Izvleček
Postnapoleonska doba je s sklicem dunajskega kongresa postavila nove temelje evropske politike in diplomacije. Varovanje teh temeljev naj bi zagotovila predvsem Sveta aliansa kot zavezništvo med avstrijskim, pruskim in ruskim vladarjem. Predvsem različna revolucionarna vrenja, ki so se pojavila na začetku 20-tih let 19. stoletja pa so to zvezo postavila pred velike izzive. Tako je izbruhu revolucije v Španiji jeseni 1820 sledil izbruh revolucije v Kraljestvu Obeh Sicilij. Kralj Ferdinand I. je v želji po zatrtju revolucije za pomoč zaprosil Sveto alianso, ki se je konec leta 1820 zbrala v Opavi, temu pa je v začetku leta 1821 sledil kongres v Ljubljani. Nanj sta pripotovala tako avstrijski cesar Franc I., kot tudi ruski car Aleksander I. Sveta aliansa je nato na kongresu kljub nasprotovanju Velike Britanije in Francije sprejela sklep, ki je dal avstrijski vojski dovoljenje za posredovanje proti italijanskim revolucionarjem. Pri sprejetju tega sklepa je imel odločilno vlogo avstrijski zunanji minister Clemens von Metternich, ki je veljal za sivo eminenco Svete alianse. S sprejetjem sklepa o posredovanju proti revolucionarjem pa se kongresno dogajanje še ni zaključilo, saj je pomladi 1821 v Ljubljano prispela vest o izbruhu revolucije v Grčiji, Vlaški in Moldovi proti osmanski nadvladi. Tedaj je predvsem del ruske diplomacije zastopal stališče, da mora Sveta aliansa priskočiti na pomoč vstajnikom. Toda Metternich je takšnemu posredovanju nasprotoval in s svojimi diplomatskimi spretnostmi prepričal tudi ruskega carja. V dvestoletni perspektivi slovenskega zgodovinopisja je bil ljubljanski kongres z izjemno študije dr. Vladimirja Baltazarja Šenka deležen izjemno malo pozornosti. Slednja je bila v veliki večini usmerjena predvsem v raziskavo družabnega aspekta kongresnega dogajanja in manj diplomatsko-političnemu pomenu kongresa. Šele v času obeležitve 200. obletnice kongresa pa je pridobil z izdajo dveh knjig in organizacijo mednarodnega simpozija ljubljanski kongres primerno mesto v slovenskem zgodovinopisju.
Abstract
The Congress of Ljubljana 1821 as the Epicentre of European Diplomacy
By convening the Congress of Vienna, the post-Napoleonic age laid new foundations of European politics and diplomacy. These foundations were to be protected above all by the Holy Alliance as a coalition between the rulers of Austria, Prussia and Russia. The various revolutionary upheavals that occurred in the early 1820s posed great challenges for this alliance. For instance, the outbreak of a revolution in Spain in the autumn of 1820 was followed by the outbreak of a revolution in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. In the desire to suppress the revolution, King Ferdinand I asked the Holy Alliance for help; it convened in Opava in late 1820, which was followed by the Congress of Ljubljana in early 1821. The latter was attended by the Emperor of Austria Francis I and the Tsar of Russia Alexander I. At the congress, despite the opposition of Great Britain and France, the Holy Alliance adopted the decision to allow the Austrian army to intervene against Italian revolutionaries. The decisive role in adopting this decision was held by the Austrian Foreign Minister Klemens von Metternich, who was considered a grey eminence behind the Holy Alliance. Congressional events did not end with the adoption of the decision to intervene against the revolutionaries; in the spring of 1821, news of the outbreak of a revolution in Greece, Wallachia and Moldova against Ottoman hegemony spread to Ljubljana. A segment of Russian diplomats advocated the position that the Holy Alliance should aid the rebels. However, Metternich opposed such an intervention and managed to persuade the tzar of Russia using his diplomatic skills. In the two hundred years of Slovenian historiography, the Congress of Ljubljana received very little attention, with the exception of the study by Dr Vladimir Baltazar Šenk. This study mainly focused on researching the social aspect of congressional events and less on the diplomatic and political importance of the congress. Only now, when we are commemorating the bicentenary of the congress, has the Congress of Ljubljana been given its rightful place in Slovenian historiography through the publication of two books and the organization of an international symposium.