Romanticism, Economic Liberalism and Political LiberalismThe French Revolution, including the Napoleonic conquests of Europe, and the Industrial Revolution had tremendous ramifications in Europe. Some, like Karl Marx, tried to make sense of both by seeing them as the result of class struggles. Some others, who reacted negatively toward the French Revolution and to the French export of Enlightenment philosophies even before that, tried to figure out what was "wrong" with it by tracing its origin to the Enlightenment and its "rigid" application of scientific rules to human society. Three modern schools of thought were developed based on the negative reactions toward the Enlightenment and the French Revolution: Romanticism, political Liberalism, and modern Conservatism. The Romantic movement, first starting in central Europe as a negative reaction to the French export of Enlightenment theories as universal scientific rules governing all humans, emphasized the uniqueness of the human being and the mysterious nature of the human mind. The Romantic movement received greater momentum after Napoleon's invasion of central Europe, and gave rise to modern nationalism: the uniqueness of a people. The Romantic movement became a European wide movement especially after the Industrial Revolution started, when many revolted against the mechanization of labor and society in their writings. Political liberalism was championed by social reformers in 19th century England. These reformers, however, tried to avoid repeating the "mistakes" of the French Revolutionaries by applying abstract scientific rules to the understanding of society. They decided successful social reform would come from the application of tangible, practical rules to society, therefore their adoption of the term "utility" in judging government performance, and their initial adoption of the term "happiness" as a measure to evaluate the success or failure of administration. Economic liberalism, although similar to political liberalism in its emphasis on restricting the role of the state in society, had a different origin. It developed during the Enlightenment and bore the Enlightenment imprint of searching for scientific rules governing the realm of economic activities. One of its founders, Adam Smith, started to formulate his theories on the verge of the British Industrial Revolution.

1. Romanticism

It arose as a reaction to the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. Instead of searching for rules governing nature and human beings, the romantics searched for a direct communication with nature and treated humans as unique individuals not subject to scientific rules. Napoleons invasion of central Europe also helped start a movement that emphasized the authentic national culture such as the vernacular and folklore instead of the language and customs imposed by the foreign ruler.

The romantic movement received new momentum after the Industrial Revolution, which to the Romantics destroyed nature.Wolfgang von Goethe (German, in reaction to French export of the Enlightenment): Denunciation of the Enlightenment philosophers; Advocation of imagination and experience.William Blake (British, in reaction against the Industrial Revolution): disdain for the French philosophers; mystery of the human mind.William Wordsworth (British, in reaction against the Industrial Revolution): value of immediate contact with nature.(These three figures are commonly covered in an English class.)2. Economic liberalismWhat today is called economic liberalism was developed in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Britain, most notably by Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, and David Ricardo. Economic liberalism was a product of the Enlightenment in its emphasis on universal laws governing economy and affirmation of self-interest.Like the Enlightenment, the formulation of scientific rules governing economy was against the absolute control of government over economy. These champions of economic rules believed that individual freedom was best safeguarded by the reduction of government powers to a minimum. They wanted to impose constitutional limits on government, to establish the rule of law, and to sweep away restrictions on individual enterprises, specifically, the state regulation of economy.A. English economy before Adam Smith:Historically, from the 15th-16th century to the 18th century, the English economy was run under the theory of mercantilism: wealth comes from gold and silver, and the state could acquire wealth through encouragement of trade, or rather export, by private companies. Their success would contribute to state revenue. And the state would guarantee their mercantile success. The best example was the British East India Company, which, established to trade with the East Indies, almost became a monopoly of British overseas trade every where, and served as the British government's representative to govern India from the 1770s to 1858.B. Economic liberalism as a revolt against mercantilism and government support of monopoliesThe liberals wanted to ensure a voice in government for men of property and education, and an "equal opportunity" in trade and commerce. It was also influenced by romanticism in its emphasis on individual freedom and the imperative of the human personality to develop to its full potential. Basically, however, economic liberalism was a theory for the middle class.C. Adam Smith (1723-90)

His liberalism was developed in the middle of the British Industrial Revolution, when many British factories were in the process of being mechanized and wanted opportunities to sell their products in overseas markets, which were so far dominated by the British East India Company.

D.Smith emphasized the importance of free market and free trade.

To him, there was a convergence of individual and social interests through a free market economy.Premises of free trade: National wealth comes from labor: the produce that requires labor to produce. In England labor at the time of Adam Smith was primarily invested in landed produce. The value of the landed produce made by the farmer was the basis of national wealth and wealth distribution: the farmer would use that wealth to purchase tools, goods made by artisans/handicraftsmen, and other non-agricultural products.Their purchases would keep the national industry and other trades going. Thus if high tariffs were levied on imported goods, it meant part of the value produced by the farmers would be used to pay the tariff, and less money would be used to purchase the above mentioned goods. Higher tariffs would also lead to less investment on the farm hence farmer could not raise crop yield the following year, and that would decrease the tax base for state. Higher tariffs will also lead to 1) trade monopoly in England that raised prices of the non-agricultural goods, and 2) depletion of farmers resources because they now had to spend so much more on purchasing non-agricultural goods. In the long run, this would decrease the value of farm produce and hurt national industries since the farmers would buy less and less.E. Ricardo and Malthus:David Ricardo (1772-1823) and Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) continued Adam Smith's use of scientific rules in the study of economy and opposition to government intervention in economic activities. Their writings, especially the writings of Ricardo, done at a time when the British Industrial Revolution was well under way, served a different social purpose as Smith's. While Smith championed the cause of the small and medium sized merchants and traders, and in that sense was "progressive" by today's standards, Malthus and Ricardo discouraged any government legislation to salvage the working class poor by saying that working class poverty was determined by the scientific rules governing society, and not something government policy could alter.In "An Essay on the Principle of Population" (1798, rev. ed. 1803), Thomas Malthus contended that poverty and distress are unavoidable, since population increases by geometrical ratio and the means of subsistence by arithmetic ratio.Ricardo's iron law of wages supplemented Malthus's pessimistic thesis by asserting that wages tend to stabilize at the subsistence level.Labour, like all other things which are purchased and sold, and which may be increased or diminished in quantity, has its natural and its market price. The natural price of labour is that price which is necessary to enable the labourers, one with another, to subsist and to perpetuate their race, without either increase or diminution.The natural price of labour, therefore, depends on the price of the food, necessaries, and conveniences required for the support of the labourer and his family.The market price of labour is the price which is really paid for it, from the natural operation of the proportion of the supply to the demand; labour is dear when it is scarce, and cheap when it is plentiful. However much the market price of labour may deviate from its natural price, it has, like commodities, a tendency to conform to it.It is when the market price of labour exceeds its natural price, that the condition of the labourer is flourishing and happy, that he has it in his power to command a greater proportion of the necessaries and enjoyments of life, and therefore to rear a healthy and numerous family. When, however, by the encouragement which high wages give to the increase of population, the number of labourers is increased, wages again fall to their natural price, and indeed from a reaction sometimes fall below it.When the market price of labour is below its natural price, the condition of the labourers is most wretched: then poverty deprives them of those comforts which custom renders absolute necessaries. It is only after their privations have reduced their number, or the demand for labour has increased, that the market price of labour will rise to its natural price, and that the labourer will have the moderate comforts which the natural rate of wages will afford.

3. Utilitarianism: philosophy guiding 19th century English social reformUtilitarianism was a reaction against the Enlightenment principles and the French Revolution. It sought to be concrete rather than abstract. The word utility meant anything that was not abstract; something tangible and mundane. It came in the wake of the English industrial Revolution. Its founder, Jremy Bentham, decided it meant quantifiable pleasure and that government should promote the greatest pleasure of the greatest number of people.

John.Stuart.Mill (1806-73)Born into the family of a leading member of the British Utilitarian school, James Mill, John Stuart Mill championed the utilitarian theory but modified it to include not just quantitative but also qualitative happiness/pleasure. Like the other Utilitarians, he was hoping to replace traditional mores and values with this concept of happiness, a happiness one pursued not just for oneself, but also for others because of the natural human sentiment of sympathy. Indeed, sympathy was central to Mill's argument for a less politically restrictive society, because humans were by nature altruistic as a result of the natural sentiment of sympathy. And only when political restrictions and social conventions were relaxed could humans do good things for the sake of goodness, instead of just avoiding legal punishment and social condemnation.Mill is usually regarded as the champion of political liberalism, marked especially by his treatiseOn Liberty(1859). There he gave the most systematic treatment of why, even a democratic representative government had to restrict its power. Reasons he included were the bias of the voters and that not every one was equally politically active, therefore decisions were often made on behalf of those who were most politically active. Unlike the Enlightenment philosophers who championed rights such as liberty and equality but did not extend them to women, and not always to the poor, Mill had a greater respect to the sanctity of individual freedom, and treated women as equals.

(All Rights Reserved - James O. Richards)The Shaping of the "SecondEurope" by Revolutions 1750-1914The Impact of Revolutions and "isms" as a Theme

Outline of LectureI. Introduction - ImpactOfRevolutionsII.ConservatismIII.LiberalismIV.NationalismV. RomanticismVI.SocialismVII.Optimism, Pessimism, and RealismVIII.Nihilism (Anti-Rationalism)IX.Imperialism

IntroductionRevolutions were decisive in shaping the period 1789-1914. From the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and the revolution caused by Charles Darwin's theory of evolution came all the major movements and important figures of the period. These movements and people differed widely except for the one thing they had in common, the suffix"ism:"ConservatismLiberalismNationalismRomanticismSocialismOptimism, Pessimism, and RealismNihilism(Anti-Rationalism)Imperialism

For several sessions we shall be looking at each of these in some detail, showing at the same time that the "ism" is an outgrowth of revolutionary forces and that it has an effect on the basic ideas, beliefs, and values of the Second Europe. In some cases the effect is to affirm the Enlightenment outlook in one or more ways. In others it is to modify that outlook. In still others it is a basic rejection of the Second Europe and its affirmations about man, the world, God, society, and the future. You need to be looking at the broader question of what each "ism" had to say about the Enlightenment as well as what the "ism" was.The first two "isms" we take up were directly inspired by the French Revolution which itself was influenced by the American Revolution:ConservatismandLiberalism. Conservatism rejected the French Revolution not only for its effects but also because of its methods. Arevolution, according to Edmund Burke, necessarily destroys its ideals as it attempts to achieve them. Social and political progress are not brought about through violence and destruction; only through conserving and enriching the traditions of the past can man hope to make changes for the better. Any change, to produce beneficial results, must be slow andevolutionaryin nature. Anything else is worse than doing nothing at all. Sudden change always ends in disaster. Conservatives, then, questioned the efficacy, if not the validity, of Second Europe ideas and ideals.Liberalism, on the other hand, believed that progress could occur through peaceful, lawful change. Primarily English but also found later on the Continent, Liberals trusted in the rationality and goodness of man. They thought it possible to adapt the ideals of the Enlightenment to the political and economic conditions being created by the Industrial Revolution. They too questioned the effects and methods of the French Revolution, but for them the problem lay not in what the French Revolution sought to accomplish, but in the way it sought to accomplish it. They believed that each individual must be given the maximum freedom to develop himself as he thought best. At the same time they wanted to keep government interference to a minimum. They believed inLaissez-faireeconomics. Liberalism was torn by dissension during the period we will be looking at because Liberals held contradictory ideals: governmental non-interference and humanitarianism. These two ideals clashed, particularly in the 19thcentury. Liberals, then, affirmed the Enlightenment and believed its values and ideals could be implemented in the actual conditions of society by peaceful, constitutional changes.

?1. What are the differences between modern conservatives and liberals?2. Should government interference be kept to a minimum? Is more government better for the individual or worse?Your reasons?3. It comes back to the theory one holds about human nature, doesn't it?

Nationalismwas the third of the "isms" we shall examine. Its effect was profound in the 19thcentury, and still is. In fact, in our century there seems to be no end to the effort of each "people", using the term loosely to characterize a group which sees itself as distinct for whatever reason it sees itself as distinct, to achieve separate status as a "nation" and freedom to determine its own destiny. In the 19thcentury "nation" identified a people sharing an identity through occupation of a territory, a history, a language, common traditions and other common elements. This attitude toward a people as unique and worthwhile compared to other peoples was first made an ideology during the French Revolution. The French proclaimed the French "nation" as the authority underlying the state (not the King who had been executed, or France in the abstract, but thepeople, the "nation"). They spread this attitude acrossEuropeduring the Revolution and found it turned back against them when they became an occupying force in the countries they conquered. Because the French nation and its culture became equated with French occupation and rule, the subject peoples searched their own history and traditions, each trying to find a national culture which would surpass that of the French. This cultural nationalism led to political nationalism and helped inspire opposition to the French both before Napoleon and during his imperial reign inEurope. It took a variety of forms after the French Revolution and Napoleonic period. InGermanyit led to the worship of the state (G. W. F. Hegel). InItalyit became the basis forthe ahumanitarian crusade for independence from foreign oppressors (Giuseppe Mazzini). It led to movements for independence in other cases: the Greeks from the Turks; the Belgians from the Dutch. Its most important practical result in the 19thcentury was the unification and creation ofGermanyandItalyas nation-states.

?The tendency of nationalism is to idealize ever smaller groupings of "peoples" as nationalities. How does that compare with the tendency of radical individualism to idealize the solitary person? Is it too much of a stretch to compare them?

Romanticism, a movement of wide and varied character in literature, philosophy, and the arts, was a fourth "ism" spawned by revolutions which shaped the Second Europe. As a general outlook on life, it was a reaction against central tenets of the Enlightenment, particularly the emphasis on reason and logic and the scientific spirit with which men sought to understand themselves and their world. Romantics were sympathetic to the French Revolution and willing to join any crusade for political freedom. At the same time they steadfastly opposed the Industrial Revolution which they saw as crippling and deadening the spirit of man. Romanticism as a general outlook survives today in the trend towards individualism and primitivism as themes in our society (individualism-maximum freedom from any kind of restraint; primitivism-the destruction of traditional standards and the idealization of the "unfitting" in personal and social behavior). Romanticism, then, basically rejected the Enlightenment.

?Perhaps it is premature to raise the question about the Romantic influence so early, but let's do it anyway.Individualism and primitivism.Do you see these today?Examples?

A fifth "ism" wasSocialism, the most radical of the lot. This was particularly so in the case of Karl Marx's brand of socialism. Socialism sprang up in reaction to the Industrial Revolution and the industrial society which followed. Socialism differed from Liberalism in one important way. Liberals rejected the pre-revolutionary social structure ofEurope, but accepted the new middle class or bourgeois society which grew out of industrialization. Socialists rejected the bourgeois society and championed the industrial working class or proletariat also a product of the Industrial Revolution. Some socialists advocated peaceful, gradual changes to industrial society. Marxian Socialists preached violent, revolutionary change. As we shall see, Socialism affirmed many of the tenets of the Second Europe, although its stance as a broad movement was that of a counter-culture, hostile to the established order in all respects.Optimismwas a sixth "ism", perhaps the most pervasive of them all. With few exceptions, leaders of the 19thcentury were firm believers in progress. G. W. F. Hegel said progress was a metaphysical necessity. Marx pronounced it a historical necessity;Darwin, a biological necessity. John Stuart Mill in his workUtilitarianism(1863), said "...no one whose opinion deserves a moment's notice can doubt that most of the great positive evils of the world are in themselves removable. . . .All the grand sources ... of human suffering are in a great degree, many of them almost entirely, conquerable by human care and effort." In that progress was one of the watchwords of the Second Europe, optimism affirmed the Enlightenment.To many it seemed undeniable that progress was being made as man conquered nature through industrialization, technology, and engineering. No single event was more symbolic of this belief than the opening of theGreat Exhibition of 1851in the marvelousCrystal Palace. Designed bySir Joseph Paxton(himself a model of the self-made man) and erected inLondon'sHyde Park, the Palace was both a triumph of engineering and a thing ofbeauty,perfectly embodying the hope and confidence of the age that progress was unending and universal. It was what would today be called prefab construction. Over a million square feet of clear glass rested on a framework of iron trusses and rods covering an area of almost 800,000 square feet of exhibition spaces. Fittingly, this cathedral of progress contained a huge Centre Transept housing the largest organ in the world. Inside were the proofs of man's genius in manufacturing and the arts: 13,000 exhibits from Great Britain and other nations, including theJacquard loom(punch card operated to automatically produce intricate textile patterns), the Colt repeater pistol, and a reaper from the United States. QueenVictoriapronounced the opening of the Exhibition "one of the greatest and most glorious days of our lives."

?The Jacquard loom lives on. Standard Textile in Thomaston, GA is running seven of these in their plant, producing blankets and other products. Themodern versionis computer-driven.

Even a brief discussion of 19thcentury optimism and the engineering marvels which this ism evoked must mentionIsambard Kingdom Brunel(1806-1859).At the astonishing age of 20 he was resident engineer on theThames Tunnel.He designed and built several suspension bridges.Turning to railway engineering, he designed and built the Great Western Railway which linkedLondontoBristoland required abox tunnelof over 2 miles; Brunel insisted the railway be built on a new wider gauge for greater speed. Not content with these projects, he also conceived and constructed several iron-hulled transports, one of which first incorporatedthe screw-propelleron an oceangoing ship. (Brunel silenced objections to the propellers feasibility by staging a demonstration in which his ship out-pulled a paddle wheeler.)Optimism seemed to promise unending progress based on the ever greater works of Paxton, Brunel and others.Would these advances one day be extended to the whole world? Who could doubt it? The lack of a general war from 1815 to 1914 seemed to confirm it. So in literature, a subject we examine later, there is a strong strain of optimism in the first half of the 19thcentury. But the human misery of industrial society and the ideas of Charles Darwin also called forth pessimism and realism in literature as the century moved into the second half.

?

1.Progress, Yes or No?Maybe?2.Are better things progress?

A seventh "ism" wasNihilism, a philosophy identified with Friedrich Nietzsche. Nihilism is the philosophical stance (school is too strong a word) that all rational, systematic thought is unfounded, that life is senseless and useless, that objective truth cannot be known, and that the task of the philosopher is to tear down existing philosophical systems and statements of truth. It is an oversimplification to say that something so complex as nihilism or Friedrich Nietzsche could be produced by any single event or movement. But the upheaval in thought produced by Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection is certainly an important factor. If a blind force is driving the development of organisms in interplay with their environment, then what is there of an order or purpose in the grand scheme of things? None, said Nietzsche. All one can do is point out the truth that there is no truth in any systematic sense. It is a chimera to be grasped and conveyed, if stated at all, in highly personal aphorisms. The only reality and "truth" is that a blind Will is working itself out in this world. The 19thcentury did not feel the impact of his ideas very much, but the 20thcentury certainly did. Obviously Nietzsche and Nihilism are totally opposed to the Second Europe.

?Here's one way to apply what Nietzsche said. Truth is what I perceive. But I recognize that you may not see it as I do, so your perception is equally valid. Which means that no one is Right. Or Wrong. So I shouldn't make judgments about Right and Wrong. The terrorist who flies a plane into a building and kills a lot of people is notWrong. He is part of a great cause which has commanded hiswill, a cause which he authenticates by voluntarily dying and taking many others with him. So I have no objective standard by which to judge him. Or do I? And this standard is?

An eighth and final "ism" wasImperialismwhich developed out of the Industrial Revolution, Optimism and Darwinism. The imperial countries of the 19thand early 20thcenturies were the industrialized nations of Europe. Part of the attitude of imperialists was the idealistic notion that Western Man should take the benefits of Civilization and Progress to those who did not enjoy them in the non-western world. But practical, selfish ideas also entered into imperialist thinking.And the influence of Darwin.As Theodore Roosevelt said at the turn of the 19th- 20thcenturies "Nations that expand and nations that do not may both ultimately go down, but the one leaves heirs and a glorious memory, and the other leaves neither."These then were the major movements or "isms" which appeared in reaction to the Enlightenment, the great Revolutions, and the impact of Darwin. To understand them and their effect on the shaping of the Second Europe is to understand much about the late 18th, 19thand early 20thcenturies. Now we will take up the Revolutions and "isms" in order.

Lecture 16The Romantic Era

The categories which it has become customary to use in distinguishing and classifying "movements" in literature or philosophy and in describing the nature of the significant transitions which have taken place in taste and in opinion, are far too rough, crude, undiscriminating -- and none of them so hopelessly as the category "Romantic."---Arthur O. Lovejoy, "On the Discriminations of Romanticisms" (1924)Ask anyone on the street: "what is Romanticism?" and you will certainly receive some kind of reply. Everyone claims to know the meaning of the word romantic. The word conveys notions of sentiment and sentimentality, a visionary or idealistic lack of reality. It connotes fantasy and fiction. It has been associated with different times and with distant places: the island of Bali, the world of the Arabian Nights, the age of the troubadours and even Manhattan. Advertising links it with the effects of lipstick, perfume and soap. If we could ask the advertising genius who, fifty years ago, came up with the brilliant cigarette campaign, "blow some my way," he may have responded with "it's romantic."These meanings cause few problems in every day life -- indeed, few of us wonder about the meaning of Romanticism at all. Yet we use the expression freely and casually ("a romantic, candle-lit dinner"). But literary historians and critics as well as European historians have been quarreling over the meaning of the word Romanticism for decades, as Lovejoy's comment above makes abundantly clear. One of the problems is that the Romantics were liberals and conservatives, revolutionaries and reactionaries. Some were preoccupied with God, others were atheistic to the core. Some began their lives as devout Catholics, lived as ardent revolutionaries and died as staunch conservatives.The expression Romantic gained currency during its own time, roughly 1780-1850. However, even within its own period of existence, few Romantics would have agreed on a general meaning. Perhaps this tells us something. To speak of a Romantic era is to identify a period in which certain ideas and attitudes arose, gained currency and in most areas of intellectual endeavor, became dominant. That is, they became the dominant mode of expression. Which tells us something else about the Romantics: expression was perhaps everything to them -- expression in art, music, poetry, drama, literature and philosophy. Just the same, older ideas did not simply wither away. Romantic ideas arose both as implicit and explicit criticisms of 18th century Enlightenment thought (seeLecture 9). For the most part, these ideas were generated by a sense of inadequacy with the dominant ideals of the Enlightenment and of the society that produced them.ROMANTICISMappeared in conflict with the Enlightenment. You could go as far as to say that Romanticism reflected a crisis in Enlightenment thought itself, a crisis which shook the comfortable 18th centuryphilosopheout of his intellectual single-mindedness. The Romantics were conscious of their unique destiny. In fact, it was self-consciousness which appears as one of the keys elements of Romanticism itself.Thephilosopheswere too objective -- they chose to see human nature as something uniform. Thephilosopheshad also attacked the Church because it blocked human reason. The Romantics attacked the Enlightenment because it blocked the free play of the emotions and creativity. Thephilosophehad turned man into a soulless, thinking machine -- a robot. In a comment typical of the Romantic thrust,William Hazlitt(1778-1830) asked, "For the better part of my life all I did was think." AndWilliam Godwin(1756-1836), a contemporary of Hazlitts asked, "what shall I do when I have read all the books?" Christianity had formed a matrix into which medieval man situated himself. The Enlightenment replaced the Christian matrix with the mechanical matrix of Newtonian natural philosophy. For the Romantic, the result was nothing less than the demotion of the individual. Imagination, sensitivity, feelings, spontaneity and freedom were stifled -- choked to death. Man must liberate himself from these intellectual chains.Like one of their intellectual fathers,Jean Jacques Rousseau(1712-1778), the Romantics yearned to reclaim human freedom. Habits, values, rules and standards imposed by a civilization grounded in reason and reason only had to be abandoned. "Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains," Rousseau had written. Whereas thephilosophessaw man in common, that is, as creatures endowed with Reason, the Romantics saw diversity and uniqueness. That is, those traits which set one man apart from another, and traits which set one nation apart from another. Discover yourself -- express yourself, cried the Romantic artist. Play your own music, write your own drama, paint your own personal vision, live, love and suffer in your own way. So instead of the motto, "Sapere aude," "Dare to know!" the Romantics took up the battle cry, "Dare to be!" The Romantics were rebels and they knew it. They dared to march to the tune of a different drummer -- their own. The Romantics were passionate about their subjectivism, about their tendency toward introspection. Rousseaus autobiography,The Confessions(1781), began with the following words:I am commencing an undertaking, hitherto without precedent and which will never find an imitator. I desire to set before my fellows the likeness of a man in all the truth of nature, and that man myself. Myself alone! I know the feelings of my heart, and I know men. I am not made like any of those I have seen. I venture to believe that I am not made like any of those who are in existence. If I am not better, at least I am different.Romanticism was the new thought, the critical idea and the creative effort necessary to cope with the old ways of confronting experience. The Romantic era can be considered as indicative of an age of crisis. Even before 1789, it was believed that theancien regimeseemed ready to collapse. Once the French Revolution entered its radical phase in August 1792 (seeLecture 13), the fear of political disaster also spread. King killing, Robespierre, the Reign of Terror, and the Napoleonic armies all signaled chaos -- a chaos which would dominate European political and cultural life for the next quarter of a century.Meanwhile, the Industrial Revolution -- in full swing in England since the 1760s -- spread to the Continent in the 1820s, thus adding entirely new social concerns (seeLecture 17). The old order -- politics and the economy -- seemed to be falling apart and hence for many Romantics, raised the threat of moral disaster as well. Men and women faced the need to build new systems of discipline and order, or, at the very least, they had to reshape older systems. The era was prolific in innovative ideas and new art forms. Older systems of thought had to come to terms with rapid and apparently unmanageable change.In the midst of what has been called the Romantic Era, an era often portrayed as devoted to irrationality and "unreason," the most purely rational social science -- classical political economy -- carried on the Enlightenment tradition. Enlightenment rationalism continued to be expressed in the language of political and economic liberalism. For example,Jeremy Benthams(1748-1832) radical critique of traditional politics became an active political movement known asutilitarianism. And revolutionary Jacobinism inundated EnglishChartism-- an English working class movement of the 1830s and 40s. The political left on the Continent as well as many socialists, communists and anarchists also reflected their debt to the heritage of the Enlightenment.The Romantics defined the Enlightenment as something to which they were clearly opposed. Thephilosophesoversimplified. But Enlightenment thought was and is not a simple and clearly identifiable thing. In fact, what has often been identified as the Enlightenment bore very little resemblance to reality. As successors to the Enlightenment, the Romantics were often unfair in their appreciation of the 18th century. They failed to recognize just how much they shared with thephilosophes. In doing so, the Romantics were similar to Renaissance humanists in that both failed to perceive the meaning and importance of the cultural period which had preceded their own (seeLecture 4). The humanists, in fact, invented a "middle age" so as to define themselves more carefully. As a result, the humanists enhanced their own self-evaluation and prestige in their own eyes. The humanists foisted an error on subsequent generations of thinkers. Their error lay in their evaluation of the past as well as in their simple failure to apprehend or even show a remote interest in the cultural heritage of the medieval world. Both aspects of the error are important.With the Romantics, it shows first how men make an identity for themselves by defining an enemy, making clear what they oppose, thus making life into a battle. Second, it is evident that factual, accurate, subtle understanding makes the enemy mere men. Even before 1789, the Romantics opposed the superficiality of the conventions of an artificial, urban and aristocratic society. They blurred distinctions between its decadent, fashionable Christianity or unemotional Deism and the irreligion or anti-clericalism of thephilosophes. Thephilosophes, expert in defining themselves in conflict with their enemy -- the Church -- helped to create the mythical ungodly Enlightenment many Romantics so clearly opposed.It was during the French Revolution and for fifty or sixty years afterward that the Romantics clarified their opposition to the Enlightenment. This opposition was based on equal measures of truth and fiction. The Romantics rejected what they thought thephilosophesrepresented. And over time, the Romantics came to oppose and criticize not only the Enlightenment, but also ideas derived from it and the men who were influenced by it.The period from 1793 to 1815 was a period of European war. War, yes, but also revolutionary combat -- partisanship seemed normal. Increasingly, however, the Romantics rejected those aspects of the French Revolution -- the Terror and Napoleon -- which seemed to them to have sprung from the heads of thephilosophesthemselves. For instance,William Wordsworth(1770-1850) was living in Paris during the heady days of 1789 -- he was, at the time, only 19 years old. In his autobiographical poem,The Prelude, he reveals his experience of the first days of the Revolution. Wordsworth read his poem toSamuel Taylor Coleridge(1772-1834) in 1805--I might add thatThe Preludeis epic in proportion as it weighs in at eight thousand lines. By 1805, the bliss that carried Wordsworth and Coleridge in the 1790s, had all but vanished.But for some Romantics, aristocrats, revolutionary armies, natural rights and constitutionalism were not real enemies. There were new enemies on the horizon, especially after theCongress of Vienna(1814-1815). The Romantics concentrated their attack on the heartlessness of bourgeois liberalism as well as the nature of urban industrial society. Industrial society brought new problems: soulless individualism, economic egoism, utilitarianism, materialism and the cash nexus. Industrial society came under attack by new critics: the utopian socialists and communists. But there were also men likeBenjamin Disraeli(1804-1881) andThomas Carlyle(1795-1881) who identified the threat of egoism as the chief danger of their times. Egoism dominated the bourgeoisie, especially in France and in England. Higher virtues and social concerns were subsumed by the cash nexus and crass materialism of an industrial capitalist society. Artists and intellectuals attacked the philistinism of the bourgeoisie for their lack of taste and their lack of an higher morality. Ironically, the brunt of their attack fell on the social class which had produced the generation of Romantics.Romanticism reveals the persistence of Enlightenment thought, the Romantics definition of themselves and a gradual awareness of a new enemy. The shift to a new enemy reminds us that the Romantic Age was also an eclectic age. The Enlightenment was no monolithic structure -- neither was Romanticism, however we define it. Ideas of an age seldom exist as total systems. Our labels too easily let us forget that past ideas form the context in which new ideas are developed and expressed. Intellectuals do manage to innovate and their innovations are oftentimes not always recombinations of what they have embraced in their education. Intellectual and geographic contexts differ from state to state -- even though French culture seemed to have dominated the Continent during the early decades of the 19th century. England is the obvious exception. Germany is another example -- the movement known asSturm und Drang(Storm and Stress) -- was an independent cultural development.National variations were enhanced when, under the direct effect of the Napoleonic wars, boundaries were closed and the easy international interchange of ideas was inhibited. But war was not the only element that contributed to the somewhat inhibited flow of ideas. Profound antagonism and the desire to create autonomous cultures was also partially responsible. This itself grew out of newly found nationalist ideologies which were indeed characteristic of Romanticism itself. And within each nation state, institutional and social differences provided limits to the general assimilation of a clearly defined set of ideas. In France, for example, the academies were strong and during the Napoleonic era, censorship was common. Artists and intellectuals alike were prevented from innovating or adopting new ideas. In Germany, on the other hand, things were quite different. The social structure, the heavy academism and specific institutional traits blocked any possibility of learning or expressing new modes of thought.Most important were the progressive changes in the potential audience artists and intellectuals now faced -- most of them now had to depend upon that audience. Where the audience was very small, as in Austria and parts of Germany, the results often ranged between the extremes of great openness to rigid conservatism. Where the audience was steadily growing, as in France or England, and where urbanization and the growth of a middle class was transforming the expectations of the artist and intellectual, there was room for experiment, innovation and oftentimes, disastrous failure. Here, artists and intellectuals could no longer depend upon aristocratic patronage. Popularity among the new and powerful middle class audience became a rite of passage.At the same time, intellectuals criticized the tasteless and unreceptive philistine bourgeoisie. Ironically, they were criticizing the same class and the same mentality from which they themselves had emerged and which had supported them. In this respect, the Romantic age was similar to the age of Enlightenment. A free press and careers open to talent provided possibilities of competitive innovation. This led to new efforts to literally train audiences to be receptive to the productions of artists and intellectuals. Meanwhile, literary hacks andGrub Streetwriters produced popular pot boilers for the masses. All these characteristics placed limits upon the activities of the Romantics. These limits could not be ignored. In fact, these limits often exerted pressures that can be identified as causes of the Romantic movement itself.There were direct, immediate and forceful events that many British and European Romantics experienced in their youth. The French Revolution was a universal phenomenon that affected them all. And the Napoleonic wars after 1799 also influenced an entire generation of European writers, composers and artists. Those who were in their youth in the 1790s felt a chasm dividing them from an earlier, pre-revolutionary generation. Those who had seen Napoleon seemed different and felt different from those who were simply too young to understand. The difference lay in a great discrepancy in the quality of their experience. Great European events, such as the Revolution and Napoleon, gave identity to generations and made them feel as one -- a shared experience. As a consequence, the qualities of thought and behavior in 1790 was drastically different from what it was in 1820. In the Romantic era, men and women felt these temporal and experiential differences consciously and intensely. It is obvious, I suppose, that only after Napoleon could the cults of the hero, of hero worship and of the geniustake full form. And only after 1815 could youth complain that their time no longer offered opportunities for heroism or greatness -- only their predecessors had known these opportunities.The intellectual historian or historian of ideas always faces problems. Questions of meaning, interpretation and an acceptance of a particularZeitgeist, or climate of opinion or world view is serious but difficult stuff. Although we frequently use words like Enlightenment or Romanticism to describe intellectual or perhaps cultural events, these expressions sometimes cause more harm than good. There is, for instance, no 18th century document, no perfect exemplar orideal type, to use Max Webers word, which can be called "enlightened." There is, unfortunately, no perfect document or ideal type of which we may pronounce, "this is Romantic."We have seen that one way to define the Romantics is to distinguish them from thephilosophes. But, for both thephilosophesand the Romantics, Nature was accepted as a general standard. Nature was natural -- and this supplied standards for beauty and for morality. The Enlightenments appreciation of Nature was, of course, derived wholly from Isaac Newton. The physical world was orderly, explicable, regular, logical. It was, as we are all now convinced, a Nature subject to laws which could be expressed with mathematical certainty. Universal truths -- like natural rights -- were the object of science and of philosophy. And the uniformity of Nature permitted a knowledge which was rapidly accumulating as a consequence of mans rational capacity and the use of science to penetrate the mysteries of nature. The Enlightenment defined knowledge in a Lockian manner--that is, a knowledge based on sense impressions. This was an environmentalist psychology, if you will, a psychology in which men know only what their sense impressions allowed their faculty of reason to understand.The Enlightenment was rationalist -- it glorified human reason. Reason illustrated the power of analysis -- Reason was the power of associating like experiences in order to generalize about them inductively. Reason was a common human possession -- it was held by all men. Even American "savages" were endowed with reason, hence the 18th century emphasis on "common sense," and the "noble savage." Common sense -- revealed by reason -- would admit a groundwork for a common morality. As nature was studied in order to discover its universal aspects, men began to accept that what was most worth knowing and what was therefore most valuable, was what they had in common with one another. Society, then, became an object of science. Society revealed self-evident truths about human nature -- self-evident truths about natural rights.Social and political thought was individualistic and atomistic. As the physical universe was ultimately machinelike, so social organization could be fashioned after the machine. Science pronounced what society ought to become in view of mans natural needs. These needs were not being fulfilled by the past -- for this reason, the medieval matrix and the ancien regime inhibited mans progress. The desire was to shape institutions, to change men and to produce a better society -- knowledge, morality and human happiness. The intention was at once cosmopolitan and humanitarian.The Romantics felt all the opinions of the Enlightenment were fraught with dangerous errors and oversimplifications. Romanticism may then be considered as a critique of the inadequacies of what it held to be Enlightened thought. The critique of the Romantics -- sometime open, sometimes hidden -- can be seen as a new study of the bases or knowledge and of the whole scientific enterprise. It rejected a science based on physics -- physics was inadequate to describe the reality of experience. "O for a life of sensations rather than of thoughts," wroteJohn Keats(1795-1821). AndWilliam Blake(1757-1827) admonished us all to "Bathe in the waters of life." And Keats again, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty, -- that is all/Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."The Romantic universe was expanding, evolving, becoming -- it was organic, it was alive. The Romantics sought their soul in the science of life, not the science of celestial mechanics. They moved from planets to plants. The experience was positively exhilarating, explosive and liberating -- liberation from the soulless, materialistic, thinking mechanism that was man. The 18th century had created it. The Romantics found it oppressive , hence the focus on liberation. Listen to the wayPercy Bysshe Shelley(1792-1822) put it inPrometheus Unbound:The joy, the triumph, the delight, the madness!The boundless, overflowing, bursting gladness,The vaporous exultation not to be confined!Ha! Ha! The animation of delightWhich wraps me, like an atmosphere of light,And bears me as a cloud is borne by its own wind.The Romantics returned God to Nature -- the age revived the unseen world, the supernatural, the mysterious, the world of medieval man. It is no accident that the first gothic novel appears early in the Romantic Age. Nature came to be viewed historically. The world was developing, it was a world of continuous process, it was a world in the process of becoming. And this continuous organic process could only be understood through historical thought. And here we have come almost full circle to the views expressed by Giambattista Vico (seeLecture 10) a century earlier. This is perhaps the single most revolutionary aspect of the Romantic Age. An admiration for all the potency and diversity of living nature superseded a concern for the discovery of its universal traits. In a word, the Romantics embraced relativism. They did not seek universal abstract laws asImmanuel Kant(1724-1804) had. Instead, they saw history as a process of unfolding, a becoming. Was not this the upshot of whatG. W. F. Hegel(1770-1831) had argued in his philosophy of history? And look at the time frame: Kant - 1780s, Hegel - 1820s and 30s.The Romantics sought Natures glorious diversity of detail -- especially its moral and emotional relation to mankind. On this score, the Romantics criticized the 18th century. Thephilosophewas cold, mechanical, logical and unfeeling. There was no warmth in the heart. For the Romantics, warmth of heart was found and indeed enhanced by a communion with Nature. The heart has reasons that Reason is not equipped to understand. The heart was a source of knowledge -- the location of ideas "felt" as sensations rather than thoughts. Intuition was equated with that which men feel strongly. Men could learn by experiment or by logical processbut men could learn more in intuitive flashes and feelings, by learning to trust their instincts. The Romantics distrusted calculation and stressed the limitations of scientific knowledge. The rationality of science fails to apprehend the variety and fullness of reality. Rational analysis destroys the nave experience of the stream of sensations and in this violation, leads men into error.One power possessed by the Romantic, a power distinct and superior to reason, was imagination. Imagination might apprehend immediate reality and create in accordance with it. And the belief that the unculturedthat is, the primitive -- know not merely differently but best is an example of how the Romantics reinterpreted the irrational aspect of reality -- the Imagination. The Romantics did not merely say that there were irrational ways of intuiting reality. They rejected materialism and utilitarianism as types of personal behavior and as philosophies. They sought regeneration -- a regeneration we can liken to that of the medieval heretic or saint. They favored selfless enthusiasm, an enthusiasm which was an expression of faith and not as the product of utilitarian calculation. Emotion -- unbridled emotion -- was celebrated irrespective of its consequences.The 18th century life of mind was incomplete. The Romantics opted for a life of the heart. Their relativism made them appreciative of diversity in man and in nature. There are no universal laws. There are certainly no laws which would explain man. Thephilosophecongratulated himself for helping to destroy theancien regime. And today, we can perhaps say, "good job!" But after all the destruction, after the ancient idols fell, and after the dust had cleared, there remained nothing to take its place. In stepped the Romantics who sought to restore the organic quality of the past, especially the medieval past, the past so detested by the pompous, powdered-wigphilosophe.Truth and beauty were human attributes. A truth and beauty which emanated from the poets soul and the artists heart. If the poets are, as Shelley wrote in 1821, the "unacknowledged legislators of the world," it was world of fantasy, intuition, instinct and emotion. It was a human world.

EUROPE (1815-1848)SummaryAt the Congress of Vienna in 1815, in the aftermath of theNapoleonic Era, Europe's leaders worked to reorganize Europe and create a stable balance of power. After that Congress, The Austrian diplomat Metternich would call several more congresses to try and preserve European stability: the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle (1818), the Congress of Troppau (1820), and the Congress of Verona (1822). The Congress System that Metternich established was Reactionary, that is, its goal was to preserve the power of the old, monarchical regimes in Europe.Revolution was brewing, however. In Britain, the Industrial Revolution continued to accelerate, causing economic transformations that had serious political and social implications. All across Europe, and especially in France and Britain, the rising Bourgeoisie class challenged the old monarchical Reactionaries with their Liberal ideology. "Isms" abounded. Ideologies such as Radicalism, Republicanism, and Socialism rounded into coherent form. In response to events like the 1819 Peterloo Massacre, worker consciousness of a class struggle between Proletariat and Bourgeoisie began to emerge. The Bourgeoisie was clearly the ascendant class between 1815 and 1848; the Proletariat began to gain a sense of similar unification.Another "Ism" coming into its own at this time was Romanticism, the intellectual response to the French Enlightenment rationalism and emphasis on Reason. At the same time, Romantic thinkers, artists, and writers posed powerful challenge to the Enlightenment emphasis on rationalism and reason. Such artists and philosophers as Herder, Hegel, Schiller, Schinckel, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley,John Keats,William Wordsworth, and Delacroix, to name a few, achieved remarkable intellectual and artistic heights and gained a wide following throughout Europe, particularly in Germany, Prussia, England, and to a lesser extent France.Of all the "Isms" competing in this period, perhaps the greatest was Nationalism, an ideology, like Romanticism, which reacted against the universalist claims of French enlightenment thought. Whereas Romanticism often focused on intellectual and artistic matters, Nationalism, which proclaimed the unique character of ethnic and linguistic groups, was more overtly political. The Nationalist movements in Germany and Italy, which involved an effort at national unification, and those in the Austrian Empire, which involved efforts to carve the Austrian Empire into ethnically or linguistically defined states, created a great amount of instability in Europe.In 1830, the various ideological beliefs resulted in a round of revolutions. These revolutions began when the Paris Mob, manipulated by the interests of the Bourgeoisie, deposed the Bourbon monarchy of Charles X and replaced him with Louis Philippe. In the rest of Europe, the French example touched off various nationalist revolts; all were successfully quelled by conservative forces.Britain notably escaped any outbreak of violence, but it by no means escaped change: the battle between the formerly dominant landed aristocracy and the newly ascendant manufacturers led to the passage of the Reform Bill of 1832, which partially remedied the Rotten Boroughs and gave the manufactures an increased amount of Parliamentary representation. The working class benefited from the growing class rivalry between aristocracy and middle-class. Often the aristocrats would ally with the working class to act against the manufacturers, forcing the manufacturers, in turn, to ally with the workers against the aristocrats. Although the working class did not yet have the vote in England, they were pushing for universal adult male suffrage in the late 1830s and early 1840s via the Chartist Movement. While this movement failed in the short- term, its demands were eventually adopted.In the rest of Europe, political change would not happen so peacefully. In 1848, the February Revolution broke out in Paris, toppling Louis Philippe and granting universal suffrage to adult French men, who elected Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon III) solely on name-recognition. Europe once again took its cue from Paris, and revolutions broke out nearly everywhere in Europe during 1848. Rebellion in Germany led to the establishment of the Frankfurt Assembly, which was plagued by internal squabbling and was unable to unify Germany. In the Austrian Empire, the various ethnicities revolted, and the Magyar nationalists led by Louis Kossuth pushed for an independent Hungary. Rioting in Vienna frightened Metternich so much he fled the city. All of the Eastern European rebellions were ultimately put down, a triumph for the reactionaries. However, the events of 1848 frightened the rulers of Europe out of their complacency and forced them to realize that gradually, they would have to change the nature of their governments or face future revolutions.ContextThe years from 1815 to 1848 provided a much-needed respite from the endless wars of theNapoleonic Era. From 1799 to 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte rampaged through Europe, conquering a vast empire and spreading the liberal ideas of the Enlightenment and laws based on them (the Napoleonic Code). When a coalition of European powers finally managed to defeat Napoleon for the last time, all the rulers wanted to do was return Europe "to normal". They didn't want Napoleon-style emperors marching their armies all over Europe, they didn't want legal equality among the classes, and they didn't want revolutions every few years. In short, they wantedstability,and the reorganization of Europe undertaken at the Congress of Vienna was aimed at creating that stability.However, as much as the monarchs of Europe and their advisors wanted stability, there were several historical dynamics at the time that ensured that Europe could not "stay the same". In Great Britain, the enclosure movement of the early 18th century had created a large, socially mobile labor force, leading to the Industrial Revolution in British manufacturing during the 18th and 19th centuries. The years from 1815 to 1848 marked a period of particular industrial acceleration. While dramatically increasing the general power and wealth of England, the industrial revolution also particularly brought new wealth to the Bourgeoisie class of entrepreneurs and manufacturers. With their wealth came both influence and a desire for greater influence; the middle class demanded increased political representation and power. The middle class also developed a liberal ideology involving laissez faire economics, which they tried to make the dominant ideology in England. The battle between the once dominant aristocracy and the rising Bourgeoisie would open a floodgate of reforms, and this process would soon be replicated in the rest of Western Europe.Also during this period, a young intellectual movement called Romanticism, which was a response to French Enlightenment Rationalism, held sway in Germany, Britain, and to an extent France. Romanticism challenged the ideal of universal standards for all mankind, and led to the glorification of the unique "national genius" of each ethnic and linguistic group. Thus, it was also during 1815 to 1848 that the modern phenomenon of nationalism was explicitly formulated. Tired of existing as a loose federation, many people in the fragmented German states hoped for German unification. The various Italian states sought Italian unification. Numerous groups within the ethnically diverse Austrian Empire dreamed of forming their own nation. The possibility of nationalists achieving their goals greatly frightened the reactionary rulers of Europe, who knew how destabilizing these changes might be.Thus, the years from 1815 to 1848, though not plagued by rampant wars, can be seen as a more subtle battle between conflicting worldviews. On one side were the powerful and entrenched members of the Old Regime, who opposed change of any kind. On the other side were the forces of change: the bourgeoisie created by the dynamics of the Industrial Revolution, liberals, socialists, republicans, radicals, romantics, and nationalists. The struggle of ideas erupted in the form of various small-scale revolutions, first in 1830 and then on a more widespread scale in 1848, the year of revolutions. Although the revolutionaries were disappointed by results of 1848, ultimately change was on the way. And what would replace the old guard? The new systems, which are the "old regime" in our own time, owe a great deal to the then-revolutionary concepts developed in the era immediately following the Napoleonic Wars. The period from 1815 to 1848 was an important crucible in which were forged many modern ideologies, from classical "liberalism" (today's conservatism) to communism. In some respects, the result of this battle between ideologies that reached fever pitch in the early 19th century is still being resolved today.Important Terms, People, and EventsTermsBourgeoisie- Term used to refer to the "middle class." In the 19th century concept of class struggle, the bourgeoisie were those who owned the means of production and the proletariat consisted of their workers.Bund- A confederation of the various fragmented German states in the period after the Congress of Vienna (1815).Burschenschaft- Student political groups that formed at German Universities beginning around 1815. These groups were expressions of German nationalism.Capitalism- Generally middle-class economic ideology emphasizing free markets, the ownership of private property, and the accumulation of wealth by enterprising businesspeople.Carbonari- Liberal, Nationalist secret society in Italy in the first half of the 19th century. They sought a unified Italy under governments different from those the Congress of Vienna had imposed on them.Cato Street Conspiracy- Conspiracy of British Radicalism, plotting to assassinate the Tory cabinet. When the conspiracy was discovered in 1820, several conspirators were executed.Chartist Movement- Reform movement in Britain of the 1830s and 1840s that demanded progressive political reforms like universal adult male suffrage and the right of working- class people to serve in Parliament. Although it failed at the time, the goals of Chartism were eventually reached.Congress System- Term referring to the Reactionary method for maintaining political control; Metternich called a series of congresses between conservative leaders during the years from 1815 and 1848. These congresses included the Congress of Vienna, the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle, the Congress of Troppau, and the Congress of Verona.Conservatism- British reactionary philosophy supporting monarchy and old ways. Championed by Edmund Burke, who had been horrified by theFrench Revolution, Conservatism argued for prudent and gradual change.Corn Law- First passed in 1815, these laws put high tariffs on grain coming into England. This protected the profits of the land-owning aristocrats, but also increased food prices, hurting both workers and their employers, who had to pay higher wages if the price of bread went up. It is important to realize that in the British usage here, "Corn" refers to grains in general, not the kind of Corn (Maize) of which Americans usually think.Dialectic- Theory of thought and historical progress in which opposites are created, and then reconciled to create a synthesis. This approach was pioneered by Hegel.Holy Alliance- In 1815, Alexander I started the Holy Alliance to uphold Christian values. However, it became a common name by which the reactionary Congress System was referred to as a whole.Laissez Faire- In French, it means "allow to do". This economic philosophy suggests that if government interferes in the economy as little as possible (takes a "hands off" approach) markets will equilibrate and the economy will run as smoothly as possible.Liberalism- 19th century ideology that sought self-government, increased male suffrage, and legal equality for all and free-market economic policies. 19th century "liberalism" is a far cry from what "liberalism" means today. Because 19th century "liberalism" ultimately triumphed in Western Europe and the United States, 19th century "liberalism" is actually closer to what is "conservative" in our own time.Manchester- Industrial city in Northern England, which greatly increased in population during the Industrial Revolution. Because of the Rotten Boroughs, its interests were underrepresented in Parliament during the early 19th century.Monroe Doctrine- American policy announced in 1823 in which President Monroe demanded that Europe not interfere with goings-on in the Western Hemisphere. Monroe's warning was initially followed not because of fear of the United States, but because the other European powers knew Britain's Navy would stop any further colonial adventurism in the New World.Nationalism- Modern movement in which countries engineer a sense of unity and common purpose among a large nation. The people in these nationalist countries develop a strong sense of loyalty to their nation. Though it seems automatoc to most people in the modern world, nationalism really developed throughout Europe only in the early 19th century.Pan-Slavism- Movement that seeks to unify the Slavs, an ethnic classification in Eastern Europe that includes Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, and Macedonians.Proletariat- In the 19th century, a term developed to refer to the working class. Proletariats were employed by, and involved in class struggle with, the bourgeoisie.Radicalism- Anti-Church, anti-Monarchy reform group in 19th century England, largely based on the ideas of Jeremy Bentham. Unconcerned by tradition, the British radicals challenged the old ways.Reactionary- Having to do with what is opposed to change and progress. In 19th century Europe, the Reactionary cause was championed by Metternich, who wanted the old regimes of Europe to stay in power.Republicanism- French equivalent of British Radicalism, Republicanism glorified the social leveling accomplished by theFrench Revolution.Romanticism- Intellectual movement begun in reaction to the dominance ofEnlightenmentReason. Romanticism criticized Reason, suggesting that it could not answer all questions. Leading Romantic artists and writers included Hegel, Schiller, Schinckel,Keats,Wordsworth, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, and Delacroix.Rotten Boroughs- In England in the 19th century, voting districts were so poorly drawn that a city with half-a-million people like Manchester received only as much representation in Parliament as a small village. Though the Industrial Revolution rapidly changed the population distribution in England, the voting districts lagged behind, giving advantage in Parliament to wealthy landowners while under representing the new manufacturing cities.Socialism- Economic ideology, opposed to Capitalism and Laissez Faire, that holds that key industry and the means of production should be centrally controlled by the government, so that workers will not be abused by bourgeoisie factory owners.Textile- Threads, cloth and clothing. Early in the Industrial Revolution, textiles were the mainstay of British factory production.Tory- 18th and early 19th century British political party, opposed to the Whigs. Although the Tories comprised various factions, the party was opposed to Parliamentary reforms.Utility- Utility is the measure of good or usefulness of something. It is often held that something should be done if it will maximize the overall utility of society. This belief is formulated as "Utilitarianism," and is described in John Stuart Mill's bookUtilitarianism.Volksgeist- German Romantic idea, suggested by Herder, that each nation has its own particular "special genius". Thus, what is right for one nation may not be right for another nation, and, according to German Romantics and Nationalists, each "nation" should strive to express its individualVolksgeist.PeopleAlexander I- Russian Czar from 1801 to 1825. He briefly allied withNapoleonbeforeturning against him. Though Alexander envisioned himself as an "enlightened despot", Metternich managed to move him towards becoming a Reactionary after the Congress of Vienna in 1815.Jeremy Bentham- English philosopher, a father of Radicalism and Utilitarianism. One example of his unconventional nature: when he died in 1832, he had his body preserved and placed on display in a cabinet in University College, London, where it remains to this day.Simon Bolivar- South American freedom fighter who led the liberation of several Spanish colonies around 1820. He subsequently became a South American dictator, with hopes of uniting a South American empire.Louis Napoleon Bonaparte- After the February Revolution in Paris in 1848, Louis Napoleon was elected President in France simply on the basis of name recognition among the newly enfranchised voters. He soon declared himself Emperor Napoleon III. France prospered under him for two decades.Bourbon- European royal family, which had kings on the thrones of France, Spain, and Naples at various times during the early 19th century.Edmund Burke- 18th century thinker, statesman, and writer, whose 1790 work,Reflections on the Revolution in France,became the classic text of British Conservatism.George Canning- British foreign secretary and champion of Liberalism in foreign affairs form 1822 to 1827. Canning briefly served as Prime Minister in 1827.Castlereagh- British foreign secretary from 1812-1822. Castlereagh was a major architect of the new European balance of power established at the Congress of Vienna in 1815.Charles X- Successor to Louis XVIII, Bourbon king of France from 1824 to his overthrow in the July Revolution of 1830. He believed in the divine-right of kings, and was unable to cope with the new, post-revolutionary realities of France.Eugene Delacroix- French Romantic painter, who painted exotic scenes, and whose use of color over line inspired the Impressionists.Ferdinand- Austrian Hapsburg Emperor who abdicated during the revolution of 1848, turning the throne over to Franz Joseph.Charles Fourier- French theorist of Socialism who wanted to reorganize society into cooperative "phalanxes".Franz Joseph- Hapsburg Emperor of Austria from 1848 to 1916. In 1867 he divided the Empire into Austria and Hungary, creating the "Dual Monarchy".Goethe- 18th and 19th century German writer, who worked in nearly every imaginable field, from science to drama. Considered one of the greatest German writers, Goethe was essential in the Nationalist construction of a German Volksgeist.Hapsburg- Perhaps the greatest royal family of modern European history, the Hapsburg dynasty once controlled Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, and the Holy Roman Empire under one man. By the 19th century, they only really controlled the Austrian Empire. Emperors Ferdinand and Franz Joseph were both Hapsburgs.Hegel- G.W.F. Hegel was a 19th century Romantic German philosopher who held that progress is made through conflicting opposites being resolved, via the dialectic, in a synthesis. SeeIntroductory Lectures on History.Louis Kossuth- Magyar (Hungarian) Nationalist who briefly controlled Hungary in 1848 and 1849, but was crushed by the Russian army.Louis Philippe- Also called the Duke of Orleans, Louis Philippe ruled France as King from 1830 to 1848, when his government toppled in the February Revolution. Louis Philippe drew most of his support from the Bourgeoisie; he alienated and marginalized the growing French working class, leading to his overthrow in 1848.Louis XVIII- Bourbon king of France from 1815 to his death in 1824, during which time he proved moderately Liberal, allowing an advisory Parliament to meet.Magyars- Dominant linguistic and ethnic group in Hungary.Robert Malthus- Early British economist. His most famous idea was that increasing the food supply would always increase the population, meaning that eradicating the suffering of the lower classes was impossible.Karl Marx- German economist and philosopher who, along with Friedrich Engels, wroteThe Communist ManifestoandDas Kapitalwhile in living in England. The ideology of Communism draws its inspiration from Marx and Engels' work, which was influenced by the social environment in Western Europe during the first half of the 19th century.Joseph Mazzini- Italian Nationalist from Genoa who founded Young Italy in 1832, a movement that would inspire nationalist groups throughout Europe.Metternich- Austrian foreign minister, Metternich was Europe's arch-Reactionary. He was a leading architect of the balance of power developed at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, and he called the great powers to various Congresses throughout the coming decade to put down European rebellions wherever they started. In 1848, during a revolution in Vienna, Metternich fled the city.Nicholas I- Succeeded Alexander I, serving as Russian Czar from 1825 to 1855. Nicholas' more liberal brother Constantine was favored as successor by Russian revolutionaries, but Nicholas used the army to destroy this rebellion.Robert Owen- Manchester manufacturer who grew upset by the conditions endured by workers in Industrial Revolution Britain, and became a reformer.Robert Peel- Britain's conservative prime minister from 1834 to 1835, and from 1841 to 1846. Peel oversaw the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846, partially due to the ongoing Irish Famine.David Ricardo- Early British economist who helped develop "Classical" economics. He was responsible for formulating the "Iron Law" of wages, which stated that any attempt to improve workers' lots would lead to such a population increase that the increased competition for labor would ultimately bring workers' wages back down. This argument held that no improvement in workers' lives was possible, so the government should not bother legislating wage increases.Saint-Simon- French theorist of Socialism, he developed a concept of "Christian Socialism" emphasizing the brotherhood of all men. His conception included the centralization of industry and equal sharing of its profits.Jose de San Martin- Much like Simon Bolivar, Jose de San Martin was a South American military leader involved in the liberation of several South American countries from Spanish colonial rule.Friedrich Schiller- German Romantic dramatist of the late 18th and early 19th century.Karl Friedrich Schinkel- German Romantic architect who worked both in classical forms; a leader in the Gothic Revival.Percy Bysshe Shelley- Influential British Romantic poet, married to Mary Shelley. Read theSparkNote on Shelley's Poetry.Mary Shelley- British Romantic writer, wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley, and author ofFrankenstein(1818), a classic allegory of the flaws of Reason and Science.Slavs- An ethnic and linguistic classification in Eastern Europe and Western Asia that includes Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, and Macedonians.EventsCarlsbad Decrees- 1819 regulation in Germany that outlawed the Burschenschaft student groups, pushing them underground. It also established censorship, and government control of universities. Metternich, from his position of influence in Austria, helped get this measure passed in the German Bund.Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle- 1818 Congress in which the European powers agreed to withdraw their armies occupying France. Alexander I tried to convince the other powers to form an international military coalition to suppress Revolution, but Castlereagh refused British participation.Congress of Troppau- 1820 Congress, dealing with collapse of the government in Naples. At the Congress, Metternich received permission to restore the old government using the Austrian army.Congress of Verona- Congress called by Metternich to deal with revolutionary stirrings in Spain and Greece. France sent an army into Spain to quell the rebellion there. Although Alexander I expressed an interest in putting down the South American revolutions of Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin, Castlereagh promised British naval opposition. Verona was the last international Congress held in the period from 1815-1848.Congress of Vienna- 1814-1815 meeting of the Great powers that led to the reorganization of Europe in the wake of theNapoleonic Wars.Decembrist Revolt- The 1825 death of Czar Alexander I of Russian sparked a succession dispute between Alexander's two sons. Constantine, the younger brother of Nicholas, received some support because he was known to be the more Liberal of the two brothers. The revolt in favor of Constantine was put down by the rightful heir, Nicholas I, and the army.Enclosure Movement- 18th century movement among wealthy British landed aristocrats to rationalize their farms. Using new farming technology and systems of crop rotation, they forced the agrarian poor off the old "village commons" that now became "enclosed" as private property. The jobless poor ended up constituting the proletariat working class in the upcoming Industrial Revolution.February Revolution- 1848 Revolution in Paris, primarily by lower-class workers, who overthrew Louis Philippe, established universal adult male suffrage, and elected Louis Napoleon Bonaparte president. Along with overthrowing Louis Philippe's regime, the February Revolution sparked other revolutions throughout Europe.Frankfurt Assembly- From 1848 to 1849, a group of German bourgeoisie intellectuals and professionals who attempted (and failed) to create a unified German state.Gothic Revival- 1830s movement in architecture when buildings in the Gothic (high medieval) style became popular. It was in this period that the British Parliament building was built. This was the architectural manifestation of Romanticism. Where the Enlightenment had looked down on the Middle Ages as a "dark" period of ignorance, the Romantics celebrated the Medieval period for its spiritualism, depth, and sense of adventure.Industrial Revolution- 18th and 19th century development, beginning in Britain, in which manufacturing was increasingly done in factories by machines, rather than in small workshops by hand labor. The Industrial Revolution, in combination with the earlier the Enclosure Movement, radically reshaped the world economy and social and political development.July Revolution- 1830 overthrow of Charles X's oppressive regime; ultimately, Louis Philippe became the new French king.Peterloo Massacre- In 1819, manufacturers organized around 80,000 workers to protest the Corn Laws. When some of the peaceful protesters were shot, the event was dubbed the "Peterloo Massacre", likening the British government's shameful use of violence on a peaceful crowd to the recent defeat ofNapoleonat Waterloo.Reform Bill of 1832- This British bill simplified voting requirements, though it actually didn't enfranchise many new people. Most importantly, it partially corrected the problem of Rotten Boroughs, giving a much larger amount of Parliamentary power to previously under-represented manufacturers like those Manchester.Timeline1814-1815:Congress of Vienna1815: Corn Law in Great BritainDecember 1816: Corn Law riots in London1817: Buschenschaft holds congress at Wurtburg1818: Prussian Zollverein created1818: International Congress held at Aix-la-Chapelle1818: Mary Shelley publishesFrankenstein1819: Metternich initiates Carlsbad Decrees1819: Peterloo Massacre1820: Several members of Cato Street Conspiracy executed1820s: British Radicalism gets underway1820: Louis XVIII's nephew (the Duke de Berry) assassinated1820: Te Congress of Troppau1822: The Congress of Verona1823: Munroe Doctrine1824: Louis XVIII dies, Charles X becomes French king1825: Decembrist Revolt put down in Russia, Nicholas I comes to power1825: Robert Owen founds New Harmony, Indiana1827: Anglo-French-Russian navy destroys Turkish fleet, helping Greek nationalists1829: Nations of Europe recognize an independent Greece1829: First truly successful locomotive tested1830s: Gothic Revival in architectureJuly 1830: Charles X passes "Four Ordinances" in FranceJuly 1830: July Revolution in France. Charles X abdicates, Louis Philippe becomes French king1831: Mazzini founds Young Italy1832: Goethe completesFaust1832: Parliament passes Reform Bill1833: Factory Act restricts child labor (Great Britain)1834: Poor Laws passed (Great Britain)1838: Anti-Corn Laws League1838: Chartist movement begins1839: Chartist movement gains 1 million signatures1840: Frederick William IV comes to power in Prussia1840s: Corn Laws repealed1840s: Railway construction begins in England and Europe1842: Chartist movement gains 3 million signatures1847: Ten Hour Act limits women and child labor to ten hours a day (Great Britain)January 1848: Marx and Engels publishCommunist ManifestoFebruary 1848: February Revolution in Paris, barricades in the streets1848: Louis Napoleon Bonaparte becomes President of FranceMarch 1848: Metternich, terrified of unrest, flees ViennaMarch 15, 1848: Hungary granted independence within the Austrian Empire, revolutions begin throughout Eastern EuropeJune 1848: Pan-Slavic Conference held in PragueMay 1848: Frankfurt AssemblyDecember 1848: Ferdinand of Austria abdicates, Franz Joseph becomes emperor

Britain's Industrial Revolution (1780-1850)page 1 of 2SummaryAlthough Western Europe had long had the basic trappings of capitalism (private property, wealth accumulation, contracts), the Industrial Revolution fueled the creation of a trulymoderncapitalist system. Widespread credit, business corporations, investments and large-scale stock markets all become common. Britain led the way in this transformation.By the 1780s, the British Industrial Revolution, which had been developing for several decades, began to further accelerate. Manufacturing, business, and the number of wage laborers skyrocketed, starting a trend that would continue into the first half of the 19th century. Meanwhile, technology changed: hand tools were replaced by steam- or electricity-driven machines.The economic transformation brought about the British industrial revolution was accompanied by a social transformation as well. Population boomed, and demographics shifted. Because industrial resources like coal and iron were in Central and Northern England, a shift in population from Southern England northward took place. Northern cities like Manchester grew tremendously. These changes in social and demographic realities created vast pressure for political change as well. The first act to protect workers went into affect in 1802 (though in practice it did very little). Pressure to redress the lack of representation for the new industrial cities and the newly wealthy industrial manufacturers also began to build.Meanwhile, industrialists developed an ideology called Laissez Faire based on Adam Smith'sWealth of Nations(1776) and continued by David Ricardo and Robert Malthus. Based on this, the discipline known as "economics" developed, largely to give the manufacturers a basis for arguing for little or no regulation of industry. Instead of government interference, these economists argued that a free market, in which everyone followed their own self- interest, would maximize the nation's utility.Britain, with its head start in manufacturing, its many world markets, and its dominant navy, would dominate industry for most of the 19th century. Towards the end of that century, the United States and Germany would begin to challenge Britain's industrial power.CommentaryAmong the Western European countries, Britain was the ideal incubator for the Industrial Revolution because an "Agricultural Revolution" preceded it. After the 1688 "Glorious Revolution", the British kings lost power and the aristocratic landholders gained power. The landholders tried to rationalize their landholdings and started the Enclosure Movement to bring more and more of their own land under tighter control, a process that went on throughout the 1700s. This policy had two main effects: it increased the productivity of the land, and transformed the people who used to work land into an unemployed, labor class of poor in need of work. Thus, the first factories had a ready labor- supply in Britain that was not available in other nations. Important inventions like the "Spinning Jenny" to produce yarn began to be made in 1760s, and soon the British textile industry was booming, aided by Eli Whitney's invention of the "Cotton Gin" in America, which provided a ready source of cotton.The Industrial Revolution represented a shift in influence away from the traditional power-holders in England. Aristocratic rule was no longer supreme, for "upstart" manufacturers were now often more wealthy and more important to the nation's overall well being than the landed gentry. They also employed a far greater percentage of the national economy. However, the aristocratic landholders did not entirely lose out: they maintained some power, and only grudgingly gave it up to business interests. Often, the aristocracy, trying to take power away from the manufacturers, would ally with the working class. As both sides, aristocrats and manufacturers, competed for the support of the workers, reforms in Britain gradually took place through Parliamentary deal- making without the need for a bloody revolution. In its impact on human societies, the industrial revolution was probably the most important change in its era, more important, perhaps, than any events in the last few thousand years. The Industrial Revolution allowed increasing urbanization and greatly increased the overall wealth and production power of humanity, although not everyone always shared in the benefits of industrialization equally.Though industrialization was most prominent in Europe, its transformative powers must be seen as a theme through the period of 1815-1848. Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution went hand-in-hand with the Western European countries' liberal traditions. Many of the same principles underlying theFrench Revolutionwere being developed via the Industrial Revolution in Britain. Industrializing nations developed middle classes who began to wield political clout. Further, the Industrial Revolution would give Western Europe the economic system and technology to dominate much of the world in the colonial period towards the end of the 19th century. The countries that did not transition to industrial systems very quickly got left behind, and often ended up as satellites to the major powers.It would be some time before workers developed a counter-ideology of their own. Yet as manufacturing brought hundreds of thousands of workers into the cities, they started thinking about organizing to protect their own political interests. By 1825, the workers in the industrializing nations would become a social and political force of their own.

EUROPE (1815-1848)Europe After Napoleonpage 1 of 2SummaryAfterNapoleon's domination of Europe from around 1800 to 1814, the rulers of Europe wanted to insure that no one would ever be able to come so close to taking over all of Europe again. To this end, the diplomats from all of the Great Powers met at the Congress of Vienna to negotiate from 1814 to 1815. There they reorganized European boundaries in hopes of creating a stable Europe where coalitions of nations could always ally to defeat one nation that got out of hand.The rulers after Napoleon were dedicated to stopping revolution (like theFrench Revolutionin their own countries. Louis XVIII, whose brother Louis XVI had been executed during the French Revolution, certainly didn't want another revolution in France. The Tory government in Great Britain was archconservative and greatly opposed social upheaval. Metternich, the foreign minister in Austria, was willing to do anything to stabilize Europe and preserve Hapsburg power.FranceIn France, Louis XVIII did his best to balance the tense situation following Napoleon's defeat. On both sides, Louis granted amnesties, hoping to "start over" in France. The wealthy, however, remembering the leveling effects of the Revolution, became passionately anti-revolutionary, or reactionary. The reactionary element only increased after the King's nephew, the Duke of Berry, was assassinated in 1820. In 1824, Louis XVIII died, and was replaced by the assassinated Duke's father, Charles X. Unlike the moderate Louis, Charles was a hard-core reactionary, and hated all the changes taking place in France, even the ones Louis had initiated. Charles believed himself to be a monarch appointed by God, and he started trampling on basic elements of liberalism like the French constitution.PolandPoland was a state recreated by the Congress of Vienna and ruled by Czar Alexander I. Initially, its government was quite liberal; though ruled by Alexander, Poland had a constitution. Alexander considered himself an "enlightened despot" and spoke often of granting freedom to the people, but he soon found that when he did give the people some self-government, they didn't always agree with what he wanted them to do. Liking liberal reforms in theory more than practice, Alexander increasingly curtailed Poland's right of self- government. As a result of its frustrated desire for self-rule, Polish Nationalism began to rise. Secret societies developed, and a university movement (which Alexander put down in the 1820s) got underway.GermanyIn Germany, nationalists motivated by Romantic ideas such as the belief in a special German Volksgeist hated the results of the Congress of Vienna, since the ongress split up into a loose federation called the Bund. Dissatisfaction ce