Chapter 11: Reaction, Revolution, and Romanticism

Congress of Vienna

Congress of Vienna

1815 meeting of European powers to discuss the post-Napoleon order in Europe and create policies to maintain the Balance of Power.

Metternich

Austrian foreign minister who led the Congress of Vienna.

Principle of Legitimacy

Metternich's term for the need to restore the legitimate monarchs of Europe who'd been replaced by Napoleon.

Balance of Power

A guiding principle at the Congress of Vienna whereby no single nation could dominate Europe as France had under Napoleon.

Conservatism

The dominant ideology of 19th century diplomacy that valued the past as a guide for the future and was suspicious of sudden or revolutionary change.

Concert of Europe

Coalition of Great Britain, Prussia, Russia, Austria and, later, France, determined to keep Europe conservative and stem the revolutionary tide which had been sweeping through Europe since the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789.

Principle of Intervention

Articulated by Metternich at Troppau it asserted that the great powers of Europe had the right to send armies into countries to restore "legitimate" monarchs. Britain rejected it and began to separate from the Concert of Europe.

Monroe Doctrine

1823 declaration by US president Monroe warning the Concert of Europe that the US would regard any attempt to return the newly independent states of Latin America to Spain or Portugal as an act of war against the US.

Greek Revolt

1821-1830 successful revolt against the Ottoman Turks who had controlled Greece for 400 years. The Greeks were aided by the British, French and Russians who, although generally opposed to revolutions, loved the idea of hurting the Ottoman Empire.

Tories

Conservative political party in Britain's parliament controlled by landed aristocrats who feared changes that might weaken their power. Policies sparked protests including the Peterloo Massacre.

Whigs

Political faction (or party) in Britain's parliament much more sympathetic to new industrial classes and in favor of changes that might expand the industrial class's influence.

Corn Law of 1815

A high tariff on imported grain supported by the Tories who wanted to protect the landowners from foreign competition.

Peterloo Massacre

1819 demonstration against high grain prices due to the Corn Law of 1815 that resulted in the death of 11.

Louis XVIII

French Bourbon king restored to the throne by the Concert of Europe.

Charles X

Conservative brother of Louis XVIII who succeeded him in 1824. Issued the July Ordinances in 1830 reducing the electorate and imposing press censorship.

Carbonari

Secret societies in Italy dedicated to Italian nationalism and liberalism.

Germanic Confederation

Collection of 38 independent states in what had been called the Holy Roman Empire created by the Vienna settlement in 1815. Austria and Prussia were the two most powerful.

Burschenschaften

University student groups that met from 1817-1819 dedicated to forming a united, liberal Germany but barred by conservative Metternich by the Karlsbad Decrees of 1819 who feared their revolutionary ideas. This is Nationalism exemplified.

Tsar Alexander I

Russian leader who, with his liberal advisor Speransky, made modest liberal reforms but became reactionary after the Napoleonic Age and became conservative.

Northern Union

Liberal Russian aristocrats opposed to Alexander I's conservatism who wanted to make Russia a constitutional monarchy.

Decembrists

December, 1825 failed attempt by military officers in the Northern Union to keep conservative Nicholas I from ascending to the throne. Its leaders were promptly executed by Nicholas I who became a reactionary.

Tsar Nicholas I

Conservative Tsar from 1825-1855 who was dubbed "The Policeman of Europe" for his help in putting down liberal activities throughout Europe. Continued Russia's path becoming a police state fearing revolution.

Liberalism

Political ideology that grew out of the Industrial Revolution and as a reaction to the conservatives who took over after Napoleon which asserted that governments should restrain people as little as possible and respect their right to participate in political affairs.

Economic Liberalism

a.k.a. classical economics it asserted that the state should not interfere with the free play of economic forces, especially supply and demand. In other words government should not restrict the economic liberty of the people.

Laissez-Faire

French term meaning "Leave Alone". It was used to express the belief of economic liberalism (a.k.a.classical economics).

Malthus

British economist whose book Essay on the Principles of Population asserted that populations tend to increase faster than food supplies and therefore misery is inevitable.

Ricardo

British economist whose book Principles of Political Economy (1817) asserted that the "iron law of wages" made it wrong to increase wages since that led to overpopulation and misery.

Political Liberalism

A pro-business philosophy that embraced laissez-faire as well as basic civil liberties like freedom of speech and limited suffrage (i.e. for themselves but not the working class).

John Stuart Mill

British political liberal and author of On Liberty (1859) who expanded idea of liberalism to include women in his essay On the Subjugation of Women (1867). Stated that men and women didn't have different natures.

Nationalism

An awareness of your national (i.e. political, state) identity.

Self-Determination

Idea that "nations" should have their own "national" governments.

Socialism

Idea that social equality should be goal of government (i.e. all should share in wealth, poverty should be eliminated, etc.).

Utopian Socialism

Idea that private property & capitalism were bad and society should evolve beyond them.

Blanc

French utopian socialist whose book The Organization of Work proposed that all manufacturing should be done in government-run "National Workshops" without a profit motive. Basically public works programs.

Flora Tristan

Female utopian socialist and feminist whose book Worker's Union (1843) proposed organizing both work and home on socialist basis.

July Revolution

1830 French revolution in which conservative Charles X was replaced by moderate liberal Louis-Philippe, the duke of Orleans, as a constitutional monarch. Known as the bourgeoisie monarch for his support of middle-class business interests cooperation with Francois Guizot and the Party of Resistance.

Belgium

Called Austrian Netherlands and given to Dutch Republic at Congress of Vienna but achieved independence from Netherlands in 1830.

Reform Bill of 1832

British law passed by Whig-dominated Parliament which reapportioned seats in House of Commons to better represent the growing industrial areas and doubled the franchise. Primarily benefited upper-middle class.

Poor Law

1834 law that tried to discourage poverty by putting paupers in workhouses.

Anti-Corn Law League

1838 organization formed by Cobden and Bright to repeal the Corn Laws.

French Revolution of 1848

French king Louis-Philippe abdicates on Feb 24, 1848 and is replaced by radicals whose provisional government opened Blanc-type workhouses but couldn't pay for them. After rioting a more moderate government ratified a new constitution making France a republic (the Second Republic).

Louis Napoleon Bonaparte

Nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte who won the French presidential election of 1848.

Frederick William IV

Prussian king who granted some liberal reforms after the troubles in 1848.

Frankfurt Assembly

1848 meeting of German nationalists to write a liberal constitution for a united Germany. It split into two camps: Big (include Austrian Germans) & Little (don't include Austrian Germans) Germans. The Little Germans won but Prussian king Frederick William IV refused their offer because he wanted to unite Germany on his own terms.

Louis Kossuth

Hungarian nationalist leader in Austria who led a rebellion to achieve independence from Austria which was crushed by Austria with Russia's help in 1848-1849.

Risorgimento

Italian Nationalist movement.

Mazzini

Italian nationalist and author of the The Duties of Man who took over the risorgimento with nationalist organization Young Italy. The movement failed and he failed to achieve his goal of "resurgence"

Young Italy

Italian nationalist group founded in 1831 by Mazzini.

Bobbies

British police force created by Sir Robert (Bobbies-Get it?) Peel in 1829.

Romanticism

Intellectual movement of the 1800s which emphasized individual feelings rather than science and the "universal man" as the Enlightenment of the 1700s had.

Goethe

German author of The Sorrows of the Young Werther, one of the first romantic novels.

Gothic Literature

Branch of romantic literature epitomized by books like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein which emphasized bizarre themes.

Lord Byron

British romantic poet & idealist who died helping Greece achieve its independence from the Ottomans.

Wordsworth

British romantic poet who emphasized the mystical beauty of nature.

Turner

English romantic painter.

Beethoven

German romantic composer.

The Revolt in Latin America

•Much of North America had been freed by the American Revolution, But Latin America was still in the hands of Spain and Portugal•When the Bourbon Monarchy of Spain was toppled by Bonaparte, Spanish authority in its colonial empire was weakened, which led to Argentina's independence•Venezuela's fight for independence was led by Simón Bolívar, aka the Liberator; freed Colombia and Venezuala• José de San Martín freed Chile, Lima, and Peru•Mexico and the Central American provinces alsoachieved their freedom, and by 1825, after Portugal hadrecognized the independence of Brazil, almost all of LatinAmerica had been freed of colonial domination