Originally published on March 28, 2022 (Episode 257)
Introduction
In 1814, representatives of the grand coalition that had defeated Napoleon gathered in Vienna. At a mix of meetings and glittering balls—interrupted only by Napoleon’s return from exile during the Hundred Days—they forged a new European order that linked peace to multilateralism, diplomacy, philanthropy, and rights.
As Glenda Sluga argues in The Invention of International Order: Remaking Europe after Napoleon (Princeton University Press, 2021), these ideas came not only from male aristocrats and diplomats but also from female aristocrats and bourgeois men and women who imagined a new kind of politics.
About the Guest
Glenda Sluga is Professor of International History and Kathleen Fitzpatrick Laureate Fellow at the University of Sydney.
For Further Investigation
Glenda Sluga, The Invention of International Order: Remaking Europe after Napoleon (Princeton University Press, 2021)
Beatrice de Graaf, Fighting Terror after Napoleon: How Europe Became Secure after 1815 (Cambridge University Press, 2020)
Brian E. Vick, The Congress of Vienna: Power and Politics after Napoleon (Harvard University Press, 2014)
Stella Ghervas, “What Was the Congress of Vienna?” History Today 64:9 (September 2014)
Shannon Selin, Miniature Biography of Klemens von Metternich
Previous related conversations on Historically Thinking:
💬 Listen & Discuss
How much of our modern international order—multilateralism, diplomacy, and ideas of security—was born in Vienna in 1814–1815? Share your thoughts in the comments, and pass this episode along to a friend who enjoys history and politics.
