Metternich System

“France made its revolutions and gave them their ideas, to the point where a tricolor of some kind became the emblem of virtually every emerging nation, and European (or indeed world) politics between 1789 and 1917 were largely the struggle for and against the principles of 1789, or the even more incendiary ones of 1793.” The principles of the French revolution lived on in every European continent; the French Revolution poured out its ideas and sent shock waves throughout Europe. Therefore this phenomenon together with the period of enlightenment, contributed to the rise of consciousness and of antagonism against the “Ancien Regime” (a general term for ‘The Old Order’ in Europe before the French Revolution of 1789, when most countries were ruled by absolute monarchs and the aristocracy were the dominant class). The Bourgeoisie class took full advantage of this period to bring across their needs and Ideologies but was rarely at the forefront of the revolution as the peasants were usually causing the riots. The Bourgeoisie played a more underlying role in this revolution. The people within the perimeters of the European wanted nationalism and liberalism.
Napoleon Bonaparte also known as the “little corporal” came and restored stability and glory to France , “He was the man of the Revolution, and the man who brought stability.” Napoleon brought the French Revolution to its conclusion when he entered the French arena to restore peace by putting an end to the “Reign of Terror “and extinguishing the fire of the Bourgeoisie . His megalomaniac personality and ambitious thirst for battles made France a great power in Europe. This was illustrated in the series of battles he won, “Napoleon fought about sixty battles in his career and won all but a few of them, he rose to power because of his victories and fell because of his defeats.”

Metternich’s influence came about before the end of Napoleon’s regime. “Metternich was first appointed foreign minister in 1809 the