CONGRESS SYSTEM [1814—1822] Examination Preparation Questions.

1: Why was the Congress System so short-lived?
2: Whose interests were best served by the Congress System between 1815 and 1822?
3: How accurate is the view that Vienna Congress was an instrument by which the stronger oppressed the weak? OR To what extent did the Great Powers use the Vienna Congress as instrument to suppress the interests of the smaller powers?
4:’ The Vienna Congress was dominated by the forces of continuity over the forces of change’’ How valid is this view of the Vienna Congress.
5:’’A Congress of property transfer, a recipe for future instability’’ How far do you agree with this view of the Vienna Congress?
6:’’The settlement reached at the Congress of Vienna was dominated by fear of French aggression’’ How far do you agree?
7: On balance, the successes of the Congress of Vienna outweighed its failures’’ Discuss this verdict.
8: To what extent did the Congress system between 1815 and 1823 seek to defend anything than the self-interest of the major European powers?
9: How and with what success to 1830, did the Congress of Vienna seek to achieve a balance of power in Europe?
10 How far was the Congress of Vienna the best settlement that was possible?
11: How fair is the criticism that the Congress System as it operated to 1825 was ‘’an instrument by which the strong oppressed the weak’’?
12: Whose interests were best served by the Congress System in the period 1815 to 1825?
13: How valid is the claim that the main aim of continental powers at the Vienna Congress was to ensure a balance of power among the Great powers?
14:’’A shameful example of self-interest’’ How justified is this description of the Vienna Settlement of 1815?
15: Examine the response of the big powers to the principles of nationalism and liberalism in the period 1815 to 1830.
16:’’The architects of Vienna Settlement were more concerned with the restoration of the European balance of power’’ Discuss.
17: How far did the Vienna Settlement show that the victorious powers were essentially rivals?
18: What does the Congress System reveal about the aims and problems of the major European powers between 1815 and 1822?
19: How significant were the threats to international peace during the period from the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 to 1830?
20: How far, and with what success, did the Vienna Settlement recognize the changes brought about in Europe between 1789 and 1814?
21: How valid is the claim that the true aim of the Congress of Vienna was nothing more than to divide among the victors then spoils of defeated?
22:’’ The statesmen at the Vienna congress were dealers in diplomatic market, bartering the happiness of millions with a scented smile’’ Discuss.
23: Is it true that the peace settlement of 1815 sought to embody the principles of reaction as the basis of European order?
24: Discuss the claim that the Congress System during the years 1815 to 1825 showed that the relations between the major powers was characterized more by distrust than common aims.
25: Great power politics rather principles played dominated the Vienna Congress’’ Discuss.
26: Why and with what success, did the Vienna Settlement lead to the suppression of nationalism in Europe between 1815 and 1830?
27:’’Conservative and not reactionary’’. How far did the Peace Settlement 1814-1816 deserve this description?
28: To what extent and with what success, did the framers of the treaty of Vienna of 1815, seek to restore political balance existing in the 18th century?
29: ‘’A happy union of principle and expediency ‘’ Discuss this assertion of the Vienna Settlement.
30: ’’ The Vienna Settlement in 1815 was a network of bargaining and negotiated compromises ‘’ How justified is this statement?
31: ’’ The Congress System is a misleading term; the major powers followed no system and showed little desire to settle their differences through Congresses’’ Discuss this view in the light of the events between 1815 and 1823.
33: ’’The Vienna Settlement of 1815 reflected the triumph of policies of the most reactionaries forces in Europe’’ How valid is this verdict?
34: Critically examine the view that the end of the Congress System of 1815-1825 was inevitable?