AP European History
AP European History
What follows is a review-in-brief of domestic developments relating to the post-1815 theme of states restoring traditional governments and attempting to ensure stability. France and other nations that experienced revolutions are covered in the section “Revolutions and Reform.”
Conservative Tories controlled British politics after 1815 and were intent on clearing away latent radicalism in the kingdom, often with censorship. Parliament remained unrepresentative, as none of the new industrial towns in the north elected members. Landed interests passed the Com Laws protecting British grain from competition, but at the same time the policy harmed consumers by raising prices. Democratic movements agitated for political reform; one such peaceful gathering in 1819 in Manchester was met with armed force, killing 11 and wounding hundreds. Opponents of the government derisively dubbed this event the Peterloo Massacre. A gradual loosening of repression in the 1820s paved the way for Liberal reforms in the 1830s.
The personality of Metternich dominated politics through the German Confederation. Idealistic young student nationalists formed the Burschenshaft to celebrate liberal German culture and discuss political issues. Viewing these fraternities as a threat, Metternich convinced the Confederation to issue the Carlsbad Decrees (1819), forcing the dissolution of the Burschenshaft , censoring the press, and appointing government officials to supervise universities.
With an inconsequential middle-class and autocratic tradition, Russia proved infertile ground for political Liberalism. Nonetheless, army officers influenced by revolutionary ideology had formed the Decembrist Society to push for a constitutional government. When Alexander I died in 1825, the Decembrist Revolt agitated for the accession of Constantine, considered a Liberal, rather than his reactionary brother, Nicholas. Nicholas I (r. 1825-1855) crushed the revolt and ruled Russia in succeeding decades guided by the motto “Autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Nationality,” relying on a secret police, religious uniformity, and imposition of Russian language and culture on ethnic minorities.
The period 1815-1850 was the Age of Ideologies. In response to the issues raised by the Dual Revolution, many Europeans adhered to a set of ideas that provided both a systematic view of human affairs as well as a blueprint for changing the world. Such ideologies or “isms” influenced how people viewed events as well as motivated them to action.
Conservatism should not be equated with complete rejection of change (such adherents are known as reactionaries). Defying the optimistic views of human rationality associated with the Enlightenment and French Revolution, Conservatives believed that human nature was driven primarily by the passions. Edmund Burke (1729-1797) became a leading advocate for change through adaptation, not violent revolution, with his statements against events in France (see Chapter 10). Humans are capable of reason, he argued, but often employ it as an excuse for self-interested actions. Customs and traditions, which have evolved over time to meet the needs of particular human societies, act as checks on the passions and should not be discarded lightly. Along with Burke, French philosopher Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821) demonstrated how once the revolution in France broke from its traditions of church, monarchy, and nobility, it descended into violent chaos. Burke and de Maistre were not opposed to constitutions per se-as Burke supported the American Revolution – only those based on abstract and supposedly universal principles not in keeping with a society’s experiences. Conservative philosophy supported the restoration governments of the post-1815 order.
The Restoration political settlement, designed to stop revolution, inadvertently fed the grievances of nationalism and Liberalism in the period 1815-1848. This Age of Revolutions gained fuel from industrial problems and the legacy of unfulfilled promises from the French Revolution. Among the great powers, Great Britain avoided revolutionary outbursts through the enactment of tentative Liberal reforms in this period. Revolutionary turmoil culminated with the revolutions of 1848, one of the more overlooked events in European history.
We have already seen how the great powers used the Concert of Europe from 1815 to 1830 to subdue revolutionary movements in Sicily and Spain. However, these successes hid the underlying force of Liberal and national movements. In 1830, the fever of revolution flared again, as usual beginning with France.
The restored Bourbon kings of France reestablished the power of the Catholic clergy and favored the interests of former aristocrats. When elections repudiated the monarchy’s policies, it curtailed voting rights and censored the press. Militant republicans and middle-class moderates joined in overthrowing the king, who quickly abdicated. As a compromise, the throne went to a ostensibly reformist relative of the deposed monarch. The new King Louis Philippe (r. 1830-1848), known as the “bourgeois king,” promised to abide by the Constitution of 1814.
Events in France inspired revolts in Belgium and Poland in 1830-1831. The Belgians never fully accepted their absorption into a Dutch kingdom and, following the French example, declared their independence. Because the great powers agreed to maintain Belgian neutrality, the new nation was permitted to establish a new Belgian kingdom. However, this was not the case with Poland, which also revolted against Russian authority in 1831. With no outside support, the Polish revolt was brutally crushed by Nicholas I, Congress Poland was’ eliminated, and the territory directly incorporated into Russia.
When the Christian Greeks revolted against their Islamic Turkish rulers in 1821, the event inspired an outpouring of support by European intellectuals, who praised the ancient Greeks as the founders of western civilization. By the 1820s, the great powers had come over to the cause of Greek nationalism, even Metternich. The Turks were defeated and by treaty (1829), a new independent Greek state was created, a rare example of a successful nationalist revolt in this era.
Great Britain avoided revolutionary upheaval because of its ability to adapt to the challenge of Liberalism. To incorporate the new industrial bourgeoisie and provide an orderly process of representation for new cities, Parliament passed the Reform Act of 1832, which doubled the number of males who could vote, but retained a property requirement. Further reforms followed with the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833 and the Poor Law of 1834. In reflecting the Liberal notion of self-help, the latter law actually punished the poor by making relief in government workhouses more unpleasant than any job. One of the more important principles favored by Liberals was free trade, thus their opposition to the protective Corn Laws. In the context of the Irish potato famine, Parliament in 1846 finally repealed the Corn Laws, initiating a century of British support for free trade. Conservative Tories supported their own notion of reform-through protective legislation. Following the Factory Act of 1833, Tories in Parliament helped pass the Mines Act, banning children and women from mines, and the Ten Hours Act, limiting hours in textile mills. In giving the middle class a stake in society, British reformers hoped to gain their support for compromise over revolution.
Revolutions broke out all over Europe in the fateful year 1848. Though few of these revolutions achieved their stated objectives, their consequences proved significant nonetheless.
Three major causes account for the stunning outburst of revolutionary activity: (1) Liberals felt profound frustration at the lack of political change toward constitutional and representative government, (2) nationalists chafed under the 1815 Vienna settlement and its blunt rejection of self-determination for ethnic minorities, and (3) the lives of the working class suffered from poor agricultural productivity (the era was known as the “hungry ’40s”) and jobs lost to new industrial machinery. The combination of these factors made for an explosive compound, and once again the match was lit in France. For an overview of events, review the following chart:
What began with heady enthusiasm and high hopes ended with bitter disappointment and violent suppression. In general, the Liberal and nationalist revolutions of 1848 failed to achieve their objectives, and for this three key factors are responsible: (1) Though revolutionaries boasted lofty rhetoric and inspiring visions, they lacked the institutional power of conservative forces, such as armies and bureaucracies, (2) conservatives successfully exploited middle-class fears of radical revolution after the June Days in Paris, and (3) rulers pitted ethnic minorities against one another to divide and conquer and reestablish authority. Despite these failures, the revolutions of 1848 may be the most underestimated event in European history. The revolutions set the stage for the rise of socialism and a growing division between the middle and working class.
In addition, the Romantic age of revolution seemed dead and, philosophically, many intellectuals turned to a more hard-headed realist and materialist vision of the world. Most importantly, conservatives learned the lesson that they could no longer ignore nationalism; so if they wished to stay in power, they had to appeal to public opinion and sponsor movements of national unity from the top down. It is to this topic that the next chapter is devoted.