how successful was metternich and other reactionaries were when pthey tried returning europe to the way it was before the french revolution and napoleon?

They managed to do it in most of the countries, as they enabled that with the decisions made by the Congress of Vienna. They wanted to once more create strong monarchies in Europe, that will control political situation in their countries. One of the ways how they wanted to do that was the creation of Holy Alliance.

Explanation:

In most of the European countries after the war, monarchy was still a dominant form of government. Metternich wanted to preserve that with the help of other countries, especially Russia. This situation was mostly functional until the Revolution of 1848.