Congress of Vienna Analysis - Assignment Example

Congress was a success as it prevented widespread bloodshed for nearly 100 years (with a few exceptions) (Spielvogel, 639). Congress was not perfect. It legitimized the rule of many leaders who did not have democratic impulses and did not respond properly to their citizens. Many of the leaders of Europe during this time, in particular, Metternich, were deeply conservative. They did not trust their citizens to vote for their own governments. By permitting these conservative leaders to work together and to protect themselves, Congress most likely allowed each of the various leaders to stay in power longer than they might have done under other circumstances.

That said, the main accomplishment of the Congress was the avoidance of mass war. It was only in 1914 after the Congress system had atrophied into an inflexible series of treaties rather than proper, forthright communication that the system collapsed and war broke out. Before this time the Congress worked effectively in allowing countries to share and explain grievances and to work out common strategies of government in Europe. It could even be said to have been a precursor to the EU.