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4 ESO4 ESOTopicTopic TwoTwo::

Political and SocialPolitical and Social

changes in 19th century inchanges in 19th century in

Spain and EuropeSpain and Europe

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Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Corsica. He trained as an artillery officer in France

and quickly he rose to prominence under the French First Republic, leading successful

campaigns. In October of 1799 Napoleon returned to Paris after having been in Egypt

with his armies. He took staged the coup d'tat of 18 Brumaire which installed the

Consulate.

The Consulate led to Bonaparte's dictatorship and, in 1804, to his proclamation as

Emperor.

Napoleon Bonaparte

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After bringing

economic prosperityand peace to France,

Napoleon set out to

conquer Europe. He

wanted to defeat the

European absolute

monarchs who had

allied years ago to

fight the French

revolutionary ideas

He wanted to defeat.

As a skillful general,

he was able to

conquer significant

tracts of land.

By 1812 Napoleon

controlled most of

Europe, either

directly, or indirectly.

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In 1808 Napoleon invaded Spain, and replaced Carlos IV with his brother Jose Bonaparte.

This led to resistance from the Spanish army and civilians in the Dos de Mayo Uprising.

Napoleon took command and defeated the Spanish Army. Before the Spanish populationhad been fully subdued,Austria again threatened war, and Napoleon returned to France.

The costly and often brutal

Spanish War of Independence

continued in Napoleon's

absence. Although Napoleon

left 300,000 of his finest

troops to battle Spanishguerrillas (helped by British

and Portuguese forces

commanded by the Duke of

Wellington) French control

over the peninsula again

deteriorated. Following

several allied victories, the

war concluded after

Napoleon's abdication in

1814. Napoleon later

described the Peninsular War

as central to his final defeat.

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The nations that had been conquered by Napoleon resented being ruled by France.

One by one, these nations rebelled. By March of 1814, Napoleon had been defeated,and forced to step down as the emperor of France.

A year later in 1815 Napoleon

returned to Paris, and called for his

soldiers to return to him. He was still

popular among the people who hadenjoyed their quick rise to power

under his rule. For 100 days,

Napoleon again ruled France.

Monarchs in other European nations

feared that Napoleon would again

seek to control them. In a decisive

battle at Waterloo, France, Napoleonwas defeated in June of 1815, and

was forced into exile on the island of

Saint Helena, where he died in 1821.

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In 1815 Napoleon was definitively

defeated in Waterloo. It was the fall of

the French Empire and the end of the

Revolution. It would seem to indicate

that the old monarchies in Europe had

beaten the Revolutionary ideas. The

Absolute Monarchies (Austria, Russia,Prussia, etc) managed to impose again

the old ideas of the Old Regime in the

Treaty of Paris, in the Treaty of the Holy

Alliance and, of course, in the Congress

of Vienna.

The Congress of Vienne

However, the seeds of the new revolutionary ideas had been spread, and all along the 18th

century these ideas gradually flourished.After defeating the French armies, the major powers of Europe held a Conference in Vienna

from November 1814 to June 1815: the Congress of Vienna. The chairman was the Austrian

statesman Metternich. The four victorious powers (Russia, United Kingdom, Prussia and

Austria) wanted to determinate the shape of Europe after the Napoleonic wars, with the

exception of the terms of peace with France, which had already been decided by the Treaty

of Paris, signed a few months earlier.

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Every state in Europe had a delegation in Vienna. More than 200 states and princely

houses were represented at the Congress. In addition, there were representatives of

cities, corporations, religious organizations and special interest groups. In June 9, 1815

the Final Act, embodying all the separate treaties, was signed. It included:

Russia expanded its territory to the west. The Congress confirmed its possession of

Finland as well as most of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw (Poland).

France lost all the conquered territories.

Prussia was given two fifths of Saxony, parts of the Duchy of Warsaw , Danzig, and the

Rhineland Westphalia.

A German Confederation of 38 states was created from the previous 360 of the Holy

Roman Empire.

The Netherlands and the Southern Netherlands (approx. modern-day Belgium) were

united in a constitutional monarchy.

The neutrality of Switzerland was guaranteed.

TheA

ustrian Empire regained most of the areas that had lost to Napoleon in CentralEurope. Austria became the core of Western Europe for 30 years thanks to this

congress.

Norway was transferred from Denmark to Sweden.

The Ottoman Empire granted some autonomy to Serbia, Montenegro, Wallachia and

Moldova.

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