The Congress of Vienna was convened in 1815 by the four European powers, which had defeated Napoleon. The first goal was to establish a new balance of power in Europe, which would prevent imperialism within Europe, such as the Napoleonic Empire, and maintain the peace between the great powers. The second goal was to prevent political revolutions, such as the French Revolution, and maintain the status quo. Disagreement between Russia and Prussia on the one hand …showed first 75 words of 352 total…

…showed last 75 words of 352 total…geography, and did not involve all of the great powers. The second goal, to restore "legitimate” or traditional governments to power and to prevent political revolutions, or to maintain the status quo met with partial success in the short term, but was bound to fail in the long term because it opposed the irresistible forces of historical change resulting from modernization. Those irresistible forces took the form of the dual revolutions of liberalism and nationalism.