Nationalism was formed with the idea that a nation is made up of people who are joined together by common language, customs, cultures and history. It held the belief that one should be loyal to the people of their nation, not a king or empire. Nationalists believed that people of a single nationality should unite under a single government. The concept of Nationalism emerged in the French Revolution and was spread to the rest of Europe by Napoleon’s conquests.The Congress of Vienna was convened (gathered) 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.
The Congress of Vienna was the first of a series of international meetings that came to be known as theConcert of Europe, which was an attempt to forge a peaceful balance of power in Europe, and served as a model for later organizations such as the League of Nations and United Nations. Although the French Revolution and Napoleonic Rule spread the forces of modernization and change, the Congress of Vienna, which determined the future of Europe beyond Napoleon, was dominated by members of the old regime and aristocracy. Their hope was to design a political landscape wherein no one power could dominate.Around the dissolving of their legacy, the world that the French aristocracy had built around them was crashing, and crashing hard. The Age of the King was passing. Those that were adapted, naturally good at surviving in that context, e.g. the Nobles, the clergy, the royalty, were not going to make it through the coming storm. They thrived in a system dying slowly. They lived off the suffering of those who would begin the next age. A new era, where those who were failing in the last will be able to thrive. Those who lived well before were becoming obsolete. Those necessary to life before would not be necessary