The Congresses of Troppau and Laibach 1820/1821

In 1820 and 1821, delegates of the European powers assembled first in the Silesian town of Troppau/Oppava, and then in Laibach/Ljubljana, to confer about one of the major political issues of the day: high on the agenda was the question how the Concert of Europe should respond to the constitutional revolution in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Was a military intervention the only way to restore traditional monarchical order in Southern Italy? Or would it be preferable to give priority to a non-interventionist policy and to accept the new political system? The negotiations in 1820/21 were based on several alliance treaties that the European powers had concluded since 1814. A treaty system had developed that aimed to secure peace and political tranquility in Europe after 20 years of revolution and Napoleonic wars. But although peace as a common goal was defined, it was not clear how to reach it when the revolutionary turmoil broke out in Southern Italy. During the negotiations in Troppau and Laibach it became clear that the European powers had different notions about how to proceed. The European alliance system was put to the test for the first time after the Congress of Vienna and the final defeat of Napoleon. The project analyses the various political approaches and strategies of the negotiating powers within the context of domestic politics. Moreover the different notions about the function and character of the Concert of Europe of the statesmen and monarchs assembled are taken into consideration. The central question here is how the Concert worked in action. How did the statesmen and monarchs interpret the alliance treaties? Which strategies were used to solve conflicts? Which states were allowed to participate at the negotiations? How can the discourses about intervention and non-intervention be interpreted with regard to the development of international law? The project provides important insight into European power politics in the period after the Congress of Vienna. But the central point of conflict in 1820/21 is relevant not only for the first half of the nineteenth century: nowadays we are confronted with numerous international political crises. Therefore the question on the reaction of the international community, which oscillates between intervention and non-intervention, is still of special importance.

In 1820 and 1821, delegates of the European powers assembled first in the Silesian town of Troppau/Oppava, and then in Laibach/Ljubljana, to confer about one of the major political issues of the day: high on the agenda was the question how the Concert of Europe should respond to the constitutional revolution in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Was a military intervention the only way to restore traditional monarchical order in Southern Italy? Or would it be preferable to give priority to a non-interventionist policy and to accept the new political system? During the negotiations in Troppau and Laibach it became clear that the European powers had different notions about how to proceed. The European allia nce system was put to the test for the first time after the Congress of Vienna and the final defeat of Napoleon. The online edition "Mächtekongresse 1818-1822," which makes the sources on the congresses of Aix-la-Chapelle, Troppau, Ljubljana, and Verona stored in the Austrian State Archives available to a broad public for the first time, provides important insights into how the concert of powers functioned during this period. It becomes clear that the concert of powers could hardly fall back on established mechanisms of international cooperation. Rather, the international negotiations present themselves as a laboratory of international relations in which many proposals were put forward - for example, that of Tsar Alexander I on an intervention automatism in revolutionary states at Troppau. However, only a few of these proposals prevailed. Directly involved in these decisions were not only foreign policy considerations of the individual actors, but also personal, domestic, and financial motives, which become clear only through an in-depth and contextualized analysis of contemporary sources. The project provides important insight into European power politics in the period after the Congress of Vienna. But the central point of conflict in 1820/21 is relevant not only for the first half of the nineteenth century: nowadays we are confronted with numerous international political crises. Therefore the question on the reaction of the international community, which oscillates between intervention and non-intervention, is still of special importance.