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Map of the Congress
of Vienna that rebuilt post-Napoleonic Europe (1814)
by James Mayfield (Chairman, European Heritage Library)
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this Article About
the Author Bibliography/Sources
After the defeat of Napoleon
at Leipzig and the subsequent battle of Waterloo, the victorious
continental powers of Europe met at the Congress of Wien
(or Vienna) in 1814 to determine the fate of the
entire continent from the ashes of Napoleon's global empire.
This declaration ultimately gave modern Europe its face, and
set in motion the eventual unification of Italy and the rebirth
of the German nation. Piedmonte and Sardinia, as well as Naples
and Sicily, were merged, giving the foundation to the modern
Italian state. Denmark, which lost the war (as it was casually
allied with France), forfeited Norway to Sweden. The foundations
were also laid for the rebirth of the ancient kingdom of Germany.
The German Confederation was a loose-knit conglomeration of
German states in close union with Prussia and Austria, cementing
the birth of a modern pan-Germanic empire, although this loose
bond fell apart by 1866 as the predatory dominance of its
two Germanic leaders -- Prussia and Austria -- struggled for
control. Russia inherited much of Moldova (Bessarabia), dominated
nearly all of Poland (which Prussia had lost to Napoleon),
and inherited Finland from Sweden by conquest. Portugal and
Spain quickly lost nearly all of their colonies in the Americas
due to their complete inabilty to intervene when they could
barely survive in the face of Napoleon's invasions. The Holy
Roman Empire was formally dissolved, and the Habsburg Empire
became the Austrian Empire, even more formally dominated by
the ethnic German minority. Prussia was expanded immensely
due to its triumph in the war. France returned to a monarchy.
The Netherlands gained Belgium for the time being. The modern
layout of the continent owes itself to the Napoleonic Wars.
If an error has been made,
please notify the EHL Staff.
Click the below map
for the full-size version! Click on the map again to zoom.
My photo of Napoleon's tomb in Les Invalides (CLICK TO ENLARGE)
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ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:
James Mayfield is a historian
and the Chairman of the European Heritage Library. I have
a Cum Laude BA in History with a Minor in Germanic Studies
(language and history), am presently working for my Masters
in History, and plan to immediately progress to my PhD Doctorate.
I have a special academic interest in Europe's diverse ethnic
identities, languages, and cultures, and the political struggles
of native European and immigrant minority identities. See
my staff entry for more information.
BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES
USED:
The image used as the basis
of this map is the Nations Online Project, and the copyright
has been respected.
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