... other historians including Pilbeam, to identify three core aims of the great powers, after the Napoleonic wars, at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. These were, to make the French pay for their misdeeds, further their own interests, that 'rulers expelled by Napoleon were to be restored ... as the best guarantee of peace and stability ... with principle of "legitimacy"'1 and with this the prevention any aggression in the creation of a 'Balance of power' where 'no single nation was either able or willing to make a bid for dominance'2; therefore a guarantee of peace and stability. Yet which was the main issue? It initially appears that peace and stability dominated the agenda of the great powers, although what about beyond 1815? The creation of the 'Balance of Power' was indeed a method to maintain stability in Europe. It has been argued that these congresses and the equilibrium of ...

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