One of the many ideologies of the nineteenth century was conservatism. For conservatives, society and the state, not the individual, was paramount, in a world to be guided by tradition. The victors over Napoleon met at the Congress of Vienna, forming the Quadruple Alliance of Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia. Its guiding principle was “legitimacy,” or monarchical government, to be maintained by a balance of power. A new German Confederation replaced the Holy Roman Empire. The Quadruple Alliance became the Quintuple Alliance with the admittance of France.

Acting as the Concert of Europe, the major powers intervened to uphold conservative governments. However, Britain, seeking new markets, opposed intervention when Spain s Latin American colonies declared their independence. Britain was under conservative Tory rule until 1830 despite economic protests and demands for electoral reform. The Bourbons returned to France with Louis XVIII (1814-1824) and Charles X (1824-1830). Bourbon Spain and Italy remained under conservative rule. The reform hopes of German students and professors were negated by the repressive measures of the Carlsbad Decrees. Order was maintained in multiethnic Austria, and in Russia a reform movement was crushed in 1825.

Liberalism grew out of the Enlightenment and the era of Revolutions. Freedom was the aim, both in politics and in economics; the state should have no responsibilities except in defense, policing, and public works construction. Natural rights and representative government were essential, but most liberals limited voting to male property owners. Nationalism, with its belief in a community with common traditions, language, and customs, also emerged from the French Revolution, threatening the status quo in divided Germany and Italy and the multinational Austrian Empire. Utopian socialists envisioned cooperation rather than competitive capitalism, and voluntary communities were established and government workshops suggested.

In 1830, an uprising in France led to a constitutional monarchy headed by Louis-Philippe (1830-1848), supported by the upper middle-class. Belgium split off from the Netherlands, but national uprisings in Poland and Italy failed. In Britain, the franchise was widened to include the upper middle-classes, and free trade became the norm. The great revolutionary year was 1848. France s Louis-Philippe fled into exile, and the Second Republic was established with universal manhood suffrage, but conflict developed between socialist demands and the republican political agenda. A unified Germany was the aim of the Frankfurt Assembly, but it failed. In Austria, liberal demands of Hungarians and others were put down. In Italy, there were uprisings against Austrian rule, and a republic was proclaimed in Rome, but conservatives regained control.

To attain an ordered society, civilian police forces were created, such as London s “bobbies.” Urban poverty was addressed through workhouses and technical institutes to teach productive trades. Sunday schools were established, and churches campaigned against gambling and prostitution. In prisons, the incarcerated would be reformed through work or by isolation.

Romanticism, a reaction against Enlightenment reason, favored intuition, feeling, and emotion. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote a popular novel about a youth who committed suicide for love. The brothers Grimm collected folk tales, and the Middle Ages inspired Sir Walter Scott. Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe wrote about the bizarre, and Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord George Byron were notable poets. Nature was often the subject in William Wordsworth s poetry and the paintings of Caspar David Friedrich and J.M.W. Turner. In music, Ludwig von Beethoven and Hector Berlioz were major figures. Religious Romanticism was to be found in Catholicism s medieval heritage and in Protestant revival movements.
  1. Explain how states responded to Napoleonic rule in Europe and the consequences of the response.
    1. After the defeat of Napoleon by a coalition of European powers, the Congress of Vienna (1814 1815) attempted to restore the balance of power in Europe and contain the danger of revolutionary or nationalistic upheavals in the future.
  2. Explain how the European political order was maintained and challenged from 1815 to 1914.
    1. Conservatives developed a new ideology in support of traditional political and religious authorities, which was based on the idea that human nature was not perfectible.
      • Illustrative Examples of influential conservative thinkers: Edmund Burke, Joseph de Maistre, Klemens von Metternich
    2. The Concert of Europe (or Congress System) sought to maintain the status quo through collective action and adherence to conservatism.
      1. Metternich, architect of the Concert of Europe, used it to suppress nationalist and liberal revolutions.
      2. Conservatives reestablished control in many European states and attempted to suppress movements for change and, in some areas, to strengthen adherence to religious authorities.
  3. Explain how and why various groups reacted against the existing order from 1815 to 1914.
    1. In the first half of the 19th century, revolutionaries attempted to destroy the status quo.
      • Illustrative Examples of early 19th-century political revolts: War of Greek Independence, Decembrist revolt in Russia, Polish rebellion, July Revolution in France
    2. The revolutions of 1848, triggered by economic hardship and discontent with the political status quo, challenged conservative politicians and governments and led to the breakdown of the Concert of Europe.
    3. In Russia, autocratic leaders pushed through a program of reform and modernization, including the emancipation of the serfs, which gave rise to revolutionary movements and eventually the Russian Revolution of 1905.
      • Illustrative Examples of reformers in Russia: Alexander II, Sergei Witte, Peter Stolypin
  4. Explain how and why different intellectual developments challenged the political and social order from 1815 to 1914.
    1. Liberals emphasized popular sovereignty, individual rights, and enlightened self-interest but debated the extent to which all groups in society should actively participate in its governance.
      • Illustrative Examples of Liberals: Jeremy Bentham, Anti-Corn Law League, John Stuart Mill
    2. Radicals in Britain and republicans on the continent demanded universal male suffrage and full citizenship without regard to wealth and property ownership; some argued that such rights should be extended to women.
      • Illustrative Examples of advocates of suffrage: Chartists, Flora Tristan
    3. Socialists called for the redistribution of society s resources and wealth and evolved from a utopian to a Marxist scienti c critique of capitalism.
      • Illustrative Examples of Utopian socialists: Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Robert Owen
    4. Marx s scienti c socialism provided a systematic critique of capitalism and a deterministic analysis of society and historical evolution.
      • Illustrative Examples of Marxists: Friedrich Engels, Clara Zetkin, Rosa Luxemburg
    5. Anarchists asserted that all forms of governmental authority were unnecessary and should be overthrown and replaced with a society based on voluntary cooperation.
      • Illustrative Examples of Anarchists: Mikhail Bakunin, Georges Sorel
  5. Explain how and why the Romantic Movement and religious revival challenged Enlightenment thought from 1648 to 1815.
    1. Rousseau questioned the exclusive reliance on reason and emphasized the role of emotions in the moral improvement of self and society.
    2. Romanticism emerged as a challenge to Enlightenment rationality.
    3. Consistent with the Romantic Movement, religious revival occurred in Europe and included notable movements such as Methodism, founded by John Wesley.
    4. Revolution, war, and rebellion demonstrated the emotional power of mass politics and nationalism.

Reading 1: Pages 624-634

The Conservative Order:
The Peace Settlement
The Ideology of Conservatism
Conservative Domination: The Concert of Europe
Conservative Domination: The European States

Reading 2: Pages 634-638

The Ideologies of Change:
Liberalism
Nationalism
Early Socialism

Reading 3: Pages 638-641

Revolution and Reform (1830-1850):
Another French Revolution
Revolutionary Outbursts in Belgium, Poland, and Italy
Reform in Great Britain

Reading 4: Pages 641-649

Revolution and Reform (1830-1850):
The Revolutions of 1848
The Maturing of the United States
The Emergence of an Ordered Society:
New Police Forces
Prison Reform

Reading 5: Pages 649-654

Culture in an Age of Reaction and Revolution:
The Characteristics of Romanticism
Romantic Poets
Romanticism in Art
Romanticism in Music
The Revival of Religion in the Age of Romanticism

Chapter 21 Introduction
Chapter 21 Summary
Chapter 21 Glossary
Chapter 21 Reading Guide
Chapter 21 Outline
Chapter 21 Overview
Chapter 21 Old-Style M-C Test: Questions Answers
Chapter 21 Review Materials
Chapter 21 Scan

Videos


 Tom Richey
  The Congress of Vienna: Metternich's Conservative Order
  19th Century “Isms”
  The Reform Act of 1832 (Political Reform in 19th Century Britain - Part 1)
  The Chartist Movement (Political Reform in 19th Century Britain - Part 2)
  The Corn Laws (Political Reform in 19th Century Britain - Part 3)
  Revolutions of 1848: Introduction
  Revolutions of 1848 in France
  Revolutions of 1848 in the German States
  Revolutions of 1848 in Italy
  Revolutions of 1848 in Britain, Russia (& Concluding Remarks)

 Paul Sargent
  19th Century “Isms”
  What Were the Revolutions of 1830 and 1848?
  Age of Ideologies Overview

 Crash Course
  The Congress of Vienna
  Reform and Revolution 1815-1848
  Revolutions of 1848