The three intervening decades between the Congress of Vienna and the Revolutions of 1848 are marked by enormous social, political, economic and cultural change. Liberalism, nationalism, romanticism and industrialism profoundly affected the course of Europe and compelled conservative monarchies to accept the principles of collective action and military force to curb political revolution. In the years immediately following 1815, the Quadruple and Holy Alliances served the dual purpose of preventing a restoration of Bonapartism and suppressing revolutions. By the 1820s these international associations dissipated, but the principles upon which they were founded informed the decisions of the respective governments through 1848. The classic articles and papers collected in this volume attempt to illustrate that despite the substantial changes to European society which occurred during these thirty years, European powers accepted common principles which influenced their state's domestic and foreign policies.

"Th French Revolution and its sequel in Napoleonic imperialism disrupted the historic continuity of European society and shattered most of its traditions. All the significant problems of the period arise out of these events, which even determined the attitudes adopted towards the steadily - expanding Industrial Revolution. This break in continuity engendered a quest for new patterns of interpretation - nationalism, socialism, vast philosophical systems like those of Marx and Hegel, a new conceptions of history, literary and artistic ideas, all of them strands in the web of romanticism. The revolution of 1848, which took place in almost every European country, is the natural climax of this study. It was the culmination of the political and social unrest of the time - of the struggle between the aristocracy and the middle classes, the conflict between the bourgeoisie and the rising proletariat, the movements for national liberation and reunion. And in the event it confounded all the protagonists and compelled a reappraisal of ideals and a realignment of forces". - Publisher.

Poised to strike at England in the summer of 1805, Napoleon found himself facing a coalition of European powers determined to limit his territorial ambitions. Still, in less than one hundred days, Napoleon's armies marched from the English Channel to Central Europe, crushing the armies of Austria and Russia—the first step in his conquest of Europe. In this telling new account, Schneid demonstrates how this was possible. Schneid details how Napoleon's victory over the Third Coalition was the product of years of diplomatic preparation and the formation of French alliances. He played upon the prevailing conditions of the European state system and the internal politics of the Holy Roman Empire to improve France's strategic position. This war must be understood in the context of the French Revolution and its influence on major and minor European states. In some cases, Napoleonic diplomacy returned to France's traditional and historic relationships; in others, he capitalized upon longstanding competition and animosities to gather allies and create wedges. Schneid approaches the campaign from a broad diplomatic, economic, and military perspective, including not only the French perspective, but the points of view of the other powers involved as well. This telling account reveals that the road to Vienna was paved long before Napoleon's armies marched upon the enemies arrayed against them.