The “Restoration” of Europe

Even while Napoleon was making his last desperate bid for power, his enemies were meeting in the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815) to decide the fate of postrevolutionary, post-Napoleonic Europe. Although interrupted by the Hundred Days, the Congress of Vienna settled the boundaries of European states, determined who would rule each nation, and established a new framework for international relations based on periodic meetings, or congresses, between the major powers. The doctrine of conservatism that emerged in reaction to the events of the French Revolution bolstered this post-Napoleonic order and in some places went hand in hand with a revival of religion.