peace of Vienna ceding 32,000 square miles to Napoleon and his allies. War between Russia and Napoleon, the latter now having as allies Austria and Prussia. Napoleon invades Russia and occupies Moscow; Russian patriots burn it, and Napoleon retreats; cold, famine, and continual attacks from Russian troops and Cossacks disorganize his army, and cost him at least 300,000 lives. Prussia and Russia, joined by Sweden and Austria, unite against Napoleon in the "War of Liberation"; the French are driven back; the allies enter Paris itself in triumph, and the French senate are compelled to declare that Napoleon has forfeited the throne. He abdicates, and is banished to Elba. Lewis XVIII. is declared king of France, which he is to rule according to a constitution somewhat imitating that of England, but with too many limitations to be satisfactory. Napoleon, hearing of the discontent of France, returns, is received with enthusiasm by army and people, and enters Paris in triumph. King Lewis flees to Ghent, and the sovereigns of Europe proclaim a "ban" against Napoleon, and raise great armies to defeat him. This final attack upon his power ends in the battle of Waterloo (1815), a thorough defeat for the emperor, who is banished as prisoner of war to St. Helena, where he dies in exile. The allied monarchs now enter Paris, and again reinstate Lewis XVIII. as king of the French. The monarchs of Russia, Austria, and Prussia now form the "Holy Alliance" in order to defend the established order in morality, religion, government. The affairs of Europe are settled at the CONGRESS OF VIENNA, by the Pentarchy of Great Powers (England, France, Austria, Prussia, Russia) acting through their ministers, prominent of whom are Metternich, Wellington, Talleyrand. The chief points of settlement are as follows: Austria receives Lombardy and Venice, and Prussia re ceives various German territories; the states of Germany form a confederacy to take the place of the old empire; Holland and the Austrian Netherlands are to form a kingdom of the Netherlands. The Partition of Poland between Russia, Prussia, and Austria is confirmed.1 The old royal dynasties are restored to the various Italian states and to Spain. STUDY ON 2. What domestic and foreign necessity has France for Napoleon? What two reasons have the monarchs of Europe for their fear of Napoleon? During the Napoleonic wars what natural boundary does France regain? When has she had this boundary before? What republican principle acknowledged by the elevation of Napoleon? By what acts does he violate republican principles? What supports the Napoleonic power in France? The dominion of Napoleon in 1810 (see map) is almost identical with the dominion of what former French ruler? When and with whom did the title of Emperor, which comes to an end in 1806, originate? What countries of modern Europe have been formed from the "Holy Roman Empire"? What feeling calls the Spaniards to war against Napoleon? Where next does he meet the same enemy to his advance? What is the evident reason for the temporary alliances of Austria and Prussia with Napoleon? Napoleon banished, why do the European monarchs feel it necessary to form the "Holy Alliance"? Is the Congress of Vienna representative of the "Old Régime" or of the Revolution? Prove it. 1 Poland suffered three partitions among these powers, - those of 1772, 1793, and 1795. The causes leading to its division may be seen in the following diplomatic statement on the part of Russia: "Should Poland be firmly and lastingly united to Saxony, a power of the first rank will arise, and one which will be able to exercise the most sensible pressure upon each of its neighbours. We are greatly concerned in this, in consequence of the extension of our Polish frontier; and Prussia is no less so, from the inevitable increase which would ensue of Saxon influence in the German Empire. We therefore suggest that Prussia, Austria, and Russia should come to an intimate understanding with one another on this most important subject." Ostermann added "that the question lay entirely with the three powers, that if they were agreed, they might laugh at the rest of the world.” 3. Special Study of the Prussian Revolution and the Prussian Leadership in the "War of Liberation."1 1. Prussia at the Treaty of Tilsit. -- In 1806 Germany falls into three chief divisions, — the Confederation of the Rhine, a union of German states under the lead of Napoleon; the empire of Austria; the kingdom of Prussia (see map, p. 482). By the treaty of Tilsit, Prussia accedes to the following special terms from Napoleon: the loss of nearly half her territory, which is parcelled out to various powers; the payment of $28,000,000, secured, meanwhile, by French occupation of her fortresses, the garrisons to be supported at Prussian expense; the reduction of her army to 42,000 men. The organization of the Prussian state is that of the "Old Régime": an absolute rule of the king and his favorites, uninfluenced by any popular assemblies; three fixed, hereditary classes among the people, nobles, citizens, serfs. Furthermore, the land, like the people, is divided into noble-land, citizen-land, serf-land; nor can it either be given or sold from one class to another. Thus runs the law of Frederick the Great: "The peasantry can not alienate a field, mortgage it, cultivate it differently, change their occupation, or marry, without their lord's permission. If they leave his estate, he can pursue them in every direction and bring them back by force. He has the right of watching over their private life, and chastizes them if they are drunk or lazy. When young, they serve for years as servants in his mansion; as cultivators, they owe him corvées." As in France, the king is supposed "to live of his own," 1 Throughout this study, I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to Prof. Seeley's Life and Times of Stein. |