THE CONSERVATIVE ORDER AND
THE AGE OF METTERNICH
The Empires Strike Back!
WHAT ARE THESE TERMS?
THE KEY TO YOUR AP EXISTENCE FOR THE
NEXT TWO WEEKS OR SO…



Conservatism – keeping the status quo…keeping
the kings in charge and letting the absolute
monarchs run the show
Liberalism – open up democracy to the educated
and landowning middle class…elect
representatives to legislative bodies and avoid
mass democracy
Nationalism – a great pride in your culture or
country…will be driving force behind separate
ethnicities and cultures being administered by
their own representative government
THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA
Let’s fix this!
CONGRESS OF VIENNA
Representatives of major powers of Europe,
including France, met to redraw territorial lines
and to try and restore the social and political
order of the Old Regime
 Big Five






Klemens Von Metternich – AUSTRIA
Lord Castlereagh – GREAT BRITAIN
Czar Alexander I – RUSSIA
Some Prussian – PRUSSIA
Minister Talleyrand – FRANCE
THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA
SEPTEMBER 1814-JUNE 1815
WHAT THE WHITE MEN WANT

Legitimacy
The deposed kings are returned to their power
 Bourbons restored in France, Spain, and Naples


Compensation

Reward states which helped defeat Napoleon with land
England receives naval bases
 Austria receives Italian provinces
 Russia receives much of Poland, and Alexander becomes king

WHAT THE WHITE MEN DID

Balance of Power
GOAL: Arrange the map so that one country can
never gain enough power to be able to take over
 Strategies to encircle France



Strengthen the Netherlands – buffer state of “Belgium”
German Confederation (Bund)
Official end of Holy Roman Empire
 Austria is President of the Assembly of Confederation
 Loose confederation of states where members remained
pretty much sovereign

LEGACY OF THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA
Goal – Make a Europe where there will never be
another war
 Britain emerges as the most powerful country
and the lone growing power

Successfully restored the European balance of
power…relative peace for the next 100 years
 Criticism for limiting and discouraging the
spread of Enlightenment ideas
 Underestimated the new nationalism generated
by the French Revolution

THE CONCERT OF EUROPE
1815-1850s
CONCERT OF EUROPE

A series of arrangements to enforce the status quo as
defined by the Vienna settlement


Highly conservative and against liberalism/nationalism
Two Components
Quadruple Alliance
 Congress System

CONCERT OF EUROPE
QUADRUPLE ALLIANCE

Quadruple Alliance – Russia, Prussia, Austria, and
England
If a dynastic leader was under attack, all members of
the Alliance promised to help one another
 France was seen as a constant threat
 Austria used the alliance to their benefit the most

CONCERT OF EUROPE
CONGRESS SYSTEM

Congress System
Countries are designed to meet every couple of years
to discuss new threats
 Worked effectively until 1822 when Britain pulled
out


Disagreed with the handling of Spanish rebellion
HOLY ALLIANCE





Russia, Prussia, Austria
Designed to agree to
uphold Christian principles
in foreign policy
Britain does not join
More of a way to put down
liberalism and nationalism
than a way to uphold
Christian principles
Reactive, not proactive
QUICK WRITING ASSIGNMENT

Write the introduction…
Discuss the goals and overall legacy of the
Congress of Vienna (1814-15).
Underline your thesis.
LIBERALISM
Something Different.
CHARACTERISTICS OF LIBERALISM

First major theory in Western thought that saw
the individual as a self-sufficient being, whose
freedom and well-being were the sole reasons for
the existence of society

The political outgrowth of the Enlightenment

Believe in…



Liberty of the individual
People should get equal rights before the law
Government should protect natural rights
CHARACTERISTICS OF LIBERALISM


DON’T BELIEVE IN
PURE DEMOCRACY
AND UNIVERSAL
SUFFRAGE
Most identify with the
bourgeoisie (middle class)
and believe voting rights
shouldn’t be extended
below them to the lower
classes
LIBERALISM IN ECONOMICS


Economics becomes known
as the “dismal science”
Adam Smith – Wealth of
Nations
No government
intervention (laissez-faire)
 The Invisible Hand will
take negative qualities of
people and turn them into
good for the economy
 Severely opposed to
mercantilism

LIBERALISM IN ECONOMICS
THE DEBBIE DOWNERS

David Ricardo


“iron law of wages”
Thomas Malthus

Population vs. food supply
LIBERALISM IN ECONOMICS

Utilitarianism – Jeremy Bentham
Laws should be made based on “the greatest
happiness of the greatest number”
 Every law should help the greatest amount of people
at the greatest possible amount


John Stuart Mill – On Liberty (1859)
A person should be free as long as it doesn’t infringe
on someone else’s freedom
 Government should exist to make sure people’s
freedom doesn’t’ get infringed upon
 Absolute freedom of opinion to be protected from both
government censorship and tyranny of majority

IMPACT OF LIBERALISM
Inspired various revolutionary movements of the
early 19th century
 Left traces in written constitutions which were
installed in European countries during the mid19th century
 Translated into the Romantic period of art,
music, and literature
 Zollverein – 1834

Economic union of 17 German states which
eliminated internal tariffs and established free trade
 Free trade was a liberal idea

CONSERVATISM
WHAT IS CONSERVATISM?
A reaction to liberalism and a popular alternative
for those frightened by the violence, terror, and
social disorder of the French Revolution
 Supported by traditional ruling classes and
peasants
 Believed in order, society, the state, faith, and
tradition


Basically  Make life the way it was before the
French Revolution
THE BIGGEST THREAT…

The bourgeoisie (middle class), which had stirred
up the lower classes in France
EDMUND BURKE
Reflections of the
Revolution in France
 One of the great
intellectual defenses of
European conservatism
 Predicted anarchy and
dictatorship in France as
a result of the French
Revolution
 Advised England to go
slow in adapting its own
liberties

KLEMENS VON METTERNICH
Foreign minister of
Austria and chief
architect of the Congress
of Vienna
 Particularly concerned
about the multi-ethnic
character of the
Austrian empire
 Did not want the ideas
of the French Revolution
to take root in his
empire

AUSTRIA AND THE GERMAN CONFEDERATION
Austria had the most to lose with FR ideas in play
 Carlsbad Diet (1819) – instituted by Concert


Carlsbad Decrees cracked down on liberalism in
universities and drove liberalism and nationalism
underground
Any teacher talking about Enlightenment ideas will be fired
 Student organizations would be monitored by student spies
 Materials pushing for German unification will be censored

EXCERPT FROM CARLSBAD DECREES

“The confederated governments mutually pledge
themselves to remove from the universities or
other public educational institutions all teachers
who, by obvious deviation from their duty or by
exceeding the limits of their functions, or by the
abuse of their legitimate influence over the
youthful minds, or by propagating harmful
doctrines hostile to public order or subversive of
existing governmental institutions, shall have
unmistakably proved their unfitness for the
important of fice entrusted to them...”
PRUSSIA
Hohenzollern dynasty continues to rule
 Liberal reforms in Prussia after 1815 were
designed to increase government efficiency
instead of giving the people more freedom
 Government and Junkers work together to
suppress liberal and nationalist movements

GREAT BRITAIN

Tories vs. Whigs


Conservative Tories control the government
Corn Laws (1815)
Cheaper foreign grains cannot be imported
 Benefited wealthy landowners who could jack up the prices
of domestic product


Habeas corpus repealed for first time in British history
GREAT BRITAIN

Peterloo Massacre (1819)

Pro-liberal crowd in Manchester attacked by police

Crowd wanted the Corn Laws repealed and universal
suffrage for all men
11 killed and 400 were injured
 Press will be brought under control, mass meetings
will be abolished, and liberals are scared to protest


England – moving toward a conservative,
authoritarian state by 1820
JOHN TYAS, NEWSPAPER
CORRESPONDENT, THE TIMES

It appears by every account that has yet reached
London, that in the midst of the Chairman's
speech, within less than twenty minutes from the
commencement of the meeting, the Yeomanry
Cavalry of the town of Manchester charged the
populace sword in hand, cut their way to the
platform, and with the police at their head, made
prisoners of Hunt and several of those who
surrounded him - seized the flags of the Reformers
- trampled down and cut down a number of the
people, who, after throwing some stones and
brickbats at the cavalry in its advance towards
the hustings, fled on all sides in the utmost
confusion and dismay.
JOHN TYAS, NEWSPAPER
CORRESPONDENT, THE TIMES


Of the crowd ... a large portion consisted of women.
About 8 or 10 persons were killed, and, besides those
whom their own friends carried off, above 50 wounded
were taken to the hospitals; but the gross number is
not supposed to have fallen short of 80 or 100, more or
less, grievously wounded...
Was that [meeting] at Manchester an 'unlawful
assembly'? Was the notice of it unlawful? We believe
not. Was the subject proposed for discussion an
unlawful object? Assuredly not. Was any thing done at
this meeting before the cavalry rode in upon it, either
contrary to law or in breach of the peace? No such
circumstance is recorded in any of the statements
which have yet reached our hands.
GOVERNMENT REACTION


The Government completely endorsed the
magistrates' actions and decided it was an illegal
meeting anyway. In a letter to Canning on 23
September 1819, Lord Liverpool said:
When I say that the proceedings of the magistrates at
Manchester ... were justifiable, you will understand
me as not by any means deciding that the course
which they pursued on that occasion was in all its
parts prudent. A great deal might be said in their
favour even on this head; but, whatever judgement
might be formed in this respect, being satisfied that
they were substantially right, there remained no
alternative but to support them.
FRANCE

Charter of 1814 –
established a
constitutional monarchy
under Louis XVIII


Bicameral legislature –
Chamber of Deputies and
Chamber of Peers
1816 – moderate royalists
were brought to power
through the election…want
to roll France back to an
absolutist state
FRANCE



Spanish revolution crushed
in 1823, and French troops
were brought in by the
Concert of Europe to restore
Ferdinand VII, a Bourbon,
back to the throne
1820 – heir to the throne was
murdered and royalists use
it to crack down on liberals
Louis XVIII gets more
reactionary and
conservative the longer
he remains in power
RUSSIA



Death of Alexander I in 1825 leaves power
vacuum
Younger brother Nicholas was in line to
rule
Decembrist Uprising (1825)
Junior military officers (decembrists)
supported liberal measures in government,
unlike Nicholas
 Sought to prevent Nicholas’s ascension to
the throne
 Revolt failed, and the leaders and
sentenced to death



Botched hanging
Nicholas I becomes the most reactionary
monarch
NATIONALISM
a great pride in your culture or country…will be
driving force behind separate ethnicities and
cultures being administered by their own
representative government
CHARACTERISTICS OF NATIONALISM
Cultural groups should rule themselves
 Common language, history, and traditions would
bring about unity and common loyalties
 Supported by liberals
 Immediate origins were in the French Revolution
and the Napoleonic wars

EARLY NATIONALISTS

Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803)
The father of modern nationalism
Saw every groups as unique and
possessing a distinct national character
– “Volksgeist”
 No one culture is better than another



Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814)
The father of German nationalism
Wanted to dehumanize other cultural
groups
 How to handle Jewish problem?



I see absolutely no way of giving them [the
Jews] civic rights, except perhaps if one
chops of all of their heads and replaces
them with new ones, in which there would
not be one single Jewish idea.
NATIONAL REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS

1820

Spain – revolt crushed by Concert of Europe
Revolted against the Bourbon leader of Spain
 England withdraws


Naples (Italy) – revolt crushed by Austrian troops


Carbonari had triggered revolt
Piedmont (Italy) – revolt crushed by Austrian troops
NATIONAL REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS

Greek Revolution (1821-1829)
The Eastern Question – “Sick man of Europe”
 Turks retreating
 England, France, and Russia will help Greeks



Muslims vs. Christians AND loving Greek culture
Treaty of Adrianople (1829) – Greek is an
autonomous state but has a German king
REVOLUTIONS OF 1830

France – July Revolution (1830)
Charles X – divine right and
absolutism
 Radical revolt forces Charles X to
quit
 Will spark a wave of revolts
throughout Europe


Metternich: “when France
sneezes, the rest of Europe
catches a cold”
REVOLUTIONS OF 1830

July Revolution

Louis Philippe, a cousin of the
royal family, becomes the new
king under a constitutional
monarchy

Known as the Bourgeoisie King
France now controlled by
upper-middle class…for the
first time since immediately
after Charles X took over (1824)
 Laws will be made that support
the middle class at the expense
of the former nobility

REVOLUTIONS OF 1830

Italy (1831-32)
Trouble breaks out in Northern
Italy…led by Guiseppe Mazzini
and his Young Italy
 Austrian troops put down the
revolts under Metternich’s
direction


German states (1830-33)
Carlsbad Decrees worked
 July Revolution triggers
rumblings for unification
 Austria’s domination of
German Confederation puts
these wishes down

REVOLUTIONS OF 1830

Belgium (1830)
Merged with the Netherlands in 1815 but has great
cultural differences
 Revolt in Brussels is helped by French/British, who
have nothing to lose from Belgian independence


Poland (1830-31)

Nicholas I crushes a movement for Polish
independence and reinforces rule
LIBERAL REFORM IN ENGLAND
Slow but steady changes…
1820-1830

Young Tories control the government


Robert Peel and George Canning
Reforms






Abandoning the Concert of Europe
Reformed prisons and criminal code
Allowed labor unions
Established the “Bobbies”
Test Act repealed
Civil rights for Catholics
1830 AND ONWARD

Led by Earl Grey, leader of the Whigs


Heavily supported by the middle class
British national character
Be free and don’t revolt when one thing goes wrong
 Be a respectful reformer

REFORM BILL OF 1832
Spurred on by a recent cholera epidemic…the
people wanted a more proactive government
 Provisions


Increased number of voters from 6% to 12%

Kept a property qualification for the franchise
Eliminated rotten boroughs, which evens levels of
representation in Parliament across the country
 Resulted in the supremacy of the House of Commons
over the House of Lords

PARLIAMENT’S ACTIONS

Factory Act of 1833
Ages 0-8 cannot work
 Ages 9-13 – 8 hrs per day
 Ages 14-18 – 12 hrs per day
 Destroyed pattern of families working together

Mines Act of 1842 – ages under 10 cannot work
in the mines
 Factory Act of 1847 – boys under 18 and women
cannot work over 10 hrs per day


Also known as the “Ten Hour Act”
CHARTISM – UNION IN POLITICS
Political movement in England which fights for
democracy among all people
 Six Points








Universal male suffrage
Annual election of House of Commons
Secret ballot
Equal electoral districts
Abolition of property qualifications for Parliament
Salaries for members of the House of Commons
Movement fails but all measures will eventually
be adopted
OTHER PARLIAMENTARY THINGS
Corn Laws repealed in 1846
 Navigation Laws repealed in 1849

Previously all goods had to be brought in to England
with British ships
 The official end to mercantilism


BIG POINT: BECAUSE OF THESE SMALL
BUT STEADY CHANGES, THERE WAS
LIMITED INTERNAL UNREST IN ENGLAND
FROM 1820-1850, UNLIKE THE REST OF THE
CONTINENT OF EUROPE
1848
Judgment Day.
1848 – AN OVERVIEW
The turning point in the 19th century
 Triggered by nationalism, liberalism, and
romanticism as well as economic instability
 Only Britain and Russia will survive great
instability
 Results…

End of serfdom in Austria and Germany
 Universal male suffrage in France
 Parliaments established in German states
 Stimulation of unification talk in Germany

1848 – FRANCE

February Revolution
Working class and liberals unhappy with the
king, Louis Philippe
 The nobility unhappy with the Bourgeoisie King
 King was forced to abdicate in February 1848


Second French Republic
Influenced by Louis Blanc, who opened the
National Workshops which guaranteed work
for the unemployed
 Reforms




Abolished slavery
10 hr workday in Paris
Abolished the death penalty
1848 – FRANCE
After April elections, Blanc exited Assembly and
workshops are closed – triggers anger
 June Days

Revolt led by the working class…the National Guard
will seek to crush the uprising and support the
bourgeoisie’s power
 Workers want to fight against poverty and desire
redistribution of income
 Barricades put up in street but revolt is crushed by
the conservatives

1848 – FRANCE
The National Assembly creates a Constitution
which allows for a strong president and a
unicameral legislature
 Napoleon’s nephew – Louis Napoleon – wins
election and becomes president of Republic

1848 – ITALY
Nationalists and liberals seek to finally kick out
foreign leaders in Italy
 Many city-states defeat outside rulers
 Giuseppe Mazzini establishes Roman Republic,
protected by Giuseppe Garibaldi


Pope Pius IX was forced to flee Rome
Austrian and French troops retake Italian regions
 Why?




No support from rural people
Revolutionaries were not united
Lack of leadership among revolutionaries
1848 – AUSTRIA
Austrian government was extremely vulnerable to
nationalist and liberal activities
 They were not willing to grant any freedoms to
any group because they would quickly lose
control

1848 – AUSTRIA

Declarations of Independence
Louis Kossuth, a Magyar leader, demanded independence
for the Hungarians
 The Czechs and three Italian provinces also demanded
independence
 Mass demonstrations from students and workers


Defeat of Hungary…and everyone else
Magyars cannot work with Slavs against the conservative
Austrian army
 Austria had help from Russian armies


Metternich is forced to abdicate because of the mass
unrest…his conservatism has been defeated
1848 – GERMAN STATES


Liberals demanded constitutional
government and a union or
federation of German states
Frankfurt Parliament (May 1848)
Liberal, nationalist/romantic leaders
call for a elections to a constituent
assembly, from all states in the
German Bund, for the purpose of
unifying Germany
 Presents Prussian king a
constitution, which he accepts at
first because of threats of rebellion
from the lower classes across
Germany

1848 – GERMAN STATES

Prussian King Frederick William IV then rejects
the liberal constitution
Claims “divine right” of kings
 “I reject your crown from the gutter that has the stink
of revolution on it

King then imposes a constitution that guarantees
royal control in the government
 Austria then demanded that Prussia pay allegiance
to the Bund, which Austria dominated
 Prussia then drops plan to unify Germany, leaving
Austria the dominant German state in Bund

1848 EVALUATED
Many of the revolutions were spontaneous
movements that could not effectively maintain
popular support
 Middle classes, who led the revolutions, came to
fear the radical tendencies of their working class
allies…they couldn’t work together



Conservatives take advantage to keep control
Different ethnic groups cannot work together to
take advantage of conservatives’ weaknesses
1848 EVALUATED

Positive Aspects
Universal male suffrage in France
 Serfdom remains abolished in Austria/German states
 Parliaments established in Prussia and other
German states, even though they are dominated by
royals
 Prussia, others will gain momentum for unification
