age of metternich

Age of Metternich

European Leaders try to repair Europe

Dual Revolution

Economic Revolution: England’s Industrial Rev Political Revolution: France’s Revolution

Had been separate until 1815 Two countries, two different paces

After 1815, these two forces began to fuse, reinforcing each other Dual Revolution

Example: industrial middle class drove the push for representative government; sans-cullottes inspired socialist thinkers

Most of world history in last 200 years is about this fusion

Congress of Vienna (1814-1815)

International Congress whose statesmen met in Vienna to determine the details of the peace settlement

The objective was to reestablish a conservative order in Europe following years of upheaval and war as a result of the French Revolution and Napoleon.

Dominated by the figure of Metternich, the foreign minister of Austria, thus. “Age of Metternich”

He hated liberalism, nationalism, revolution, anything that smacked of “republicanism”

Congress of Vienna (1814-1815)

Blamed liberal middle class revolutionaries for stirring up the lower classes

Doubly dangerous since liberalism went hand in hand with national aspirations

Liberalism, therefore supported the idea of national self-determination

This threatened the aristocracy Also would destroy Austrian Empire since most of the

Empire was composed of subject ethnic groups

Carlsbad Decrees: 1819

Metternich’s policies dominated Austria, Italian peninsula & German Confederation 38 independent German states, including

Prussia and Austria Met in complicated assemblies dominated by

Austria with Prussia, a willing junior partner 1819: Metternich passed Carlsbad Decrees

Required that all 38 member states root out subversive ideas in their universities & newspapers

Congress of Vienna

Dominated by “conservatism” Wanted Europe to forget about Napoleon, the French

Revolution, and the Enlightenment Wanted to achieve a “balance of power” in Europe

Power between Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and France

Wanted “legitimacy” to return rightful monarchs or their heirs to their thrones

Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolutions in France spread conservative ideas throughout Europe

Austria: Count Klemmens Von Metternich

Great BritainViscount Robert Castlereigh

PrussiaKarl August von Hardenberg

FranceCharles Maurice de Talleyrand

RussiaAlexander I

Congress of Vienna

First Treaty of Paris (May 1814) France lost all its conquests of revolutionary and

Napoleonic periods Permitted to retain its frontiers of 1792 Regained almost all colonies; not required to pay an

indemnity Napoleon’s 100 Days interrupted the proceedings Second Treaty of Paris (November 1915) After Waterloo, the allies imposed a more severe

treaty than the first one

Congress of Vienna

Second Treaty of Paris France was reduced to the borders of 1790 French required to pay an indemnity of 700 million

francs to the allies and to accept allied military occupation of 17 French

forts for 5 years.

The Holy Alliance: Sept. 1815

Proposed by Tsar Alexander I Signed by rulers of Russia, Prussia, and

Austria Pledged to observe Christian principles in

both domestic and international affairs

The Quadruple Alliance: Nov. 1815 Signed by Great Britain, Austria, Prussia and

Russia Agreed to maintain the alliance that had

defeated Napoleon To meet periodically in concerts to discuss

issues of mutual concern Concert of Europe: would lead to the

preservation of the balance of power and the conservative order established in Vienna

Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle: 1818

France had paid its indemnity Members of the Quadruple Alliance decided

that France should be freed from occupation France rejoins the ranks of the great powers

Now the Quintuple Alliance Alexander I proposed they should support

existing governments and frontiers in Europe Castlereagh rejects this; first break in the

accord

Congress of Troppau: 1820

Spain: revolutionaries rose up & forced the kings of Spain & Kingdom of Two Sicilies to grant liberal constitutions

Metternich and Alexander I: principle of active intervention in other countries to oppose revolutions

British objected to policy of intervention

Congress of Laibach: 1821

Authorized Austria to suppress the revolution in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies She did so

Breach between Britain and three conservative powers widened at this congress

Congress of Verona: 1822

Last of the congresses Authorized France to intervene in Spain Spanish king reestablished absolute power Castlereagh’s successor, George Canning

finally withdrew Britain from the Quintuple Alliance

Britain’s Opposition to Intervention & the Monroe Doctrine Without Britain’s naval power, conservative

powers were unable to suppress the revolts in Latin America

British opposed intervention for 2 reasons: On principle, was unfair Didn’t want any interference with their

profitable trade with Latin America Canning proposed Great Britain & U.S. join in

a declaration against any European intervention in the Western Hemisphere

Britain’s Opposition to Intervention & the Monroe Doctrine Americans acted independently Monroe Doctrine, 1823: The U.S. would oppose intervention and any

further colonization by the European powers in the Western Hemisphere

Great Britain endorsed Monroe Doctrine Both U.S. & Britain began to grant formal

diplomatic recognition to new L. A. republics

1815 Europe

Liberalism

Metternich wanted conservatism Liberalism was dominant among the

commoners who didn’t benefit from noble privilege

Liberalism was defined by freedoms – freedom of speech, religion, and the press

Liberalism stressed constitutional monarchies Liberalism stressed meritocracy – value in

what you achieve, not who you were born to

Liberalism

Only France with Louis XVIII’s Constitutional Charter

And Britain with its Parliament & historic rights had realized much of the liberal program in 1815

Economic Liberalism

Opponents of liberalism criticized its economic principles which called for unrestricted private enterprise & no government interference in the economy

Known as Laissez-faire Often called Classic Liberalism in U.S. in

order to differentiate it from modern American liberalism which usually favors more government programs to meet social needs & to regulate the economy

Economic Liberalism

This type of classical (economic) liberalism, was supported by business groups & became a doctrine associated with business interests

Businessmen used the doctrine to defend their right to do as they wished in their factories.

Labor unions were outlawed because they supposedly restricted free competition & the individual’s “right to work”

Nationalism

Hotbeds were in Ottoman Empire and Austrian Empire

Argued that each people had its own genius & its own cultural unity

Glorified the past and culture of unified groups

Sought to turn the cultural unity that they felt into a political reality

Nationalism

Complex industrial urban society requiring better communications: standardized national language

When a minority population grew large, a nationalist campaign for a standardized language often led to a push for a separate nation-state

Nationalism

Between 1815-1850, people who believed in nationalism, believed in either liberalism or radical, democratic republicanism. Liberals & democrats saw the people as

ultimate source of all government Early nationalists believed every nation, like

every citizen, had the right to exist in freedom, to develop its own character and spirit

Once this was achieved, then a symphony of nations would promote the harmony and unity of all peoples

Nationalism

Early nationalists stressed differences among peoples

Strong sense of “We” & “They” A sense of national mission A sense of national superiority

Early nationalism: ambiguous Below the surface lurked ideas of national

superiority, national mission These ideas could lead to aggression &

conflict

Utilitarianism

The greatest good for the greatest number. Normally associated with liberalism – the greatest

numbers were non-nobles Jeremy Bentham – father of Said government should only interfere in people’s

lives to bring order and harmony John Stuart Mill said the role of the government is to

help people achieve happiness Mill’s On Liberty and On the Subjection of Women

outlined utilitarianism and feminism

French Utopian Socialism

They were aware that the political revolution in France, the rise of laissez-faire, and the emergence of modern industry were transforming society

They saw these as fomenting selfish individualism & splitting the community into isolated fragments

Urgent need to reorganize society to establish cooperation & new sense of community

French Utopian Socialism

3 principles of early French Utopian Socialism Economic planning (emergency measures of

1793-94) Intense desire to help the poor; rich and poor

should be more equal economically Private property should be regulated by the

government/or abolished and replaced by state or community ownership

PLANNING, GREATER ECONOMIC EQUALITY, STATE REGULATION OF PROPERTY!

Count Henri de Saint-Simon (1760-1825) Key to progress was proper social organization! Parasites: court, aristocracy, lawyers,

churchmen must give way to the Doers: leading scientists, engineers,

industrialists Who would carefully plan the economy, guide it

forward with vast public works projects, establish investment banks

Every social institution ought to improve conditions of the poor

Charles Fourier (1772-1837)

Self-sufficient communities of 1,620 people living communally on 5,000 acres devoted to combination of agriculture & industry Women should be totally emancipated Critical of middle-class family life

Marriages only another kind of prostitution Young women “sold” to men for their dowries Abolition of marriage/ Free unions based only on

love & sexual freedom The socialist link to liberation of women may have

hindered the women’s movement in future

Louis Blanc (1811-1881)

Wrote Organization of Work Urged workers to demand universal voting

rights Take control of the state peacefully Government-backed workshops & factories to

guarantee full employment Right to work as sacred as any other right

Pierre Joseph Proudhon (1809-65)

Wrote What is Property? Nothing but theft Property was profit stolen from the worker,

who was source of all wealth Different from socialists in that he feared the

power of the state Often considered an anarchist

Early French Utopian Socialism

Message was linked to the experience of French urban workers

Memory of radical phase of French Rev. Its efforts to regulate economic life & protect

the poor Skilled artisans who believed in guilds came to

oppose laissez-faire laws that denied workers the right to organize and promoted brutal, unrestrained competition instead

Marxian Socialism Karl Marx: (1818-1883)

Karl Marx

The Communist Manifesto: “the history of all previously existing society is the history of class struggles”

Ridicules early socialists as naïve to appeal to the middle-class and the poor

Interests of these two classes were inevitably opposed to each other

Karl Marx

One class had always exploited the other With modern industry, society now clearly

more split Middle-class: bourgeoisie Modern working class: proletariat Bourgeoisie had triumphed over feudal

aristocracy Marx predicted that proletariat would conquer

the bourgeoisie

Karl Marx

How would this happen? Bourgeoisie was tiny minority: they owned the

means of production As this tiny bourgeoisie grew richer, the

proletariat would continue to grow in size & in class-consciousness

Portion of the bourgeoisie would join the proletariat as “they raised themselves to the level of comprehending theoretically the historical moment”

Karl Marx

The critical moment of takeover of the means of production by the proletariat was very near “The ruling classes tremble at a Communist

revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. WORKING MEN OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE”

Karl Marx

Marx stressed that the bourgeoisie historically, “has played a most revolutionary part” During its rule of less than 100 years, it had

created more massive and more colossal productive forces than all preceding generations together.

Karl Marx

Ideas united sociology, economics and all human history together

Combined French utopian schemes, English classical economics, German philosophy, Engels’ critique of the oppressive factory system, Proudhon’s view of labor as the source of all value

His doctrines seemed to be based on hard facts

Historical evolution

Georg Hegel: (1770-1831) German philosopher

Each age is characterized by a dominant set of ideas: thesis

Opposing ideas challenge this: antithesis Eventually new idea is accepted: synthesis Synthesis evolves into new thesis Historical evolution will again challenge the

thesis and so on

Historical evolution

According to Marx, it was now the bourgeoisie’s turn to give way to the socialism of revolutionary workers

Thing about Marx’s theory: appeared the irrefutable interpretation of humanity’s long development

In other words, revolution of the proletariat was inevitable

Created one of the great secular religions out of the intellectual ferment of the early 19th c

Romanticism

Early romantic German philosophers Sturm and Drang (Storm and Stress) Tremendous emotional intensity Suicides, duels to the death, madness,

strange illnesses all characterize leading romantics

Artists typically led bohemian lives, wore long hair

Rejected materialism

Romanticism

Driven by sense of unlimited universe Yearning for the unattained, the unknown, the

unknowable Nature: they were enchanted by it “A blade of grass is always a blade of grass;

men and women are my subjects of inquiry.” Nature as beautiful and chaste Saw modern industry as ugly, brutal attack on

their beloved nature & human personality

Romanticism

Fascinated by color and diversity Turned toward history with passion Key to universe was now organic & dynamic Not mechanical & static as the Enlightenment

had been Historical studies promoted growth of national

aspirations

Greece breaks free from Ottoman Empire: 1830 Alexander Ypsilanti: leader of Greek

independence against Ottoman Empire Metternich opposed even if it was against the

Turks Romantics such as Byron, Shelley and liberal

intellectuals agitate for the liberation of the “birth of western civilization” from the Turks

1827: Britain, France & Russia pressured by popular demands at home pay more attention to the Greek problem

Greece breaks free from Ottoman Empire: 1830 1827: Great Britain, France, and Russia

intervened, and destroyed a Turkish-Egyptian fleet in the Battle of Navarino.

Russia declared war on Turkey in 1828, invaded Bulgaria, and seized Adrianople, where Turkey was forced to sign peace terms.

Treaty of Adrianople, 1830: granted independence to Greece

Romantics were happy!

Romanticism in Literature

William Wordsworth Samuel Taylor Coleridge Lord Byron Percy Bysshe Shelley John Keats Walter Scott Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Germaine de Stael Victor Hugo


I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

1804: Samuel Taylor Coleridge


Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness, Thou foster-child of silence and slow time, Sylvan historian, who canst thus express A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme: What leaf-fring'd legend haunt about thy shape

Of deities or mortals, or of both,

John Keats


She walks in beauty, like the nightOf cloudless climes and starry skies;And all that's best of dark and brightMeet in her aspect and her eyes:Thus mellowed to that tender lightWhich heaven to gaudy day denies.

Lord Byron


O WORLD! O life! O time! On whose last steps I climb, Trembling at that where I had stood before; When will return the glory of your prime? No more -- oh, never more!

Percy Shelley


“I am alone and miserable; man will not associate with me; but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me. My companion must be of the same species and have the same defects. This being you must create.”

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

The Revolutions of 1830 Belgium

The Belgians (Catholics) inspired by the French revolted against the Dutch Protestants. Russian troops were sent to suppress this revolution,

but Poland got in the way. England later suggested and got an agreement by all

the Great Powers to leave Belgium alone and make her a neutral country. (Neutrality Agreement 1931)

Belgium established a liberal constitutional monarchy and became a prosperous small country.

The Revolutions of 1830 Italy

Northern Italy—Modena, Parma, and Papal States—saw outbreaks of liberal discontent.

Italian nationalists called for unification. Guiseppe Mazzini and his secret revolutionary

society—Young Italy. The Carbonari: secret nationalist societies

advocated force to achieve national unification. Austrian troops under Metternich’s enforcement of

the Concert of Europe’s philosophy crushed the disorganized revolutionaries.

Italian Risorgimento (“resurgence” of the Italian spirit) continued—Mazzini’s dream

The Revolutions of 1848

In 1848, liberal revolutions broke out throughout Europe. Although, at first, they appeared to be spectacularly successful, in the end, all the revolutions failed.

In general, revolutions occurred where governments were distrusted and where the fear and resentment fed by rising food prices and unemployment found focus in political demands.

Importance of The Revolutions of 1848 In the end, the revolutions failed b/c the

revolutionaries found themselves divided, and also, because the original governments still had the power and will to survive.

Sometimes 1848 is referred to as “the turning point at which modern history failed to turn” because it seemed as though the revolutionaries were only so close to success.

Importance of The Revolutions of 1848 Considered the watershed political event of

the 19th century. 1848 revolutions influenced by romanticism,

nationalism, and liberalism, as well as economic dislocation and instability.

Only Britain and Russia avoided significant upheaval

Neither liberals or conservatives could gain permanent upper hand

Importance of The Revolutions of 1848 Resulted in end of serfdom in Austria and

Germany, universal male suffrage in France, parliaments established in German states (although controlled by princes & aristocrats), stimulated unification impulse in Prussia and Sardinia-Piedmont.

Last of liberal revolutions dating back to the French Revolution

States that saw Failed Revolutions

France Austria Prussia Italy

The Effects of the Revolutions

Although none of the revolutions succeeded, they had a lasting impact on Europe. Never before or since has Europe seen so

truly universal an upheaval. The revolutions strengthened the more

conservative forces that viewed revolution with alarm.

Revolutionary ideas succumbed to military suppression.


Several gains in fact, did endure: peasants in Prussia and Austria were

emancipated, Piedmont and Prussia kept their new constitution monarchs learned they needed to watch public

opinion. Liberals learned that they couldn’t depend on the

masses to follow them w/out making demands They reevaluated their own goals Perhaps the old order was better than anarchy?


Everyone realized that revolutions needed power and armies to back them up but that, nevertheless, nationalism was a powerful new force in politics.

England in the Age of Metternich

Rights of commoners actually is expanded England: Tories (had defeated Napoleon) still in

control. 1815 Parliament only elected by wealthy Corn Law of 1815: halted importation of cheaper

foreign grains. Habeas corpus repealed for first time in English

history Peterloo Massacre” of 1819

Pro-liberal crowd listening to anti-Corn law rhetoric attacked by police.

Press brought under firm control and mass meetings abolished


1820s – labor unions legalized Chartist Movement (People’s Charter) wanted

expanded voting rights 1832 – Great Reform Bill – allowed 50% more

people to vote; redrew district boundaries Big deal since it signaled the beginning of the end for

the gentry. Middle class rising and gaining control of the

government.


After 1832 more reforms: Factory Act (limiting hours of child labor) Poor Law passed Law granting all resident taxpayers the right to vote in

municipal elections.

1846 – Repeal of the Corn Laws Mostly achieved because both working class

and middle class worked together (final proof of the rising power of middle class).

More on England

In 1866 – Whig party (liberal) Prime Minister William Gladstone attempted to expand voter registration.

In 1867 – Tory Party (Conservative Party) Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. 2nd Reform Bill = gives right to vote to workers.

Back to England

At the turn of the century Great Britain’s laws laid down the foundation of the social welfare state (but first programs started in Germany)

All citizens guaranteed a free public education -- compulsory

Unions were legalized Secret ballots (Australian) Government workers insurance Unemployment insurance Old age pensions End of child labor; safety regulations in factories

Review English Eras

Magna Carta – King has to follow the law

War of the Roses – leads to Parliament supported a new king

Henry VIII – religious upheaval – power of the monarch

Elizabeth – relied upon Parliament for support

James I – absolutist Charles I – English Civil

War; Parliament overthrows monarch

Charles II returns – at the request of Parliament

Glorious Revolution – Parliament invites William and Mary to return

Bill of Rights – habeas corpus and freedom of speech

Prime Minister gains power during the reign of Queen Victoria

France in the Age of Metternich

Louis XVIII was the king – granted a new constitution

Charles X was a reactionary and make people mad

1830 – July Revolution – Charles overthrown Louis Philippe chosen as king of “the French” Louis had problems with workers – constant

uprisings

France in the Age of Metternich

Impact of July Revolution: sparked a wave of revolutions throughout Europe.

Italy (1831-32) Belgium Poland Spain

Back to France

Began the Revolutions of 1848 July Revolution of 1830 was against Charles X Louis Phillip replaced Charles and gave a voice to the

“bourgeoisie” but no one represented the proletariat (workers)

February, 1848 Louis Phillip abdicates and a new legislature is elected – dominated by conservatives – riots break out between the government and the workers

Universal male suffrage approved and a constitution that set up a one house legislature and had a strong president.

Napoleon Again

Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was elected president of the Second Republic (1st Republic was during the French Revolution)

Goals: law and order; eradication of socialism and radicalism; adherence to conservative groups: Church, army, property owners and business.

1852 declares himself Emperor Napoleon III Internal improvements – highways, canals, railroad

construction Subsidized industry allowed organized unions Everyone was doing well – Liberal Empire – eased censorship and granted

amnesty to political prisioners

Mexican Empire

Napoleon sets up an “Emperor of Mexico” – a Hapsburg cousin who was to answer to Napoleon – the Mexicans kill him and the United States is outraged at the violation of the Monroe Doctrine

Crimean War (1854-1856)

French and English went to war to prevent the Russians from establishing dominance over Ottoman possessions

Ended the peace set up after the Congress of Vienna

age of metternich

Documents

french revolution

foreign minister of

severe treaty

french forts

industrial middle class

conservative ideas

international congress

years of upheaval