The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Participants were representatives of all European powers and other stakeholders. The Congress was chaired by Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich, and was held in Vienna from September 1814 to June 1815.
Architect of the Congress System, Prince von Metternich, chancellor of the Austrian Empire from 1821 until the Revolution in 1848. Painting by Lawrence (1815)
Talleyrand proved an able negotiator for the defeated French.
Marquis of Labrador, Spanish Ambassador to the Congress of Vienna – Painting by Vicente López Portaña
The Kingdom of Prussia constituted the German state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. It was the driving force behind the unification of Germany in 1866 and was the leading state of the German Empire until its dissolution in 1918. Although it took its name from the region called Prussia, it was based in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Its capital was Berlin.
The Prussian Crown Jewels, Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin
Prussian territorial acquisitions in the 18th century
Attack of the Prussian infantry at the Battle of Hohenfriedberg in 1745
Prussia (orange) and its territories lost after the War of the Fourth Coalition (other colours)