Alternative Visions

Nationalism, Socialism, Marxism

Alternative movements in the Americas and India

1800-1900

Competing ideologies in Europe• After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815

conservative powers rallied to restore order on the continent after over a decade of warfare

• Conservatives wanted to turn back the clock to the period before 1789 and restore the traditional social order

• They were only partially successful in this effort – as they had to deal not only with the legacy of revolution but also the social transformations taking place as a result of the spread of industrialization

Nationalism • broadly defined as:  'sentiment of belonging to a

community that shares historical, geographic, linguistic or cultural traditions'

• Emerges in France during the Revolution of 1789 and in the British response to the French Revolution

• Nationalism was an elastic ideology that could serve both liberal and conservative goals

• plays a role in the revolutions of 1848 and becomes a powerful political force that inspired nation building in the 19thc. e.g. Germany and Italy

National identities

• States use nationalism to create a sense of national unity and legitimacy for their governments

• Nationalism can create a sense of unity and common identity; eg. France and Britain

• But nationalism also has the potential to be divisive, eg. Austrian Habsburg empire

The rise of socialism• If liberalism represents the politicization of

the middle class, socialism represents the politicization of working classes

• The liberal tradition stretched back to the writings of Locke in the 1680s – Socialism was a political philosophy that was born of the industrial age

• By the 1830s socialism became a powerful political force aimed at re-establishing the social order on a more equal footing

Varieties of socialism• Utopian socialism – Robert Owen and

Charles Fourier– Create industrial societies where the workers

are “taken care of” by the factory owner

• Political socialism – Louis Blanc– Advocated promoting working class interests

within the framework of western parliamentary systems

• Scientific socialism – Karl Marx– The revolution is inevitable

Marxism

• A political philosophy that borrows from the currents of German idealism in philosophy and applies them to the problems of the industrial world

• Marx’s ideas are based on the principle that history is leading inevitably towards perfection – and that industrialization is a sign that perfection is near

• Like Adam Smith, Marx was an economist – but his views on economic exchange were radically opposed to Smith’s

• Argued that the rise of the middle class was only a stage in a grander scheme for an egalitarian society based on the abolition of private property

• Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published their famous Communist Manifesto in 1848 in order to fuel a socialist revolution

• It opens: “Working people of all countries unite!” and was a popularization of Marx’s more complex economic and historical theories

The Revolutions of 1848

• Revolutions broke out in several European capitals which represented both liberal and socialist challenges to conservative rulers

• Sometimes liberals and socialists worked together, but often they were bitter enemies

• One of the forces that tended to drive them apart was nationalism

North America

• North American natives grew troubled by the spread of colonists into the interior of North America, breaking up traditional patterns of life

• While some assimilated into European culture, others saw as their only path to survival a complete rejection or European goods and culture

• This approach was embraced by charismatic prophets and leaders

Tenskwatawa (1768-1834), known as the Shawnee Prophet, built on a tradition of prophecy to answer pressing questions about how to deal with European settlement

Some Shawnee leaders promoted assimilation into European culture – but Tenskwatawa’s approach was to reject it completely – including its religion, it’s goods (especially alcohol and guns), its promotion of private property, and its emphasis on farming rather than hunting

Tenskwatawa’s brother Tecumseh (1768-1813) was more successful in unifying natives in the Great Lakes Region against American expansionism

In order to do so, Tecumseh allied his troops with the British – not to become more British, but to keep the Americans at bay

When he was killed in battle in 1813 – much of the hope for a united native people’s confederacy died with him

Caste War of the Yucatan

• Maya natives of the Yucatan Peninsula had been less affected by Spanish settlement than other parts of Mexico

• Strong indigenous sentiment led to open revolt against the Mexican government in 1847 which lasted into the 20th century

• Their main concerns were with the spread of sugar plantations into their territory, the flow of arms through their territory, and rising taxes from the central government in Mexico City

It is called a caste war because Mayans were fighting against the caste system in which they were placed at the bottom

Spanish descent

Mixed-Spanish descent

Mestizo

indios

Sepoy Mutiny, or Great Rebellion

• Tensions between colonizer and colonized came to a head in 1857 when Indian troops refused to use rifle cartridges greased with pork fat – unacceptable for both Hindus and Muslims

• The rebellion reflected greater social, political and economic problems and soon drew in peasants who protested tax collection and government corruption

The British colonial leaders believed that the best way to stop mutinies or challenges to their dominant position was to make an example of those who did. Here Sepoy rebels are tied to canons

Outcome of the 1857 Mutiny

• British East India Company loses its monopoly and India subject to direct rule of the British crown

• reorganized military--to separate indigenous groups to discourage subversive fraternization

• More cooperation with Indian princes and hereditary elites

• Creation of civil service• Economic development • India was Britain’s largest export market but its

human resources also important-indentured labourers in Burma, Malaya, Southern Africa

The Raj• The British immediately began building

railways to link their possessions and to make Indians (one of the world’s largest populations) into consumers of British-made goods

• British investment increased dramatically

• India begins to be seen as a key component in Britain’s imperial strategy and thus there is a larger British presence

• After suppressing the revolt the British aimed to show their dominance not just with the military but also in shaping a hierarchical society with themselves firmly at the top

Conclusion

• Resistance to the spread of European liberal ideals developed both inside Europe itself and in other parts of the world where they interacted

• Though more often than not these resistance movements were crushed by superior arms and wealth, nonetheless they established a foundation of resistance that would last well into the 20th century