If only the peacemakers of 1919 had also exhibited such foresight! They therefore did not want to impose a punitive treaty that would undermine his authority and make the Bourbons unpopular throughout their own kingdom. The Bourbon king of France, Louis XVIII, was their ally. After 25 years of war and turmoil, they saw Napoleon primarily as the military face of that primordial force. The reason for this leniency had less to do with Talleyrand’s skill in diplomacy than with the views of the allied statesmen on the nature of the enemy. That peace was, however, a negotiated settlement, not a coerced Diktat in the sense of the later Treaty of Versailles in 1919. In truth, the arrangements with France had already been determined in the Peace of Paris the previous May. The men of 1814 are often complimented for their foresight in inviting France to the negotiations. In considering their work one might start, as the allies themselves did, with France. Where were the new frontiers of Europe to be drawn? But now the game of musical chairs was about to cease. Under Napoleon’s ruthless hand, new states had been formed and destroyed with dazzling complexity and at dizzying speed. They faced an opportunity unprecedented in modern history. The men of 1814, having vanquished Napoleon and dissolved his empire, had now to determine the future of Europe. The French Revolution had constituted a profound break with the past. Were they far-seeing architects, as some now claim? Or frightened reactionaries? Did they create a new world order or simply restore the old? The answer lies somewhere in between. In the autumn of 1814, as the culmination of their struggles, they gathered in Vienna. These qualities, which had held the alliance together in the final campaign against Napoleon, were now carried over into peacetime. What had they learned from the experience? Above all else, they had learned the necessity of frequent communication, a willingness to consider views from other vantage points, the benefits of cooperation and a respect for limits. The statesmen who gathered in Vienna had already experienced twenty-five years of revolution and war.
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