The Concert of Europe

"When the representatives of great powers assembled at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, writes the editor in his introduction, "the quarter of a century of turmoil to which Europe had been subjected created a strong and authentic desire for peace and order. At Vienna the clock was ostensibly set back and the Europe of 1815 may have seemed to the restorers little different from that of pre-1789. Yet it was also felt more than ever desirable that the competition of interests should proceed in orderly fashion: order could best be maintained by the clear assertion of the right and the responsibility of those possessed of power, The Great Powers." This collection documents their efforts to achieve and maintain international stability through the century. The choice of illustration is mainly drawn from treaties, protocols of conferences and officials correspondence. Among the sources are Marten's Recueil des Traites, the British State Papers and Hertslet's The Map of Europe bt Treaty. The Bristish Parliamentary Papers are so frequently referred to. The editor's purpose "has been to enable the reader to obtain an adequate understanding of precisely what the Concert of Europe was, what it achieved and failed to achieve, and how it functioned. Rene Albrecht-Carrie is a professor of history at Barnard College who has also taught at Columbia University's School of International Affairs. He is the author of The Diplomatic History of Europe Since the congress of vienna; France, Europe and the Two World Wars, and Europe Since 1815. The past is often its own best spokesman despite the good intentions of historians. Too commonly, when we come to history second-hand we lose sight of the humanity within past eras, movements and ideas. This series has been conceived as a means of restoring the immediacy the events of history held for their participants. These volumes edited by leading authorities provide the basic primary sources for an understanding of the history as well as some of the traditional chronological blocs. Each volume has substantial editorial commentary, including a fresh, scholarly introduction. Each document is set in its historical context, with elucidations and identifications when necessary. Each document is set in its historical context, with elucidations and identifications when necessary. Each is complete whenever possible, or is given in a substantial excerpt in the most comphehensive university Librarues, and a great deal has never been translated into English before". - Publisher.