Metternich system
메테르니히 체제
The counter-revolutionary European order led by the Austrian state chancellor Klemens von Metternich from the Congress of Vienna of 1815 to the revolutions of 1848. Through congresses of the Great Powers it kept the balance of power and aligned Austria with Russia and Prussia against revolution and nationalism, while at home censorship and a spy network held liberalism down.
In depth
Metternich led the Austrian delegation at the Congress of Vienna and for the following decade steered the Concert of Europe through the "Metternich system" of recurring international congresses. The Carlsbad Decrees of 1819 policed the universities and press of the German Confederation, and nationalist revolts in Italy were put down by force. Pre-March Austria restricted the freedom of the press, limited university activities and banned student fraternities.
The system collapsed when Metternich resigned in the Vienna rising of 13 March 1848 and fled to London. His supporters held that he had kept Europe free of major wars, but nineteenth-century critics argued that he had blocked the liberal and constitutional development of Austria and central Europe and its chance to deal with the national question. The annexation of Kraków in 1846 set the Europe-wide Polish émigré movement against the "Metternich system".