L12: Revolutionary Change in Political Life:
Conservatism
Agenda
Objective:
To understand…
1. The beliefs and principles of
conservatism.
2. The ideological and political
goals of the Congress of
Vienna
Schedule:
1. Tenets of Conservatism
2. Congress of Vienna
Homework:
None
Conservatism
• In response to the development of liberalism
and its beliefs, another political ideology
developed in Europe after 1815: conservatism
– Conservatism was developed in direct opposition to
the ideas of liberalism!
• Working from a different set of assumptions,
conservatism argued that liberalism was
dangerous to both society and the individual.
– Looked to the social destruction caused by the
French Revolution as evidence for how the liberal
ideas of liberty and equality would destroy Europe’s
entire social structure if liberalism spread!
• Conservatives proposed a different way of
understanding and organizing political life that
they believed would lead to stability and
security for both society and the individual.
Conservatism
• Today we will explore the political
philosophy of conservatism
• We will arrive at an understanding of
its key beliefs/principles by discussing
how conservatives understand 4 core
concepts:
–Tradition
–Equality (or the lack thereof)
–Hierarchy
–Community
Tradition
• For conservatives, tradition was the source of all
authority.
• If we want to understand the best way to
organize a society or government we need to
look back to the past, study which prior methods
of organization have worked well and stick with
that model.
• Conservatives have an
overwhelming faith in the
ability of history to guide
us towards the best ways of
devising social and political
systems.
Tradition
• Not only had tradition ordained monarchies as
the best way of organizing a government, they
argued that so too had God.
• History exemplified the hand of God and thus
historical forms of government were also divine.
• Therefore if they were
God’s “choice” for how
to organize a government
we better stick with them!
Tradition
• For conservatives, because
tradition/God has
demonstrated that
monarchies are the most
effective means of
organizing a government, it
must also be that they are
the best government for
the individual.
• It is only through traditional
monarchies that he
individual truly has their
rights protected.
• How is this different from
what liberals argue?
Equality
• Conservatives believed that
everyone had some basic
individual rights, because
the course of history
(particularly the evolution
of feudalism) had
guaranteed such rights.
• However, they did not believe that those rights
implied any political, economic, or social
equality.
• How is this different from liberalism?
Equality
• Conservatives did not believe that all men
were fundamentally equal. Rather, some
individuals had more political, economic,
and social rights than others.
• For conservatives, the liberal notion of
equality was dangerous. Why would they
think this?
Equality
• The irony then, as conservatives saw it, was that
to hold the notion that all men have equal rights
actually leads to behavior that threatens to
erode all individual rights all together!
• Instead, the way to protect individual rights was
through the maintenance of traditional
hierarchies.
– Hierarchy, not equality, protects individual rights!
– History has confirmed this!
Hierarchy
• For conservatives, hierarchies best protect
individual rights because they ensure order.
– Everyone has a place, position, duty, or role in a
hierarchy.
• For conservatives social order and social
organization are essential. Without them we fall
into chaos (Exhibit A: The French Revolution).
• Thus we need hierarchy to
have social order.
• What do you think
conservatives see as the
biggest threat to this social order?
View of Community
• For conservatives, the community was
thus all important over the individual.
Why?
Conservatism and the
Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
• With Napoleon
defeated,
representatives of the
four major European
powers (Russia,
Prussia, AustriaHungary, and Great
Britain) met in
September in Vienna.
• The meeting became
known as the
Congress of Vienna.
The Four Great Powers
Prince Von
Hardenberg
Prussia
Tsar Alexander I
Russia
Lord Castlereagh
Great Britain
Prince Von Metternich
Austria
Leader of the Congress
of Vienna
Given what you know about the
conservative beliefs of these
leaders, how do you think they
are going to rebuild Europe?
Congress of
Vienna: 3 Goals
• Maintain and strengthen
monarchies
• Ensure that no one state
dominates Europe by
providing a means of
setting disputes among
the Great Powers
• Stop the spread of
Liberalism &
Nationalism!!
• How are these goals
consistent with
conservatism?
Age of Metternich: 1815-1848
• VERY conservative era in
Europe.
• Four Powers rule according to
Metternich System.
• Reinstate the Ancien Regime
(Absoulte Monarchy)
• Suppress nationalistic ambitions
through force.
• Stop the spread of liberal ideas
through censorship and
restraints on civil liberties.
Congress of Vienna: Accomplishments
• The Congress of Vienna settlement is widely
credited with keeping Europe out of a continentwide war for 100 (until World War One in 1914!).
• However, this doesn’t mean that
this time wasn’t without conflict!
Revolutions would soon be
breaking out throughout Europe.