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Why did Spain refuse to sign the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna?

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Watercolor etching by August Friedrich Andreas Campe showing diplomats and military officers in ornate uniforms gathered around a large table with maps at the Congress of Vienna. — Congress of Vienna *The Congress of Vienna*, watercolor etching by August Friedrich Andreas Campe; in the collection of the State Borodino War and History Museum, Moscow.

Spain refused to sign the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna as a formal protest against the settlement reached regarding Italy.1

While Spain was represented at the Congress of Vienna, it remained dissatisfied with the territorial and political arrangements made for the Italian peninsula, which included the restoration of various rulers and the consolidation of Austrian influence in the region. Despite Spain's refusal to sign the document on June 9, 1815, all other participating powers eventually acceded to the agreement, which established a new balance of power that maintained relative stability in Europe for several decades.12