Adjusting the Balance The Englishman on the left uses his money to counterbalance the people that the Prussian and the fat Metternich are gaining in Saxony and Italy. Alexander I sits happily on his prize, Poland. This cartoon captures the essence of how the educated public thought about the balance-of-power diplomacy resulting in the Treaty of Vienna. (“La Balance Politique,” 1815, colored etching/Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, Germany/© DHM/The Bridgeman Art Library)