DAfter the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1814, conservatism became predominant in France, the German states, Italy, Russia, and Great Britain. In France, the successive rules of Louis XVIII and Charles X saw the predominance of conservative policies; the former imposing a mild militaristic style and the latter favoring the old aristocracy. In the German states, which included Austria and Prussia, conservative policies likewise prevailed. Matternich, a conservative diplomat, together with the