Arrival of the world leaders in Berlin
The World Congress of Berlin: The Arrival[]
The arrival of the sovereigns in Berlin was a huge affair. The Russians had come first, followed by France, Holland, and then all the others. At the Hall of Glass, the nations set up their booths and stalls and put on display there most prized inventions and items.
The Republican Union, which had created the states of Michigania and Chersonesus in 1830 out of the Midwest Territory, was intending to further "impress" the world. This time around they were sending a tag-team of Goodyear and and yet another Massachusetts man,
Samuel F. B. Morse
Samuel F. B. Morse, as their representatives. Morse was a very well-known inventor, like Goodyear, and was also extreme in his anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant views. Morse had become Goodyear's business partner upon the death of Eli Whitney in 1828, and together they had been working on the telegram and the railroad. When Goodyear had returned home after the World
Charles Goodyear
Congress of Vienna, he was met with a hero's welcome. They carried him through the streets of Boston on their shoulders and bestowed him the National Medallion of Service. The Union had high hopes for Goodyear and Morse in 1832.
Napoleon I was attending in person again, age 63. He had a receding hairline and was suffering from chronic hemorrhoids, stomach pains, and heart palpitations. The stress of pulling himself up by the bootstraps to be the most powerful man since the era of Julius Caesar and Christ was very evident in his health and appearance. His 21 year old son Napoleon II was coming, both as the Prince Imperial of France and as Emperor of Spain. French Prime Minister Jean Soult, retired Marshal General of France, was accompanying Napoleon I, and Spanish Prime Minister Jacques MacDonald (former iron-fisted emergency dictator of Spain before the rule of Napoleon II) was there to advise young Napoleon II.
Prime Minister Soult
Spanish Prime Minister Jacques MacDonald
The following is a list of most (though not all) leaders and ambassadors present. Red lettering indicates countries not present or in existence at the time of the last World Congress. Vermont refused to send a representative after their Chancellor, Jay Thomas Powell, was ridiculed in 1826 at Vienna, though an official observer was present.
French and Spanish Empires:
- Napoleon I, Caesar of France, King of Andorra, King of Italy, Lord of Mann, Mediator of the Helvetic Confederation, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, and Protector of the Free City of Lisbon.
- Napoleon II, Prince Imperial of France, Emperor of Spain, Duke of Reichstadt, Prince of Bombay
- Jean Soult, Prime Minister of France
- Jacques MacDonald, Prime Minister of Spain
Austrian Empire:
- Franz I, Kaiser of Austria, King of Hungary, and King of Bohemia
- Prinz Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, Chancellor of Austria
Bavaria:
- Ludwig I, King of Bavaria
- Baron Georg von Zentner
England:
- Edward VII, King of England
- Hector Horatio Baldwin II, Prime Minister
Denmark-Norway:
- Frederick VI, King of Denmark-Norway and the Gold Coast
- Otto Joachim Moltke, Prime Minister of Denmark-Norway
Kingdom of Saxony, Grand Duchy of Warsaw, and Grand Principality of Finland:
- Maria Augusta I, Queen of Saxony, Grand Duchess of Warsaw, Grand Princess of Finland
Württemberg:
- Wilhelm, King of Württemberg
Baden:
- Karl, Grand Duke of Baden
- Stéphanie, Consort, Daughter of Napoleon I of France
Portuguese Confederation and Etruria:
- Louis I (Charles Louis I of Etruria), King of the Portuguese Confederation (Powerless; ordered directly by Napoleon I of France)
Principality of Lucca and Piombino:
- Elisa Napoleona, Princess of Lucca and Piombino, daughter of Caesar Napoleon I's sister Elisa
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies:
- Zénaïde, Queen of the Two Sicilies, Daughter of Joseph Bonaparte (Joseph I of Ireland)
Kingdom of Ireland:
- Joseph I, King of Ireland
- Dominic I, Prince of Ireland
Kingdom of Holland:
- Louis I, King of Holland, Brother of Napoleon I of France
Kingdom of Sweden:
- Oscar I, King of Sweden, Godson of Napoleon I of France
Ottoman Empire:
- Resid Mehmed Pasha, Ottoman Grand Vizier
Russia:
- Nicholas I, Czar and Autocrat of all the Russias
Liechtenstein:
- Johann Josef I, Prince of Liechtenstein
Republican Union:
- Charles Goodyear, Representative
- Samuel F. B. Morse, Representative
Confederation of the Carolinas:
- Andrew Jackson, Chancellor
- John C. Calhoun, Colonel of the Confederation (unique title; essentially Prime Minister)
Virgin Islands Confederacy:
- Thomas Bragg, Governor-General (answered directly to Jackson; Bragg's son Braxton, now 15, once again accompanied him)
Republic of Peru:
- Urbano Pepito Ale Rivera, Chief Minister of Peru
Green Mountain Republic of Vermont:
- John Winslow, Official Observer
Confederated Empire of Mexico:
- Vito Alves, Grand Marshal of the Army of Mexico
- Tancredo Heraclio Solos, General of Chihuahua
- Modesto Chucho Ramos, Chief of Staff of Emperor Agustín Cosme I
Republic of Virginia:
- Henry Clay, President (also representing the Chesapeake Republic of Maryland and the de jure Republic of Cuba)
- Zachary Taylor, Vice President
Republic of Georgia:
- John Hardee, Representative (also representing the West Florida Republic and the Republic of Jamaica)
Republic of Gran Colombia:
- Teobaldo Martín Pavia, Representative
Democratic-Republic of Texas:
- Diego Martinez, Representative, Speaker of the Texan House
Prussia and Hanover:
- Friedrich Wilhelm III, King of Prussia and Hanover
- Count von Wylich, Chief Minister
Mexico shocked everyone with their uninvited and universally-despised arrival. Almost every other country considered Mexico a dangerous cult of personality, and unworthy of real recognition (over half the countries present refused to recognize the Mexican Empire as a state, and only three--France, England, and Russia, all with reluctance--recognized Iturbide as a legitimate ruler. Three very high-ranking Mexican military officers practically kicked their way into the Hall of Glass with the company of twenty Mexican Imperial Life Guards, sparking a minor international incident.
The King of Prussia was immediate in his proposal to Maria Augusta of Saxony. She probably knew it was pure politics, but since she was the end of her line, she likely thought it better that her new stepson Friedrich Wilhelm III inherit a stable Saxony, Warsaw, and Finland than plunge her kingdom into a succession crisis for want of a Wettin. Maria Augusta was in poor health when the ceremony occurred on July 1st, 1832, in front of the entire Congress. Napoleon I of France saw through it immediately as a power ploy, and almost admired Friedrich Wilhelm III's doggedness on making Prussia great, even to the point of marrying an old hag, but then realized that Prussia was in the midst of trying to expand eastward. Napoleon was determined to not be outdone in Berlin, and he had a few tricks up his sleeve yet to play.