Liberalism and Nationalism in the 19th Century: A Historical Overview
Liberalism
They focus on laws that for them emanate from nature itself (universal laws nobody can break as the gravity law), these laws could be found using reason. Using this, the freedom of individuals, the private property and their right to happiness were established as natural laws, as unbreakable as the gravity law.
National Sovereignty
Power resides by right to the people or nation (democracy) and not to the monarch (autocracy / absolutism) who chooses his way of governing himself by means of a pact, which is included in a document that will be called constitution (by constituting with it the nation-state). This constitution includes the rights and duties of the people whose individuals cease to be subjects and become citizens. Once the constitution is drawn up, the people continue to exercise power through the election of representatives to a parliament by means of a suffrage (elections).
Separation of Powers
The power of the state is divided into branches, a legislature, an executive, and a judiciary. The intent of separation of powers is to prevent the concentration of power by providing for checks and balances.
Freedoms
Human beings have freedom of conscience, of expression, of the press, of assembly, of association, rights that are not allowed in autocracies and not for the entire population in many liberal regimes.
Natural rights
to happiness, to property, to equality before the law (which implied ending the feudal society and imposing a class society just divided by wealth).
Liberalism was imposed by revolution over the absolute monarchies in west europe during the first half of the 19th century. The first country based on liberal principles was the United States thanks to the independence war against England. Ones in the power liberals ended up separating into two streams:
The first moderates defended that not all citizens should participate in politics, if not only the most prepared. In class society the ideal way to select these men was wealth, for who better to run a state effectively than someone who has managed to run their business well? for which they advocated census based suffrage, and the limitation of individual freedoms to the lower classes (prohibition of associating and forming unions for workers),
The Second Radical or democrat who defended that power resided in all citizens and therefore universal suffrage and individual freedoms for the entire population. The conservative stream held power in Europe during the first 50 years of the 19th century.
The Atlantic Revolution
Took place at the end of the 18th century defending liberal ideas, ended absolutism and replaced it with new forms of government based on law equality, democracy and individed on law equality, democracy and individual freedom. The feudal estate society disappeared and in its place appeared the capitalist class society.
War of Independence of the USA (1775)
The rebellion of the colonies that the United Kingdom possessed in North America constituted the first bourgeois revolution. Its importance lies in the fact that for the first time a liberal government was put into practice in a real way. When the English were finally defeated, the United States appeared as the first republic in the world with the application of enlightened ideas, separation of powers, equality before the law, individual freedoms… But this event, despite being important, is not too significant since in America there was no nobility and clergy to fight against, nor the direct and close authority of an absolute king. In Europe the struggle to impose liberalism will be much harder and the French Revolution of 1789 only the beginning of half a century of struggle throughout the continent.
The French Revolution (1789)
In the late 18th century, France was still an absolute monarchy under Louis XVI. However, large segments of the population had begun to criticise the situation and demand a change in regime. The combination of a series of factors triggered the revolution: The liberal ideas, The example of the United States, the state debt and a big famine. In 1789 the Constituent Assembly was formed and the citizens of Paris Took the arms to defend it against the king. This Assembly made a series of important decisions:
- It abolished the feudal rights of the aristocracy, in practice abolishing the feudal society.
- It passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
- It drafted a Constitution that recognised the separation of powers and the legislative power of the Assembly over the king. The french revolution had different phases, the King was executed and the moderate and radical liberals fought between them. At the end a general, Napoleon Bonaparte, did a coup and created a dictatorship.
The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815)
Napoleon continued fighting against the European Kings (England, Prusia, Austria, Russia, Portugal) that had declared war against France, the revolution and the enlightenment ideas. His military victories gave him control over Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and a large part of Germany, He also invaded Spain. These conquests allowed the spread of the revolutionary ideas across Europe, nevertheless, his navy was defeated at Trafalgar, and his army at the independence war in Spain and when he tried to conquer Russia. In 1815, Napoleon was finally defeated at the Battle of Waterloo.
The independence of South America
The Latin America middle and high class
“criollos” was influenced by liberal ideas, the French Revolution and independence of the United States. Furthermore Spain was seen as a symbol of colonialism (a metropoly that exploited the colonies). The “criollos” took advantage of the Spanish Independence War and created their own constitutions. After a long independence war (1808-1825) the problems between the different lationoamerican regions led to the creation of 16 different countries (Cuba and Puerto Rico stayed as Spanish colonies up to 1898). The most famous generals of the latinoamerican war, Bolívar and San Martín were called the “Libertadores’.
2.3.1 The Spanish independence war: Spain was allied with Napoleon against England, so the King of Spain Carlos IV allowed Napoleon troops to cross Spain to attack Portugal. Nevertheless, plans, he kidnaped the Royal family and occupied Spain. Napoleon’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte, was named king of Spain. On 2 May 1808, the people of Madrid rebelled against the French troops occupying the capital. In 1914 after six years of extreme violence, pillaging and destruction, the French army withdrew from Spain. In the middle of the war, the “Cortes generales” were called, the elected deputies, influenced by liberal ideas, met in Cádiz and approved a Constitution (1812, la Pepa), the first in the history of Spain. This included liberal principles that marked the end of the Old Regime: National Sovereignty, Separation of powers, Right to universal manhood suffrage, Suppression of the Inquisition, Freedom of expression and of the press.
3. THE RESTAURATION
The term Restoration includes the period between the fall of Napoleon (1815) and the beginning of the revolutionary process of 1830. This stage was characterized by the attempt to rebuild the fabric of the Old Regime, something that its supporters only achieved in a limited way.
3.1 Congress of Vienna: After Napoleon’s defeat, the victorious countries met at the vienna. Prussia, Russia and Austria were absolutist: only Britain had a constitutional monarchy. Three objectives were proposed at the meeting: A) The attempt to restore absolute monarchies and class society, decomposed in many by the French Revolution and the Napoleonic conquests. Therefore, the idea of legitimacy the reaffirmed the divine origin of the power of kings is defended. B) The search for a balance between the five great powers. For this, a new map of Europe was configured where the feelings of peoples or nations according to language or history were not taken into account: Russia obtained control of Poland and Finland. Austria entered Italy. Prussia received german territories. France was surrounded by “buffer states” in order to avoid the possible revival of its expansionism. Among these stood out that of the Netherlands, a union of Holland and Belgium and Piedmont.C) To create an alliance, called the Holy Alliance, between the absolutist monarchs to protect them from any attempted revolutions. Great Britain did not join this alliance.
4. THE OPPOSITION
The Congress of Vienna went against two ideas that had acquired great force after the French Revolution, Liberalism and Nationalism.
4.1 Liberalism: The Congress of Vienna denied the liberal ideas: national sovereignty, equality before the law, individual freedoms. The liberals were first organized in secret groups such as the Masons or the Carbonari with the intention of conspiring against the absolute monarchs of different European countries, these societies achieved partial successes in 1920 -Mediterra achieved partial successes in 1920.-Mediterranean revolutions- (In Spain the liberals ruled for three years, forcing the king to sign the cor support of the working class, who did not know what libera protecting the monarchs, their movements failed. From then on, the tried to spread their ideas among the lower classes to seek the revolutions of 1830 and 1848 -The Spring of nations- (both monarchs of Western Europe will be finally expelled. Western countries have had parliament, elections since then. But once the liberals (bourgeoisie: Mercha power, they broke their alliance with the working class the power with the rest of the citizens. The working For the arrival of today’s democracies with univer century 19 the king to sign the constitution). Nevertheless, without the ald not know what liberalism meant, and the Holy Alliance protecting the monarchs, their movements failed. From then on, the liberals no longer conspired but the lower classes to seek their support, this support will lead to the ne spring of nations- (both started in France) where the absolute had parliament, elections, basic freedoms and equality before the law cals (bourgeoisie: Merchants, Bankers, business men) obtained political ice with the working class and imposed census suffrage to avoid sharing me citizens. The working class had to fight alone against the establishment ays democracies with universal suffrage we will have to wait until the 20th.
4.2 Nationalism: It is the ideology that defends the existence of differentiated communities, settled on territory and with the right to form a State. Throughout the nineteenth century, this nistituted a current that promoted the creation of new national states, while strengthening the ties between the citizens of the existing ones.
A) Causes: Both Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna had organised the map of Europe based on the interests of monarchs and emperors, without taking the inhabitants’ views into account. As a result, many people felt that their territories were being occupied by others, and this led to nationalism. Because the occupying power was usually an absolutist regime, many people felt that they were liberals and nationalists at the same time. The Romantic culture of the 19th century highlighted the sense of belonging to a people as an important human sentiment. People became more interested in myths and legends about their origins. Nationalism became a very emotional feeling, where belonging to a nation was just as important as love for another person or your family. The economy and industrialisation of the 19th century meant that more unified countries enjoyed greater economic growth.
B) Types: nationalism can be classified in liveral/conservative and in Unifying/dividing nationalism.
– Liberal: It considers that the nation and the state arise by the will of the individuals that compose it. That they agree to live under the same common laws and institutions. Conservative: Consider the nation to those groups of citizens that represent common features: language, religion, culture, territory, traditions and history. The citizens cannot choose their nationality. It is marked by birth. Unifying nationalism consisted of demanding a new state for peoples with a common past and culture. In Europe, this was the case of Italy and Germany. Dividing nationalism consisted of demanding independence for territories that considered themselves nations, but were forced to be part of a higher political unit. This was the case of the Slavs in the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires.
C) Unification movements: – Germany: From the Middle Ages the German territory was made up of a series of independent
states. Of these the two most important were Austria and Prussia. The main architect of the German unification was the Chancellor of Prussia Bismarck. He used diplomacy and war (conquesting territories from Denmark, Austria and France) creating the German Empire. The German unification was conservative (Prusia was an authoritarian kingdom), supported by the industrial gentry and the landed nobility, influenced by the romantic trend. The new State was constituted in a Il german imperium (Il Reich) represented by Guillermo I king of Prussia.
-Italy: The origin of the unification process took place in the northern territories, around the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, a state that had industrialized early, with an influential liberal bourgeoisie, whose monarch Victor Manuel II was the only constitutional monarch of Italy and therefore both the only hope of liberal nationalists to lead the unification. Essential protagonists in the search for unification were the Count of Cavour, Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia (war with Austria) and the adventurer Giuseppe Garibaldi who undertook the annexation of the south.
-Others: Belgique (from Holland), Balcanic states (From Otoman empire).