After the defeat of Napoleon, Europe was left in a real mess. Hereditary monarchies had fallen, new ideas had taken hold in France and spread throughout the continent, and the Industrial Revolution was beginning to change the lives of everyone.
The period from 1815 to 1850 was a time of competing ideologies, all of which promised a new Europe. Conservatism favored a return to hereditary monarchies with strong, and sometimes, absolute control over their people. Classical liberalism, modeled on the United States and practiced with some success in France, promised more personal freedom and governments more responsive to the wishes of the people. Nationalism, which had been heightened by the Napoleonic Wars, emphasized self-identity and the consolidation of nationalities under a common government, often at the expense of existing empires. Socialism, responding to the pressures of industrialization promised a world of communal cooperation and the elimination of class differences. And Romanticism, shunning the cold rationality of the Enlightenment, emphasized emotional reactions to events, which affected politics, art, literature, and music.
Most notably, Europe was rocked by a series of popular revolutions. In 1848, especially, oppressed people rose up against existing governmental systems and called for increased equality and rights. In some cases, governments responded violently, while in others, governments proved more receptive to change. Thus, the early 19th century can be seen as the beginning of a more egalitarian Europe than had existed before. This is that story. Can you hear the people sing?
The period from 1815 to 1850 was a time of competing ideologies, all of which promised a new Europe. Conservatism favored a return to hereditary monarchies with strong, and sometimes, absolute control over their people. Classical liberalism, modeled on the United States and practiced with some success in France, promised more personal freedom and governments more responsive to the wishes of the people. Nationalism, which had been heightened by the Napoleonic Wars, emphasized self-identity and the consolidation of nationalities under a common government, often at the expense of existing empires. Socialism, responding to the pressures of industrialization promised a world of communal cooperation and the elimination of class differences. And Romanticism, shunning the cold rationality of the Enlightenment, emphasized emotional reactions to events, which affected politics, art, literature, and music.
Most notably, Europe was rocked by a series of popular revolutions. In 1848, especially, oppressed people rose up against existing governmental systems and called for increased equality and rights. In some cases, governments responded violently, while in others, governments proved more receptive to change. Thus, the early 19th century can be seen as the beginning of a more egalitarian Europe than had existed before. This is that story. Can you hear the people sing?
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Homework Assignments
Assignment 1: Congress of Vienna and Conservatism
Assignment 2: Conservative Domination
Assignment 3: Ideologies of Change
Assignment 4: Revolutions of 1830 and 1848
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Assignment 5: An Ordered Society
Assignment 6: Romanticism
Assignment 7: Review for Test
Primary SourcesKlemens von Metternich, Memoirs
Heinrich von Gagen, Letter to His Father John Stuart Mill, On Liberty Thomas Babington Macaulay, Speech of March 2, 1831 Carl Schurz, Reminiscences Political Cartoons: Attacks on the King Giuseppe Mazzini, The Young Italy Oath Petition for Higher Pay by a Group of Third-Class Constables Complaints from Constables of D Division of the London Police |
