Chapter 23: Ideologies and Upheavals, 1815 1850 165

Chapter 23: Ideologies and Upheavals, 1815–1850 165

CHAPTER 23

Ideologies and Upheavals, 1815–1850

Instructional Objectives

After reading and studying this chapter, students should be able to discuss the peace settlement following the Napoleonic wars and to describe Metternich’s vision of a conservative European order. They should be able to list the basic tenets of liberalism, nationalism, and socialism and explain the attraction of these ideologies to different social groups. They should also be able to identify the key characteristics of the Romantic Movement. They should be able to discuss the challenge presented to the conservative order by liberal, national, and socialist forces in the early nineteenth century. Finally, they should be able to explain the brief triumph of the revolutions of 1848 and the reasons for their ultimate failure.

Chapter Outline

I. The Peace Settlement

A. The European Balance of Power

1. At the Congress of Vienna (1815) Britain, Prussia, Russia, and Austria attempted to establish a balance of power in Europe.

2. They dealt with France moderately.

3. Members of the Quadruple Alliance settled their own differences.

B. Intervention and Repression

1. Austria, Russia, and Prussia formed the Holy Alliance in 1815.

2. Klemens von Metternich, the Austrian foreign minister, organized the intervention of Austrian and French troops to destroy revolutionary governments in Spain and Sicily.

3. Metternich’s Carlsbad Decrees required the members of the German Confederation to root out subversive ideas in their newspapers and universities.

C. Metternich and Conservatism

1. Metternich was born into the landed nobility of the Rhineland.

2. He believed liberalism had led to a generation of war and bloodshed.

3. Metternich came to symbolize the conservative reaction to the French Revolution.

4. As a leader of the Austrian Empire, which included many different nationalities, Metternich could only fear the rise of nationalism in Europe.

5. In his efforts to hold back liberalism and nationalism, Metternich was supported by the Russian Empire and, to a lesser extent, by the Ottoman Empire.

II. Radical Ideas and Early Socialism

A. Liberalism

1. The principle ideas of liberalism, liberty and equality, were not defeated by the settlement of 1815.

2. Liberalism faced more radical ideological competitors in the early nineteenth century.

3. After 1815, liberalism came to be identified with the class interests of the capitalists.

B. Nationalism

1. Nationalists argued that each people had their own mission and cultural unity.

2. Nationalists sought to turn cultural unity into political unity and national independence.

3. The rise of industrial and urban society required common culture and common language, leading to standardization in these areas.

4. Much of “traditional” national culture was actually invented by nationalists.

5. In the early 1800s, nationalism was generally linked to liberal republican ideology.

6. Most early nationalists believed that every nation had the right to exist in freedom and develop its character and spirit.

7. Early nationalist stressed the differences among people.

C. French Utopian Socialism

1. Socialism generally included the ideas of government planning of the economy (the Jacobin example), greater economic equality, and state regulation of property.

2. Important early socialists include Henri St. Simon (1760–1825), Charles Fourier (1772–1837), Louis Blanc (1811–1882), and Pierre Joseph Proudhon (1809–1865)

D. The Birth of Marxian Socialism

1. Karl Marx (1818–1883) predicted the proletariat (workers) would overthrow capitalists in a violent revolution.

2. Marx was “the last of the classical economists,” influenced strongly by David Ricardo and his “iron law of wages.”

3. Marx’s thinking built on the philosophy of Hegel.

III. The Romantic Movement

A. Romanticism’s Tenets

1. The Romantics focused on the spiritual and emotional life of the individual.

2. The Romantics were drawn to nature.

3. They broke with classicism’s rationality and order in favor of emotion.

4. Romantic historical studies promoted the growth of national aspirations.

B. Literature

1. Britain was the first country where romanticism emerged fully in literature.

2. William Wordsworth was a leading figure of English romanticism.

3. Walter Scott personified the romantic fascination with history.

4. French romantics encouraged the repudiation of classical models.

5. In Central and Eastern Europe, romanticism and nationalism reinforced each other.

C. Art and Music

1. Eugène Delacroix was the greatest French romantic painter.

2. Joseph Turner and John Constable painted scenes of nature that embodied romanticism.

3. Liszt and Beethoven created emotional, romantic music.

IV. Reforms and Revolutions

A. National Liberation in Greece

1. National, liberal revolution succeeded first in Greece.

2. The Greeks revolted against the Islamic Turks in 1821.

3. In 1827, the Great Powers tried to force Turkey to accept an armistice with the Greeks.

4. Turkish refusal led to armed conflict and the declaration of Greece’s independence by the Great Powers in 1830.

B. Liberal Reform in Great Britain

1. In 1815, Tories passed Corn Laws to protect big landholding aristocracy from imports of foreign grain.

2. In the face of resulting protests, Tories suspended habeas corpus and right of assembly.

3. The Battle of Peterloo demonstrated the government’s determination to repress dissent.

4. The Reform Bill of 1832 enfranchised many more voters.

5. The Chartists pushed for universal male suffrage.

6. Tories competed for working-class support with Whigs by passing factory reform bills.

C. Ireland and the Great Famine

1. In Ireland, dependence on the potato for food, a potato blight, and gross exploitation of the peasants by absentee Protestant landlords led to famine between 1845 and 1851.

2. The government took little action to save the starving.

3. At least a million emigrants fled the famine between 1845 and 1851.

4. The Great Famine intensified anti-British feeling and promoted Irish nationalism.

D. The Revolution of 1830 in France

1. Louis XVIII’s Constitutional Charter of 1814 was basically a liberal constitution, but it was not democratic.

2. Charles X wanted to repudiate the Charter and, in 1830, used a military adventure in Algeria to rally support for his position.

3. Following victories in Algeria, he took steps to reestablish the old order.

4. Popular reaction forced the collapse of the government and Charles fled.

5. Louis Philippe claimed the throne, accepted the Charter, and ruled much as his cousin had.

V. The Revolutions of 1848

A. A Democratic Republic in France

1. The 1840s were hard economically and tense politically.

2. The government’s unwillingness to consider reform led to Louis Philippe’s abdication on February 22, 1848.

3. The revolutionaries quickly established universal male suffrage and pushed forward a variety of additional reforms.

4. Voting in April produced a new Constituent Assembly.

5. Socialist revolution in Paris frightened much of the population.

6. Conflict between moderate republicans and radicals came to a head in 1848.

7. Three days of fighting in June left thousands dead and injured and the moderates in control.

B. The Austrian Empire in 1848

1. Revolution in France sparked revolutions throughout Europe.

2. The revolution in the Austrian Empire began in Hungary.

3. An unstable coalition of revolutionaries forced Ferdinand I to capitulate and promise reforms and a liberal constitution.

4. National aspirations and the rapid pace of radical reform undermined the revolution.

5. Conservative forces regrouped and the army crushed the revolution.

6. Francis Joseph was crowned emperor of Austria in December 1848.

C. Prussia and the Frankfurt Assembly

1. After the fall of Louis Philippe, Prussian liberals pressed for the creation of liberal constitutional monarchy.

2. Urban workers wanted a more radical revolution and the Prussian aristocracy wanted no revolution at all.

3. A self-appointed group of liberals met in May in Frankfurt to write a federal constitution for a unified German state.

4. The Assembly was absorbed with the issue of Schleswig and Holstein.

5. In March 1849, the Assembly completed its draft constitution and elected Frederick William of Prussia the new emperor of the German national state.

6. Frederick William rejected the Assembly and retook control of the state.

Lecture Suggestions

1. “Metternich’s Europe.” How thoroughly did Metternich’s politics control Europe between 1815 and 1848? What precipitated Metternich’s desire for the return of the old order? Sources: T. Chapman, Congress of Vienna: Origins, Processes, Results (1998); R. Gildea, Barricades and Borders: Europe 1800–1914 (1996); H. Nicolson, The Congress of Vienna (1946); A. J. May, The Age of Metternich, 1814–1848 (1963).

2. “The Growth of Nationalism.” What inroads did nationalism make in the nineteenth century? How did European monarchs deal with this phenomenon? Sources: R. Brubaker, Citizenship and Nationhood in France and Germany (1992); A. Greene, Fatherlands: State-Building and Nationhood in Nineteenth-Century Germany (2001); E. Kedourie, Nationalism (1960); L. Snyder, Roots of German Nationalism (1978).

3. “Women and Nationalism.” What impact did growing nationalism have on the status of women? What effect did liberalism have on the status of women? Sources: B. Taylor, Eve and the New Jerusalem: Socialism and Feminism in the Nineteenth Century (1983); J. Bowditch and C. Ramsland, Voices of the Industrial Revolution (1961).

classroom Activities

I. Classroom Discussion Suggestions

A. How widely read was Goethe’s Sorrows of Young Werther?

B. Why is Beethoven seen as a transitional figure between classical and romantic music?

C. Discuss Coleridge’s idea of the clerisy.

D. What features characterize a work of literature, art, or music as romantic?

II. Doing History

A. Play selections from Bach and Beethoven for students. Ask them to make notes on the differences in the music. Engage them in a discussion of classical versus romantic music.

B. Read Coleridge’s poem “Kublai Khan” to students. Use the poem to help students understand the nature of romantic poetry.

C. Have students read pertinent selections from Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France as the basis of a discussion about the conservative reaction to the French Revolution.

III. Cooperative Learning Activities

A. Using the following list of romantic figures, have six teams make class reports on six of the figures. After the reports, discuss the romantic qualities of each figure.

1. William Wordsworth

2. Walter Scott

3. George Sand

4. Victor Hugo

5. Eugène Delacroix

6. Ludwig van Beethoven

B. As a follow-up to Activity A above, have the teams create posters of the six romantics. Each poster should include a title, a picture (or pictures) of the artist, and lyrics or lines illustrating a work (or works). You may wish to display posters on the classroom walls.

Map Activity

1. Ask students to pinpoint, on an outline map of Europe, the seven revolutionary areas on the objectives chart.

2. Using Map 23.2 (People of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1815) as a reference, answer the following questions.

a. How did the ethnic diversity of the Habsburg Empire complicate Metternich’s efforts to establish his vision of a conservative order?

b. Why was Metternich particularly hostile to nationalism?

c. Which portions of the empire presented the greatest challenge to the central government? Why?

Audiovisual Bibliography

1. William Wordsworth: William and Dorothy. (52 min. Color. Films for the Humanities and Sciences.)

2. Coleridge: The Fountain and the Cave. (57 min. Color. Pyramid Films and Video.)

3. Beethoven: Ordeal and Triumph. (52 min. Color. ABC-CRM McGraw-Hill.)

4. Socialism. (25 min. Color. National Geographic.)

5. Communism. (27 min. Color. National Geographic.)

6. Capitalism. (24 min. Color. National Geographic.)

7. Poe’s Tales of Terror. (CD-ROM. Learning Services.)

8. Favorite Fairy Tales. (CD-ROM. Learning Services.)

9. The Younger Romantics. (Videodisc. 28 min. Color. Films for the Humanities and Sciences.)

10. Romantic Pioneers. (Videodisc. 28 min. Color. Films for the Humanities and Sciences.)

11. Liszt, Hungarian Rhapsodies (Audio CD, Deutsche Grammophon, 2001)

12. Delacroix (cgfa.sunsite.dk/delacroi/index.html)

13. Interpreting the Irish Famine, 1845–1850 (http://www.umbc.edu/history/CHE/InstPg/RitFamine/irish-famine-links.html)

internet resources

1. Encyclopedia of 1848 Revolutions (www.cats.ohiou.edu/~Chastain)

2. William Wordsworth: The Complete Poetical Works (http://www.bartleby.com/145)

3. Utopian Socialism Archive (http://www.marxists.org/subject/utopian)

4. The Walter Scott Digital Archive (http://www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/)

5. Edgar Allan Poe Museum (http://www.poemuseum.org/)

6. Victor Hugo Central (www.gavroche.org/vhugo)

suggested reading

The works cited in the Notes are highly recommended. Among general studies, R. Gildea, Barricades and Borders: Europe, 1800–1914, 2d ed. (1996), is recommended. M. Rapport, Nineteenth Century Europe (2005), and S. Berger, ed., A Companion to Nineteenth-Century Europe, 1789–1914 (2006), are also useful and have up-to-date bibliographies. M. Malia, History’s Locomotives: Revolutions and the Making of the Modern World (2006), is an ambitious comparative work of high quality. It maybe compared to E. J. Hobsbawm’s flexible Marxism in The Age of Revolution, 1789–1848 (1962). For English history, W. Rubinstein, Britain’s Century: A Political and Social History, 1815–1905 (1998), is excellent. C. O Grada, Black ’47 and Beyond: The Irish Famine in History, Economy, and Memory (1999), is an outstanding and imaginative treatment of the Great Famine. R. Price, A Social History of Nineteenth-Century France (1987), is a fine synthesis. D. Blackbourn, The Long Nineteenth Century: A History of Germany 1780–1918 (1998), and J. Sheehan, Germany, 1770–1866 (1989), are stimulating general histories that skillfully incorporate recent research. Two important reconsiderations of nationalism are B. Anderson, Imagined Communities, 2d ed. (1991), and E. Hobsbawm and T. Ranger, The Invention of Tradition (1990). R. Brubaker, Citizenship and Nationhood in France and Germany (1992), is an important comparative study, and A. Greene, Fatherlands: State-Building and Nationhood in France and Germany (2001), is a brilliant discussion of the smaller German states. E. Kedourie, Nationalism (1960), is an influential historical critique of the new faith. T. Chapman, Congress of Vienna: Origins, Processes, and Results (1998), is a good introduction, which may be compared with H. Nicolson’s entertaining The Congress of Vienna (1946). On 1848, J. Sperber, The European Revolutions, 1848–1851 (1993), is a solid synthesis. John Merriman, Police Stories: Building the French State, 1815–1851 (2006), is outstanding. I. Deak, The Lawful Revolution: Louis Kossuth and the Hungarians, 1848–49 (1979), is a noteworthy study of an interesting figure.

On early socialism and Marxism, see A. Lindemann’s stimulating survey, A History of European Socialism (1983), and W. Sewell Jr., Work and Revolution in France: The Language of Labor from the Old Regime to 1848 (1980), as well as G. Lichtheim’s high-powered Marxism (1961). J. Seigel, Marx’s Fate: The Shape of a Life (1978), is a major biography. P. Stock-Morton, The Life of Marie d’Agoult, Alias Daniel Stern (2000), is a fascinating biography of the French romantic novelist, and J. Margandant, ed., The New Biography: Performing Femininity in Nineteenth-Century France (2000), is an innovative collection on the images leading writers created for themselves. P. Pilbeam, French Socialists Before Marx: Workers, Women, and the Social Question (2000), shows the large role of women in utopian socialism. Also highly recommended are B. Taylor, Eve and the New Jerusalem: Socialism and Feminism in the Nineteenth Century (1983), which explores fascinating English attempts to emancipate workers and women at the same time, and B. Anderson, Joyous Greetings: The First International Women’s Movement (2000), which stresses the importance of 1848. On liberalism, see R. Heilbroner’s entertaining The Worldly Philosophers (1967). D. Brown, Romanticism (2001), an engaging, lavishly illustrated feast, and M. Cranston, The Romantic Movement (1994), skillfully discuss romanticism. A. Brookner, Romanticism and Its Discontents (2000), is a stimulating reconsideration of French painters and writers. J. Seigel, Bohemian Paris: Culture, Politics, and the Boundaries of Bourgeois Life (1986), imaginatively places romantic aspirations in a broad cultural framework. The important place of religion in nineteenth-century thought is considered from different perspectives in H. McLeod, Religion and the People Western Europe (1981), and O. Chadwick, The Secularization of the European Mind in the Nineteenth Century (1976). J. Altholz, The Churches in the Nineteenth Century (1967) is a valuable survey.