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CONFERENCE THEME “The Congress
of Vienna and its Global Dimension” is a conference commemorating the
bicentenary of the Congress of Vienna. Following the French Revolution and
the Napoleonic Wars, delegations from almost every European state came to
Vienna to participate in this event which lasted from 18 September 1814 to 9
June 1815. Among those represented were Prussia, Russia, Great Britain,
France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden and Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands,
Switzerland, the Republic of Genoa, the Papal States as well as some other
180 entities of various sizes and political configuration.
In 1814-15
the main objective of the Congress of Vienna was to undo the Napoleonic system
of states in order to restore the political and territorial status quo that
existed prior to 1789/92. The European colonies were, of course, part of the
“game”. The Congress of Vienna did not only mark the beginning of modern
diplomacy but also created political and social conditions that formed the
basis of European and global politics for the next hundred years – roughly
speaking, until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Thus, the Congress of
Vienna must be considered one of the major events of the 19th century with a
significant impact on a global level.
Although
the European great powers tried hard to reduce the impact of the French
Revolution, their efforts proved unavailing at many levels. Their creation of
a succession of reactionary coalitions, including the Holy Alliance, and their
establishment of oppressive police states which ushered in an era that moved
much of Europe “from absolutism to totalitarianism”, could not turn back the
revolutionary tide. The “domino effect” on the Spanish and Portuguese
colonies in the Americas, caused by the revolutions on both sides of the
Atlantic Ocean (US-American independence, French Revolution, Revolution of
Saint-Domingue), was unstoppable. Exactly these revolutionary changes in the
“Western hemisphere” were considered a genuine “problem”, indeed a major
threat to the maintenance of empires. Many European statesmen, among them
Klemens von Metternich, representative of the most conservative and
influential leaders, feared the repercussions of the ongoing processes of
liberation, independence, republicanism and revolutionary movements. In
consequence, they initiated a special investigation into the “South American
Matter”. The fear was reflected in the striking claim that “the revolution in
the Americas is the revolution in Europe”. However, even in Europe itself
further revolution couldn’t be prevented: it could only be delayed, for about
half a century. Revolutionaries such as Giuseppe Garibaldi became
avant-gardists and leaders in Europe after fighting for independence in South
America. The fight for independence, civil and human rights was without any
doubt an “Atlantic project” with profound global repercussions.
In order
to appreciate the political background of the organisers and participants of
the historical Congress of Vienna, their discussions, argumentations and
decisions, as well as the impact of a political order that lasted from 1815
until the democratic revolutions of 1848/49, it is obligatory to acquire
detailed knowledge of the global age of revolution from 1775 onwards. The
“Congress of Vienna and its Global Dimension” treats with all topics relevant
to the great struggle between old and new, legitimacy and illegitimacy,
conservative and liberal, theology and science, as well as perceptions of
“civilization” and “barbarism” till this day. Special
emphasis will be given to: ·
the
outlawing of the Atlantic slave trade and the following second slaveries (inclusive
of the shipping of more than a million indentured servants from Asia to the
Americas as substitution of slaves from Africa), ·
the
emergence of early imperialism or “Europe’s second expansion” (David K.
Fieldhouse) and its capitalist impetus, ·
the outlawing
of the African Barbary coast as well as the South American “rebel republics”
(rogue states in today’s words), ·
the
Barbary Wars, ·
the fall
of the Ottoman Empire, ·
the
establishment of authoritarian states and new global empires, as well as ·
the emergence
of international law and international relations. While it
is understood that not every topic chosen has to be directly linked to the
Congress of Vienna, the anticipation is that it should relate to one of these
major conflicts.
The
conference will dedicate itself to exploring the global dimension of the
Congress of Vienna via its national, international and transnational level.
Changing from a European towards a global perspective when reflecting on this
historic event is a timely undertaking 200 years after the fact; it is likely
to yield fertile areas of research with new insights on topics such as the
age of revolutions, colonialism, imperialism, capitalism, conservatism,
(second) slaveries, slave trade, abolition, human rights, and international
relations. This new focus should allow us better to conceive of the Congress
of Vienna as the beginning of a fundamentally new era. Specifically, this
conference aims to discuss how the Congress, its follow-up-gatherings, and
the Holy Alliance have impacted the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania by
influencing changes at a global level. Likewise, the discussions will seek to
analyse the repercussions of extra-European developments and events on the
Congress itself. Clearly, significant new insights into the history of the
Congress of Vienna and its epoch are likely to be gained and new scholarly
directions mapped out.
Final act
of the Congress of Vienna, 9 June 1815, Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv
(Austrian State Archives) |
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Secretariat ADHILAC Conference c/o Centre for Continental American and Caribbean Studies KonaK Wien |
Address Arthaberplatz 4 1100 Vienna Austria Europe |
Contact T/F: +43-1-941-08-78 F: +43-1-602-374-85 |
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![The English making the africans partner of the treaty of piace [sic] between the allied powers of the 20th of October 1815 upon the abolition of the slave trade](theme_archivos/image015.jpg)
