The Congress of Vienna 1814 at the end of the long Napoleonic Wars led to a period of relative peace on the continent of Europe. A network of institutions was established known as the ‘Concert of Europe’ where differences could be thrashed out before leading to war. After the French Revolution, the basis of sovereignty shifted from individuals and families as leaders to nations and states. Throughout Europe a generation of individuals from the educated elite took the lead in developing movements of national liberation and liberal reform. But for more than thirty years the leaders of the Great Powers of the continent successfully managed to suppress these movements and clamped down on any signs of internal unrest or revolution www.patreon.com/historyeurope www.historyeurope.net Music: Frederich Chopin - Polonaise in A Flat Major; Franz Schubert's Symphony no.5 Picture: Congress of Vienna watercolour etching by August Friedrich Andreas See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.