Transcript Ideologies and Upheavals: Europe in the “Age of Metternich”

Ideologies and
Upheavals:
Europe in the
“Age of Metternich”
1815-1850
Europe After Napoleon
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Congress of Vienna – Legitimacy,
Compensation, “Balance of Power”
Enforced through Congress System and
Holy Alliance (mostly E.E.)
Main goals:
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Promote Conservatism (autocratic
monarchies, rights of aristocracy)
Resist Liberalism (French Revolution)
Resist Nationalism (threat to existing
order)
CONSERVATISM
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Desired to preserve the “old order”
Believed in order, society, faith, and
tradition
Reaction to Liberalism of American &
French Revolution
Supported by aristocracy and peasants
Edmund Burke – Reflections on the
Revolution in France – defended old
order against tumult of revolutions
CONSERVATISM
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Best exemplified by
Metternich – “Age of
Metternich”
Concerned with multiethnic character of
Austrian Empire
Feared nationalism and
liberalism would tear
Hapsburg Empire apart
Carlsbad Decrees (1819)
for German
Confederation
LIBERALISM
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Desired to promote individual freedom
and well-being – “Classical liberalism”
Reformers, not revolutionaries –
supported by middle class
Believed in natural rights (Locke),
guaranteed by written constitutions
(Dec. of Ind., Dec. of Rights of Man)
Advocated laissez-faire capitalism
(Smith) – individual choice (“invisible
hand” of the market) – opposed unions
LIBERALISM
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Wanted representative governments,
but NOT democracy
Wanted to keep vote in hands of
landowners, businessmen, middle class
– keep workers, peasants, and lower
middle classes from voting
Not as radical as democrats and
republicans, but could work together
to oppose conservatism
LIBERALISM
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Utilitarianism – the utility
of any law or institution
should be “the greatest
good for the greatest
number of people” –
Jeremy Bentham, British
philosopher/reformer
John Stuart Mill – On
Liberty (1859) – argued
for “absolute freedom of
opinion”, against
government tyranny and
censorship
NATIONALISM
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Desired to turn cultural unity into selfgovernment
Believed common language, history,
and traditions would bring about unity
Supported by liberals, especially radical
democrats
Grew out of resistance to Napoleon
Threat to multi-ethnic empires like
Austria, Russia, and Ottoman Empire
Force of unity for divided German and
Italian states
NATIONALISM
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Johann Gottfried Herder –
“father of modern nationalism”
Volksgeist – “national spirit” distinct national character of a
people
All nations should be sovereign
and contain all members of the
same nationality – all nations
equal, none superior
Johann Gottlieb Fichte –
“father of German nationalism”
“Address to the German
Nation” (1808) – encouraged
German patriotism, antiSemitism
SOCIALISM
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Desired to reorganize society to
establish sense of cooperation and
community
Believed liberalism and capitalism
promoted selfishness and
fragmentation of society
Wanted system of greater economic
equality, planned by government (antilaissez faire)
Supported mostly by working class
Origins in France
UTOPIAN SOCIALISM
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Count Henri de Saint-Simon –
Industrialization and science
would lead to ‘golden age’ for
Europe
“Parasites” give way to the
“doers” to improve society –
benefits to all, especially the
poor
Charles Fourier – wanted
planned economy and socialist
communities – highly
mathematical
Early proponent of women’s
rights
UTOPIAN SOCIALISM
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Louis Blanc – urged workers to
fight for rights by peacefully
taking control of government
Government should ensure full
employment through
workshops and factories
Pierre Joseph Proudhon – What
is Property? (1840)
Property was profit stolen from
worker, the source of all wealth
(idea later used by Marx)
Feared power of state – often
considered an anarchist
MARXISM
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“Scientific Socialism” – had a
profound impact on Europe in
19th and 20th centuries
Developed by Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels – The
Communist Manifesto (1848) –
blueprint for militant working
class success
Based on:
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Economic interpretation of
history – mostly who controls
means of production
Class struggle between rich and
poor
Labor is true value of a product
– stolen by capitalists
MARXISM
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Atheistic philosophy
Felt socialism was
inevitable course of
history
Believed proletariat would
rise up and overthrow
bourgeoisie
Create a “dictatorship of
the proletariat” - a
classless society and an
end to capitalism
“From each according to
his abilities, to each
according to his needs”