Why was France allowed to keep almost all of their land after the Napoleonic Wars?

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by Davy-040

French territory lost after Napoleonic wars in the Treaty of Paris (1815):




Have read that the Prussians wanted to completely split up France but the Brits and most other allies were against this idea, as they feared Prussia would become too dominant in Europe.

Actually, the question in my mind is why was Luxembourg eliminated while France got almost no repercussions. Was it because Marie Antoinette's mother, Maria Theresa, was from the house of Vianden?

[Dd714]

Originally Posted by BugsyPal

Thus dooming the Bourbon restoration from the start; as the quote goes of Louis XVIII and his family at that time: They had learned nothing and forgotten nothing.


One would have hoped Louis XVIII would have observed and learned a thing or two about constitutional monarchy during his time in GB, but sadly that wasn't the case apparently. His and successive attempts to restore the anciene regime in whole or part doomed any idea of Bourbon restoration to failure.

It was doomed when Napoleon changed his title from leader to Emperor (or, if you wish, it was doomed when the revolution went awry and entered the "reign of terror" and extreemest like Robespierre gained power). At that time France became more of a centralist monarchy than anytime before. This is a quote from Lafeyette to Thomas Jefferson when Louis XVIII took power:
"Bonaparte or the Bourbons, such have been, and such still are, the only possible alternatives in a land where the idea of a republican executive is regarded as synomonous with the excesses committed under that name."

[Razza94]

The in order to understand European history, all you need to do is understand the obsession with maintaining a balance of power in Europe, it underlined everything. France was allowed to remain intact, although weakened, in order to maintain the balance. If it was dismantled its neighbors simply would have attempted to fill the power vacuum, through war if necessary.

EDIT: It's also important to note that your map doesn't show all of the changes. France also lost very important colonial territories around the world.