gonna make a few more of these in between
@@darioguerra3065 I mean, there's also the Alexander campaign as well. I'm content to wait for them because, again, I know when it does arrive it will be worth it.
The diplomatic negotiations are surprisingly interesting.
@@gaiusjuliuscaesar2309 I hope that he makes more lots more stuff on Rome, but I'd also like to see more non-rome videos as well. I think he's making a history channel, not a rome channel.
It's incredible how hyped I was for the sequel to The Congress of Vienna.
Saaame
Seqel begins with the murder of a certain Austrian Archduke in the streets of Serbia :p
@@petrmiros9908 Nah, he has to do a 1848 one first.
This could be seen as a dry topic, but you narrate it like a story of intrigue and suspense, with a great amount of humor. I’d never call myself a history buff but I always drop everything to watch your videos!
Also have to say, I always get chills at the end of the videos, love how you end them!
Just mentioning Alexander intermittently, is enough to keep it entertaining
@@Rowlph8888 this so hard, my god the introduction of this batshit crazy dude would have made this topic so much better to study in highschool. All I'd ever known was that Russia threatened war over Poland but ultimately settled, I had no idea it was because their leader was somehow crazier than the most inbred Habsburgs out there
The humour is to mask their own current political judgements
I´m austrian and we get this taught in school. Still never appreciated the full importance of this "event". Great video and greetings from austria!
yeah but not really much about it, it just happened and that's it. Why? Because it was in vienna
I'm from Poland, but it was never even mentioned that there was any kind of Saxony and Poland Crisis. Just what was decided upon in the end.
I'm British and honestly part 1 was the first I'd heard of this event--I knew of the Napoleonic wars and the hundred days, but none of the peace talks, or other stuff
I don't remember being really taught this at all , just briefly mentioned. Most of History was basically ww2 over and over and how many atrocities happened again and again ans again. Little about why and what lead to ww2 .
All of these events are connected
@@Anwandere Same, it was always black and white - how Poland got denied being independent, because Prussia, Austria and Russia wanted to keep their lands. Kind of sad, how history is shown in the two dimensional colours, when it's almost always very much grey and super complicated. Fun fact - I dont know about rest of the Europe, but I believe Poland is one of the few countries in which Napoleon is not looked upon as hungry, ego maniac that waged war on whole continent (don't mention that whole Europe started wars against France and ultimately on him on multiple occasions and he was in defensive wars for most of his miltiary career).
"I'm a stinky little baby poopy boy" - Tsar Alexander I
yoooooo its stoney
I've been waiting so long
Thats sad bro...
@@clutrike7956 it's no different than appointment television imo
yo stoney Historia fan?
I love history channels who focus on the real issues in history: Diplomacy, economics, culture, ideas instead of brute war, like so many others. Thank you for actually enlightening us on this very interesting diplomatic event that had wide-reaching implications until today and still serves as interesting material to learn about diplomacy.
you need to know millitary history to understand political history I love both and they are both important
This was a ludicrously pro-western watered down version of what went down that paints Alexander as mustache-twirling villainous buffoon but the day was saved by the competent selfless diplomacy of western diplomats.
It fails to give Russia the credit it absolutely deserves for being the major reason of Napoleon's defeat. There is absolutely no way Napoleon would have been defeated if half his army had not been wiped out in Russia and he had to retreat in a crushing defeat.
It fails to account for Alexander trying to navigate preventing being assassinated at home while negotiating with shrewd western diplomats. All while Alexander's army was occupying Paris and Poland
@@SteveghvffAnd Russia tried to emulate western fashion, statesmanship, Commerce and technology since Peter the Great. Russia always wanted to be a part of the exclusive club that is european civilization and society.
@@helmuthvonmoltke5518 And they are always way to aggressive and then get butthurt when the West calls them on their bs. They are that kid who is always there and everyone tolerates them but doesn't actually like them.
Considering how you characterized him last video, it sounds like Tsar Alexander got exactly what he wanted, at least for his heirs. I'm not saying he's a secret genius. "Baffle them with BS" is a very rookie but very effective realpolitik move. All it takes is the savvy to realize that you don't have anyone who could outmaneuver professional diplomats and to hold out with the crazy until they give you big concessions.
Obviously threatening war is vile. Obviously. Still, based on your description, he got more than he could have expected and got exactly what he wanted.
he got everything he wanted because he had 200,000 soldiers in poland. It would have been impossible for him to get nothing without losing militarily.
@@easysnake205 well yea, and he successfully used that fact do get what he wanted
@Sam Wallace Amateur, then? All I meant was that it doesn't take much experience to do what he did on purpose, and he didn't have much experience.
that tactic only works when you're the only person doing it. when there's more than one, you get a war. it's basically a prisoner's dilemma
@Sam Wallace What experience do you have?
I studied international relations in college, and it’s learning about stuff like this which got me interested in geopolitics and diplomacy in the first place. Great video!
Do you know the classic board game "Diplomacy" (from 1954)? If not, I need to tell you about it, you're going to love it
As a stokie (someone from Stoke on Trent), I want to provide more info on the medallion. The medallions were designed by Josiah Wedgwood of Wedgwood pottery (still the most influential and most sought after pottery in the world, no shits, seriously) and he was at the time one of the largest advocates for the abolition of slavery as he believed that we are all the creations of god and should be treated with respect and equality. He is very well remembered in Stoke as one of the key drivers of the abolition of slavery in the empire. A truly magnificent man who sought equality. Im sharing this as outside of Stoke he is completely forgotten in Britain and it’s a national disgrace. So if you celebrate the end of slavery in Britain, be sure to raise a glass to Josiah Wedgwood, a lost by society a social and economic leader who put Stoke on the map for all the right reasons. Also if your interest look up Sir Stanley Mathews who formed the first all black professional football team in South Africa called ‘Stans Men’ (at the time breaking the law) and throughout Africa taught kids sports.
Edit: Stanley Mathews is also a Stokie hence why I put it there.
what sucks is all the people today who think that white people are all evil because our ancestors were all slavers and especially hate on Britain for its involvement in the slave trade... but they don't appreciate the lengths we went to to abolish slavery around the world. The African tribes were the ones enslaving people, and the British are the ones who stopped it (after initially trading with them which sparked the public outcry).
No one cares dude
Us stokies will always remember Wedgewood and Stanley Matthews, it's a shame that the rest of England think of us as trash
@@aurelia8028 about you, no they don't.
But about this? Yes, they do.
Now off you pop.
Neat, thanks! Crazy how much power the act of creating and disseminating a symbol for a movement can be. Very rad.
About Waterloo,
I am inclined to agree about the fact that a victory at Waterloo (although the battle itself was not planned by Napoleon, but was the consequence of incoordination within the now disorganised French army) and even the whole campaign of 1815 in general. However, it seems that Napoleon hoped to use the disagreements between the great power to create a wedge, perhaps some time to re-arm in the form of an armistice, and eventually even an alliance with one of the great powers (such as with Alexander. Once a supposedly dear friend of Napoleon. It was impossible to predict what Alexander would have done but he could have potentially struck an agreement with Napoleon. This didn't happen, however I don't think it would have been impossible. Had Alexander simply woken up on a different side of the bed).
The fact that Castlereagh managed to get the other great powers to declare war on Napoleon was already against Napoleon's plan. Whom expected the dissonance of the congress of Vienna to stop the great powers from acting united and give France time to maneuver diplomatically. However, even after that failed, a victory at Waterloo, or even better, the separation and forced retreat of Blucher's and Wellington's armies and a quick annexation of Belgium, could have re-opened conflict between the other powers. Re-opening an opportunity for Napoleon.
Seeing as Napoleon only alternative was practical exile, and for his French supporters the return of the Bourbon monarchy, I don't think his actions were out of delusion. Rather he saw an opportunity and took it, as he had done his whole career. This time he simply got unlucky (or at least, not lucky).
Edit:
As always, great video!!!
When are we returning to Rome and the creation of the principate by Augustus.
Napoleon was more noble and fair than the rest of those European Monarchs.
I'd call it desperation rather than delusion, at least in regards to why Napoleon tried to regain power. Imo his best hope was a string of early victories and then an exhausted Europe aggrees to him keeping France in the borders of 1792. So he gambled on the other rulers hating each other more than they hated him and lost that gamble. The moment the gamble was lost, he had no shot at winning.
With hindsight and considering the resources and lives everyone had invested into defeating him the first time, a change of heart - even by Alexander - seems unlikely, though it wasn't impossible of course.
But a man like Napoleon would never have been satisfied just sitting around on Elba and the Bourbon King would probably soon tried to have him assassinated, since his pure existance was a threat to Bourbon rule.
I dislike that Alexander is represent in this video as erratic. The man had much pressure on his hands to keep his aristocrats happy, as his predecessor had been assassinated. Gaining Poland was incredibly important for the Russian state, as Poland could keep creating problems for Russia. Alexander most likely personally wanted to be a liberal “good king”, however he had the reality of having to keep his nobles from killing him.
Napoleon knew of course he wouldnt win 10 Waterloos. He was aiming for a peace treaty after being them up.
Vive le Empreur.
Speaking as a Saxon: The Congress of Vienna was a traumatic event for Saxony. Not enough that the region had been devastated by war for years, now half of the country was annexed by the old arch-rival, Prussia. This rivalry goes back to the time after the Thirty Year's War and since the reign of Frederick II. of Prussia (who is not called "the Great" in Saxony, since he invaded it on two different occasions and greatly damaged Dresden), Prussia had tried to annex its southern neighbour. Even to this day, the southern part of the german state of Brandenburg calls itself "Saxon Brandenburg".
(The Saxon King was held as a prisoner by the great powers and was not allowed to take part in the peace negotiations, because his "loyalty" to Napoleon. But what choice did he have? His country was effectively occupied by the French and he himself was a semi-hostage of Napoleon. And when Napoleon was finally defeated at Leipzig, Frederick Augustus was immediatly captured by the Coalition. The other "allies" of Napoleon, like Bavaria, were allowed to change sides and even profit from the peace agreements, but Saxony was barely able to survive. Since then (even to this day), there was no love for Prussia in Saxony...)
Good job Prussia doesn’t exist anymore!
Have you ever played EU4 as Saxony to get revenge and kick Brandenburg's ass?
@@sam08g16 Yes. 😅
At least Saxony outlived Prussia
@@untruelie2640 Good, that will teach them 👍🏻
Hey buddy, hope you’re doing well. Didn’t have a way to send you a message, just wanted to say I miss your videos, and I think you’re the best historian on the internet! Hope you can do this for a living.
Same. Came back here to beg for more videos about literally anything
Me too I miss him to much
Same
Why does this sound like a love ballad?
@@kamalindsey It was too hard to find something that rhymes with Historius Civilus
Diplomats: "Can we please try to cooperate towards establishing an everlasting peace?"
Monarchs: "But I want Poland/Saxony NOW! NOW, NOW, NOW!!"
Other diplomats to Castlereagh: "You're so lucky that your king is essentially an invalid."
Castlereagh: "Extremely rude, but very true"
Tzar: “I WILL FIGHT ALL OF YOU TREATIE NORMIES TO DEATH”
"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"
Said the Tsar, calmly
Funny how the monarch seemed to be the most rational. Metternich wanted to strengthen Austria's worst rival ffs.
the bit about abolishing slavery reminded me of certain ecologically-focused international conferences
MMMHMM that's correct
Whenever Europe doesn't want to do something they use that method, I knew slavery wasn't getting abolished when I saw the title of the document.
Germany: we need to protect the climate and reduce the emissions! Therefore, we need a lot of Russian gas. Oh, and NO NUCLEAR POWER! I don't care if it doesn't emit CO2, it's incongruent with our plans for Germany's economic domination!
Indeed a full throated fossil fuel abolition movement is needed (building on the coalition announced at the last COP)
@@uyuman1 difference is most environmental activists don’t know what they’re talking about
All I saw was Tsar Alexander Strong-Arming, trolling, bull$hitting and gaslighting his way into most of what he wanted XD.
More of a Madlad than a Madman Imo.
I love the Roman history videos and Roman history in general, but this two-part series may be my favorite Historia Civilis videos. He is so clear and concise when laying out these complex diplomatic negotiations that basically anyone can understand what is happening and why it's happening without glossing over anything. I hope he covers more stuff from the Early Modern Period-Late Modern Period- Industrial Revolution Eras.
Outstanding work as always, 51 minutes was an absolute treat. I'd love to see you look at later events in the 19th century and how the Congress contextualizes them.
Glad how videos from this guy just start like they should- no begging for subs, shilling some vpn or mobile game, etc
Amazing work, keep it up 👍👍👍
“Might does not make right,” Talleyrand reminded. Has not Europe paid for it “with so much blood and so many tears”? The golden age of peace could be right around the corner, if only every peacemaker would follow this course of action.”
― David King, Vienna
the way Castlereagh's picture is looking straight at the viewer is perpetually hilarious.
like seriously, the shine in his eyes makes it look like he's perpetually on the verge of tears in reaction to everything
You know more about this than I do, but I'm not sure how Castlereagh could've got anything done about slavery.
1. Britain hadn't abolished slavery, so anything forced onto the other countries would be hypocritical.
2. The other countries were united against Britain's push, with them collectively having much more influence that Britain.
3. As the nation with the biggest colonies, they were in the best position survive abolition (think of a modern equivalent situation to a developed country that got developed by using fossil fuels telling an undeveloped country not to use fossil fuels, or else).
4. The only way they would've got anything done would be to disperse with a large amount of resources and give them to their direct competitors, comprimising Britain and their geopolitical spot at the top.
5. Oh by the way, this was right after the largest war in history where no one wants to comprimise on anything unless it's to prevent another war.
fuckin finally, someone who seems to get that getting rid of slaves wasn't all that easy once it had already been allowed to grow that big and that Britain pretty much did all it could to abolish it.
He couldn't do anything, slavery was way too profitable at the time, when industrialization kicked in there was no need to have slaves anymore, therefore, they were abolished.
He didn't even try, he knew he couldn't do anything, he just paid lip service in order to appease the abolishionists back in Britain.
Yeah, not really much he could do. The germans and swedws could abolish the trade, but the Portuguese, specially with Brazil being more important, the French and the Spanish really didn't want or were willing to accept losing everything because of a institution people saw as normal at the time.
@@irmaosmatos4026Clearly not if about 1'000'000 people cared enough about it to send letters across half a continent. Doesn't sound like something everyone agreed on.
@@SloveneAnon only the Brits cares about it, because only the Brits didn't have slaves. Later other countries also started to care. Even if there were abolitionists in these nations they were a small minority and not a majority as they would eventually become.
As sad as it sounds, I would guess that Castlereigh's antislavery addition to the treaty would have still been a failure if he was more sincere, though it certainly would have had a greater chance.
It's definitely hard to believe they all could've been persuaded to abolish slavery, given their economies depended so heavily on it. After what Europe had just been through, there probably wasn't a great appetite for more radical changes. But we'll never know because Castlereagh didn't try.
Radical abolitionist proposals would have merely led to the same result but with far more drama and grief. Britain had leverage but the essentially the rest of the congress was either pro-slavery or were indifferent (and likely to back the pro-slavery side to prevent a diplomatic crisis).
I think it's too common in modern times to put too much emphasis on "what-ifs" like this. It wasn't happening and it is bordering on historical revisionism to pretend otherwise.
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 tbh none of their economies depended that much on it; the issue was that it benefited a specific clique of rich people. Slavery itself is a an economic drag, and British ownership of sugar islands etc was a pure subsidy for ultra rich slaveowners
@@cmbeadle2228 "specific clique"
You forget what the conflict was all about from the first moment, Restore the old order. Why a Tory who create a war in Europe to restore a tyrant, will care about an issue, like that? In fact Britain keep the Slavery until 1830 when their main rival Earl Gray a Foxite and Pro Napoleon got into power
29:28 I kind of love that Metternich kinda just went “alright I’m just gonna make the Holy Roman Empire 2.0”
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
1:40 Borders
3:40 Poland & Saxony
26:10 Germany
31:40 Italy
36:40 The Hundred Days
39:26 The Slave Trade
48:27 The Treaty of Vienna
Can you pinpoint the beef? I came back for the beef.
41:15 You know a term has become immortalized when it not only meshes so seamlessly into major historical events but improves our understanding of them!
What term though?
Alexander I is now officially my favorite monarch at the table. He's HILARIOUS
Unfortunatly being hilarious is not of the formost importance when it comes to sitting at the table peace (piece ?) making in this tumultuous Europe. Maybe Alexander didn't find the memo though
@@cookiesenpai1641 Alexander knew what he was doing and the European Powers knew what he was doing. It's quite simple. He terrorized these diplomats with war that he would win if they were foolish enough to wind up in.
"Alexander I is now officially my favorite monarch at the table."
But to be fair, he was the only monarch at the table. The other countries were not represented by their monarchs.
Defo needed skinning alive still like every other monarch in history tho
@@seneca983 Alexander embraced Roman Tradition. Have your diplomat display complete authority in negotiations. Of course he took it to its logical extreme. Sending himself.
6:21 "I have to return some videotapes" - Alexander I of Russia
I have assessed the situation, and I am leaving!
Bravo! These two videos on the Congress of Vienna are truly impressive. Over 97 minutes of storytelling about *diplomacy* among lesser known characters of history (to me at least, and Napoleon wasn't a participant in the Congress), and it was all riveting. No archival footage, no battles, no typically popular time period (ancient Greece, ancient Rome, WW2), no fancy animation (colored squares are people!!!). He's a master of his craft.
My wife is interested in history, and still she thought the topic sounded boring at first. I would have thought the same. I only watched because I watch every Historia Civilis video.
I swear, if I could only ever watch one historical video essay channel, Historia Civilis would be it. My brain is never left dissatisfied. I thank you for what you do.
these videos blow me away every time. You put so much research and effort into them. Thank you for being one of the absolute best history channels on youtube!
I like the theory that Tallyrand basically let Napoleon escape to get him out of the picture. There are stories about how the ships patrolling Elba just happened to be looking the other way when he made his escape attempt. Tallyrand probably knew that Napoleon would pull something like that eventually, and played to his ego. With him out of the way, Tallyrand was free to shape France the way he wanted, without the one man who could probably challenge his position.
Why not just kill Napoleon? Such a weird era in history.
Hm, come to think about that, it could also be well possible that he wanted to get this Napoleonic retoration to happen (and be crushed) *before* the treaty was signed, not after, because if it happens after, then suddenly everything is called into question again
Ah, although I'd double check who actually controlled the ships around Elba, tbh. I doubt the allies let French sailors do that
Also, Talleyrand resigned as foreign minister anyway in September 1815, to the day 7 months after Napoleon had left Elba (about 4 months after Napoleon was beaten the second time around)
Literally EVERYONE aptly calls Talleyrand a survivor, or a cockroach. Just as you said, if he really did let Napoleon escape, he had nothing to loose. Either Napoleon would be defeated again and Talleyrand would get a free hand at diplomacy, or if Napoleon succeeded in retaining power, he would have been made a constitutional monarch and the real diplomatic power would still lie in Talleyrand's hand.
One of the biggest mistakes of Napoleon was to let survivors and traitors like Talleyrand and Fouche to remain in power, alongwith many royalists, moderates, jacobins and literally everyone from every point of political spectrum. I find it reasonable until Napoleon was First Consul, but when he became Emperor, he should have thrown all these traitors in prison. He knew about their secret activities and negotiations with the Coalition. Yet he kept them alive. Which is quite irresponsible on Napoleon's part.
When he was retreating from Russia, he got wind of plots against him forming in Paris. So he promptly returned. When he was defeated at Waterloo, and the Coalition forces entered Paris, they were welcomed by a new government, the previous being overthrown by Fouche and Talleyrand.
If I was in Napoleon's place, the very first thing I would have done during the Hundred Days would have been execution of these two traitors.
@@gigachad7153 Haha I love your style of thinking. But you're right. And besides Fouche & Talleyrand, there were also other cunts like Moreau & Bernadotte who eventually went on the pass Napoleon's secrets to the 6th Coalition. Moreau should had been executed, while Bernadotte should had never been allowed to become King of Sweden.
This video: Alexander was an idiot
Austria: Alexander is an idiot
France Britain, everyone: Alexander is an idiot
Alexander, receiving Poland with essentially no concessions: if that’s what you want to think
I was really waiting for this video. Thank you. I'm Polish and regarding the Congress of Vienna, we're only taught that it occurred in 1815, some deals were made and Poland became a small duchy within Russia so your material is super educational.
Fantastic videos about the Congress of Vienna. I had zero idea how complicated and convoluted the negotiations were between the great powers. These two videos have been the most enjoyable videos I have ever, repeat, ever watched on TH-cam. Quick question to everyone here. Did this channel do a video on the negotiations in Paris after The Great War? Damn, I hope so. These two videos are exactly why TH-cam exists. Thank you so very much. Reid.
The British abolitionist movement is genuinely heartwarming.
I think HC’s interpretation of the slave trade in the Congress is a little too idealistic.
I don’t think any of the powers would have given a shit if Britain had taken a noble stand and pushed for even further slave trade restrictions. The argument HC himself posits would be the same; Britain had a head start in the colonies, so it had the least to lose removing or restricting slavery.
Britain was also the least economically affected by the wars so losing the profit of slavery hurt its recovery the least.
Can you imagine a war stricken bankrupt France, portugal and Spain being won over that Britain “was taking the moral high ground?”
They wouldn’t have cared.
Blaming or even saying Castlereigh contributed to slavery continuing in other colonies till the late 19th century seems ridiculous.
@@Thelionpaladin uk did not have a head start though. uk was late to the empire game Portugal and Spain were already colonial power hundreds of years before England jumped in. and England lost it's American holdings while Portugal and Spain had not. infact England/uk had a far harder time at the colonial game for awhile. being the smaller fish against the Dutch Spanish and French. and it was common for Spain and France to team up against the uk as well in a myriad of colonial conflicts.
especially when you see the progress in the modern day, big true
Great video , though I would interject that Castlereagh being neutral on slavery and being an imperialist has no real connection, anti slavery actually pushed for imperialism especially for the british. West Africa was mainly colonised by the support of abolishionists who wanted to end slavery in the region which native Kingdoms did not want to give up. It also gave a caus belli agnaist many slave states such as the otttomans allowing for imperial expansion.
Its funny how the last state in Africa to abolish slavery was Ethiopia - a country that was never colonised by Europeans (Italy conquered it for a while in the 1930's). During WW2 Ethiopia had an insane amount of slaves for the populace.
Thank God someone said it, I he was rather harsh on Castlereagh. I mean how could have marched in and demand complete abolition of slavery while Britain hadn't done it? Wouldn't he just have been seen as hypocritical?
@@fredbreadbun6277 i love spain's reaction.
West Africa was colonized not by abolitionists per say, but by ex-slave and free black people. America also did the same in Liberia as the British did in Sierra Leon, the slavers actually specifically supported them doing this. Slavers were in constant fear of all out slave revolt like in Haiti, and also sought to take away power from maroon groups like in Jamaica by shipping them away to Africa.
Much of the populace shipped to Africa often was very similar to the mixed elite of Haiti, usually very well assimilated into protestant English/American culture and actively oppressed the inhabitants, and very much needed the support of their home country to keep up their colonies.
Moreover the British still practiced slavery after abolition, Indian “indentured servants” were shipped to the Caribbean and sold to the French and Dutch to replace the ex-slaves and serve as a wedge between the white elite and the black populace. That’s why there are so many Indians in Guyana. Slavery also wasn’t ended in india after abolition, mainly because India had begun to replace the Caribbean and slavery there was incredibly important especially considering the British had been passing laws allowing the land holding aristocracy tighter control over their lands and peasants.
@@fredbreadbun6277 He could of promised that soon after Britain’s did the same. Course he couldn’t really, but he didn’t even try to sell them on ending trade when Britain had already done so. Sure it would of been difficult to do so, but Britain already had established the blockade of Africa alongside the Americans, they had already been flexing their naval muscle and there wasn’t really a state in the world that could stop them. If you wanna talk about them making everyone upset, we’ll they already seized a ton of colonies from France and the Dutch, including the ever important cape colony.
Aleksander is like, "I'm the strongest! I should get Poland!" The other Great Powers are like, "Here, why don't you play dress-up as a figurehead of a democracy..."
But seriously, I am consistently impressed with the quality of this channel's videos. I don't even care if it takes like 6 months to do them, because they're so fucking good. More consistently entertaining that most "professional" productions I've watched (and yes, I know this is a professional production of a different category).
But Alexander did get what he wanted...the "democracy" bit was an attempt to not lose face for all the other players. In the end, Poland was as independent as northern Italy.
@@tritonlandscaping1505 Ye the series downplays Alexander who was facing a real threat of coup and murder at home and a desire to secure the gains of the previous 20 years of war for Russia. And he mostly achieved those aims. He got most of poland and all of finland. If they call you a multiple personality eccentric baby while you accomplish your goals, so be it. It's not "I'm the strongest i should get poland". It's "4 of the other 5 in the room want a free poland, that gives up my claimed land and compensates Prussia for it's lost land but not me - how do i unbalance this forming bloc". The answer is - negotiate with the king of prussia to undermine hardenberg and use military force to present a fait acomplit in congress poland.
Can't stop seeing similarities between Alexander and Putin. Childish, aggressive, unpredictable.
@@slowtrigger I don t get why he is descriebed as childish though. He plays the agressive baby yes but essentially he forces thus the negotiation to his maximalist position. From all of foreign policy to haggling for the price of something this is what people do. He was really isolated in the confrence and he found a how to get his way.
@@hector18650 The problem here is that you're conflating the fact that he got roughly a decent deal with the intent to do so. Fact is that this reputation follows him everywhere, and multiple times he sabotages himself from getting what he clearly wants. Brilliant people tend to be acknowledged in their lifetimes in terms of diplomacy; Alexander was NOT one of those individuals. The fact that he was so isolated is literally proof of his ineptitude.
I know some people (unfairly) complain about the length of time between videos, but honestly I can watch these things multiple times between each release.
Russia: Demands a Poland as a compensation for its loses against Napoleon.
- Unacceptable!: said Austria, dismembering Italy.
- Absolutely tyrannical! - said UK eating the world - Such cruelty!
Hypocrisy is a game that we westerners never lose at.
The problem wasnt that. The problem was tsar alexander threatening war if he doesnt get poland, like a giant baby.
@@belisarius6949 Thanks to this, Russia no longer worried about its western borders. No one was able to use Poland as an instrument against Russia, as Napoleon did.
@@belisarius6949 And he was right about it. That is how peace negotiations work. If the winning power doesn't get its demands, or some acceptable compromise, it will keep fighting until they get them, if they find the wins greater than the losses of war. Every party of a peace negotiation plays that game, because it is the conditions the parties can agree upon for finally signing a peace treaty. Russia should have kept insisting on all of Poland, under the new compromise of a constitutional state.
The problem wanst Russia eating up more land, the problem was this allowing Russia to push it self into central Europe
This is probably the greatest history Channel ever created on youtube!
I can wait as long as it takes for new videos because each one is better, longer, and more fascinating than the last. One of the best channels on TH-cam!
ot even the return of Napoleon from Elba and the eruption of new war diverted the Congress from its forward-looking agenda. The congress was not suspended nor was a new peace treaty made at Vienna. After Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo and the second restoration of the Bourbons to the French throne, a new set of peace treaties was made under the Second Peace of Paris of 20 November 1815
Superb survey of Vienna Conference. It’s a clear understandable narrative and explains background of the 5 major powers. Excellent maps accompany it as well.
Gotta love Metternich being willing to get into a shouting match with the emperor of Russia
6:29 You have somehow expressed exasperation and concern with this stationary, featureless blue cube. Well done.
I personally would like to thank you for making amazing content like this. Keep it up, I’ll be binging this today for sure!
thanks man, saved my life, i had to make a presentation about this topic and thanks to you it was super easy
Tsar Alexander wasn't weird, he was just the first ever Sigma Male.
Preach!
6:30 "after casually threatening a world war, the Russian tsar stayed up partying until 4 in the morning"
The more things change, the more they stay the same
It reminded me of the situation when Denmark imposed sanctions against Russia, and then the Russian foreign minister said: “Thank you. Let's go have lunch." Russia does not change. I still don't understand how.
I just watched every singe video on this channel for maybe the 3rd time and I NEED another one. Easily the most immersed and entertained I've been on TH-cam for years
Pst. Hey kid. Need another hit? I’ve got a couple History Civilian episodes for you to watch. Real cheap too. Just give me a couple bucks and we’ll make the swap but keep it on the down low alright? This is real good stuff, I promise. Best on the market.
I am a time traveller and have watched this video in its entirety. Brilliant work!
Nice!
We eagerly await your return
Sir, you have just made my day!
i tried to have this play in the background while i completed other tasks but i couldn't take my eyes off of it. awesome doc
Austria already outlawed slavery 1812 in Article 16 of its General Civil Code which reads: "Each human being has inborn rights, already apparent from reason, and is accordingly to be regarded as a person. Slavery or bondage, and the exercise of power based thereon, is forbidden in these Lands." In 1826, the government clarified that Article 16 also applies to ships under the Austrian flag, i.e. slave trade.
Every weekend I watch a video of yours. I feel like there’s always a small detail to find and I love this channel. Quality beats quantity on TH-cam.
17:36 "It became clear that there was some kind of hand-off happening, a secret agreement between Russia and Prussia. Both were openly fortifying their positions and preparing for war."
Time truly is a flat circle.
Once again a great video, but you made some significant errors on the map, especially in regards to Poland.
The part of Prussia you claim/draw that could become Polish is wrong. East Prussia was never Polish, nor had a large Polish population (Masurian≠Polish), nor was ever a part of Poland. The regions you should be highlighting are Posen and maybe parts of West Prussia.
Both videos are worth multiple viewings. That is the mark of superior work.
It feels like Christmas when Historia Civilis uploads
That bass drop at the end of each HC video really gets me together.
So gutted to see this was a year ago and still no sequel is out 😢 I was getting so pumped up watching these two Vienna episodes today!!
Kept us waiting huh?
Where's your high quality content exactly?
Awesome video I always get super excited when a new one drops no matter what it’s about but I’m honestly hoping you’ll go back and continue the 2nd triumvirate story cuz Augustus is my favorite historical figure and I always am interested in learning more because no matter how much I know you always teach me something new
45:22 - Castlereagh wasn’t Irish, he was Anglo-Irish - a planted Protestant settler who helped suppress Irish rebellions against British rule. These people have absolutely nothing to do with native Irish people.
Yeah, there was something off with that part of the video.
Dude was born in Dublin, that's a long way from Ulster
Tbf wasn't wolfe tone also a Protestant settler?
@@BurtonJ88 I just mean that my guy wasn’t an native Irish person.
MP for County Down and 2nd Marquess of Londonderry. Can't get more Ulster than that
Good video man!!
You deserve 1million likes for both parts!!
Miss your videos :-(
you're pretty much solely responsible for me having any interest in history, so thank you
Don't worry, just 5 more months
The final line, and end music of this videos are just an example of good editing that I crave so much
48:20 - Non-binding commitments and half-measures... Reminds me so hard of the way countries deal with climate change.
just pay a little more money and the sun will stop heating the Earth
you know this was the quickest you ever released a new video, Part 1 was out 2 months ago! I'm so happy! 😁😭
It's fascinating how activism for something as fundamental and basic to our modern society as ending slavery followed so many of the same patterns that we see in activism today.
Absolutely, and these people keep saying "woke" this "woke" as if its something new, its all the same, its all a gradual changing from generation to another generation, in the end rational and moral will prevail, slowly but steady, that is the fate of this world
Dude you are absolutely amazing. Ever since I watch the first part I have been waiting for this 🥺. I am sharing this video with everyone I know. Thank you for this amazing content
you should do a series on the french revolution, i think alot of people including myself would enjoy that
Portugal : "I will completely abolish slavery"
Public : "Oh nice"
Portugal: "... north of the equator"
Public: "Well thats still somethi.... wait a minute"
I love the dedication and specificity of your research.
That "I'm Irish!" bit was good
Great video. I really hope you also cover Berlin Congress in 1878. Cheers.
Excellent videos. I had no idea about the Congress of Vienna and may have only heard t passing by. this has me way more interested in late 1700's to late 1800's history
These last 2 videos have been some of your best work. If I could subscribe twice, I would.
This is like me and my friends playing Risk it's so fun!!!
3 months ..
Gimmie another video!
Quite clear Alexander wanted poland under his rule not caring too much about if the kingdom of poland was liberal or not
Please make more videos, I really like them and I listen to them while I work and there’s nothing better than a Historia Civilis videos what at work
never change brother, i love these well made videos every couple months
What a great episode. I'm always sad to hear that incredible ending music even though it's a banger
I absolutely love the new long format, keep it up man!
So awesome. I had to watch it again today. And perhaps will do it one more time later on. Perhaps no, most surely. And then one more time, and so on.
Thanks Historia Civilis!
I would have loved to have been there after Castlereagh was called English. The smirk he must have given would've been amazing to witness
I love the negotiation visuals. Really brings life to the negotiation
How we wish that today's world leaders have a similar Congress to work out differences and end the wars.
It's called the United Nations
I can't get enough of your videos.