Europe Reacts to the
Legacy of the French
Revolution and Napoleon
1815-1855
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1815-1915 may be seen as a
struggle between the liberal forces
unleashed by the French Revolution
and conservative forces that saw any
opposition as liberal.
Popular movements vs. status quo
and established institutions
Russia
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After the burning of Moscow –
Alexander I and Russian troops
pursued Napoleon and his forces
throughout Europe.
A Russia that was entering the
European stage emerged.
Alexander I came to power after a
coup d’etat led by the nobles and
army killed his father Tsar Paul – son
of Catherine the Great.
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Alexander I
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After assuming power in 1801, Alexander tried to
bring Enlightened ideals to his rule – as his
grandmother Catherine the Great did.
As Napoleon became a greater and greater
threat, Alexander moved away from reform and
back to autocracy – partially in an attempt not to
alienate the nobles.
Alexander became convinced that liberalism, the
French Revolution and Napoleon were attacks on
Christianity. His own religious views became
more mystical. He formed the HOLY ALLIANCE in
1815 as a conservative Christian attack on
liberalism.
Austria – the Habsburgs
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Prince Klemens von Metternich – the
foreign minister of Austria was the
most important conservative
statesman in the first half of the 19th
century. His aim was to promote and
secure Austria and the Habsburg
lands.
Liberalism and nationalism perhaps
most dangerous to Austria.
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Metternich
Leader of the
Conservative
Movement in
Europe
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The vast majority of the population
under Habsburg controls were not
Austrian and not even German.
• Italian states in northern Italy
• Magyars – Hungarians
• Poles
• Etc.
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After the Congress of Vienna – the
German speaking states were loosely
organized into the GERMAN
CONFEDERATION
Austria needed to dominate the
Confederation in order to stop a
German political entity that would
pull Austria away from its nonGerman possessions.
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The GERMAN CONFEDERATION
consisted of 39 states under Austrian
leadership.
Austria could not allow
representative government – its
logical conclusion would destroy its
empire. Constitutionalism and
German unification had to be
avoided.
Prussia was seen as a growing
problem for Austria.
Prussia
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During the War of Liberation – as the
Prussians called the last phase of their
conflict with Napoleon – Frederick William
III had promised liberal reforms.
After the defeat of Napoleon, he went
back on his pledge and his reform minded
ministers resigned. He replaced the
ministers with conservative JUNKERS who
opposed German unification because they
feared loss of social and political control.
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Frederick William III
Baden, Bavaria and Wurttemberg
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These southern German states had
monarchs who issued constitutions after
1815 in order to secure popular support.
The constitutions – however – denied
popular sovereignty and stated that
political rights were gifts from the
monarchs.
Many young liberals and veterans of the
wars against Napoleon entered university
after 1815. Inspired by liberal ideals they
formed BURSCHENSCHAFTEN – student
associations.
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The Burcschenschaften celebrated events
such as the anniversary of the Battle of
Leipzig and the tercentenary of Luther’s
95 Theses. These groups made
conservatives in Germany and Austria
nervous. In 1819 a student assassinated
a conservative dramatist.
Metternich used this event as an excuse to
get the German leaders to clamp down on
the growing student liberalism.
Carlsbad Decrees
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July 1819, Metternich persuaded the
major German states to adopt the
CARLSBAD DECREES which dissolved the
student associations, established
university inspectors and press
censorship. Secret police enforced the
rules.
1820 – the FINAL ACT – the German
Confederation issued the Final Act which
limited what the German states of Baden,
Bavaria and Wurttemberg could discuss
regarding constitutional reform.
Political Repression in Great Britain
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George III suffered from physical and
mental illness – resulting in the
appointment of his son the Prince of Wales
as regent – REGENCY PERIOD. The future
GEORGE IV was a self-indulgent vulgar
man who brought disrepute to the
monarchy.
Poor harvests – industrial unemployment
and recently unemployed soldiers and
sailors created an atmosphere ripe for
social unrest in Great Britain.
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George III
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George IV
Prince Regent
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1815 CORN LAW – high duties on imported grain
– forcing the price of grain to increase in order to
provide money for the landed gentry – all while
more and more people were moving to the cities
– becoming wage laborers.
1816 – income tax on wealthy repealed and
replaced by excise tax paid by everyone
1799 – Combination Acts – forbade workers’
organizations
Wage protection removed during war with France
Talk of ending poor laws – which provided public
support of the destitute.
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The poor and lower class workers
responded by forming organizations
calling for liberal reforms
The government saw sans-culottes
and responded with repression.
1817 – COERCION ACT – habeas
corpus suspended laws against
seditious gathering extended
PETERLOO
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16 August 1819 – a mass rally of
workers met in Manchester at St.
Peter’s Fields. Before speeches could
even begin – local leaders ordered
the militia to end the gathering.
Panic ensued and people were killed
and hundreds injured. People called
it PETERLOO – comparing the attack
with the Battle of Waterloo.
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Peterloo
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The conservative government of
LORD LIVERPOOL decided to support
the Manchester officials and to try to
end the liberal movements.
Radical leaders arrested
Carlsbad Decrees inspired the
Liverpool government to issue the
Six Acts
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Lord Liverpool
Six Acts
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1. no large unauthorized meetings
2. increased fines for seditious libel
3. Quick trials for political agitators
4. increased newspaper taxes
5. prohibited training of armed
groups
6. local officials could search homes
The Cato Street Conspiracy
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1820 – a group of wacko radicals led
by a man named Thistlewood was
stopped from carrying out a plot to
blow up the British Cabinet. While
there was no evidence that this was
little more than one group of wackos
– the British government used the
Cato Street Conspiracy as a pretext
for clamping down on more liberals.
France
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Louis XVIII agreed to a constitution –
but one of his making
THE CHARTER
• Hereditary monarch
• Bicameral legislature
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Monarch appointed upper house
Lower house- Chamber of Deputies –
elected but the franchise was very limited to
high property requirements
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Louis XVIII
• Most of the rights in the “Declaration
of the Rights of Man and Citizen”
remained
• Roman Catholicism the official religion –
but religious toleration remained
• Lands confiscated and distributed during
the Revolution were not given back to
the Church or the nobles
Ultraroyalists
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There was a large ultraroyalist
conservative movement that thought Louis
XVIII had not been reactionary enough.
They were led by Louis XVII’s younger
brother CHARLES, THE DUKE OF ARTOIS
White Terror resumed
1816 – so many ultraroyalists were
elected to the Chamber of Deputies and
Louis XVIII called for new elections
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Charles X
Duke of Artois
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The Duke of Richelieu led Louis
XVIII’s government
• Indemnity paid
• Foreign troops recalled
• Attempt to work with the liberals
• Angered Artois and the ultraroyalists
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1820 – the son of the Duke of Artois –
second in line to the throne of France was
assassinated
Louis XVIII forced to institute anti-liberal
measures:
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Wealthy electors given two votes
Press censorship
Easy arrest for political reasons
Control of secondary education given to
Catholic bishops
• Liberals driven from political life
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The Concert of Europe – major
powers worked in unison in their
conservative control of Europe.
The Congress System – the victors
over Napoleon met periodically in
order to maintain conservative
control over Europe.
The Spanish Revolution 1820
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Ferdinand VII reclaimed the Spanish
throne for the Bourbon family after the fall
of Napoleon by promising to rule with a
written constitution.
After assuming power he ignored his
liberal pledge. He dissolved the CORTES
(parliament) and ruled alone.
1820 – Spanish officers who were about to
go to the Spanish colonies in America to
put down rebellion – themselves rebelled
against Ferdinand. Ferdinand agreed to
rule by a constitution.
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Ferdinand VII of Spain
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July 1820 – revolutionary spirit in the
KINGDOM OF THE TWO SICILIES – the
monarch agreed to accept a constitution.
METTERNICH was afraid of the growing
constitutional movement. He wanted
European intervention in Italy and Spain.
CONGRESS OF TROPPAU October 1820 –
Austria, Prussia, and Russia met with
unofficial representatives from Britain and
France met to discuss Spain and Italy.
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The Kingdom of the
• Two Sicilies
• Naples and Sicily
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The Holy Alliance led by Alexander I
issued PROTOCOL OF TROPPAU. Stated
that military intervention was possible in
order to preserve European conservative
stability.
CONGRESS OF LAIBACH – January 1821
leading nations authorized troops be sent
into Italy. Austrian troops restored the
king of the KINGDOM OF THE TWO
SICILIES to power WITHOUT the confines
of a constitution.
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CONGRESS OF VERONA 1822 –
Britain withdrew from the notion of a
united front of European
conservative monarchs. Austria,
Prussia, and Russia authorized the
French army to cross the Pyrenees
and help Ferdinand VII put down
liberalism. Spanish liberals and
radicals were executed and tortured
– severe attempt to end liberalism.
The Greek Revolution 1821
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Liberals used ancient Athens as a
symbol of their desire for democracy
in Europe. The Greeks fought the
Ottoman Turks for independence.
The Ottoman Empire was weak and
posed the eastern question for
European leaders. How do they deal
with the Ottoman Empire and the
various European ethnic groups they
controlled.
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Europe also feared Ottoman control of the
eastern Mediterranean Sea and Palestine.
THE TREATY OF LONDON 1827 – Britain,
France and Russia agreed to provide fleet
support for the rebellious Greeks. They
demanded the Turks recognize the
independence of Greece.
Liberals and conservatives agreed:
• Liberal idealism
• Conservative land grabs at the expense of the
Turks
TREATY OF ADRIANOPLE – after Russia
sent troops to occupy what is today
Romania – the Turks agreed to let
Europe decide the fate of Greece.
Second TREATY OF LONDON – 1830 –
Greece given its independence. The
son of the king of Bavaria was
named OTTO I of Greece
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Otto I of Greece
The Development of Liberalism
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Political Liberalism
• Political ideals from the Enlightenment
• English civil rights
• U.S. “Declaration of Independence” and
Constitution
• “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen”
• Free government required government
ministers be responsible to representatives
rather than a monarch
• Often well educated class with money
• NOT usually advocates of true democracy
Economic Liberalism
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Adam Smith THE WEALTH OF
NATIONS 1776 – removal of
economic restraints associated with
mercantilism.
Manufacture and sell freely
Labor a commodity
Favored the state over the monarchy
• Not true with German liberals who
favored the monarchy – believing the
monarchy the only force that could
bring about unification.
Nationalism
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The concept of nation should be base
don people who are joined naturally
through language, customs, culture
and history.
Romantic movement – organic in
nature
Not based around a monarch
German and Italian unification seen
as nationalism
BUT not always liberal - Magyars
Liberal Movements
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Russia: The DECEMBRIST REVOLT
1825
Repressive regime of Alexander I and
the experiences of the Russian army
in Europe since 1800 led many army
officers to demand a liberal change
for Russia.
The sudden death of Alexander I in
1825 provided the officers the
pretext for a demand for change.
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Conditions/demands causing unrest:
• Representative government
• Abolition of serfdom
• Independent Poland
• Constitution
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1825 – dynastic crisis – Alexander I
had no children
Grand Duke Constantine was next in
line by birth – but had removed
himself through a morganic
marriage. He recognized his younger
brother Nicholas as tsar.
Grand Duke Nicholas I acknowledged
his older brother Constantine as tsar.
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Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich
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The delaying in Nicholas
acknowledging and being proclaimed
tsar allowed army officers time to
promote a conspiracy to demand
liberal reforms.
26 December 1825 – Moscow
regiment of the army marched in St.
Petersburg and refused to swear
allegiance. They called for
Constantine and a constitution.
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Tsar Nicholas I
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Other troops were called in the
attack the rebellious group. Some
were killed that day – others were
later executed – hundreds exiled to
Siberia.
The Decembrist Revolt failed. But
there were repercussions:
• Nicholas feared change and any
challenge to his rule
• Gone was any real talk of reform
• The Decembrists became martyrs to
later liberals
• Serfdom maintained in order to
maintain noble support for Nicholas
• Literary and political censorship
increased
• Secret police
Official Nationality
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Official Nationality – “ORTHODOXY,
AUTOCRACY, and NATIONALISM”
Russian Orthodox faith was to be the basis
for morality, education and intellectual life.
The young were taught to accept their
place in life
Political writers stressed that only under
an autocrat had Russia been truly great.
Nationalism – meaning RUSSIA over all –
RUSSIFICATION – the attempt to make all
ethnic groups in the Russian Empire
Russian.
Repression in Poland
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Polish nationalists continually strove for
independence – especially from Russia.
December 1830 the Polish Diet voted to
depose Nicholas as ruler of Poland.
Russian troops put down revolt.
ORGANIC STATUTE February 1832 –
Russia declared Poland not to be an
occupied land – but a true and continuous
part of Russia. Polish nationalism could
then be seen as treason.
Serbia
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In the days after Napoleon – Serbian
nationalists began a guerilla war against
the Ottoman Empire.
1830 – the Ottoman sultan formally
granted Serbian independence. The
boundaries of Serbia were in flux until
1878 – as Serbia wanted more land and
more control of ethnic Serbians. Issues of
religion also complicated matters in the
Balkans.
Russia became Serbia’s formal protector –
starting problems with Austria that will
help initiate World War I.
ANOTHER French Revolution 1830
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1824 – Louis XVIII died and was
succeeded by his ultraconservative royalist
brother CHARLES X – former Duc d’Artois.
Charles X begins to pull back liberal
reforms
• Indemnified aristocrats who lost land in the
1789 revolution – this was done by lowering
interest on government bonds. BUT most bond
holders were bourgeois who then lost money
on their loans to the government.
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Charles X
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Crown of
Louis XVIII
Charles X
• PRIMOGENITURE is restored – land can
be inherited ONLY by the oldest son.
This was hated by the liberals as a sign
of feudalism.
• Sacrilege against the Roman Catholic
Church became a civil crime punished
by imprisonment or death.
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Election of 1827 – liberals gain seats
in the Chamber of Deputies.
Liberals demand a constitutional
monarchy
1829 – Charles replaces his ministers
with ultraroyalist
Liberals begin talks with Charles’
cousin LOUIS-PHILIPPE, Duc
d’Orleans a moderate.
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JULY REVOLUTION 1830
Charles called for new elections –
liberals scored a tremendous victory
Charles send the French navy to
defeat the Algerians and founds a
French Empire in Africa – distracting
the people he hopes.
Charles X issued the FOUR
ORDINANCES on July 25, 1830 – a
royalist coup d’etat
The Four Ordinances
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freedom of the press restricted
Newly elected liberal Chamber of
Deputies dissolved
Franchise restricted to the wealthiest
in France
New elections under new franchise
Rebellion in the Streets
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Liberal newspapers called on the
people of Paris to denounce Charles
and the Four Ordinances
The working class of Paris took to the
streets and barricaded them against
royal troops
Battles in the streets of Paris
August 2, 1830 – Charles X
abdicates and flees to England
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The Chamber of Deputies – composed of
liberal constitutional monarchists –
proclaimed Louis-Philippe the new king of
France
BOURGEOIS REVOLUTION – this was not
the victory of the sans-culottes.
The middle class of France – the banking
and merchant class won over the
conservative royalist and the working
classes.
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Louis-Philippe
Louis-Philippe
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Liberal bourgeois monarch
Tricolor restored as the French flag
New constitution seen as the right of the
people NOT a gift from the monarch
Censorship abolished
Franchise wider but still restricted
Monarch could not dispense with laws on
his won
Hereditary peerage abolished BUT power
of the landed gentry and wealthy
urbanites remained.
The JULY DAYS – Les Miserables
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Working class demanded more rights
and reforms
July 1832 – uprising in Paris after the
funeral of one of Napoleon’s generals
– streets barricaded
Thousands killed
Bourgeois triumphed over the
proletariat
Belgium
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1815 – the former Austrian
Netherlands were merged into the
kingdom of Holland.
Differences in the people maintained
a level of distrust and discomfort.
August 25, 1830 – after an opera in
Brussels depicting the Neapolitan
rebellion against the Spanish
provoked a rebellion against Dutch
rule.
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Propertied classes – bourgeois –
formed a provisional government
Dutch forces defeated
November 1830 – national
constitution written
What about the Congress of Vienna
and the Holy Alliance???
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1. Russia busy putting down Polish revolt
2. Prussia busy putting down German
revolts
Austria busy putting down revolts in Italy
France – did not mind and independent
Belgium – confident they could control
their northern neighbor
Great Britain – OK with independent
Belgium as long as it was not dominated
by another nation – SO…….
Belgium and Great Britain
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British Foreign Minister Lord
Palmerston gathered the world
powers to agree to:
• Independent Belgium
• Neutral Belgium (Convention of 1839)
• Leopold of Saxe-Coburg Gotha named
king of the Belgians in 1831
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Lord Palmerston
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Leopold I
A Prelude to World War One
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1830 – Serbia and Belgium achieve
independence.
These nations will be the sparks of
World War I as the world finally
fights the liberal vs. conservative war