Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Treaty of cooperation, signed in November 1815, between the Habsburg Empire, Prussia, Russia, and Britain. Coming at the end of the napoleonic wars as the culmination of the vienna congress , it aimed at producing a “Concert of Europe” to prevent any resurgence of bonapartism or any other disruptive force stemming from France. More generally still, it became associated with a congress system intended to supply an international forum for the periodic discussion of potentially divisive issues. In the event, the Aix-la-Chapelle Congress of 1818 enlarged this four-power agreement so as directly to include “restoration” France, thus creating a Quintuple Alliance. Due particularly to castlereagh's dissent from metternich's aspirations about using it as pretext for conservative interference in the domestic affairs of other European states, this compact rapidly foundered and served little effective purpose after the Verona Congress of 1822. ... log in or subscribe to read full text