The Concert of Europe

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*Castlereagh- he believed in collective security but GB didn´t want it because they felt like they could defeat the others with anybody´s help.He committed suicide bc he found himself rapped between hs believes and the domestic necessities.

At the same time, Austria grew more and more dependent on Russia.

Turning point: the Balkan independence issue - the interference of Russia clashed with the system's commitment to maintaining the status quo. In addition, Russian advance towards the Straits was perceived as a threat to British interests in the Mediterranean. Austria achieved to stay out of the issue between Russia and Gb, however, its removal from the scene marked the beginning of the end of the high-wire act by which Austria had used the unity of conservative interests to maintain the Vienna settlement.

So the Concert of Europe was ultimately shattered (destrozado) and in 1854 (Crimean War) the Great Powers were at war for the first time since the days of Napoleon. Taking advantage of the situation, Napoleon III saw an opportunity to end France's isolation and break up the Holy Alliance by weakening Russia, so France persuaded the Turkish Sultan to grant him the sobriquet of Protector of Christians in the Ottoman Empire, a role that Russians had reserved traditionally. So when the Sultan rebuffed the Russian emissary, Russia broke off diplomatic relations. Austria feared that both of them could invade some parts of its territory, so in the beginning it declared neutrality. However, later, he decided to leave aside the conservative unity and allied with Napoleon III (who wanted the part of Austria in Italy) and GB. Therefore, Austria liberated Russia and Prussia to pursue their own national interests. After the Crimean War there was a process of expelling Austria from Italy, and later, Bismarck defeated Austria over Germany so Austria was becoming weaker and weaker.

In the course of the 19th century GB became the dominant country in Europe; it was the leading industrial nation and the Royal Navy commanded the seas. It had quite different international politics from the rest, based on power politics.The successors of Castlereagh defended very much national interests. Without exception, British ministers were concerned above all with preserving their country's freedom of action and interests. The principle that British foreign policy followed was being the protector of the balance of power, which meant, in general, supporting the weaker against the stronger.

The focus of England was to prevent Russia from expansionism that would affect its interests. That's why they used to be allies with Austria, bc it was seen as the key to stop Russia. However, after the turn of the century, fear of Germany would dominate British policy, and Austria, Germany's ally, for the first time emerged as an opponent in British calculations.

As a conclusion, we can say that the Crimean War, forged the disintegration of unity among the three European monarchs and therefore, the collapse of the Metternich order.