Metternich

At the congresses of Troppau and Laibach, Metternich promoted the idea that the great monarchies could intervene in a state where revolution threatened dynastic order and European stability. This doctrine departed from the principle of non-intervention advocated notably by Britain.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

At Laibach, Metternich presented Austrian proposals for military measures to "restore" order in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. An Austrian army crossed the border, defeated the constitutionalists and restored the previous regime in Naples.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

The constitutional uprising originating in Alessandria and Turin was rapidly crushed with the intervention of Austrian forces. Metternich, then directing Austrian diplomacy and the counter-revolutionary intervention system, treated the Piedmontese crisis as an extension of the Italian problem addressed at Laibach.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

In correspondence with Friedrich Gentz and subsequently in his "Political Creed", Metternich rejected proposals to constitutionally limit monarchical power and presented coordination among sovereigns as necessary to preserve order against revolution.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

Following the assassination of August von Kotzebue, Metternich convened the Carlsbad conference and used the crisis to impose coordinated measures against national and liberal movements. Universities were placed under surveillance, teachers could be suspended or removed and nationalist student associations were targeted.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

The press provisions of the Carlsbad Decrees subjected newspapers and short publications to prior approval by the authorities and allowed the Federal Diet to suppress publications without appeal when considered contrary to security or public order.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

The Carlsbad decisions established a central commission in Mainz tasked with identifying "demagogic associations" and revolutionary networks, providing Metternich's system with a coordinating instrument for surveillance and repression of political opponents within the Confederation.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Metternich chaired the Congress of Vienna and played a central role in restoring dynasties and establishing a new European balance. The settlement brought lasting stability to the continent but largely subordinated national and liberal aspirations to dynastic legitimacy and the established order of the powers.

State of the evidence

Well documented

Attribution

Directly implicated