2.EUROPE (1815-1848).pdf

EUROPE (1815-1848)

1.Summary:At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Era, Europe's leaders workedto reorganize Europe and create a stable balance of power. After that Congress, The Austrian diplomat Metternich would call several more congresses to try and preserve European stability: the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle (1818), the Congress of Troppau (1820), and the Congress of Verona (1822). The Congress System that Metternich established was Reactionary, that is, its goal was to preserve the power of the old, monarchical regimes in Europe.

Revolution was brewing, however. In Britain, the Industrial Revolution continued to accelerate, causing economic transformations that had serious political and social implications. All across Europe, and especially in France and Britain, the rising Bourgeoisie class challenged the old monarchical Reactionaries with their Liberal ideology. "Isms" abounded. Ideologies such as Radicalism, Republicanism, and Socialism rounded into coherent form. In response to events like the 1819 Peterloo Massacre, worker consciousness of a class struggle between Proletariat and Bourgeoisie began to emerge. The Bourgeoisie was clearly the ascendant class between 1815 and 1848; the Proletariat began to gain a sense of similar unification.

Another "Ism" coming into its own at this time was Romanticism, the intellectual response to the French Enlightenment rationalism and emphasis on Reason. At the same time, Romantic thinkers, artists, and writers posed powerful challenge to the Enlightenment emphasis on rationalism and reason. Such artists and philosophers as Herder, Hegel, Schiller, Schinckel, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley, John Keats, William Wordsworth, and Delacroix, to name a few, achieved remarkable intellectual and artistic heights and gained a wide following throughout Europe, particularly in Germany, Prussia, England, and to a lesser extent France.

Of all the "Isms" competing in this period, perhaps the greatest was Nationalism, an ideology, like Romanticism, which reacted against the universalist claims of French enlightenment thought. Whereas Romanticism often focused on intellectual and artistic matters, Nationalism, which proclaimed the unique character of ethnic and linguistic groups, was more overtly political. The Nationalist movements in Germany and Italy, which involved an effort at national unification, and those in the Austrian Empire, which involved efforts to carve the Austrian Empire into ethnically or linguistically defined states, created a great amount of instability in Europe.

In 1830, the various ideological beliefs resulted in a round of revolutions. These revolutions began when the Paris Mob, manipulated by the interests of the Bourgeoisie, deposed the Bourbon monarchy of Charles X and replaced him with Louis Philippe. In the rest of Europe, the French example touched off various nationalist revolts; all were successfully quelled by conservative forces.

Britain notably escaped any outbreak of violence, but it by no means escaped change: the battle between the formerly dominant landed aristocracy and the newly ascendant manufacturers led to thepassage of the Reform Bill of 1832, which partially remedied the Rotten Boroughs and gave the manufactures an increased amount of Parliamentary representation. The working class benefited from the growing class rivalry between aristocracy and middle-class. Often the aristocrats would ally with the working class to act against the manufacturers, forcing the manufacturers, in turn, to ally with the workers against the aristocrats. Although the working class did not yet have the vote inEngland, they were pushing for universal adult male suffrage in the late 1830s and early 1840s via the Chartist Movement. While this movement failed in the short- term, its demands were eventually adopted.

In the rest of Europe, political change would not happen so peacefully. In 1848, the February
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Revolution broke out in Paris, toppling Louis Philippe and granting universal suffrage to adult French men, who elected Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon III) solely on name-recognition. Europe once again took its cue from Paris, and revolutions broke out nearly everywhere in Europe during 1848. Rebellion in Germany led to the establishment of the Frankfurt Assembly, which was plagued by internal squabbling and was unable to unify Germany. In the Austrian Empire, the various ethnicities revolted, and the Magyar nationalists led by Louis Kossuth pushed for an independent Hungary. Rioting in Vienna frightened Metternich so much he fled the city. All of the Eastern European rebellions were ultimately put down, a triumph for the reactionaries. However, the events of 1848 frightened the rulers of Europe out of their complacency and forced them to realize that gradually, they would have to change the nature of their governments or face future revolutions.

2.Context: The years from 1815 to 1848 provided a much-needed respite from the endless wars of the Napoleonic Era. From 1799 to 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte rampaged through Europe, conquering a vast empire and spreading the liberal ideas of the Enlightenment and laws based on them (the Napoleonic Code). When a coalition of European powers finally managed to defeat Napoleon for the last time, all the rulers wanted to do was return Europe "to normal". They didn't want Napoleon-style emperors marching their armies all over Europe, they didn't want legal equality among the classes, and they didn't want revolutions every few years. In short, they wanted stability, and the reorganization of Europe undertaken at the Congress of Vienna was aimed at creating that stability.

However, as much as the monarchs of Europe and their advisors wanted stability, there were severalhistorical dynamics at the time that ensured that Europe could not "stay the same". In Great Britain, the enclosure movement of the early 18th century had created a large, socially mobile labor force, leading to the Industrial Revolution in British manufacturing during the 18th and 19th centuries. The years from 1815 to 1848 marked a period of particular industrial acceleration. While dramatically increasing the general power and wealth of England, the industrial revolution also particularly brought new wealth to the Bourgeoisie class of entrepreneurs and manufacturers. With their wealth came both influence and a desire for greater influence; the middle class demanded increased political representation and power. The middle class also developed a liberal ideology involving laissez faire economics, which they tried to make the dominant ideology in England. The battle between the once dominant aristocracy and the rising Bourgeoisie would open a floodgate of reforms, and this process would soon be replicated in the rest of Western Europe.

Also during this period, a young intellectual movement called Romanticism, which was a response to French Enlightenment Rationalism, held sway in Germany, Britain, and to an extent France. Romanticism challenged the ideal of universal standards for all mankind, and led to the glorificationof the unique "national genius" of each ethnic and linguistic group. Thus, it was also during 1815 to 1848 that the modern phenomenon of nationalism was explicitly formulated. Tired of existing as a loose federation, many people in the fragmented German states hoped for German unification. The various Italian states sought Italian unification. Numerous groups within the ethnically diverse Austrian Empire dreamed of forming their own nation. The possibility of nationalists achieving their goals greatly frightened the reactionary rulers of Europe, who knew how destabilizing these changes might be.

Thus, the years from 1815 to 1848, though not plagued by rampant wars, can be seen as a more subtle battle between conflicting worldviews. On one side were the powerful and entrenched members of the Old Regime, who opposed change of any kind. On the other side were the forces of change: the bourgeoisie created by the dynamics of the Industrial Revolution, liberals, socialists, republicans, radicals, romantics, and nationalists. The struggle of ideas erupted in the form of various small-scale revolutions, first in 1830 and then on a more widespread scale in 1848, the year
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of revolutions. Although the revolutionaries were disappointed by results of 1848, ultimately changewas on the way. And what would replace the old guard? The new systems, which are the "old regime" in our own time, owe a great deal to the then-revolutionary concepts developed in the era immediately following the Napoleonic Wars. The period from 1815 to 1848 was an important crucible in which were forged many modern ideologies, from classical "liberalism" (today's conservatism) to communism. In some respects, the result of this battle between ideologies that reached fever pitch in the early 19th century is still being resolved today.

3.Important Terms, People, and Events:

TermsBourgeoisie - Term used to refer to the "middle class." In the 19th century concept of class struggle, the bourgeoisie were those who owned the means of production and the proletariat consisted of their workers.

Bund - A confederation of the various fragmented German states in the period after the Congress of Vienna (1815).

Burschenschaft - Student political groups that formed at German Universities beginning around 1815. These groups were expressions of German nationalism.

Capitalism - Generally middle-class economic ideology emphasizing free markets, the ownership of private property, and the accumulation of wealth by enterprising businesspeople.

Carbonari - Liberal, Nationalist secret society in Italy in the first half of the 19th century. They sought a unified Italy under governments different from those the Congress of Vienna had imposed on them.

Cato Street Conspiracy - Conspiracy of British Radicalism, plotting to assassinate the Tory cabinet. When the conspiracy was discovered in 1820, several conspirators were executed.

Chartist Movement - Reform movement in Britain of the 1830s and 1840s that demanded progressive political reforms like universal adult male suffrage and the right of working- class people to serve in Parliament. Although it failed at the time, the goals of Chartism were eventually reached.

Congress System - Term referring to the Reactionary method for maintaining political control; Metternich called a series of congresses between conservative leaders during the years from 1815 and 1848. These congresses included the Congress of Vienna, the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle, the Congress of Troppau, and the Congress of Verona.

Conservatism - British reactionary philosophy supporting monarchy and old ways. Championed by Edmund Burke, who had been horrified by the French Revolution, Conservatism argued for prudent and gradual change.

Corn Law - First passed in 1815, these laws put high tariffs on grain coming into England. This protected the profits of the land-owning aristocrats, but also increased food prices, hurting both workers and their employers, who had to pay higher wages if the price of bread went up. It is important to realize that in the British usage here, "Corn" refers to grains in general, not the kind of Corn (Maize) of which Americans usually think.

Dialectic - Theory of thought and historical progress in which opposites are created, and then reconciled to create a synthesis. This approach was pioneered by Hegel.

Holy Alliance - In 1815, Alexander I started the Holy Alliance to uphold Christian values. However, it became a common name by which the reactionary Congress System was referred to as a whole.
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Laissez Faire - In French, it means "allow to do". This economic philosophy suggests that if government interferes in the economy as little as possible (takes a "hands off" approach) markets will equilibrate and the economy will run as smoothly as possible.

Liberalism - 19th century ideology that sought self-government, increased male suffrage, and legalequality for all and free-market economic policies. 19th century "liberalism" is a far cry from what "liberalism" means today. Because 19th century "liberalism" ultimately triumphed in Western Europe and the United States, 19th century "liberalism" is actually closer to what is "conservative" in our own time.

Manchester - Industrial city in Northern England, which greatly increased in population during theIndustrial Revolution. Because of the Rotten Boroughs, its interests were underrepresented in Parliament during the early 19th century.

Monroe Doctrine - American policy announced in 1823 in which President Monroe demanded thatEurope not interfere with goings-on in the Western Hemisphere. Monroe's warning was initially followed not because of fear of the United States, but because the other European powers knew Britain's Navy would stop any further colonial adventurism in the New World.

Nationalism - Modern movement in which countries engineer a sense of unity and common purpose among a large nation. The people in these nationalist countries develop a strong sense of loyalty to their nation. Though it seems automatoc to most people in the modern world, nationalism really developed throughout Europe only in the early 19th century.

Pan-Slavism - Movement that seeks to unify the Slavs, an ethnic classification in Eastern Europe that includes Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, and Macedonians.

Proletariat - In the 19th century, a term developed to refer to the working class. Proletariats were employed by, and involved in class struggle with, the bourgeoisie.

Radicalism - Anti-Church, anti-Monarchy reform group in 19th century England, largely based on the ideas of Jeremy Bentham. Unconcerned by tradition, the British radicals challenged the old ways.

Reactionary - Having to do with what is opposed to change and progress. In 19th century Europe, the Reactionary cause was championed by Metternich, who wanted the old regimes of Europe to stay in power.

Republicanism - French equivalent of British Radicalism, Republicanism glorified the social leveling accomplished by the French Revolution.

Romanticism - Intellectual movement begun in reaction to the dominance ofEnlightenment Reason. Romanticism criticized Reason, suggesting that it could not answer all questions. Leading Romantic artists and writers included Hegel, Schiller, Schinckel, Keats, Wordsworth, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, and Delacroix.

Rotten Boroughs - In England in the 19th century, voting districts were so poorly drawn that a city with half-a-million people like Manchester received only as much representation in Parliament as a small village. Though the Industrial Revolution rapidly changed the population distribution in England, the voting districts lagged behind, giving advantage in Parliament to wealthy landowners while under representing the new manufacturing cities.

Socialism - Economic ideology, opposed to Capitalism and Laissez Faire, that holds that key industry and the means of production should be centrally controlled by the government, so that workers will not be abused by bourgeoisie factory owners.

Textile - Threads, cloth and clothing. Early in the Industrial Revolution, textiles were the mainstay of British factory production.
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Tory - 18th and early 19th century British political party, opposed to the Whigs. Although the Tories comprised various factions, the party was opposed to Parliamentary reforms.

Utility - Utility is the measure of good or usefulness of something. It is often held that something should be done if it will maximize the overall utility of society. This belief is formulated as "Utilitarianism," and is described in John Stuart Mill's bookUtilitarianism.

Volksgeist - German Romantic idea, suggested by Herder, that each nation has its own particular "special genius". Thus, what is right for one nation may not be right for another nation, and, according to German Romantics and Nationalists, each "nation" should strive to express its individual Volksgeist.

PeopleAlexander I - Russian Czar from 1801 to 1825. He briefly allied with Napoleonbefore turning against him. Though Alexander envisioned himself as an "enlightened despot", Metternich managedto move him towards becoming a Reactionary after the Congress of Vienna in 1815.

Jeremy Bentham - English philosopher, a father of Radicalism and Utilitarianism. One example of his unconventional nature: when he died in 1832, he had his body preserved and placed on display in a cabinet in University College, London, where it remains to this day.

Simon Bolivar - South American freedom fighter who led the liberation of several Spanish colonies around 1820. He subsequently became a South American dictator, with hopes of uniting a South American empire.

Louis Napoleon Bonaparte - After the February Revolution in Paris in 1848, Louis Napoleon was elected President in France simply on the basis of name recognition among the newly enfranchised voters. He soon declared himself Emperor Napoleon III. France prospered under him for two decades.

Bourbon - European royal family, which had kings on the thrones of France, Spain, and Naples at various times during the early 19th century.

Edmund Burke - 18th century thinker, statesman, and writer, whose 1790 work,Reflections on the Revolution in France, became the classic text of British Conservatism.

George Canning - British foreign secretary and champion of Liberalism in foreign affairs form 1822 to 1827. Canning briefly served as Prime Minister in 1827.

Castlereagh - British foreign secretary from 1812-1822. Castlereagh was a major architect of the new European balance of power established at the Congress of Vienna in 1815.

Charles X - Successor to Louis XVIII, Bourbon king of France from 1824 to his overthrow in the July Revolution of 1830. He believed in the divine-right of kings, and was unable to cope with the new, post-revolutionary realities of France.

Eugene Delacroix - French Romantic painter, who painted exotic scenes, and whose use of color over line inspired the Impressionists.

Ferdinand - Austrian Hapsburg Emperor who abdicated during the revolution of 1848, turning the throne over to Franz Joseph.

Charles Fourier - French theorist of Socialism who wanted to reorganize society into cooperative "phalanxes".

Franz Joseph - Hapsburg Emperor of Austria from 1848 to 1916. In 1867 he divided the Empire into Austria and Hungary, creating the "Dual Monarchy".

Goethe - 18th and 19th century German writer, who worked in nearly every imaginable field, fromscience to drama. Considered one of the greatest German writers, Goethe was essential in the

Nationalist construction of a German Volksgeist.

Hapsburg - Perhaps the greatest royal family of modern European history, the Hapsburg dynasty once controlled Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, and the Holy Roman Empire under one man. By the 19th century, they only really controlled the Austrian Empire. Emperors Ferdinand and Franz Joseph were both Hapsburgs.

Hegel - G.W.F. Hegel was a 19th century Romantic German philosopher who held that progress is made through conflicting opposites being resolved, via the dialectic, in a synthesis. See IntroductoryLectures on History.

Louis Kossuth - Magyar (Hungarian) Nationalist who briefly controlled Hungary in 1848 and 1849, but was crushed by the Russian army.

Louis Philippe - Also called the Duke of Orleans, Louis Philippe ruled France as King from 1830 to 1848, when his government toppled in the February Revolution. Louis Philippe drew most of his support from the Bourgeoisie; he alienated and marginalized the growing French working class, leading to his overthrow in 1848.

Louis XVIII - Bourbon king of France from 1815 to his death in 1824, during which time he proved moderately Liberal, allowing an advisory Parliament to meet.

Magyars - Dominant linguistic and ethnic group in Hungary.

Robert Malthus - Early British economist. His most famous idea was that increasing the food supply would always increase the population, meaning that eradicating the suffering of the lower classes was impossible.

Karl Marx - German economist and philosopher who, along with Friedrich Engels, wrote The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital while in living in England. The ideology of Communism draws its inspiration from Marx and Engels' work, which was influenced by the social environment in Western Europe during the first half of the 19th century.

Joseph Mazzini - Italian Nationalist from Genoa who founded Young Italy in 1832, a movement that would inspire nationalist groups throughout Europe.

Metternich - Austrian foreign minister, Metternich was Europe's arch-Reactionary. He was a leading architect of the balance of power developed at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, and he called the great powers to various Congresses throughout the coming decade to put down European rebellions wherever they started. In 1848, during a revolution in Vienna, Metternich fled the city.

Nicholas I - Succeeded Alexander I, serving as Russian Czar from 1825 to 1855. Nicholas' more liberal brother Constantine was favored as successor by Russian revolutionaries, but Nicholas used the army to destroy this rebellion.

Robert Owen - Manchester manufacturer who grew upset by the conditions endured by workers in Industrial Revolution Britain, and became a reformer.

Robert Peel - Britain's conservative prime minister from 1834 to 1835, and from 1841 to 1846. Peel oversaw the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846, partially due to the ongoing Irish Famine.

David Ricardo - Early British economist who helped develop "Classical" economics. He was responsible for formulating the "Iron Law" of wages, which stated that any attempt to improve workers' lots would lead to such a population increase that the increased competition for labor would ultimately bring workers' wages back down. This argument held that no improvement in workers' lives was possible, so the government should not bother legislating wage increases.

Saint-Simon - French theorist of Socialism, he developed a concept of "Christian Socialism" emphasizing the brotherhood of all men. His conception included the centralization of industry and equal sharing of its profits.

Jose de San Martin - Much like Simon Bolivar, Jose de San Martin was a South American military leader involved in the liberation of several South American countries from Spanish colonial rule.

Friedrich Schiller - German Romantic dramatist of the late 18th and early 19th century.

Karl Friedrich Schinkel - German Romantic architect who worked both in classical forms; a leaderin the Gothic Revival.

Percy Bysshe Shelley - Influential British Romantic poet, married to Mary Shelley. Read the SparkNote on Shelley's Poetry.

Mary Shelley - British Romantic writer, wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley, and author of Frankenstein (1818), a classic allegory of the flaws of Reason and Science.

Slavs - An ethnic and linguistic classification in Eastern Europe and Western Asia that includes Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, and Macedonians.

EventsCarlsbad Decrees - 1819 regulation in Germany that outlawed the Burschenschaft student groups, pushing them underground. It also established censorship, and government control of universities. Metternich, from his position of influence in Austria, helped get this measure passed in the German Bund.

Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle - 1818 Congress in which the European powers agreed to withdraw their armies occupying France. Alexander I tried to convince the other powers to form an international military coalition to suppress Revolution, but Castlereagh refused British participation.

Congress of Troppau - 1820 Congress, dealing with collapse of the government in Naples. At the Congress, Metternich received permission to restore the old government using the Austrian army.

Congress of Verona - Congress called by Metternich to deal with revolutionary stirrings in Spain and Greece. France sent an army into Spain to quell the rebellion there. Although Alexander I expressed an interest in putting down the South American revolutions of Simon Bolivar and Jose deSan Martin, Castlereagh promised British naval opposition. Verona was the last international Congress held in the period from 1815-1848.

Congress of Vienna - 1814-1815 meeting of the Great powers that led to the reorganization of Europe in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars.

Decembrist Revolt - The 1825 death of Czar Alexander I of Russian sparked a succession dispute between Alexander's two sons. Constantine, the younger brother of Nicholas, received some supportbecause he was known to be the more Liberal of the two brothers. The revolt in favor of Constantine was put down by the rightful heir, Nicholas I, and the army.

Enclosure Movement - 18th century movement among wealthy British landed aristocrats to rationalize their farms. Using new farming technology and systems of crop rotation, they forced the agrarian poor off the old "village commons" that now became "enclosed" as private property. The jobless poor ended up constituting the proletariat working class in the upcoming Industrial Revolution.

February Revolution - 1848 Revolution in Paris, primarily by lower-class workers, who overthrew Louis Philippe, established universal adult male suffrage, and elected Louis Napoleon Bonaparte president. Along with overthrowing Louis Philippe's regime, the February Revolution sparked otherrevolutions throughout Europe.

Frankfurt Assembly - From 1848 to 1849, a group of German bourgeoisie intellectuals and professionals who attempted (and failed) to create a unified German state.

Gothic Revival - 1830s movement in architecture when buildings in the Gothic (high medieval) style became popular. It was in this period that the British Parliament building was built. This was the architectural manifestation of Romanticism. Where the Enlightenment had looked down on the Middle Ages as a "dark" period of ignorance, the Romantics celebrated the Medieval period for its spiritualism, depth, and sense of adventure.

Industrial Revolution - 18th and 19th century development, beginning in Britain, in which manufacturing was increasingly done in factories by machines, rather than in small workshops by hand labor. The Industrial Revolution, in combination with the earlier the Enclosure Movement, radically reshaped the world economy and social and political development.

July Revolution - 1830 overthrow of Charles X's oppressive regime; ultimately, Louis Philippe became the new French king.

Peterloo Massacre - In 1819, manufacturers organized around 80,000 workers to protest the Corn Laws. When some of the peaceful protesters were shot, the event was dubbed the "Peterloo Massacre", likening the British government's shameful use of violence on a peaceful crowd to the recent defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo.

Reform Bill of 1832 - This British bill simplified voting requirements, though it actually didn't enfranchise many new people. Most importantly, it partially corrected the problem of Rotten Boroughs, giving a much larger amount of Parliamentary power to previously under-represented manufacturers like those Manchester.

3.Timeline: 1814-1815: Congress of Vienna

1815: Corn Law in Great Britain

December 1816: Corn Law riots in London

1817: Buschenschaft holds congress at Wurtburg

1818: Prussian Zollverein created

1818: International Congress held at Aix-la-Chapelle

1818: Mary Shelley publishes Frankenstein

1819: Metternich initiates Carlsbad Decrees

1819: Peterloo Massacre

1820: Several members of Cato Street Conspiracy executed

1820s: British Radicalism gets underway

1820: Louis XVIII's nephew (the Duke de Berry) assassinated

1820: Te Congress of Troppau

1822: The Congress of Verona

1823: Munroe Doctrine

1824: Louis XVIII dies, Charles X becomes French king

1825: Decembrist Revolt put down in Russia, Nicholas I comes to power

1825: Robert Owen founds New Harmony, Indiana

1827: Anglo-French-Russian navy destroys Turkish fleet, helping Greek nationalists

1829: Nations of Europe recognize an independent Greece

1829: First truly successful locomotive tested

1830s: Gothic Revival in architecture

July 1830: Charles X passes "Four Ordinances" in France

July 1830: July Revolution in France. Charles X abdicates, Louis Philippe becomes French king

1831: Mazzini founds Young Italy

1832: Goethe completes Faust

1832: Parliament passes Reform Bill

1833: Factory Act restricts child labor (Great Britain)

1834: Poor Laws passed (Great Britain)

1838: Anti-Corn Laws League

1838: Chartist movement begins

1839: Chartist movement gains 1 million signatures

1840: Frederick William IV comes to power in Prussia

1840s: Corn Laws repealed

1840s: Railway construction begins in England and Europe

1842: Chartist movement gains 3 million signatures

1847: Ten Hour Act limits women and child labor to ten hours a day (Great Britain)

January 1848: Marx and Engels publish Communist Manifesto

February 1848: February Revolution in Paris, barricades in the streets

1848: Louis Napoleon Bonaparte becomes President of France

March 1848: Metternich, terrified of unrest, flees Vienna

March 15, 1848: Hungary granted independence within the Austrian Empire, revolutions begin throughout Eastern Europe

June 1848: Pan-Slavic Conference held in Prague

May 1848: Frankfurt Assembly

December 1848: Ferdinand of Austria abdicates, Franz Joseph becomes emperor

4.Britain's Industrial Revolution (1780-1850):

SummaryAlthough Western Europe had long had the basic trappings of capitalism (private property, wealth accumulation, contracts), the Industrial Revolution fueled the creation of a truly modern capitalist system. Widespread credit, business corporations, investments and large-scale stock markets all become common. Britain led the way in this transformation.

By the 1780s, the British Industrial Revolution, which had been developing for several decades, began to further accelerate. Manufacturing, business, and the number of wage laborers skyrocketed,starting a trend that would continue into the first half of the 19th century. Meanwhile, technology changed: hand tools were replaced by steam- or electricity-driven machines.

The economic transformation brought about the British industrial revolution was accompanied by a
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social transformation as well. Population boomed, and demographics shifted. Because industrial resources like coal and iron were in Central and Northern England, a shift in population from Southern England northward took place. Northern cities like Manchester grew tremendously. These changes in social and demographic realities created vast pressure for political change as well. The first act to protect workers went into affect in 1802 (though in practice it did very little). Pressure to redress the lack of representation for the new industrial cities and the newly wealthy industrial manufacturers also began to build.

Meanwhile, industrialists developed an ideology called Laissez Faire based on Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776) and continued by David Ricardo and Robert Malthus. Based on this, the discipline known as "economics" developed, largely to give the manufacturers a basis for arguing for little or no regulation of industry. Instead of government interference, these economists argued that a free market, in which everyone followed their own self- interest, would maximize the nation's utility.

Britain, with its head start in manufacturing, its many world markets, and its dominant navy, would dominate industry for most of the 19th century. Towards the end of that century, the United States and Germany would begin to challenge Britain's industrial power.

CommentaryAmong the Western European countries, Britain was the ideal incubator for the Industrial Revolution because an "Agricultural Revolution" preceded it. After the 1688 "Glorious Revolution",the British kings lost power and the aristocratic landholders gained power. The landholders tried to rationalize their landholdings and started the Enclosure Movement to bring more and more of their own land under tighter control, a process that went on throughout the 1700s. This policy had two main effects: it increased the productivity of the land, and transformed the people who used to workland into an unemployed, labor class of poor in need of work. Thus, the first factories had a ready labor- supply in Britain that was not available in other nations. Important inventions like the "Spinning Jenny" to produce yarn began to be made in 1760s, and soon the British textile industry was booming, aided by Eli Whitney's invention of the "Cotton Gin" in America, which provided a ready source of cotton.

The Industrial Revolution represented a shift in influence away from the traditional power-holders in England. Aristocratic rule was no longer supreme, for "upstart" manufacturers were now often more wealthy and more important to the nation's overall well being than the landed gentry. They also employed a far greater percentage of the national economy. However, the aristocratic landholders did not entirely lose out: they maintained some power, and only grudgingly gave it up to business interests. Often, the aristocracy, trying to take power away from the manufacturers, would ally with the working class. As both sides, aristocrats and manufacturers, competed for the support of the workers, reforms in Britain gradually took place through Parliamentary deal- making without the need for a bloody revolution. In its impact on human societies, the industrial revolution was probably the most important change in its era, more important, perhaps, than any events in the last few thousand years. The Industrial Revolution allowed increasing urbanization and greatly increased the overall wealth and production power of humanity, although not everyone always shared in the benefits of industrialization equally.

Though industrialization was most prominent in Europe, its transformative powers must be seen as a theme through the period of 1815-1848. Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution went hand-in-hand with the Western European countries' liberal traditions. Many of the same principles underlying the French Revolution were being developed via the Industrial Revolution in Britain. Industrializing nations developed middle classes who began to wield political clout. Further, the Industrial Revolution would give Western Europe the economic system and technology to dominate much of the world in the colonial period towards the end of the 19th century. The countries that did not transition to industrial systems very quickly got left behind, and often ended up as satellites to
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the major powers.

It would be some time before workers developed a counter-ideology of their own. Yet as manufacturing brought hundreds of thousands of workers into the cities, they started thinking about organizing to protect their own political interests. By 1825, the workers in the industrializing nations would become a social and political force of their own.

5.Europe After Napoleon:

SummaryAfter Napoleon's domination of Europe from around 1800 to 1814, the rulers of Europe wanted to insure that no one would ever be able to come so close to taking over all of Europe again. To this end, the diplomats from all of the Great Powers met at the Congress of Vienna to negotiate from 1814 to 1815. There they reorganized European boundaries in hopes of creating a stable Europe where coalitions of nations could always ally to defeat one nation that got out of hand.

The rulers after Napoleon were dedicated to stopping revolution (like the French Revolution in theirown countries. Louis XVIII, whose brother Louis XVI had been executed during the French Revolution, certainly didn't want another revolution in France. The Tory government in Great Britain was archconservative and greatly opposed social upheaval. Metternich, the foreign minister in Austria, was willing to do anything to stabilize Europe and preserve Hapsburg power.

FranceIn France, Louis XVIII did his best to balance the tense situation following Napoleon's defeat. On both sides, Louis granted amnesties, hoping to "start over" in France. The wealthy, however, remembering the leveling effects of the Revolution, became passionately anti-revolutionary, or reactionary. The reactionary element only increased after the King's nephew, the Duke of Berry, wasassassinated in 1820. In 1824, Louis XVIII died, and was replaced by the assassinated Duke's father, Charles X. Unlike the moderate Louis, Charles was a hard-core reactionary, and hated all the changes taking place in France, even the ones Louis had initiated. Charles believed himself to be a monarch appointed by God, and he started trampling on basic elements of liberalism like the Frenchconstitution.

PolandPoland was a state recreated by the Congress of Vienna and ruled by Czar Alexander I. Initially, its government was quite liberal; though ruled by Alexander, Poland had a constitution. Alexander considered himself an "enlightened despot" and spoke often of granting freedom to the people, but he soon found that when he did give the people some self-government, they didn't always agree with what he wanted them to do. Liking liberal reforms in theory more than practice, Alexander increasingly curtailed Poland's right of self- government. As a result of its frustrated desire for self-rule, Polish Nationalism began to rise. Secret societies developed, and a university movement (which Alexander put down in the 1820s) got underway.

GermanyIn Germany, nationalists motivated by Romantic ideas such as the belief in a special German Volksgeist hated the results of the Congress of Vienna, since the ongress split up into a loose federation called the Bund. Dissatisfaction centered among students and intellectuals, who began to form highly nationalist clubs called Burschenschaft. In 1817, the Burschenschaft held a national meeting at Wartburg, convincing Metternich that German nationalism was a force to be reckoned
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with. When the German nationalists began assassinating reactionary leaders, Metternich intervened by pushing the Carlsbad Decrees through the Bund in 1819. The decrees outlawed the Burschenschaft and pushed them underground. Secondarily, the decrees increased government regulation of the universities, limiting what was taught, and made way for government censorship of German newspapers. The Carlsbad Decrees quieted the German nationalist movement for about adecade.

Great BritainIn Great Britain, in 1815, the aristocrat-dominated Parliament passed the Corn Law, which raised tariffs on grain to make imports impossible. The high tariffs also raised prices beyond the reach of the working class. In December 1816, starving workers rioted in London. Meanwhile, in Manchester, the ascendant industrialists who dominated the city had been hoping to get Parliamentary representation for some time. Realizing how discontented the workers were, the industrialists helped organize 80,000 workers to demonstrate at St. Peters Field against the Corn Law and for universal male suffrage. The protest was peaceful, but British soldiers nonetheless firedinto the crowd, killing several. The event became a national scandal, called the Peterloo Massacre. The Tory Parliament, frightened of the potential for worker revolts, passed acts in 1819 aimed at stopping mass political organization. Not appeased, a group of workers decided to try and assassinate the Tory cabinet. This group, known as the Cato Street Conspiracy, was discovered in 1820. Several members were executed.

CommentaryAfter Napoleon, a period of Reactionary governments swept Europe. Having swung so far one way during the French Revolution and Napoleon's rule, the historical pendulum now swung back the other way, as rulers tried to prevent the "excesses" of the French Revolution from happening again. Fear among the traditional rulers was not without basis, either. Revolution was brewing throughout Europe.

Among the reactionary rulers and leaders of Europe in the post-Napoleonic era, only the liberal, progressive, and fervently Christian Alexander I, Czar of Russia, seemed a wild card when it came to change. He certainly wanted to rule, but he also wanted to change the world for the better. Highlyeducated, he saw himself as an "enlightened despot" or a "philosopher-king" able to foresee reformsthat were in the best interest of all. In 1815, the rulers of Europe were all worried about what Czar Alexander might do. However, once Alexander found out that granting constitutions and self-government to people led to them doing things that he sometimes disagreed with, his interest in liberal reforms began to sour, and he fell further into the reactionary fold over time.

Why was Metternich so upset about possible German unification? He was afraid that a powerful and unified Germany might upset the balance of power, not to mention pose a threat to neighboring Austria. Although Austria did not have a tremendous amount of formal influence in the German Bund, it could put informal pressure on the German states, and Metternich did this heavily in the period to get the Carlsbad decrees passed.

British Parliament designed the Corn Law (1815) to protect the profits of landed aristocrats in Britain. But the action demonstrates the degree to which Parliament was out of touch with the socialand political situation. The tariffs raised food prices, naturally affecting the poor. The raise in prices also affected the industrialist manufacturers, who had to pay their workers more to insure that they had people physically able to man the industrial factories. Whereas the poor had no political power, and little tendency to political action, the wealthy manufacturers had both. The teaming up of the manufacturers and poor demonstrated a changing reality in British social and political life. Parliament's eventual recognition of this change can be seen in the Tory government's subsequent passage of a high tax on newspapers as an attempt to limit the spread of ideas among workers. The Tory government even went so far as to restrict the right of public assembly.

6.Metternich and his Congresses (1815-1822):

SummaryThe Congress of Vienna established an international system of reactionary governments dedicated to maintaining a set of European boundaries, preventing revolutions and changes in government, and stopping any one power from becoming too powerful. To this end, the Congress powers agreed to meet whenever trouble should crop up in Europe to discuss how to fix it.

The first meeting of the Congress System was in 1818, at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle. This meeting dealt with the coalition of European armies that had been occupying France since Napoleon's defeat. At Aix-la-Chapelle, the powers decided to withdraw their armies. Alexander I, always a champion of "collective security", suggested the idea of an international military force, made up of troops from all nations, that would be available to suppress revolutions wherever they appeared. The British foreign minister Viscount Castlereagh vehemently opposed the suggestion. Alexander I's suggestion was not adopted.

In 1820, as a reaction to the evident collapse of the government of Naples, Metternich called another meeting, the Congress of Troppau. Metternich wanted to stop the revolution in Naples from spreading. At Troppau, Metternich met with Alexander I and managed the formerly liberal Czar to adopt a more reactionary stance. The Czar, who had seen that liberal reforms in Poland had inevitably led his subjects to disagree with him, did not need much convincing. At Troppau, Austria,Prussia and Russia allied to restore the King of Naples. Britain, though anti-Revolutionary, did not want to be bound by continental commitments. Thus, Britain stayed out of intervention in Naples, as did France.

Despite the congresses, revolutionary hotspots continued to crop up. In the early 1820s the Bourbongovernment of Spain seemed especially fragile. At the same time, Greek nationalists sought more actively to establish a Greek nation in Turkey. To deal with these developments, Metternich called the Congress of Verona in 1822. The congress moved against the Greek revolutionaries, who really did not have the military power to take over Turkey at this time anyway. The Congress also allowed France to send an army into Spain to end the revolt and stabilize the Bourbon king. The revolution in Spain was quickly smashed.

CommentaryThe period of Metternich's congresses defined an era in which the governments in power attempted to create a reactionary international system. This system came to be called the Holy Alliance, appropriating the name of the coalition of Christian values Alexander had wanted to set up at the Congress of Vienna. The Holy Alliance was also called the Congress System, and in general the powers involved saw revolution and change as diseases. The reactionaries believed that if revolution cropped up in one part of Europe, it had to be destroyed, or else would spread like some epidemic.

Aix-la-Chapelle requires some explanation. First of all, why, only three years after Napoleon, did the European powers so easily agree to withdraw their forces from France? For one, they wanted the French to accept Louis XVIII, and if he was backed by foreign armies, it was almost certain thatthe population would hate him. Furthermore, French banks had paid off the French war debt (France now owed the debt to its bankers, not the other powers), so there was less reason for European armies (costly to maintain in the field) to remain stationed in France. Second, why did theBritish oppose an international "peacekeeping" force to put down revolutions throughout Europe? Were they pro-revolutionary? The answer is a resounding no. The Tory government in Britain was highly conservative. However, they wanted to be able to decide British intervention in military matters on a case-by-case basis. They did not want to commit forces to future events that might spiral out of control.

The Congress at Aix-la-Chapelle also continued the discussions over ending the Atlantic slave trade that had began at the Congress of Vienna. Only Britain truly wanted to end the practice, and to that end Britain had built up a West African Squadron of ships patrolling for slavers. However, if the slavers ran up the flags of other countries, British naval vessels could not legally board them. At Aix-la-Chapelle, Britain negotiated for a "right of search" regarding European ships of other countries, allowing them to stop slavers from falsely running a foreign flag to prevent boarding. TheBritish efforts went primarily for naught: the slave trade would continue throughout the period to 1848. Incidentally, very little of the slaves were shipped to the United States. Most slaves crossing the Atlantic in the 19th century were destined for Cuba or Brazil.

Outside the sphere of Europe, the Spanish New World during the 1820s was in revolt, as those living in the colonies wanted increased say in their government. Simon Bolivar led independence movements in Venezuela and Colombia, while Jose de San Martin fought for independence in Argentina and Chile. The two worked together in the liberation of Peru. At the Congress of Verona, Alexander I suggested intervening to stop the New World revolts. Britain, however, made clear it would use its sea power to oppose any such attempt. Britain knew that free New World colonies would be more likely to establish good trade relations with Britain than Spanish-dominated colonies, so Britain acted out of economic self-interest rather than political liberal support. And without British support, no intervention in the New World could take place: the British Navy, whichhad established dominance since the battle of Trafalgar, could easily prevent European troops from ever reaching South America. Furthermore, in 1823, the United States issued the Munroe Doctrine, promising to fight against any European power that attempted to intervene in the New World. The new British foreign secretary after Castlereagh, George Canning, was happy to accept this American support, even though it was really British naval dominance that prevented the European powers from intervening in South America.

The 1822 Council of Verona was the last of the international reactionary councils. Although the three councils subsequent to the Congress of Vienna all met with short-term success, the institution of a large-scale anti-liberal system never materialized, largely because of the British refusal to bind itself into possible long-term commitments. The congresses did help to create a clear definition of the forces at work in Europe leading up to 1848: Reaction versus Liberalism and Revolution.

7.Battling Ideologies (1815-1830):

SummaryThe years between 1815-1830 saw the rise of a number of related and competing ideologies, each holding a powerful influence in their own time. That influence often extended well into the future, continuing to the present day. This section will outline those ideologies.

Classical LiberalismBeginning in Spain and France during the 1820s, liberalism soon spread to England. Consisting of businessmen and professionals, the liberals wanted modern, efficient self-government, although they were not always for universal male suffrage. They wanted freedom of the press and freedom ofthe assembly. They wanted constitutions, and Laissez Faire economic policies, such as free trade and low tariffs. They were generally against unions.

Radicalism and RepublicanismRadicalism appeared in the 1820s in England as the "Philosophical Radicals". This principled and unconventional group, consisting partially of workers and partially of industrialists, had its greatest leader in the colorful Jeremy Bentham. The Radicals were anti-church and anti-monarchy, and
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generally opposed the old ways. They were a force unto themselves until 1832, after which they merged with the British Liberals. The European counterpart to Radicalism was usually referred to asRepublicanism, which grew out of the French Revolutionary tradition. Republicanism sought complete political equality in the form of universal suffrage. Republicanism opposed monarchy and the Catholic Church.

SocialismCounter to liberalism was Socialism, which sought economic equality for all, and was very much against the Laissez Faire ideal of liberalism. Socialism looked at the free-market economies of Western Europe in the midst of the Industrial Revolution and saw exploited workers leading miserable existences while manufacturers profited enormously. Socialists felt that with the rich profiting so much, the poor should get some of the benefits, since worker's labor supported the entire system. Socialists, therefore, wanted to nationalize parts of the economy, such as industrial and financial sectors, giving these areas of the economy over to government control. Thus, the benefits could be distributed more equally to the various members of society. For example, Robert Owen, a manufacturer in Manchester, grew upset at his worker's living conditions and began payinghigher wages then other manufacturers did, and he treated his workers well, counseling them against drinking and other vices. In fact, Owen did fairly well in business despite giving his workersa higher than ordinary wage. Owen wanted to continue reform, and eventually he became frustrated with the slow pace of change in Britain. In 1825, he founded New Harmony, Indiana, an experimental socialist community in the United States. Other leading socialist thinkers included the Frenchmen Saint-Simon and Charles Fourier. Fourier wanted to organize society into groups called "phalansteries", in which everyone would be able to do whatever work they wanted and all be paid the same wages. Some phalansteries actually were set up in the United States.

NationalismNationalism was the most powerful of all the "isms" in this period. France and Great Britain's strong nation-states had inspired jealousy throughout the rest of Europe; other nations, disorganized as they were, wanted to unify. German intellectuals living in (and hating) the loosely organized Bund provided much of the vocabulary for nationalism, stating that each nation had a particular Volksgeist, or national spirit. Soon, just about every European language group wanted to have their own nation. Quickly outlawed by reactionary forces, nationalist groups formed secret societies suchas the Italian Carbonari and German Buschenschaft. These societies distributed propaganda leaflets and plotted rebellions. Often, nationalism combined with other ideological issues, from liberalism to socialism.

In 1831, Joseph Mazzini founded "Young Italy" as a nationalist group, which soon tried to organize a coup in the Italian state of Sardinia. Soon exiled, Mazzini remained a leading writer on nationalist issues. Nationalism, though pushed underground by the Carlsbad Decrees, was still very much alivein Germany in the 1820s and 1830s.

In Eastern Europe, the Poles wanted their own state, and in Austria, the Magyars wanted their own kingdom of Hungary. Throughout the Austrian Empire, the various language groups revived the study of their languages and hoped to carve their own nations out of the empire. A particularly potent nationalist force known as Pan-Slavism began to circulate among various Slavs in Russia, Poland, and Austria. All of these Eastern European groups began a renewed interest in their own cultures.

ConservatismThe final important "ism" of the period was Conservatism, a reactionary philosophy supporting monarchy and the old ways. Championed by Edmund Burke, who had been horrified by the French
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Revolution, Conservatism argued for prudent and gradual change to be made as slowly as possible.

CommentaryThe period from 1815 to 1848 saw an explosion in new ideologies. These various "isms" are still around today. Largely, the "isms" were reactions to or products ofEnlightenment thinking, although they all went in a variety of different directions. Many of the new movements therefore dealt with ideas that had been around for a while; but it was only in this period that the ideas gained formal, coherent structure. As new doctrines were born, the question arose: which would ultimately win out? The competition of "isms" still has not been entirely resolved today.

Liberalism in the early 19th century is not the same from what we think of as "Liberalism" today. Infact, much of what was liberal in the 19th century (free trade, keeping government out of business) is today considered conservative. Really, liberalism then was the ideology of the bourgeoisie (the business and professional class), and was geared towards protecting bourgeois interests. Still, the liberals invariably argued that what was for their benefit was actually to the benefit of everyone. The liberal tradition of the 19th century has confusingly become what is "conservative" today in the United States.

Jeremy Bentham, the figurehead of the British Radicals, targeted various reforms in Britain, and didnot care at all about customs or traditions. He argued against the preference given to the Anglican Church and opposed monarchy in all forms. He wanted fair treatment of the poor, and wanted to redistrict the Rotten Boroughs. The ultimate unconventionalist, Bentham had his body preserved and placed in a cabinet at University College, London, where it remains to this day.

The socialist experiments of Owen (New Harmony, Indiana) and Fourier (his "phalansteries") in theUnited States were too marginal to have very much effect on events in Europe. Isolated and comprised of very committed socialists, these socialist experiments ended up, essentially, as dead ends. However, socialism itself helped give rise to one of the most powerful ideological forces of the twentieth century. Some German exiles in France, especially Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, combined the socialist ideas of Owen, Fourier, and Saint-Simon with Republicanism in the 1840s togive rise to "Communism", an ideology aimed against the power of the liberal bourgeoisie.

The idea that each language group should have its own nation, to express its ownvolksgeist, especially frightened the Austrian Empire, of which Metternich was foreign minister. Since Austria contained dozens of subjugated language groups (including the Magyars, Czechs, Slovaks, Slavs, Rumanians, Serbs, Croatians, etc.), the upsurge in nationalism threatened totear Austria to pieces. The Austrian government's position as prime reactionary was certainly due in lart part to its fear of dissolution were nationalism to win out.

Today, we often think of nationalism and patriotism as something that "just makes sense". "Of course everyone loves their country," we think, "it's always been that way." Not true. Modern nationalism on the wide scale it is seen today is actually a fairly new phenomenon, especially in Eastern Europe. The numerous ethnic groups there had been more or less happy to live under Austrian Hapsburg rule for hundreds of years, and their languages and histories were being forgotten. Only the advent of the ideology of nationalism led to the creation of "national identities" and a "desire for self-government." Today, it is easy to think that people everywhere have always wanted their own countries for their own ethnic groups. In fact, this modern conception of nationalism developed in large part between 1815 and 1848.

8.Romanticism:

SummaryRomanticism, unlike the other "isms", isn't directly political. It is more intellectual. The term itself was coined in the 1840s, in England, but the movement had been around since the late 18th century,primarily in Literature and Arts. In England,Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats, and Byron typified Romanticism. In France, the movement was led by men like Victor Hugo, who wrote the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Although it knew no national boundaries, Romanticism was especiallyprevalent in Germany, spearheaded by artists like Goethe and thinkers such as Hegel.

The basic idea in Romanticism is that reason cannot explain everything. In reaction to the cult of rationality that was the Enlightenment, Romantics searched for deeper, often subconscious appeals. This led the Romantics to view things with a different spin than the Enlightenment thinkers. For example, the Enlightenment thinkers condemned the Middle Ages as "Dark Ages", a period of ignorance and irrationality. The Romantics, on the other hand, idealized the Middle Ages as a time of spiritual depth and adventure. Looking wistfully back to the Middle Ages, the Romantic influence led to a Gothic Revival in architecture in the 1830s. Gothic novels increased in popularity,and in art, paintings of various historical periods and exotic places came into vogue.

It would be impossible to cover all of the Romantics in such a short space (and a disservice to them to attempt it), but representative examples can be given. Mary Shelley (the wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley, published Frankenstein in 1818. Few would argue that it is the best work of the British Romantics, but it is indicative. In this story, a scientist is able to master life, animating an artificiallyconstructed person. But this "miracle of science," far from a simple story of man mastering nature through reason, ends up having monstrous results.

In Germany art, Friedrich Schiller produced plays known for their sense of a German "Volk", or national spirit. Karl Friedrich Schinckel led the Gothic Revival movement, beginning his first plans for Gothic structures as early as the 1820s. German romantic philosophy was dominated by W.G.F. Hegel. He construed the development of the state as part of a historical process, or "teleology". He is particularly famous for outlining a concept of the dialectic: the mind makes progress by creating opposites, which are then combined in a synthesis. Hegel tied his philosophy into nationalism by arguing for a German national dialectic that would result in synthesis into a state. Hegel's work increased the emphasis people put on historical studies, and German history writing boomed. Partially as a result of Hegel's influence, the idea developed that Germany's role was to act as a counterbalance to France. Seeing themselves as such, Germans began to feel that liberalism was notappropriate in Germany.

The French had their Romantics too, though not in the same profusion as Germany. For instance, Romantic painting is always associated with Eugene Delacroix, who prized the emotional impact ofcolor over the representational accuracy of line and careful design. Delacroix painted historical scenes, such as "liberty Leading the People" (1830) which glorified the beautiful spectacle of revolution, perhaps construing it as part of the French national character. After 1848, Romanticism fell into decline.

CommentaryRomanticism can be construed as an opposite to "classicism," drawing on Rousseau's notion of the goodness of the natural. Romanticism holds that pure logic is insufficient to answer all questions. Despite a founding French influence, Romanticism was most widespread in Germany and England, largely as a reaction to the French Enlightenment. It also was a response to French cultural domination, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. The Romanticist emphasis on individualism and self-expression deeply impacted American thinking, especially the transcendentalism of Emerson.

Instead of labeling, classifying, listing, tallying and condemning, the Romantics were relativist. That is, they looked less for ultimate, absolute truth than did Enlightenment thinkers. Romantics
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tended to think that everything had its own value, an "inner genius". Even in morality, the Romantics began to question the notion that there even was such a thing as absolute good and evil. Instead, each society was seen to create its own standards of morality. Romanticism also fueled many "isms" with the basic idea that "genius" had the power to change the world. German Romanticism, with its idea of a Volksgeist unique to each nation (derived from Herder's writings), gave an intellectual basis to nationalism.

The movement of Romanticism encompasses several contradictory aspects: several ideas are grouped into the movement, and they do not always fit together. For instance, some Romantics utilized the ideology to argue for the overthrow of old institutions, while others used it to uphold historical institutions, claiming that tradition revealed the "inner genius" of a people. Basically, as long as romantic intellectual passion, not rationalism and strict reason, were the basic underpinning of an idea, than it can be classified as "Romantic."

Interestingly, because of its geographical distribution, some historians argue that Romanticism was the secular continuation of the Protestant Reformation. Romanticism was most prominent in highly Protestant countries like Germany, England, and the United States. France, which had a significant Protestant movement but which remained Catholic-dominated, had something less of a Romantic movement. Other solidly Catholic countries were even less impacted by Romanticism.

8.Change in the 1830s (1827-1832):

SummaryMetternich's reactionary Congress System began to fail in the late 1820s and the early 1830s. In Greece, nationalists were pushing for independence from Turkey. Metternich would have liked to suppress this movement, but Czar Nicholas I supported the Greek movement with the hope of increasing Russian influence in the region. Great Britain and France, hoping to stop Russian expansion in the Balkans, decided to join in. The result was an Anglo-French- Russian navy that smashed the Turkish fleet in 1827. By 1829, an independent Greece was internationally recognized. In addition to the Greeks, several Balkan states gained independence and Egypt broke out of Ottoman rule. The stability in Europe that Metternich had worked so had to preserve was starting to crumble.

It would soon get worse. In France, the reactionary Charles X had reigned since assuming the throne in 1824. Charles X's reactionary policies antagonized much of the French population, who were used to liberal and republican reforms. Charles thought of himself as divinely appointed to restore the "old ways", and he accordingly gave more power to the aristocrats and Catholic clergy. When the French Chamber of Deputies moved against these changes, Charles dissolved them, passing the four "July Ordinances" in 1830. First, he dissolved the Chamber of Deputies. Second, he censored the press. Third, he disenfranchised (took voting rights away from) the bourgeoisie. Fourth, he called for a new election, with the bourgeoisie no longer voting. Charles actions sparked the advocates of Republicanism into anger. The bourgeoisie and radical republicans from the lower classes quickly took to the streets of Paris in the July Revolution, rioting and setting up barricades to stop the military and end traffic and commerce. Charles X quickly abdicated, and the bourgeois leaders of the rebellion moved quickly to install a constitutional monarchy. The revolutionary leaders brought in the Duke of Orleans, known as Louis Philippe. He accepted constitutional monarchy and the principle of the July Revolution, and even changed the official flag of France to the Republican tricolor.

The July Revolution rippled through Europe, starting revolutions in Belgium and Poland. Belgium'srevolution was essentially successful. The country ended up with self-government as long as it remained a neutral state, and the other powers agreed not to invade it. Polish nationalists, looking tothe successful revolutions in Belgium in France, also decided to revolt in 1830. Czar Nicholas
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quickly crushed the Polish rebellion.

In Britain, the Tory Party demonstrated an increasing sensitivity to the middle class. Foreign Minister George Canning and Robert Peel became more "liberal" Tories, trying to satisfy the middleclass, passing Laissez Faire laws, creating a more secular state, and even creating a police force. Problems remained, however. Most critical were the Corn Laws, which remained too high for manufacturers' tastes, and the Rotten Boroughs, which furnished Southern England with far more political representation than it deserved while neglecting populous manufacturing cities like Manchester. In the 1830s, a reform bill came up which would remedy these problems, but it was quashed by Prime Minister Wellington. Wellington's action led to rioting. Parliament realized it had to pass the bill, which it reluctantly did in 1832. The Reform Bill of 1832 simplified voting, although maintaining a property requirement, and abolished the smaller boroughs, giving their seatsto the large industrial cities like Manchester.

As a result of the redistribution of British political power created by the Reform Bill of 1832, several reforms took place, beginning in 1833 with a Factory Act that limited child labor. In 1847, a Ten Hours Act passed into law, limiting the number of hours women and children could work per day.

CommentarySpurred by the July Revolution in France, 1830 became a year of revolt. For the most part, however,those revolts resulted in little direct change. Though the revolution in France deposed a king, it also installed a new king: the revolution simply prevented the rights of the bourgeoisie from being trampled by Charles X.

To the reactionary rulers of Europe the July Revolution of Louis Philippe (1830) seemed like a dire thing. To the French bourgeois, it was merely a necessary action to maintain the rights they considered naturally theirs, and which they had won nearly fifty years earlier. Working-class Republicans wanted more, and they began to prepare for another revolt. The July Revolution, if sortof a disappointment to radical republicans, heartened revolutionaries throughout the rest of Europe. It sent a message: the preemptive suppression of revolution by the Continental System was no longer working very well.

Once the revolutions were in motion, however, the powers that be did often have the strength to put them down. Russia had no problem crushing the Polish rebellion. Yet Russia's success stemmed in large part from the domestic factors limiting Britain and France from using the Polish rebellion as a lever to hurt the power of the Russians. Britain was facing its own reform movement, and Louis Philippe did not want to appear to have Napoleonic ambitions. In other words, of the conservative powers, only Metternich and Austria refused to intercede against the Russians on ideological grounds. Britain and France, had they been able, might very well have placed the contingencies of politics above the demands of conservative dogma.

Surprisingly, it was in Britain, where no revolt happened, that the most change occurred. In large part this change resulted from the societal transformation created by the Industrial Revolution. Evenso, the July Revolution certainly spurred the political process. The French July Revolution showed the British bourgeoisie that if there was a revolution by the lower classes, the bourgeoisie could quickly assume control and use a working-class revolution to middle-class advantage. The realization that the bourgeoisie was acquiring more and more power and could use that power to create a revolt led the Tory party to grant some concessions.

The British Reform Bill of 1832 was really a compromise, since the reformers did not get everything they wanted. However, the bill was very important in that it made way for future reforms. Especially since the manufacturing cities of the North finally had substantial representation, the balance of power in British politics changed. Wealthy businessmen became part of the political elite. Parties reorganized, and the Whigs, a few radical Tories, and the radical
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industrialists formed the Liberal Party, while most of the Tories formed the Conservative Party. Under this new political configuration, and with the certain progression of the industrial revolution, further reforms were destined to take place. Interestingly, one aristocratic tactic to maintain power involved allying with the workers to strike back at the wealthy liberal businessmen. Landed aristocrats now allied with the poor so they could overcome the Liberal industrialists who were coming to dominate Parliament. Soon, the liberal industrialists caught on to this ploy, and allied with workers on certain issues. In 1838, manufacturers encouraged workers to form an Anti Corn Law League, and in 1846, under Prime Minister Robert Peel, the Corn Laws were abolished. Of course, the abolition of the Corn Laws were not only out of interest for Laissez Faire, but also because of a horrible famine in Ireland. The emergence of a political system with two parties of generally equal power allowed the less powerful workers to play both sides against each other and thereby gain concessions such as the Ten Hours Act. Ultimately, these progressive concessions allowed the British to avoid revolution, since those least represented in British society still felt as if they had some means to bettering their situation.

9.Bourgeoisie and Chartism (1830s and 1840s):

SummaryThe 1830s and 1840s were a time of great industrial progress and growth in Britain and France, but not everyone in the population shared in the new wealth.

In 1834, British Parliament made a concession to the workers, passing a Poor Law that was aimed to protect workers from starvation in time of unemployment. Poor houses represented the beginnings of a welfare society, since they provided places for workers to go if they ran out of money and work. However, British lawmakers were concerned that the workers would stop workingand flock to the poor houses, so they made the poor houses depressing and wretched. Instead of encouraging workers to find work, the wretchedness of the poor houses only further enraged workers against the "bourgeoisie" government. Though still illegal, workers formed labor unions to negotiate for better wages and conditions. Some started to seriously advocate the overthrow of the wage-labor system, in order to replace it with Socialism.

In France, Socialism was spreading rapidly, and the working public became more and more interested in the memory of highly radical leaders like Robespierre. Writers like Louis Blanc began to glorify the act of Revolution.

In Britain, where Revolutions were far more rare than France, the workers sought reforms within the system, forming the Chartist Movement. A reform bill was drafted in 1838, called the Charter. The Charter demanded six reforms:

1. Annual elections to the House of Commons

2. Universal suffrage for adult males

3. Secret ballots

4. An end to the Rotten Boroughs

5. Allowing poor workers to be elected to the House of Commons

6. Salaries for members of the House of Commons, so any workers elected to that body could affordto serve as a member.
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Although it did not pass, the unfazed Chartists started collecting signatures. By 1839 they had a million signatures, but the House of Commons still would not pass the Chartist bill. By 1842, the Chartists reached 3 million signatures, but despite the millions of signatures and the possibility of violence, Parliament continued to vote against the Chartist reforms. After the failure of Chartism, the British labor union movement began to swell in numbers.

CommentaryThe revolutions of 1830 and the Reform Movement of 1832 in Britain provided more political and social power to the disenfranchised but wealthy bourgeoisie. The liberal ideal of the time seemed to be that if you were wealthy, you deserved to vote. In Britain, even after reforms, only an eighth of adult males could vote. In France the percentage was even lower. However, in Britain, the landed aristocrats, though losing power to the manufacturers, could at least stop them from being totally dominant. In England, the workers were be able to play the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie against each other. Thus, no violent revolution was needed in Britain for change to occur. In contrast, France, under Louis Philippe, was so utterly dominated by the bourgeoisie that the laborers had little hope of improving their lot outside of violent rebellion.

In both countries, industry was growing rapidly by the 1830s, as capitalists made more and more money, reinvested it, and continued the growth cycle. New laws, particularly modern corporation laws, were powering industrial growth. Previously, corporations had to be "chartered" to serve the government in some way. Now, these new corporations helped businessmen structure their enterprises and reduce risk and liability without having to get a specific charter from the government. Manufactures were also changing in emphasis at this time, from textile to iron production. Steamships services began to appear, further accelerating trade.

As workers continued to live in terrible conditions while the rich got richer, Laissez Faire economists argued that the world had to be this way, because if the workers had easier lives and higher wages, they would simply produce more children, glutting the labor market and driving wages down and unemployment up. Workers, and the thinkers who championed the cause of workers, found fault with this explanation of the system, and suggested other ways of organizing society. The idea of a totally disenfranchised, exploited proletariat class began to appear in the 1830s and 1840s. Observing the plight of workers, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote their influential works on Communism.

The Chartist Movement was very progressive, probably more forward-looking than any other majormovement at the time. In the late 1830s and early 1840s, British political elites feared that if the uneducated "mob" was allowed to vote, they might destroy democracy by making bad decisions. Although it failed in its own time, the demands of the Chartist movement nearly all became law in Britain eventually. While other acts would soon be passed to satisfy workers, Chartism was simply too advanced for its time.

The battle between the "isms" was continuing, and slowly the balance was turning towards more inclusive, equal societies. (At least in Western Europe) More and more, a division between the Liberal West and the Reactionary East was developing, as the Western bourgeoisie class increased in power. The workers, who had only shared very little if at all in the vast economic growth of the early 19th century, were now starting to enter the political fray.
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10.1848 Revolution: Paris

SummaryIn France, Louis Philippe's government remained a bourgeoisie-dominated affair, disappointing to the workers who had manned the barricades in 1830. Only a thirtieth of adult males could vote, and Louis Philippe staunchly opposed enlarging the voting base. Popular discontent finally resulted in the February Revolution of 1848. The working classes again put barricades up in the streets, and an unruly Paris mob frightened Louis Philippe into abdicating. The Radical Republicans then managedto get the provisional government to pass socialist programs. This included the creation of National Workshops, which were centralized, state-owned manufacturing establishments where workers would be guaranteed work. In the National Workshops, however, there wasn't any real work for the workers to do, since the government did not take their establishment very seriously. The National Workshops, promising employment, soon became jam- packed with thousands of discontented workers, fermenting still more agitation. In May, the military turned against the lower class agitators. In late June, three days of especially violent class warfare broke out in Paris. The army soon restored order, but the political landscape had changed.

After June 1848, the French began to draw up a new constitution. The constitution included provisions for a strong president, who would be elected via universal male suffrage (all adult males would vote). Four candidates entered the election, which was the first election most of the uneducated, newly enfranchised voters had ever experienced as active participants. The most ambiguous candidate was Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon I's nephew. He had no real platform, and few knew his leanings. He merely said that his uncle, Napoleon, had been liberal, and that he would be liberal. Since the name Bonaparte still resonated so strongly among the general population of France, Louis Napoleon won the election over the other, more experienced candidates.

Though claiming to be liberal, the newly elected President was mostly interested in reestablishing order. After gaining support by promising universal male suffrage, he promptly got rid of socialists in the government. He encouraged religious influence in school teaching, and then, after becoming confident of his support base, he declared himself Emperor Napoleon III. The revolution in France ended with a new government, but once again a new dictator.

Like the July Revolution of 1830, the February Revolution of 1848 reverberated throughout Europe,resulting in a series of revolutions, most powerfully in Germany and Vienna. In Britain, the French upheaval revived the Chartist Movement. In London, however, no barricades went up in London's streets. Instead, a new petition went to Parliament.

CommentaryThe years from 1815 to 1848, although free of major wars, were the site of a different conflict, between Reaction and Revolution. As 1848 approached, Revolution had been brewing, but the Reactionary forces led by Metternich had been successful in preventing any major revolutionary "disasters." The boundaries established by the 1815 Congress of Vienna, if a little worse for the wear, remained for the most part standing by the opening of 1848.

There have not been many years like 1848, for 1848 was the ultimate year of Revolution throughoutEurope. The Revolutionary forces made a concerted push throughout the continent in even greater force than in 1830. Among the major European powers, only Great Britain, where some reforms hadblunted the wrath of the working class, and Russia, where the monarchy still held firm control, escaped from 1848 without undergoing a revolution. Was the simultaneity of the revolutions a product of an international conspiracy? Probably not, though the revolutionary groups throughout
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Europe were transnational and did communicate. More likely, Metternich's hypothesis that revolution could spread from one country to another was proven true. Revolution in Paris served as the signal for revolutions throughout Europe.

In France itself, the February Revolution's radical socialist changes were doomed from the start. Outside of Paris, the people in the countryside (the majority of France) were much more conservative than the workers in the city, and were generally anti-socialist. After the Paris reformerswent beyond what the country was willing to accept, it was only a matter of time before their revolutionary changes were reversed. Furthermore, by 1848 France had had so many governments in the past 50 years that new governments were easy to bring down. This was very much unlike Britain, whose government had been so stable for so long that discontented people were hesitant to overthrow it, merely because it had such a long tradition behind it. In Britain, reforms would pass gradually withinthe system rather than by violent rebellions.

Regarding the Paris barricades, it is interesting to note that an angry mob of civilians

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