Editing Congress of Vienna (section)

=== Talleyrand (France) ===
[[File: Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord - Pierre-Paul Prud'hon.jpg|thumb | alt=oil painting of Tallyrand, the French ambassador|[[Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord|Talleyrand]] proved an able negotiator for the defeated French.]]
[[File:Vicente López Portaña - Portrait of the Marquis of Labrador, Spanish Ambassador to the Congress of Vienna of 1815 - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|Marquis of Labrador, Spanish Ambassador to the Congress of Vienna – Painting by Vicente López Portaña]]

Initially, the representatives of the four victorious powers hoped to exclude the French from serious participation in the negotiations, but Talleyrand skillfully managed to insert himself into "her inner councils" in the first weeks of negotiations. He allied himself to a Committee of Eight lesser powers (including Spain, Sweden, and Portugal) to control the negotiations. Once Talleyrand was able to use this committee to make himself a part of the inner negotiations, he then left it,<ref>William, Sir Ward Adolphus (2009). [https://books.google.com/books?id=cTxvfSPXz7sC&dq=Talleyrand+left+Committee+of+Eight&pg=RA1-PA13 ''The Period of Congresses''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322153903/http://books.google.com/books?id=cTxvfSPXz7sC&pg=RA1-PA13&dq=Talleyrand+left+Committee+of+Eight&hl=cs&ei=dwaaTIzfIovNjAf9upQ0&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCYQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=Talleyrand%20left%20Committee%20of%20Eight&f=false |date=22 March 2015 }}, BiblioLife, p. 13. {{ISBN|1-113-44924-1}}</ref> once again abandoning his allies.

The major Allies' indecision on how to conduct their affairs without provoking a united protest from the lesser powers led to the calling of a preliminary conference on the protocol, to which Talleyrand and the Marquess of Labrador, Spain's representative, were invited on 30 September 1814.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Congress of Vienna {{!}} History of Western Civilization II |url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/the-congress-of-vienna/ |access-date=2024-02-13 |website=courses.lumenlearning.com}}</ref>

Congress Secretary [[Friedrich von Gentz]] reported, "The intervention of Talleyrand and Labrador has hopelessly upset all our plans. Talleyrand protested against the procedure we have adopted and soundly [be]rated us for two hours. It was a scene I shall never forget."<ref>{{Cite book |first=Susan Mary |last=Alsop |title=The Congress Dances |location=New York |publisher=[[Harper & Row]], Publishers |year=1984 |page=120}}</ref> The embarrassed representatives of the Allies replied that the document concerning the protocol they had arranged actually meant nothing. "If it means so little, why did you sign it?" snapped Labrador.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

Talleyrand's policy, directed as much by national as personal ambitions, demanded the close but by no means amicable relationship he had with Labrador, whom Talleyrand regarded with disdain.<ref>Wenceslao Ramírez de Villa-Urrutia, Marqués de Villa-Urrutia, ''España en el Congreso de Viena según la correspondencia de D. Pedro Gómez Labrador, Marqués de Labrador''. Segunda Edición Corregida y Aumentada (Madrid: Francisco Beltrán, 1928), 13.</ref> Labrador later remarked of Talleyrand: "that cripple, unfortunately, is going to Vienna."<ref>Antonio Rodríguez-Moñino (ed.), ''Cartas Políticas'' (Badajoz: Imprenta Provincial, 1959), 14 (Letter IV, 10 July 1814). Labrador's letters are full of such pungent remarks, and include his opinions on bad diplomats, the state of the postal system, the weather, and his non-existent salary and coach and accompanying livery for the Congress.</ref> Talleyrand skirted additional articles suggested by Labrador: he had no intention of handing over the 12,000 ''afrancesados'' – Spanish fugitives, sympathetic to France, who had sworn fealty to [[Joseph Bonaparte]], nor the bulk of the documents, paintings, pieces of fine art, and books that had been looted from the archives, palaces, churches and cathedrals of Spain.<ref>Villa-Urrutia, ''España en el Congreso de Viena'', 61–62. Joseph had left Madrid with a huge baggage train containing pieces of art, tapestries, and mirrors. The most rapacious of the French was Marshal [[Nicolas Soult]], who left Spain with entire collections, which disappeared to unknown, separate locations around the world. According to [[Juan Antonio Gaya Nuño]], at least "[the paintings] have come to spread the prestige of Spanish art around the whole word."</ref>