The Illusion of Undoing History

European kings literally tried to hit the undo button on history in 1815. After defeating

Napoleon, the old monarchs met in Vienna and decided to pretend the French Revolution

never happened. They redrew borders like they were playing a board game and formed the Holy

Alliance just to spy on their own citizens and crush democracy. They thought they

could force everyone back to the old ways, but they were wrong. Secret societies

and young rebels started fighting back for liberty and national identity. By 1830,

revolutions were exploding from Paris to Greece. It turns out you can redraw maps,

but you can't delete the desire for freedom.