The Age of Metternich Conservatism

The Age of Metternich Conservatism

Conservatism is described as a political creed or believes that emphasizes the essence of traditional institutions and practices. It is a historically inherited ideology that its proclivity has on the organic inception of the society. This ideology, therefore, favors traditional institutional habits that developed gradually and eventually became manifestations of progress and stability. The doctrine states that the government’s purpose is to serve its people instead of being a master, and thus the politicians must avoid the temptation of changing societies and politics. The idea supports liberty, thereby healing the evils and abuse as a result of misuse of power. In the late 18^th century, the ideology began to develop as a unique political movement. In the late 18^th century, Prince Metternich became a dominating figure in Europe. He aimed at bringing back political and social order that existed before the French Revolution. Monarchs, however, were against the idea as they were protecting their interests. This paper will examine ways in which Prince Metternich tries to the concept of the conservancy of social and political organizations.

Prince Metternich was born in the middle ranks of nobility. He was an internationally recognized nobleman who was married to Eleonor Von Kaunitz. Metternich contributed heavily to the court orders and diplomatic careers. He was a loyal ambassador of Austrian to Napoleon and acted as an Austrian Foreign Minister in 1806 and 1809, respectively. Metternich bravely defended nobility across Europe. He stood for the rights to ensure they remain in power. Metternich passionately hated liberalism; this motivated him to commit to conservatism. Middle-class lawyers, business people, and intellectuals were fighting for liberalism, but Metternich believed that this is a conspiracy to try and control the belief of society. He blamed liberal supporters for conspiring with the poor people against the conservancy.

As time went by, the ideology of liberalism began to gain more recognition. Metternich saw this as a threat because nations started supporting and adopting liberalism. Liberals believed that each national group should establish its government that can serve them well. Metternich’s idea of national self-determination endangered the aristocracy and threatened to demolish the empire of Austria.

Metternich’s main objective was not only to maintain stability within states but also between nations. To achieve this, he suggested the conserving of the traditional institution. He was totally against the general will of the people because they believed that people’s opinions and beliefs could be changed. Therefore, he was against the idea of establishing democratic institutions in which ordinary people have a say. He believes that it will cause anarchy due to class and economic differences between people. Moreover, he supported the idea of rights and freedom but suggested that these rights and freedom could lead to chaos, thus to prevent anarchy, some rights and freedoms have to be denied.

As a Foreign Minister of Austria, Metternich used his position to spread the ideology of conservatism. He passionately hated Napoleonic rule that granted many people of Austria their freedom back as many years of living in monarchical systems. Metternich was envious of Napoleonic influence across Europe and the fact that it is spreading across Europe. He used his position to do everything he possibly can to oppose the ideology of liberalism that voted ordinary people with a lot of rights. He signed several alliances trying to fight common from getting their democratic rights. Besides, Metternich’s views on the nature of the state were strong. He strongly influenced the outcome of the Congress of Vienna as he suggested that since people are now familiar with the old institutions, natural revolutions are no longer legitimate. The legitimacy principle mainly influenced the reinstallation of traditional institutions. To protect the ideology of conservatism, Matternich went into a pint of introducing police checks in all universities to make sure professors do not spread other ideologies since they were responsible for the spread of liberalism.

I am glad that the ideology of liberalism won over that of Metternich conservatism, which oppression to the common people and only favored the noble in European society. The doctrine is inclined on one side, making it unfit for governments to adopt. I one heartedly oppose Matternich conservative, the repressive theory that only favored those of his class.