conservatism at its worst

Conservatism has its basis in a bunch of monarchs wanting to stabilize their own personal power with little to no regard about what is best for the people. Yes, they may consider what is best for the survival of the country, but rarely are the people, such as peasants and the suppressed, ever considered. In the time surrounding the Congress of Vienna and the "restoration" of Europe, Europe was witness to many land hungry rulers concerned more with legacy than anything else. In both the Spain and the Italian Peninsula, "restored monarchs who had pledged to respect constitutional reforms abandoned their promises, attempting to squelch elections and reinstate privileges"(713). Furthermore, Ferdinand of Spain went so far as to publicly execute hundreds of revolutionaries in the name of international stability. Stability, for these monarchs, meant stability of their power, not necessarily of the lives of the people over whom they ruled.
What is possibly most unsettling, though, is that these conservative monarchs could not even follow their own principles, which is seen in the attitudes they held and the actions they took when considering Greek war for independence. Even though this was a revolt from the established power of the Ottoman Turks, the major European powers were wiling to over look that because they could all personally benefit from siding with the Greeks. The Europeans powers were more concerned with defeating the Turks, a long time enemy, than with actually serving the people of Greece. They only helped them fight the Turks because they saw a chance to greatly diminish the Turks' empire. Thus, they went against their usual disdain of revolution so as to personally benefit, showing a selfishness that has never left Western politics.