Revolutionary Cycles in 1820, 1830, and 1848 Europe
Revolutionary Cycles in Europe: 1820, 1830, and 1848
Opposition to the Restoration System: Liberalism and Nationalism
Status of the Restoration: Conquerors of Napoleon, Holy Alliance, charter granted (see previous item).
Ideological Tendencies Against the Restoration:
- The bourgeoisie does not accept a return to the Ancien Régime.
- Joint interest of the bourgeois intellectuals; workers will request universal suffrage.
- Spread through Western Europe.
Liberalism
- Disseminated writings of philosophers (Benjamin Constant), press, secret societies, and political freedom.
- Freedom of expression, religion, in all respects, is opposed to absolutism and despotism.
- In politics: national sovereignty, non-denominational, secular education, separation of powers, disentailment, written constitution limiting the power of the king, grouped into parties, trends (Democratic – universal voting, doctrinaire – census suffrage).
- In economics: no state intervention in economic activities (laissez-faire, laissez-passer).
Nationalism
- Group of people who aspire to form a nation by virtue of its origins, traditions, and interests.
- Types: traditionalist (Michelet), democratic (freedom of peoples – Mazzini).
- Take their roots of race, ethnicity, language, culture, history.
- Exalts the nation against the absolute monarchy, refuse to be dominated.
- Failures in Ireland, Hungary, and Czechia.
Classes Against the Restoration
- All against the absolute monarchy.
- Moderate liberal (aristocracy) defends ownership, constitution, and census suffrage.
- Radical democratic (bourgeois) universal suffrage.
- Socialist (workers, proletarians) seek the welfare state.
Social and Economic Foundations of the Restoration
- Agrarian, undeveloped, and damaged (bad harvest – rising prices, trade and industry low – low wages, unemployment).
- Small industry, transport revolution have not been implemented.
- Increasing population.
Social Distribution of Population
- Peasantry: 80%
- Proletariat: low wages, unemployment due to machines, emerging theoretical associations of labor and labor.
- Aristocracy: 1% dedicated to business and banking (conservative and law).
- Middle class: 19%, civil servants, the professions, merchants, politically revolutionary, morally conservatives.
Overview of the Revolutions
Concept
Insurrections led by the bourgeoisie against the old regime restored in Vienna (1815) with a twofold objective:
- Political: replace regimes of absolute government by others of a constitutional nature.
- National: proclaim the right of peoples under foreign powers to establish themselves as a sovereign nation.
The theoretical basis of these movements will be liberal and national ideas that emerged from the French Revolution and the nationalist sentiment of the people developed following the Napoleonic Wars. The revolutions of 1848 will be more European, radical, and more democratic than the previous ones.
Causes
The revolutions of 1820-30 represent the ascending process of the European bourgeoisie along a cycle of revolution that began in 1776 and culminated in 1848.
Economic Factors
Coincide with sharp fluctuations in prices, will join the downturn in industrial wages, unemployment… in short, the emergence of widespread social unrest that the bourgeoisie politically slanted towards liberal-revolutionary national character to end the bourgeois-aristocratic oligarchies.
Political Factors
Results from the contradiction between the principles behind the system of restoration (absolute monarchy, arbitrary delineation of borders) and liberal political projects and national bourgeoisie defended by the European.
There are several types of revolutions:
- Political: an absolutist regime replaced by another liberal one.
- National character: they want to be an independent nation-state liberal.