Politics of the 19th Century Part I

(~1800 to 1850)• Congress of Vienna (1815)

• The Revolutions of 1848

• Independence in Europe

• Struggle for Independence in Latin America

Congress of Vienna (1815)

• The Congress of Vienna was convened to reorganize Europe after the defeat of Napoleon

• Legacy of Napoleon:

1. Unsuccessful attempt to unify Europe

2. Napoleonic Code: Guaranteed equality of all citizens before the law (basis of today’s French legal system)

3. Growth of Nationalism

• The Congress of Vienna was led by Clemens von Metternich. Metternich dominated Austrian politics for more than 30 years. The revolts in the Austrian empire caused his resignation.

• Results of the Congress of Vienna

1. “Turn back the hands of time” to before the French Revolution in 1789

2. “Balance of power doctrine”

3. Restoration of Monarchs

(Austria, Prussia, France)

3. New political map of Europe: Creation of the Kingdom of Netherlands. France was encircled by the Kingdom of Netherlands, Prussia and Austria

4. New political philosophies (ideologies):

• Conservatism: Favored monarchies, established churches and aristocracy.

(put Europe back the way it had been before the French Revolution)

• Liberalism: Favored constitutional government, freedom of religion, and individual rights.

• Nationalism: Goal is to establish a homeland for people with a common heritage (independence from empires)

• Nationalists and Liberals challenged the old order which was supported by conservatives.

5. The terms of the Congress of Vienna led to widespread discontent in Europe. People all over Europe were enthusiastic about ideas of independence for themselves and for their countries.

The Revolutions of 1848

• As liberalism & nationalism grew stronger revolution spread across Europe.

• In 1848 all of the major European nations, except for Britain and Russia, experienced explosions of revolutionary violence.

• These revolutions failed to create lasting democratic governments.

• Unsuccessful revolutions of 1848 increased nationalistic tensions.

• In contrast to continental Europe, Great Britain moved toward democratic reform in the 19th Century.

• The House of Commons (legislative branch) increased its power and its membership became more representative of the general population (no women, however)

• The British made slavery illegal in the British Empire.

Struggle for Independence in Europe:

• Serbia gained autonomy within the Ottoman Empire in the early 1800s.

• Greece gained full independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821.

• Belgium gained independence from Holland. (1830)

Struggle for Independence in Latin America:

• Latin Americans were influenced by the works of Enlightenment thinkers.

• Discontent in Latin America resulted from the domination of social and political life by peninsulares (Spanish born rulers)

• Creoles (European descendant Latin Americans), like Simone Bolivar, traveled to Europe during the French Revolution and were inspired by French ideals.

• Napoleon’s invasion of Spain led Latin Americans to view Spain as weak and to demand independence.

• Independence came to French, Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Latin America.

• Toussaint L’ Ouverture: Defeated Napoleon and helped Haiti win independence from France (1804).

• Haiti became the only nonslave nation in the Western Hemisphere)

• Simon Bolivar: After a long independence struggle against Spain, Bolivar organized the Republic of Venezuela and wrote the constitution of Bolivia.

Politics of the 19th Century Part II

(~1800 to 1900)

Imperialism

Imperialism in the 19th Century• Vocabulary1. Cash Crop: A crop grown to sell on the

world market (Cotton, opium)2. Deforestation: Massive amount of cutting

of trees to creating new farmlands (India)3. Extraterritoriality: The right of foreigners

to live under their own lands and to be tried in their own courts (China)

4. Genocide: The destruction of an entire religious or ethnic group (The Armenians under the Ottoman Empire)

4. Indemnity: Payment for losses in War. (The Opium War)

5. Protectorate: An imperial system in which local rulers were left to rule.

6. Favorable balance of trade: More exporting more than importing.

7. Trade deficit: More importing than exporting

8. Sphere of Influence: An area in which an outside power claimed exclusive trading rights.

• The Industrial revolution created a need for:

1. Raw materials (coal, cotton, metals)

2. Wider markets for manufactured goods.

• Imperialism is the economic and cultural domination of one country by another country.

• Social Darwinism was used as a justification for imperialism (European races were superior to all others)

“The sun never sets” on the British Empire

• Many westerners felt genuine concern for their “little brothers.” Though many Christian missionaries and doctors worked in Africa and Asia, the primary motive was economic gain.

• Britain took control of India. (imported cotton and tea from India.)

The Sepoys (Indian soldiers in the British Army) rebelled against the British because of British insensitivity to Indian customs. (The Sepoy Rebellion in 1857)

• After the Sepoy Rebellion, Britain began to rule India directly (Parliament ended the rule of East India Company)

• The Indians took an important step toward future independence by founding the Indian National Congress party (1880s). The party wanted eventual self rule for India (which happened in 1947.)

• In the 1800s, Chinese society and economy were in decline.Peasant hardships led to the Taiping rebellion in 1850. The Taiping rebellion lasted until 1864 and almost toppled the Qing dynasty. (~25 million Chinese died)

• In China, the British sold opium in exchange for Chinese goods. When Chinese officials burned opium in British warehouses, the act set off the Opium War. The British defeated the Chinese and opened Chinese ports to trade.

The Taiping rebellion

The Opium War

• In 1900, a group called the Righteous Harmonious Fists (“Boxer Uprising”) rose up against foreign intervention. In response, the western powers and Japan organized a multinational force. It crushed the Boxers and rescued foreigners besieged in Beijing.

• After 1900, Chinese reformers supported westernization. (The Qing dynasty fell and a new Republic was established)

ST. GEORGE AND THE CHINESE DRAGON(St. George, England's Patron Saint, is also the saintly patron of Russian militarism.)

ST. GEORGE: "You take him on one side. I'll take him on the other." ST. GEORGOVSKI: "Yes, yes, but I take him altogether when we have finished him."

Source: Punch (Melbourne), 5 July 1900, p. 15.  

• Africa: Modern weapons used by Europeans made African resistance to imperialism ineffective.

• Only Ethiopia was able to defeat an Italian invasion because it had a modern and a well-trained army.

• More typical was the Battle of Omdurman in Sudan 1898: 11,000 Sudanese dead vs. 48 British dead.

• In the Boer War, the British fought the descendants of Dutch settlers. Britain gained control of southern Africa in the 1800s after defeating the Boers and the Zulu.( diamonds & gold)

• France took a giant share of Africa. At its height the French empire was as large as the continental United States. (Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco)

• The French also conquered Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

The Ottoman Empire: The weakening of the central government and nationalist revolts weakened the multiethnic empire.

The Greeks, Serbs, Bulgarians and Romanians gained their independence.

Algeria was seized by France.

Egypt became a British protectorate.

The building of the Suez Canal !!!

• The United States played an important role in the 19th century imperialism in two ways:

1. The sending of warships to Japan-an action that opened up Japan to U.S. and European Trade. Open trade prompted Japan to develop a Western style military and industry.

2. The Spanish-American War in 1898:

The U.S. took control over Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.