Pathways to war … pt.4A

Pathways to war … pt.4A

The Congress of Vienna delegates began negotiating in late September 1814 and continued until June of 1815. These leaders called themselves ‘conservatives’ with little use for republicanism or revolution, both of which threatened to upset the status quo in Europe. The status quo was more than a thousand years of monarchy, kingdoms and crowns. Those that did not hold to monarchical heirs had Czars, Emperors and other singular heads of state that lived in opulence while the people paid homage to them, as well as taxes!

The Congress functioned through formal meetings such as working groups and official diplomatic functions; however, a large portion of the Congress was conducted informally at salons, banquets, and balls. Every notice how the elite love to lavish one another in “wine, women and song” when deliberating how to manipulate the masses?

These “peace-seekers” were meeting to end the decades of war that ravished Europe during and prior to the reign of Napoleon. The King of Portugal, The King Louis XVIII of France (the ousted and fuming former leader), the King of Spain, The Duke of Wellington, The Tsar of Russia, and multiple Princes, Dukes, Emperors, Counts and the Cardinal Consalvi of the Papal Knights.

The Congress of Vienna was designed to bring about order to the world and served as a model for later organizations such as the League of Nations in 1919 and the United Nations in 1945. The ‘New Order’ to the World would be, in their words, “a fair balance of power”. Imagine a room full of very rich, very egocentric, monarchs, kings and elitists gathering to determine what is “fair” for the rest of the world!

The culmination of the congress would fall on the 9th of June 1815, just days before Napoleon’s epic Waterloo. On March 13th the congress declared him to be an outlaw and on the 18th he would surrender. The elites now have succeeded in saving their kingdoms and hopefully other would-be revolutionaries would take notice before amassing armies against their monarchies.
The French Revolution was a period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France that lasted from 1789 until 1799, and was partially carried forward by Napoleon during the later expansion of the French Empire. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, and again briefly in 1815. Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars.

As an adult, Napoleon was a Deist after having been piously raised as a Catholic, he never truly developed much faith. He did have a keen appreciation of the power of organized religion in social and political affairs, and paid a great deal of attention to bending it to his purposes. He noted the influence of Catholicism’s rituals and splendors, yet as a Deist he held to no specific god.

Seeking national reconciliation between revolutionaries and Catholics, the Concordat of 1801 was signed on 15 July 1801 between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII. While the Concordat restored much power to the papacy, the balance of church–state relations had tilted firmly in Napoleon’s favor. He selected the bishops and supervised church finances. Now, Napoleon could win favor with the Catholics while also controlling Rome in a political sense. Napoleon said in April 1801, “Skillful conquerors have not gotten entangled with priests. They can both contain them and use them”. French children were issued a catechism that taught them to love and respect Napoleon. [1]

Napoleon’s use of propaganda contributed to his rise to power, legitimated his régime, and established his image for posterity. Strict censorship, controlling aspects of the press, books, theater, and art, was part of his propaganda scheme, aimed at portraying him as bringing desperately wanted peace and stability to France.

Napoleon’s true legacy must reflect the loss of status for France and needless deaths brought by his rule: historian Victor Davis Hanson writes, “After all, the military record is unquestioned—17 years of wars, perhaps six million Europeans dead, France bankrupt, her overseas colonies lost”.
You will notice in the picture Napoleon is displaying the Hidden Hand symbol known to Freemasonry designating his membership in the Lodge.