Main Themes:

1.  The defeat of Napoleon and the diplomatic settlement of the Congress of Vienna restored the conservative political and social order in Europe ("Age of Reaction").
2.  The period of 1815-1848 is a time of confrontation of the conservative order with potential sources of unrest found in the forces of liberalism, nationalism, and popular sovereignty.
3.  19th century liberals wanted to limit the arbitrary power of governments against the persons and property of individual citizens.
4.  Liberalism was often complimentary to nationalism in Germany, Italy, and the Austrian Empire.
5.  Russia took the lead in suppressing liberal and nationalistic tendencies.
6.  In Britain, the forces of conservatism and reason made accomodations with each other because it had a large commercial and industrial class, a tradition of liberal Whig aristocrats, and a strong respect for civil liberties.
7.  Romantisicm emerged as a reaction against the rationalist thinking of the Enlightenment.

I. 19c Liberalism: ---> make moderate changes gradually (not "liberal" in the 20c sense of the word.)
        A.  Those excluded from the existing political process;  they were NOT democratic.
        B.  Hostile to the privileged aristocracy.
        C.  They were contemptuous of the unpropertied class.
        D.  From the middle class --> bourgeois.
        E.  They sought the removal of economic restraints (laissez-faire economics).

II.  Revolutions (1820-1830):
        A.  Spain (1820) --> unsuccessful.
        B.  Italy (1821) --> unsuccessful.
        C.  Latin America (1804-1823) --> some successful.
             -- Monroe Doctrine.
             -- these revolutions breached the Metternich system for the first time and               encouraged other peoples seeking democracy and independence
        D.  Russia (1825) --> Decembrist Revolt;  unsuccessful --> "Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationalism!" reenforced by Nicholas I.
        E.  France (1830) --> Louis Philippe (liberal middle-class leadership) --> the "Citizen King."
        F.  Belgium (1830) --> successful (1839--> Belgium secured international recognition of its independence and neutrality).
        G.  Poland (1830) --> crushed by the Czar.

III.  Britain:  ---> it achieved some democratic reforms through evolution, not revolution.
        A.  Reform Bill of 1832:
            -- first to establish the Bourbon family.
            -- reduced property qualifications for voting so as to enfranchise the middle class.
            -- took representation away from "rotten" boroughs.
            -- this bill shifted control of the House of Commons from the landed aristocracy to
               the commercial and industrial middle class.
        B.  Chartist Movement ("People's Charter")
            -- members were disenfranchised city workers.
            -- for universal manhood suffrage.
            -- equal election districts.
            -- the secret ballot.
            -- annual elections of Parliament.
            -- removal of property qualifications for members of Parliament.
            -- it died out following its failure to secure reforms from Parliament in 1848, but in                     subsequent reforms bills (1867, 1884, 1911) all of their demands were enacted                     into law.
       

IV.   Romanticism (1780-1830s):   (** See your notes on the Romantic writers, artists, and musicians! **)
A.  All literature that failed to observe classical forms and gave free play to                 imagination.
B.  Appeal to the inner emotions of humankind for the foundation of religion (Methodism). C.  Glorified both the individual person and individual cultures.
D.  It made a major contribution to the emergence of nationalism by emphasizing the worth of each separate culture. (Hegel, Herder, Fichte)
E.  A lifestyle in tune with nature.
F.  Liberation from society's restrictive bonds.
G.  Idealized the medieval and gothic styles in literature (new genre--> gothic novel) and the arts.
I.  The senses should acquire knowledge, but it had to be interpreted (Kant).

Return to the 19th Century Revolutions Home Page