For ten whole months, from September 1814 to June 1815, the imperial residential city of Vienna was the centre of Europe. Never before had there been a comparable meeting of sovereigns and their ambassadors: two emperors (Tsar Alexander I, Emperor Francis I[II]), five kings (Frederick I of Württemberg, Frederick VI of Denmark, Frederick William III of Prussia, Frederick August I of Saxony, Maximilian I of Bavaria), also many princes and diplomats from practically all parts of the continent converged upon th e capital for the diplomatic proceedings. The re - ordering of the European continent aimed to secure political stability at last after the Napoleonic Wars. Europe’s borders were redefined, the political balance of power re - established.

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