1 - 1815–1835: Restoration and Procrastination

Summary

The Congress of Vienna settlement secured peace for forty years. The Monarchy returned to the centre of diplomacy. Metternich’s “System” involved both the balance of power and the concert of Europe. He used an initially quite liberal system for reactionary purposes. Metternich’s eventual dependence on Russia caused a loss of Austrian diplomatic control over events such as Greek independence. Domestically, Metternich’s System fulfilled Franz I’s policy of no major change. A policy of (inefficient) political repression led to little political development at the Monarchy’s centre, yet change occurred anyway. Biedermeier culture was superficially apolitical, but promoted a new middle class; at the periphery, cultural nationalism, encouraged by the authorities, also appeared apolitical, but in reality was deeply political. A more Romantic, “popular”, modern form of nationalism developed. In Hungary, politically not as effectively suppressed, political nationalism prospered. Nationalist movements also gained strength in other provinces. An urban civic culture believing in progress was encouraged by figures such as Count Istvan Széchenyi in Hungary and Archduke Johann in Styria, who embodies an alternative way for the Monarchy. The Habsburg government accepted non-threatening economic change but remained a drag on economic development.