International cooperation; Peace; World War, 1914-1918
the past are open to all who will but read.
These reflections should not make us forget the main thread of our
story, which became relatively weak after Troppau. From that time it
was clear that Europe had no hopes of peace through coöperation under
either of the two plans that had been suggested. Almost immediately
began a train of events which gave added impulse to the dissolution of
the Alliance. In 1821 began the Greek War of Independence. Austria was
in consternation lest the revolution should spread to her own people.
Russia, however, was deeply sympathetic with the Greeks, partly through
religious affiliations and partly because the Russian people, looking
toward the possession of Constantinople, were anxious to weaken the
Turk in any of his European possessions. Alexander I showed signs
of going to war for the Greeks, and Metternich hastily sought to
counteract any such course.
At the same time the situation in Spain’s American colonies was
becoming more urgent, because the weakness of the government had
stimulated the South American revolutionists to renewed activity until
Mexico as well as the rest of the Continental colonies except Peru was
in successful revolt. Metternich would have helped Turkey against the
Greeks and allowed the tsar to carry out his long cherished wish of
intervening in Spain, as a means of keeping him quiet. The situation
seemed to call for another conference and after some discussion a
meeting was arranged at Verona, 1822. France was anxious to take over
the task of punishing the Spanish revolutionists, and as Russia,
Austria, and Prussia agreed to her plan, four of the five Great Powers
now stood side by side in favor of repression. They would have gone
further, and settled the fate of the American revolutionists, but
against that course Great Britain made such a protest that the question
was left open.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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