Pozitia Angliei la Congresul de la Viena

Anglia a fost reprezentata de lordul Stewart R. Castlereagh al Angliei.

Rolul principal l are britanicul Castlereagh, spirit flexibil i subtil, care, sub o
aparen glacial, avea un comportament practic care nu se mpiedica de
rigiditatea protocolar a diplomailor de mod veche. El voia ca vocea Angliei s
se fac auzit n concertul marilor puteri i nu atepta vreo mrire teritorial, ci
numai refacerea echilibrului european, care fusese pus n pericol de ambiiile
hegemonice ale lui Napoleon Bonaparte.
Congresul de la Viena a instituit o nou ordine n care Europa era sub controlul
unui ansamblu de patru puteri: Austria, Prusia, Rusia i Anglia.
Anglia era o monarhie parlamentar n care drepturile i libertile individuale
erau n mare msur respectate.
Prusiamai obinea Renania i Westfalia ns ceda Hanovra n favoarea Casei
regale engleze care renuna la titlul de prin elector al Sfntului Imperiu n
favoarea celuide rege de Hanovra. Anglia reuea totodat s i mreasc
Imperiul colonial cuMalta, Capul Bunei Sperane, Antilele franceze i porturile
franceze din India.
n momentul n care se negocia textul final al tratatului de la Viena,Napoleon a
prsit Insula Elba i a revenit n Frana. Prsit de armat Ludovic alXVIII-lea a
fugit n Belgia i ncepea domnia de 100 de zile ultimul episod alepopei
napoleoniene. Dar coaliia de la Chaumont a intervenit i la 18 iunie 1815 l-a
nvins definitiv la Waterloo. Prizonier al armatei engleze, Napoleon a fost exilatn
Insula Sfnta Elena unde a murit la 5 mai 1821.
Frana a reprimatrevoluia spaniol dar Anglia, din interese proprii, s-a opus,
ajutnd discret pespanioli. Poziia Angliei care a refuzat s acorde sprijinul
logistic pentruintervenia din America de Sud, conflictul de interese anglofrancez n Spania, dar i antagonismul anglo-austro-rus n Balcani au dinamitat
Sfnta Alian care nu areuit s genereze un sisteme politic internaional viabil.
Contradiciile anglo-franceze au favorizat cauza Belgiei creia i s-a
recunoscutindependena prin Conferina de la Londra, sub dinastia de SaxaCoburg. Revoluias-a extins i n Confederaia german, n Brunswick, Saxonia i
Hessa.

Engleza
As British Foreign Secretary, from 1812 he was central to the management of the
coalition that defeated Napoleon and was the principal British diplomat at the
Congress of Vienna. Castlereagh was also leader of the British House of
Commons in the Liverpool government from 1812 until his suicide in August
1822. Early in his career, as Chief Secretary for Ireland, he was involved in
putting down the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and was instrumental in securing the
passage of the Irish Act of Union of 1800.

His foreign policy from 1814 was to work with the leaders represented at the
Congress of Vienna to provide a peace in Europe consistent with the conservative
mood of the day. Much more than Prime Minister Lord Liverpool, he was
responsible for the repressive domestic measures. Historian Charles Webster
concludes:

"There probably never was a statesman whose ideas were so right and whose
attitude to public opinion was so wrong. Such disparity between the grasp of
ends and the understanding of means amounts to a failure in statesmanship."
At the Congress of Vienna, Castlereagh designed and proposed a form of
collective and collaborative security for Europe, then called a Congress system. In
the Congress system, the main signatory powers met periodically (every two
years or so) and collectively managed European affairs. This system was used in
an attempt to address the Polish-Saxon crisis at Vienna and the question of Greek
independence at Laibach. The following ten years saw five European Congresses
where disputes were resolved with a diminishing degree of effectiveness. Finally,
by 1822, the whole system had collapsed because of the irreconcilable
differences of opinion among Britain, Austria, and Russia, and because of the lack
of support for the Congress system in British public opinion. The Holy Alliance,
which Castlereagh opposed, lingered for some time, however, and even had
effects on the international stage as late as the Crimean war. The order created
by the Congress of Vienna was also more successful than Congresses
themselves, preventing major European land wars until the First World War a
century later. Scholars and historians have seen the Congress system as a
forerunner of the modern collective security, international unity, and cooperative
agreements of NATO, the EU, the League of Nations, and the United Nations.

In the years 1812 to 1822, Castlereagh continued to manage Britain's foreign

policy, generally pursuing a policy of continental engagement uncharacteristic of
British foreign policy in the nineteenth century. Castlereagh was not known to be
an effective public speaker and his diplomatic presentation style was at times
abstruse. Henry Kissinger says he developed a reputation for integrity,
consistency, and goodwill, which was perhaps unmatched by any diplomat of that
era.