Rebellions Post Congress (1815-23)
At the end of the Congress of Vienna, the Great Powers had agreed to meet on a regular basis to adjudicate differences and solve problems that might arise.[1] In 1817, they met at Aix-la-Chappelle, where the primary purpose was to check on the progress of the French occupation and how the Bourbon restoration was going.[2] France was given a clean bill of (political) health, and allowed to join the Allies, making it now the Quintuple Alliance. Tsar Alexander proposed that an
Alliance Solidaire where all of the Great Powers would guarantee each others' borders and forms of government. This sounded quite innocuous, but Britain loudly protested, correctly perceiving that it was meant to maintain the current
status quo (e.g. suppress rebellion, prevent liberal changes of government). Faced with Britain's refusal the Tsar withdrew his proposal.
The next crisis happened in 1820, when Spanish liberals revolted against Ferdinand VII, forcing him to keep his promise to re-instate the Constitution of 1812. France tried to get Alliance support, but Britain refused. She didn't object too much to France intervening unilaterally, but refused to let it be an 'Alliance' operation, even in name.[3] France managed to re-instate Ferdinand as an absolute monarch, but it took a couple of years.
Inspired by the Spanish revolt, the Sicilians revolted against Ferdinand of Sicily (or 'of the Two Sicilies' according to the Austrians) later that year. Austria briefly considered asking for Alliance cover for the operation, but decided not to. The British did send a small naval force to Naples harbour, warning Joachim I (i.e. Murat) to stay out of the affair.[4] (However, they also made it clear to the Austrians that they wouldn't stand for an expansion of their operation to Naples. Since Austria hadn't made any formal moves in that direction, they chose to pretend that they had had no such intentions, and that Britain was supporting them.)
Murat did, however, have to make good on his repeatedly delayed promise of a constitution for the Kingdom of Naples. (He had been using the line 'My, aren't you glad you've got me instead of a Spanish Bourbon', meaning Ferdinand I over in Sicily. His opposition could now say point to the 'Spanish Bourbon' (Ferdinand VII of Spain) who DID grant a constitution, and turn his argument on its head. Even though the French then crushed the liberal revolt in Spain over the next few years, reinstating Ferdinand VII's absolute rule, Naples' constitution stayed. Murat likes to be
considered a liberal, enlightened ruler, but he'd prefer to actually be as much of an autocrat as he can get away with.)
There was unrest elsewhere in Italy, but the only other place where an actual revolt occurred was in Sardinia, where the revolutionaries wanted to put Charles Albert (currently 2nd in line) on the throne. Since Charles Albert dithered and didn't seize the opportunity, the revolt fizzled out.[3]
The Portuguese also had a revolt, but since it was
in favour of the King (who had not yet returned from Brazil), it doesn't really count.[3]
Then the Greeks revolted in 1821. This Greek Revolt actually started in Rumania (!), as Phanariot Greek administrators tried to get the Wallachians and the Moldovans to revolt. They had thought they would have Russia's support (being an Orthodox revolt against the Muslim Ottomans). And they assumed the Romanians would follow. Neither happened, and this portion of the revolt failed miserably.
Then the second phase kicked off in mainland Greece (Morea).
As much as the Russians would have liked to support Orthodoxy, they hated rebellion even more, and they chose not to support either rebellion. The British government was interested in supporting relations with the Ottomans, and the other powers agreed with Russia. So there was no government support for this rebellion at all. However, there was massive support for the Greeks among the populace of Britain and France, so the revolt stumbles on for a while.[3]
–
1 iTTL, the strains produced by Russia and especially Prussia making such major demands, have engendered rather more distrust in those two parties – especially on the part of Austria, who would otherwise have been far more willing to join with them on suppressing rebellions.
2 Much the same as OTL, except the 100 Days hasn't happened, France got off more lightly, and the occupation was shorter. A similar congress happened in the same place iOTL in 1818. However, due to differing reactions to events, no more official Congresses are actually held. Instead, occasional
ad hoc meetings of the 5 meet to discuss specific events.
3 again, as OTL. A lot of this is OTL, as you can see.
4 here's where the butterflies kick in. OTL, the revolt was based in Naples, as Murat had been ousted. ITTL, he's firmly in power. The Austrians claimed Murat was instigating the revolt, which he wasn't. However, while the British aren't willing to help crush the Sicilians, they do make an effort to prevent the fighting from expanding – stopping Murat from aiding the rebels (which he was, once the revolt started), and stopping the Austrians from using the revolt as a pretext to invade Naples. IOTL, Austria wanted 5 Power backing for his move. ITTL, because it had been refused for France, because it's only Sicily (not Naples and Sicily), and because the Austrians don't trust the Prussians as much as OTL, they decide to go it alone. They do warn the other powers of their intentions, which is why the British sent a naval force to Naples.
Note: these butterflies mean that there is no
Congress of Troppau, no Troppau Protocol to use “
peaceful means, or if need be, by arms, to bring back the guilty state into the bosom of the Great Alliance.” and no
Holy Alliance.