ABSTRACT
The failure of the revolutions led to the triumph of reaction, the apparent consolidation of a second restoration, symbolized by Metternich's return to Vienna in 1851. The determined autocracy in Austria and Russia inevitably influenced the semi-independent regions of central Europe. Absolutism and reaction became the norm in Italy, except in Piedmont. The peace congresses of the 1850s were symptomatic of the changing relationship between the peoples and the states. They constituted both an acknowledgement of the collapse of faith in the solidarity of nations and a recognition that the governments of the states were not necessarily opposed to the aspirations of their peoples. The congress held at Paris in 1856, the first congress since that of Verona in 1822, revealed the unwillingness of the powers to collaborate in reconstructing a system for the peaceful settlement of disputes in Europe.
