ABSTRACT
By 1800, the European states system had been developing for just over three hundred years as a system of sovereign states, linked together by common traditions and interests, but retaining their independence as sovereign decision-making entities. The advance of Russian and Prussian forces into Saxony had placed the Austrian chancellor, Metternich, in a dilemma. He had been quick to withdraw Austrian forces from active co-operation with the French in January, but whatever he was later to claim in his memoirs he remained for the next eight months quite undecided about actually joining the allies. With the return of Napoleon and the revival of the coalition, all Talleyrands diplomatic achievements went for nothing, and Frances voice was not heard in the final settlement of the German and Italian questions at Vienna. Anglo-Austrian domination of the system continued for the next two years and, indeed, seemed only to draw strength from signs of opposition to the order it represented.
