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Napoleon's imperialist reign and agile conquests of European territory left a significant impression on Europe's functionality. Europe felt Napoleon's enduring legacy and it challenged nations to both restore Europe and to strengthen European nations' defiance towards imperialism in the future. The Congress of Vienna convened major European powers in order to take progressive steps in Europe's post-Napoleon reconstruction and in the creation of a system that would revolve around maintaining European stability. The Congress imposed on France various repercussions for its central role in Napoleon's reign, such as a fine of 700 million francs and the agreement to an allied army of occupation for five years. The Congress additionally disassembled Napoleon's Confederation of the Rhine, reducing the unified 300 German states to 39 states that became the German Confederation. These actions emphasized the Congress of Vienna's role in strengthening the ideal of a balance of powers; the impositions on France aimed to prevent another imperialist figure from rising as Napoleon's successor while the restructuring of the German states worked to impede on Russia's growing influence. Maintaining a balance of powers between European nations became the centralizing means of restoring and strengthening Europe, and the Congress as well as various alliances such as the Concert of Europe and the Troppau memorandum worked to  keep nations in check and to suppress revolutions that could upset Europe's balance of powers. Following Napoleon's centralized and dominating presence in Europe, European nations worked to restructure and strengthen Europe through its maintenance of a balance of powers that helped Europe avoid any major wars until World War I in 1914.