political progress in western europe, 1871-1914

Nineteenth Century Europepart 2

1871-1914session 4

FROM LIBERALISM TO DEMOCRACY:POLITICAL PROGRESS IN WESTERN EUROPE

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

GREAT BRITAIN

Broadening the franchise-- Depression, Parties, & Parliament--Toward a Labor Party--Revival & Relapse of Liberalism--The Irish Question from Gladstone to World War I--British Democracy in 1914

BELGIUM, THE NETHERLANDS, AND SWITZERLAND

NORTHERN EUROPE

Denmark, Norway, Sweden

SOUTHERN EUROPE

Spain, Portugal, Italy


Great Britain


The Broadening of the Franchise

1884--a new act extended the urban workers gains of 1867 to the countryside (farm tenants & agricultural laborers)

1885--the Redistribution Act increased the House of Commons to 607 members elected from districts of roughly equal size

there was little more to ask for unless one believed women should have the vote

that idea was already being pressed but would not prevail before the war


Emmeline Pankhurst(1858-1928)

dynamic, ultimately successful, leader of women’s suffrage in Britain

ca. 1913


The Long Depression, 1873-1896

continental financial panics in 1873 and 1882 triggered general economic downturns followed by partial recoveries at the end of each decade

America had the “honors” for the”Panic of ’93”

although the hard times had a long term beneficial effect:introduction of new technology and labor-saving devices

rationalization of industry

this provided scant solace to the working class who experienced great hardship


Charles Booth, social scientist

born to a wealthy Unitarian ship- owning family in Liverpool

after a prosperous international business career, he became a philanthropist

he walked London with policemen collecting data on the poor

he included his cousin Beatrice Potter in his labors

Life and Labour of the People, 1889


Booth’s poverty map of London, 1898

good

middling

worse


Overdoing ItPunch December 22, 1883

“What? Going already? Surely you’re not going to walk!” “Oh, dear no! Lord Archibald is going to take us to a dear little slum he’s found near the Minories--such a fearful place! Fourteen poor things sleeping in one bed and no window!--and the Mackintoshes are to keep out infection, you know, and hide one’s diamonds, and all that!”


the Webbs

Sidney James Webb1859-1947

1st Baron Passfield

Beatrice Potter Webb1858-1943

cousin to Charles Booth

The world is so full of a number of plebsI am sure we should all be as happy as Webbs


the Fabian Society--1884

took its name from Roman general Fabius Cunctator (Delayer), the victor over Hannibal in Italy

“the inevitability of gradualism” was their slogan

charter members:the Webbs and George Bernard Shaw (GBS)

HG Wells, Graham Wallas, Virginia Woolf, Emmeline Pankhurst

Annie Besant and future PM Ramsey MacDonald

their socialism was non-Marxist, democratic

in 1945 there were 230 Fabians in the House of Commons


How to address “the Social Question” (poverty)voluntarism or politics?

similar to labor’s dilemma: direct action or politics?

the Fabians and the Labour Party chose one route

William and Catherine Booth (no relation to Charles)

chose the other


from the Salvation Army’s website

The Salvation Army began in 1865 when William Booth, a London minister, gave up the comfort of his pulpit and decided to take his message into the streets where it would reach the poor, the homeless, the hungry and the destitute.

His original aim was to send converts to established churches of the day, but soon he realized that the poor did not feel comfortable or welcome in the pews of most of the churches and chapels of Victorian England. Regular churchgoers were appalled when these shabbily dressed, unwashed people came to join them in worship.

Booth decided to found a church especially for them — the East London Christian Mission. The mission grew slowly, but Booth's faith in God remained undiminished.

In May of 1878, Booth summoned his son, Bramwell, and his good friend George Railton to read a proof of the Christian Mission's annual report. At the top it read: THE CHRISTIAN MISSION is A VOLUNTEER ARMY. Bramwell strongly objected to this wording. He was not a volunteer: he was compelled to do God's work. So, in a flash of inspiration, Booth crossed out "Volunteer" and wrote "Salvation". The Salvation Army was born.


Deborah Kerr as Major Barbara in the 1941 film GBS1856-1950

Shaw’s 1905 play, Major Barbara, shocked audiences because it seemed to attack Christianity and the Salvation Army


iconoclast

1891--this extended essay began his public role as Devil’s advocate

at the height of Victorian idealism, he proposed the following analogies:

ideals = idols

idealism = idolatry

in the guise of analyzing the plays of Henrik Ibsen, he posed this attack on the most cherished beliefs of his age


The major parties made some attempt to correct the most obvious of these [social] ills. But their record of accomplishment was limited, partly because the were distracted by other issues, and more, perhaps, because the majority of their members did not agree that correction of these conditions [poverty] was a legitimate concern of the government.

Craig, p. 288


Disraeli’s Tory Democracy (1874-1880)

In the single year, 1875:

liberalized laws against trade-union activities

Sale of Food and Drugs Act

Artisan’s Dwelling Act

Public Health Act

but Dizzy’s poor health limited his energy

1876, transferred to the House of Lords as Lord Beaconsfield

after his death the party drifted away from Tory Democracy

1804-1881


The Primrose League, 1883-2004

said to be Disraeli’s favorite flower

Randolph Churchill, one of its founders

“to uphold God, Queen, and Country and the Conservative cause”

“well over 1 million paid members by 1890”


the 1880s; the direction of the Tory PartyLord Randolph Churchill vs Robert Gascoyne Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

Prime Minister; July 1885-Feb 1886, Aug 1886-Aug 1892, June 1895- July 1902

3rd son of the 7th Duke of MarlboroughMP 1870-1886, Chancellor of the

Exchequer, Aug-Dec, 1886Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Gladstone & “the social question”

the majority of the Liberal Party “never freed themselves from their old faith in laissez-faire”

Gladstone’s own zeal for reform seemed satisfied with the Education Act of 1870

he concentrated on the Irish Question in his later ministries; 1880-85, 1886, & 1892-95

The G.O.M.1809-1898


Joseph Chamberlain, Liberal Reformer

the party’s outstanding advocate for the poor

successful businessman, 1873, reform mayor of Birmingham, father of Neville and Austen Chamberlain

1876, MP--alarmed his fellow Liberals with his “radicalism”

1885, split over Irish policy, led out Liberal Unionists who cooperated with the Conservatives

1836-1914


the parties did improve social conditions

regulated business practices dangerous to health and safety

provided new social services and utilities

facilitated the creation of public parks and libraries

1880, made elementary education compulsory, increased state subsidy to both private and public schools

provided for the care of the mentally ill and seriously disabled

“this would have staggered the generation of 1830”

much of this was done reluctantly and to head off the radicals


Toward a Labor Party

the 2007 logo


The Social Democratic Federation

1884, the SDF was founded, the first sizable socialist organization since Robert Owen’s time

Hyndman had the support of Eleanor Marx and her dreadful lover, but not Engels

his 1881 England for All failed to credit Marx

no matter, the SDF’s appeal for revolution never caught on and by the late 1880s, the party was a spent force Henry Hyndman

(1842-1921)


The Fabians’ “gas & water socialism”

the 1840s saw cholera epidemics, “the Great Stink,” & miasmas

the London death rate was greater than at any time since the Black Death

reformers faced up to the need for urban planning for the first time

Joseph Bazalgette constructed London’s first drainage system upgrade since Roman times

Thomas Crapper made his famous contribution

public health imperatives forced government into areas which had formerly been left to private enterprise

Work on the Fleet Street Sewer, 1845from the Illustrated London News


Fabians call for a Labor Party

originally a middle class movement, the Fabians preach the inevitability of socialism

frustrated by the deaf ear of the two parties, the Fabians despair of the middle class

1893, in an article in the Fortnightly Review, Sidney Webb and GBS call upon the working classes

“to abandon Liberalism

to form a Trade Union party of their own

to raise £30,000

and sponsor 50 candidates for parliament”


Founding of the Independent Labour Party

Hardie, miner, organized one of the first effective unions in Scotland

1893, he founded an organization

to sponsor independent candidates for Parliament who would work for

“the collective ownership and control of production, distribution and exchange”

the ILP was hampered by the older unions’ distrust of both political action and socialism

the newer more radical unions finally prevailed

James Keir Hardie 1856-1915


Birth of the Labor Party

1899, a Trades Union Congress resolution calls for a conference to consider the question of parliamentary representation

February, 1900 union delegates meet with Fabians, the ILP, the SDF

they found a Labour Representation Committee (LRC,soon to be called the Labour Party)

its secretary is J. Ramsay MacDonald (1866-1937)

the purpose is to present a slate of candidates for future parliamentary elections


Taff Vale, 1900-01

railwaymen on the South Wales line decided to strike

the railroad brought suit against the union in 1901

the House of Lords awarded £ 23,000 in damages, bankrupting the union

the case strengthened the LRC

affiliation rose from 350,000 in 1901 to 850,000 in 1903

photo of a vintage engine onthe Taff Vale line


Outcomes from the Taff Vale decision

it seemed to wipe out Disraeli’s legislation of 1875 and effectively outlaw the strike as a weapon

unions now realized that there had to be a political program as well as a direct action strategy

the LRC had 29 successful candidates in the election of 1906

that year the Trade Disputes Act effectively revoked Taff Vale


Jerusalem, Labor’s Anthem

Among the leaders of the labor movement in the 1880s and the 1890s, there were a number of Methodist ministers and chapel members, a fact that may explain the moral fervor of the movement and their enthusiasm for William Blake’s moving hymn:

Bring me my Bow of burning gold:Bring me my Arrows of desire:Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!Bring me my Chariot of fire.

I will not cease from mental fight,Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand,Till we have built JerusalemIn England’s green and pleasant land.


The Revival and Relapse of Liberalism

Punch (April 28, 1909)

Rich Fare-The Giant Lloyd-Gorgi-busterFee, fi, fo, fat,

I smell the blood of a plutocrat;Be he alive or be he dead,

I’ll grind his bones to make my bread.


1906 elections--end of Conservative dominance

when Chamberlain’s Liberal Unionists went over to the Tories and the Radical wing turned to labor, it looked like the end for the Liberal Party

after Gladstone’s last ministry, 1892-1895, the Conservatives (Unionists) seemed to govern indefinitely

but, as always, the pendulum began to swing back

the Boer War, 1899-1903, began to erode imperialism’s appeal

the Education Act of 1902 angered the nonconformist base

1903, Chamberlain attacked free trade and split the Tories


The new Liberal cabinet, 1906

PM, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, (d.1908)Chancellor of the Exchequer, H.H. Asquith (PM in 1908)Foreign Office, Sir Edward GreyWar Minister, R.B. HaldaneBd of Trade, David Lloyd George (to the exchequer, 1908)Winston S. Churchill (succeeding DLG at the Bd of Trade)


DLG, “The Welsh Wizard”

born to humble circumstances in the mine country

known for his radical distrust of inherited wealth and privilege, his opposition to the Boer War and the Education Act of 1902

surprises everyone with constructive leadership

Merchant Shipping Act of 1906--improved sailors’ working conditions

created a Port of London Authority to supervise rational development of the harbor

1863-1945


The Haldane Army Reforms

Haldane used his knowledge of French and German practice to address the weaknesses shown in the Boer War

he had the good fortune of the king’s support in this area where it counted for much

he restructured the army on continental lines and created an expeditionary force

Britain now had its first General Staff modeled on Germany’s and filled with capable men: Sir Wm Robertson, Henry Wilson & Douglas HaigR. B. Haldane (1856-1928)


Admiral Fisher’s Navy Reforms

unlike the Army reforms which actually saved money, the Anglo-German naval race was fiercely attacked by the Radicals

the new battleship type, HMS Dreadnought, made all capital fleets obsolete overnight

Britain had gone overnight from an overwhelming lead to 1 to 0

the result was a redoubling of efforts on both sides of the North Sea “Spy” caricature in

Vanity Fair, 1902Wednesday, November 11, 2009

laid down 2 Oct 1905, sea trials 3 Oct 1906Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The Naval Scare of 1908

“The Admiralty requested six, the economizers countered with four,

so we compromised with eight”

Churchill


Background to the Constitutional Crisis of 1911

the Radicals biggest impediment was not military expenditures

rather it was the relentless opposition of the House of Lords

1888-1892, not a single Conservative measure was defeated in the Lords

but, 1892-1895, nearly every measure of the Liberal ministry which aimed at social reform was blocked by the upper house

now the pattern was repeating after 1906

the final blow was the defeat of the Lloyd George budget of 1909

a civil war had been fought to secure the House of Commons control of the purse!


“The People’s Budget”

when he became Chancellor of the Exchequer he decided to challenge the economic status quo

“you must stir up public opinion by violent means, so that the public will react upon legislation”

raised the income tax, especially on unearned income

increased death duties (inheritance taxes)

land taxes on “unearned increment”

“a War Budget...against poverty and squalidness”

DLG in 1908


The gauntlet thrown down...

the Lords obliged DLG by defeating the budget, November, 1909

despite the best efforts of the Liberals to demagogue the issue they lost seats in the next two elections and had to rely on the Labor Party for a majority (so called “LibLab coalition”)

Asquith demonstrated great skill in holding things together

February, 1910, a bill was introduced to exclude the Lords from interfering with any money bill whatsoever, giving Commons the right to pass any measure into law, despite the Lords’ veto, by passing it in three successive parliamentary sessions

this became the Reform Act of 1911, only with the new king’s threat to “pack” the House of Lords if they defeated it


National Insurance Act of 1911

the only significant social legislation passed before the war

essentially conservative, modeled on Bismarck’s of the 1880s

insured workers against accident, sickness, and unemployment

funded by contributions of workers and employers

the lack of bold social initiatives by the Liberals explains why Labor has replaced them DLG as Queen Victoria

the Bystander’s displeasureWednesday, November 11, 2009

The Irish QuestionFrom Gladstone to World War I

Sir Edward Carson signingthe Ulster Solemn League

and Covenant, 1912


Ireland’s Troubles

the agricultural depression hit Irish tenants hard

1879, Michael Davitt founds the National Land League to promote peasant ownership

1880, 2110 families evicted, Capt. Boycott gives his name to the resistance practice

1881, Gladstone’s second ministry offered the “Three Fs”(fixity of tenure, fair rents & free sale) in a second Land Reform Act

still, violent protests produced a coercion (Protection of Persons and Property) Act that same year


Founder and Leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party

Irish Protestant landowner, nationalist political leader and Home Rule advocate

contemporary appraisals

Gladstone--the most remarkable person he had ever met

HH Asquith--one of the three or four greatest men of the nineteenth century

Lord Haldane--the strongest man the House of Commons had seen in 150 years

son of a wealthy Anglo-Irish landowner in County Wicklow Charles Stewart Parnell (1846-1891)


Kilmainham Gaol


The Kilmainham Treaty, 2 May 1882

Parnell, Davitt, and many of the Land League leaders were jailed under the 1881 act

from jail they issued a No Rent Manifesto calling for a nationwide rent strike

as protests continued Gladstone negotiated with Parnell

Parnell agreed to revoke the manifesto in return for government’s pledge that 100,000 “rent arrears” cases could be appealed

Parnell also went on record against violent protests


The Phoenix Park Murders, 6 May 1882

four days after the Kilmainham Treaty, six armed terrorists stabbed to death two high ranking British officials

one, Lord Cavendish, arriving in Dublin that day, was married to Gladstone’s niece

through the use of informants the murderers were arrested and hanged

Parnell condemned the killings and became even more popular as a voice of moderation


Home Rule, the only answer

when Gladstone formed his third ministry in 1886, he offered a bill for Irish Home Rule

it called for an Irish parliament and executive in Dublin

only military, foreign and fiscal policy would remain in British hands

this provoked Joseph Chamberlain’s secession and that, the defeat of the bill


Parnell and Katharine O’Shea, 1890

despite Gladstone’s defeat, he continued to negotiate with Parnell over a Home Rule bill

matters were disrupted by a divorce proceedings brought by Captain O’Shea naming Parnell as correspondent

Gladstone felt compelled to break with him and Parnell’s own INL party split

Irish Catholic authorities were divided

he married Kathrine after the divorce only to die in her arms a year later of a heart attack at age 45

1846-1891


Gladstone’s Second Home Rule Bill

in spite of the Parnell scandal, he persisted in his fourth ministry (1892-1894)

the bill actually passed in Commons only to die in the House of Lords

Gladstone’s zeal convinced many that Irish home Rule was inevitable

it was only natural that it would be put forward again when the Liberals returned to power in 1906

Irish Loyalist Rally against Home Ruleat the Royal Albert, 1893, ILN


John Edward RedmondSean Eamonn Mac Reamoinn

leader of the INL after the 1890 splitleader of the Irish Parliamentary

Party, 1900-1918


The Third Home Rule Bill, April, 1912

after 1906 the Liberal agenda had Home Rule as a low priority

the 1910 election changed that. John Redmond’s Irish Nationalists held the balance of power in Commons

Redmond’s help with the ’09 budget and the Lords bill of 1910 came at the price of Asquith’s introduction of the Third Home Rule Bill

25 May 1914, passed the 3rd time in Commons over the Lords’ dissent

18 Sept 1914, received the Royal Assent, put aside for no longer than the duration of the war


“Ulster will fight, and Ulster will be right!”

after the Reform Act of 1911, unionists could no longer count on the Lords to defeat the Third Home Rule bill of 1912

instead arms were bought and distributed to the Ulster Volunteers

in 1912 Carson spoke against the bill in Commons and across Ireland

“Home Rule is Rome Rule!

he was the first signer of the Ulster Covenant, September, 1912

Sir Edward Carsonphoto ca. 1900


The Irish Nationalist Party supported the Asquith Government. Redmond defined the nationalist position when he said:

Ireland to-day is full of hope and expectation. Beware how you dash that hope to the

ground. Rebellion is threatened. Rebellion is justified in high quarters. The rebellion of a

portion of the population of four counties [lesser Ulster], because they disapprove of the act

of the imperial parliament before any wrong has been done, and before any oppression has

been attempted, would be a crime and a calamity. Rebellion by over three-fourths of a people

of a country distracted, tortured and betrayed, deprived of the rights of freemen, and

condemned to a barren policy of coercion, would be too horrible a thing to contemplate; and

it is because this is so that I rejoice with all my heart to believe and to know that the future

of this bill is safe, and that the future of Ireland is assured.

1914--the conflict is joined


the Curragh, County Kildare


The Curragh “Mutiny”-- March , 1914

three armed forces existed in Ireland in the spring of 1914:

the Ulster Volunteer Force, (UVF) as many as 100,000, well armed & drilled

the [South]Irish National Force, lacking arms and training,

the [British army]“Troops of the Irish Command”, under General Padget, stationed outside Dublin in the Curragh

16 March--Bonar-Law, leader of the Conservative opposition in Commons: “What about the army? If it is only a question of disorder, the army will and ought to obey, but if it is a question of civil war, the soldiers are citizens like the rest of the people. The army will be divided, and that force be destroyed on which we depend for our national safety.”

20 March--Asquith summoned Padget to London, ordered him to prepare for unrest

22 March--the British commander,”stern and pompous, smoking a cigar” summoned his officers as tensions rose and gave an ultimatum: any not willing to use force to keep order should resign his commission immediately

57 of the 70 accepted the invitation to resign. Many were Ulster Protestant Unionists.

shocked at this, Asquith gave a “Guarantee” the army would “maintain order” not “crush political opposition in Ulster”


The Summer of 1914

most Britishers were focused on their vacation plans

those who were not, were anxiously following developments in Ireland

the assassination of an Austrian archduke in a place none had heard of passed virtually unnoticed

when war suddenly came it seemed only reasonable to postpone the operation of the Home Rule Act

the IRA thought otherwise as they would show on Easter, 1916


British Democracy in 1914

A suffragette addressinga crowd in Reading during

the election of 1913


progress since 1867

movement “from the philosophy and institutions of liberalism to… political and economic democracy”

the Lords could only delay, not block measures

local government had been transformed from an aristocratic system to elected county, district and borough councils

the welfare state of the Fabians seemed near

finally, self government and dominion status came to Canada (1867) Australia (1900) New Zealand (1907) and the Union of South Africa (1909)


the dark side

an increase in the size, function and cost--> bureaucratization

organized groups “deliberately abandoned that reliance on law, reason and compromise… the heart of liberal philosophy”

members in the House of Commons howled down the PM as he introduced the Parliament Bill in 1911

army officers refused to go to Ulster in 1914

workers in the years 1912-1914 listened to syndicalist leaders and conducted the bitterest strikes in memory

the Women’s Suffrage Movement indulged in a frenzy of vandalism, personal assault, and exhibitionism in 1913-1914

“the civil and parliamentary systems under which [Englishmen] had dwelt so long seemed to be brought to the rude challenge of force [and] to be exposed to menace and brutality”--W.S. Churchill, 1914


BelgiumThe Netherlands

Switzerland


The Belgian Democracy


three constitutional monarchs

Leopold I(1790-1831-1865)

helped consolidate the neutral position in which his country had been placed by the great powers in 1831 by cultivating good relations with his neighbors



Leopold II(1835-1865-1909)

threw his abundant energies into economic enterprise and was the founder of Belgium’s rich colonial empire



Albert I(1875-1909-1934)

perhaps the best loved of Belgian sovereigns, was the soldier king who vainly tried to stem the German invasion of his country in 1914


Belgian economic development--closest to Britain’s

like Britain, the movement was from laissez faire capitalist liberalism to trade union and socialist demands for democracy

the original constitution had placed power in the hands of a bourgeois oligarchy with a franchise based on wealth

1893 saw universal suffrage for 25 year old males with supplementary votes for the most highly educated and taxed

the Catholic party dominated and by 1914 the Socialists outnumbered the Liberals


Belgian economic development--closest to Britain’s

1899, proportional representation was introduced to assure the representation of all shades of opinion

the year before saw the Flemish language given equal status with French, the language of the majority

elementary education was extended to the masses in the 1880s

1890, factory regulation began

1900, old age pensions

1903, workman’s compensation for accidents


The Netherlands


Slower progress towards democracy

Perhaps because its economy remained predominantly agricultural and commercial rather than industrial, as in the case of Belgium, or because, in contrast to Great Britain, its prosperity was more continuous throughout these years, Holland’s progress… was slower….

! no constitution until 1849! William III (1849-1890) retained considerable power throughout his

long reign! suffrage was severely limited. Even after reforms (1887, 1896) only

14%of the male population could vote! education was contested between the Liberals who favored free

secular elementary schools and the religious parties, Protestant and Catholic

! no significant Labor or Socialist parties before the war


Switzerland


mountains induce love of liberty


Löwendenkmal (Lion monument) Lucerne

postcard, 1900


The Battle of Sempach, 9 July 1386

There was a man in that small band of patriots who had the courage to accept

certain death for his country, one of those rare souls who appear from time to time in

the centuries and win undying fame by an act of self-martyrdom. Arnold of Winkelried

was his name, a name which history is not likely soon to forget, for by an impulse of

the noblest devotion this brave patriot saved the liberties of his native land.

Seeing that there was but one hope for the Swiss, and that death must be the lot

of him who gave them that hope, he exclaimed to his comrades, in a voice of thunder,

—

"Faithful and beloved confederates, I will open a passage to freedom and victory!

Protect my wife and children!"

With these words, he rushed from his ranks, flung himself upon the enemy's

steel-pointed line, and seized with his extended arms as many of the hostile spears as

he was able to grasp, burying them in his body, and sinking dead to the ground.


Direct Democratic Tradition

Swiss mercenaries had a reputation for valor and honor since medieval times

their fight for freedom from the Habsburg HRE began the tradition of neutrality

the love of liberty began the political tradition of direct democracy

the initiative and referendum exist at the federal and cantonal levels


The Swiss Confederation 1814-48(Boundaries of the [26] Cantons established by the Congress of Vienna)


Early 19th Century Developments

strong democratic movements in the cantons produced:

extension of popular liberties

widening of the franchise

reform of local justice

demands for a stronger central power were resisted by the Catholic Sonderbund (special or particular league)

the result was the Sonderbundkrieg of 1847 and a new federal constitution in 1848

the Jesuits were banished from Switzerland

postcard ca 1890Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Battle of Geltwil, 12 November 1847The war only lasted from 3-29 November, produced fewer than 100 casualties. General Dufour ordered his troops to spare the injured, anticipating the founding of Red Cross in

which he participated, 1859.


Constitutional Revision, 1874

enlarged the powers of the central government to include providing free elementary education

referenda on the national as well as cantonal levels

introduced compulsory military service, structured so as to protect Swiss democracy

foreign commentary remarked that this neither threatened domestic liberty nor the general peace of Europe

One for all All for oneWednesday, November 11, 2009

Industrialization Leads to Socialism

after 1870 industrialism grew: watchmaking, textiles, luxury goods and confections

as socialist politics advanced, Swiss liberty attracted political refugees, as had England’s and Belgium’s before

anarchism headquartered here, the German socialists during Bismarck’s persecution, Lenin on the eve of the warinternational organizations were attracted as well: International Red Cross (1863), International Postal Union (1874), and the International Telegraph Union (1865)


Northern Europe

DenmarkNorwaySweden


Denmark


19th Century History

Denmark suffered two major reductions in territory:1815--The Congress of Vienna took away Norway and gave it to Sweden

1864--Schleswig and Holstein were lost in the war with Germany

progress toward liberalism and democracy was retarded:most of the population were peasants, i.e.,conservative in political matters

King Christian IX (1863-1906) resisted genuine parliamentary government

Denmark was the scene of a constitutional conflict like Prussia’s of the 1860s:

the issue was military spending

the king successfully defied the constitution and the lower house


Belated Democratic Reform, 1915

by the turn of the century democratic pressures had built:urban middle classes, Social Democrats, a youth movement, and prosperous farmers

the new constitution, delayed until 1915, provided for:extension of the suffrage to all men and most women

widening of the competence of the lower house

by measures similar to England’s in 1911--effective abolition of the veto of the upper house


Norway


Norway and Sweden--A Stormy Relationship

1814, Sweden voluntarily relinquishes Finland to Russia on the understanding that Norway would be ceded to her

Marshall Bernadotte, the Swedish regent, was forced to take Norway by conquest

he found it necessary to recognize Norway’s Fundamental Law, based on the liberal Spanish constitution of 1812

so Norway claimed to be “free, indivisible, and independent” even though united with Sweden

but Sweden had a feudal, aristocratic government, committed to the royal prerogative


Norway and Sweden--No Community of Interests

Sweden, especially after 1870, moved rapidly to industrial maturity (Rostow’s Stage 4)

maritime Norway remained predominantly agricultural and commercial

as her carrying trade grew, the Storting (parliament) insisted on a separate consular service from Sweden’s

decades of acrimony led to a unilateral declaration of independence in 1905 confirmed by a plebiscite

Norway became an independent constitutional monarchy

1907, Norway became the first nation to give the vote to women


Sweden


Sweden’s Road to Democracy

Bernadotte ruled as Charles XIV (1818-1844)

his royal absolutism gradually gave way under Oscar I (1844-1859) and Charles XV (1859-1872)the constitutional laws of 1864 abolished the old estated and set up a bicameral legislature with considerable power

1909, universal manhood suffrage was introduced, followed in later years by woman suffrage and proportional representation

as in other countries, advancing industrialization brought power to the socialist parties


1908 – The Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", opened with playwright August Strindberg's play Master Olof. (from Wikiʼs Main Page, 18 Feb 2009)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1908

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1908

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Dramatic_Theatre

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Dramatic_Theatre

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Strindberg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Strindberg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Olof

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Olof

Southern Europe

SpainPortugal

Italy


In… the countries discussed [so far], substantial progress toward democracy had been made by 1914 and, even where there was a tendency toward an increased use of violence in politics, it was not so marked as to threaten the existing political regimes…. None of this was true of the states of southern Europe, where progress towards democracy was minimal, violence uncontrolled, and the stability of established governments always in question.

Craig, p. 398


Spain


Incompetence or Worse at the Top

we’ve already noted Fernando VII (1813-1833) and Isabella II (1833-1868), deposed by a military coup

1870, the failed Hohenzollern Candidature was followed by an invitation to Amadeo, second son of Victor Emanuel of Italy

after two years of renewed Carlist wars, Amadeo abdicated

a brief republican interval (Feb, 1873-Dec, 1874) when on Christmas Eve the army declared for Isabella’s son Alfonso XII

the ruling classes ignored the peasant masses and both Marxism and anarchy, along with Basque and Catalonian separatism were the beneficiaries


Imperial Decline

beginning with the Napoleonic period, Spain’s rich New World empire began its independence wars

by the time of the Monroe Doctrine (1823) only Cuba and Puerto Rico remained

from the 1860s on, Cuban rebellions added to Spain’s problems

war with America (1898) cost Spain the Philippines and Guam as wellthe conservatism of the Spanish church added anticlericalism to the devil’s brew of Marxism, anarchy, and separatism


Portugal


“...different [from Spain] though equally violent”

first half century, wars between rival claimants to the throne and frequent insurrections

the reigns of Pedro V (1853-1861) and Louis I (1861-1889) seemed to be moving toward liberal parliamentary government

Carlos I (1889-1908) changed that

his self-indulgent, absolutist financial mismanagement and defiance of parliament led to his assassination

a republic was proclaimed in 1910

a constitution modeled on the Third French Republic couldn’t make up for social and economic challenges and “quarrelsome political parties more intent on plotting revolts than solving problems”


Italy


Agostino Depretis (1813-1887)

born in Lombardy, colleague of Mazzini, Garibaldi & Cavour

Minister of the Navy during the defeat at Lissa, 1866

headed a Sinistra (Left) cabinet, 1873 until his death, in and out of power four times

began the policy of Trasformismo (Transformation)

undermined fiscal policy with extravagant public works

began Italy’s imperialist venture in 1885


Trasformismo

the method by which a politician could prolong the life of parliament and his own hold on power by disregarding party labels, making bargains with deputies, left or right, for whatever votes they could command, and thus piecing together parliamentary majorities

it atomized existing political groups and turned parliament into an amorphous mass of deputies led by a ministry whose members changed constantly

coherence and continuity of policy were impossible

Depretis and Crispi raised it to an art form


This system could be made to work only by avoiding the big questions about which differences of opinion were inevitable. There were lots of these. Sicily and southern Italy were underdeveloped and needed many reforms to become economically viable. Italy wanted to industrialize but lacked the coal and iron which would ease this transition. Industry needed a literate working class but Italy’s educational level was the lowest in western Europe. It’s rate of population increase, on the other hand, was the highest.


Francesco Crispi (1819-1901)

returned to his native Sicily with the Thousand in 1860, friend of Mazzini and Garibaldi

twice PM (1887-1891) and (1893-1896)

in his first government also Foreign Minister, chose Germany over France

led to a tariff war with prolonged depression for Italy

his second political downfall in 1896 resulted from economic hard times plus the humiliation of Adowa in Ethiopia


a 40% drop in Italian exports, the result of the tariff war with France, created agricultural depression in Italy

public works and railway construction plummeted

between 1880 and 1920 four million Italians immigrated to the United States

in 1893 peasant unrest led to attacks on manor houses and police stations resulting in bloodshed

the silk industry in the north also suffered, leading to urban unrest

repression provoked anarchist acts, cf. King Umberto’s assassination


Umberto Ranieri Carlo Emanuele Giovanni Maria Ferdinando Eugenio di Savoia, called il Buono (the Good) but no friend of liberalism

deeply loathed in far left circles, especially among anarchists, because of his conservatism and support of the Milanese Bava-Beccaris massacre in 1898

there were two previous attempts on his life

finally killed by anarchist Gaetano Bresci

Leon Czolgosz carried and frequently read a newspaper account of the deed. He used the assassination of Umberto as his inspiration to kill William McKinley in September, 1901

Umberto I (1844-1878-1900)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savoia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savoia

Giovanni Giolitti (1842-1928)

Piedmontese, six times Interior Minister five times Prime Minister

his first government, between Crispi’s two terms was marred by scandal

after the king’s assassination there was hope for a “liberal spring” and a renewal of the Sinistra

the anarchists were strong in the rural south but the Marxists were becoming revisionists and willing to seek political solutions

from 1903-15 he dominated the scene


Giolitti’s Parliamentary Dictatorship

he often held the Interior Ministry as well as the PM’s portfolio during this time

“Italy soon relapsed into the empty acrobatics of trasformismo”

in 1911 all males over the age of 30 gained the vote

“But Giolitti proceeded to demonstrate that the new electorate could be manipulated by fraud and violence…”

some measure of necessary reform:factory laws, legalization of unions and collective bargaining

state aid for agricultural cooperatives


Undesired Consequences

Giolitti’s unsavory methods destroyed Cavour’s connubio of the 1850s. He brought disrepute to the liberal center

this gave new life to the extremist parties which now--thanks to Giolitti’s franchise legislation-- could win mass support

1912, the left wing socialists, including Mussolini, revolted against the revisionists. “democracy a bourgeois experiment”

they would dominate the party for the next 12 years until Mussolini would destroy it

the right would preach themes which would echo in years to come in the Fascist state

the poet and adventurer Gabriele d’Annunzio appealed to Italy’s youth to seek life in violent action


On the eve of the war, therefore, the confident voices in Italian politics… were those of the extremists of the right and left, all proclaiming the imminent destruction of a regime that had been unable to make any genuine progress toward a viable democracy and whose political processes seemed now to be affected by creeping paralysis.

Craig, p.315


political progress in western europe, 1871-1914

Education

charles booth

catherine booth

william booth

volunteer army

london minister

major barbara

major parties

thesalvation army