UNIT 2: THE AGE OF POLITICAL

REVOLUTIONS1770 - 1871

What the hell is a revolution?

Revolution has been defined as a fundamental change in both political and social organization, or an overthrow of the government by those who are governed.

1.- General causes of the 19th century revolutions

• Absolute monarchy became and obsolate and contested form of government.• The middle class became an important force within the society.• Progress was enhanced due to scientifical discoveries and

technological inventions.• The Industrial Revolution began to change the world in every aspect

of it (society, cities, production, etc.)• The feudal system failed and became useless for the new century’s

social, economical and political organization.

2.- The American RevolutionDuring the 18th century, the thirteen colonies of the North American East Coast, were the richest part of the British Empire.

At the end of the century, the colonist started a war against Great Britain to obtain their independence.Why?

2.1.- Causes:• The colonist were unhappy because

they had no representation in the British parliament.• The colonist were not allowed to

occupy the vast territories to the west because of the treaties signed between the British Empire and the Indian tribes.• The parliament raised some taxes

to the colonists (Stamps, Tea, etc.)

• In 1773, the British parliament imposed a tax over tea. That was the spark that started the revolution. • A group of colonists in Boston,

dressed up us Indians, assaulted three cargo ships and dumped the tea into the river. This act is known as the Boston Tea Party.• The British government accused

the colonies of treason and decided to send regular troops. The War of Independence had started.

2.2.-Main characters of the American RevolutionContinental Army (Colonists)

George Washington (Leader of the Continental Army and 1st President of the USA

Thomas Jefferson. Author of the Declaration of Independence and 3rd President of the USA

Benjamin Franklin

John Adams. 2nd President of the USA

The British Empire

William Pitt (British Prime Minister) King George III of

Great Britain

2.3.- The War• It was both an international and a civil war:• As a civil war the colonist society was split into two groups:

• The so called PATRIOTS: colonists in favour of independence.• The LOYALISTS: colonists in favour of remaining loyal to Great Britain.

Most of the colonists in both sides were small or middle landowners, farmers… In many cases (as George Washington himself for example) they were slave owners.• As an international war:

• The colonist army was helped by the French and the Spaniards, because of their common interest in damaging the British forces.

• The British Army was helped by most of the Indian tribes, because they feared the ambitions of the colonists.

• The British Army was defeated in 1783. The USA was recognized as an independent republic by the Treaty of Versailles.

2.4.- The creation of the USAThe Declaration of Independence• Signed on 4 July 1776 in

Philadelphia.• This document created the

United States of America.• It also recognized:• The equality of the people. (But not

for women and black people)• The right to life.• The right to liberty.• The right to happiness.

The Constitution of 1783• It established the division of powers:

• The President: executive power.• The Congress (formed by the Senate and the

House of Representatives): legislative power• The Supreme Court: judicial power

• The following rights are guaranteed by the US Constitution:• Life• Liberty • Property• Freedom of expression• Freedom of press• Freedom of religion

2.4.- The creation of the USAThe Declaration of Independence The Constitution of 1783

3.- The French Revolution (1789-1799)

• Ideological: • The ideas of the Enlightenment.

• Social & economic: • The nobility and the clergy had lost

political power.• The nobility had financial difficulties.• The middle class had no political power

and their commercial interest suffered.• The peasants suffered several crisis.• The urban workers lives in miserable

conditions.

3.1.- Causes

3.1.- The outbreak of the Revolution

• During the 1780’s Frances was struggling with a financial crisis caused by:• Food shortage.• The military expenditure (France got an

enormous debt because their help to the USA during the war.

• Due to this situation, king Louis XVI summoned the Estates General to forced them to raise the taxes of the privileges classes.

• The Estates General were an assembly formed by the so called 3 states:• Clergy• Nobility• The 3rd State (bourgeoisie, peasants, etc.)

They called themselves the commoners or the 3rd state.

• The 3rd state didn’t accept the conditions of the king, clergy and nobility. They met in a different room and proclaimed themselves as the National Assembly, the true representatives of the whole nation, and decided to agreed on a Constitution.

3.2.- The Phases of the French Revolution

• The National Constituent Assembly (1789-1791)• The Legislative Assembly (1791-1792)• The Convention (1792-1795)• The Directory and the Consulate (1795-1799)

3.2.1.- The National Constituent Assembly (1789-1791)• On 14 July 1789 the people of Paris

stormed the fortress prison of La Bastille to obtain weapons to defend the Assembly.

• The Constituent Assembly:• Abolished the feudalism. Privileges were no

longer accepted.• Published the Declaration of the Rights of

Man and of the Citizen.• Wrote the Constitution of 1791 that

established:• The division of powers.• The right to vote to every man who had

possessions. (Census Suffrage)

France became a Constitutional Monarchy.

3.2.2.- The Legislative Assembly (1791-1792)• The Constitutional Assembly became a

Legislative Assembly, where two different political groups became important:• The Girondins (moderates)• The Jacobins (egalitarians) supported by the city

workers of Paris known as Sans Culottes. The jacobins were also known as montagnards.

• The nobility searched for help against the revolution among the European monarchies. Austria and Prussia started a preventive war against France and the revolutionary ideas.

• These problems provoked the election of a new government in France: the Convention.

3.2.3.- The Convention (1792-1795)• Initially dominated by the Girondins.• In 1792 the Republic was proclaimed.• Former king Louis XVI was executed in the g

uillotine in 1793 accused of treason. This was decided by the Convention.

• After the executions, the United Kingdom, Spain and other countries joined Austria and Prussia in their war against the French Republic. France was on the edge of defeat.

• In 1793 the Jacobin Club, led by Maximilien Robespierre and Louis-Antoine de Saint-Just, came into government. They established the “Committee of Public Safety” as government.

• This stage of the revolution is known as “the reign of terror”. The committee implemented the following decisions by a new and democratic constitution known as Constitution of the Year One:• To give new power to the common people.• To introduce universal suffrage for all male voters.• To defend the republic by every available means (guillotine

included). The former queen, Marie Antoinette, was executed.

• To establish a new calendar.• Slavery was abolished all along the French territories and

the colonies.

• With these radical measures the Revolution survived and France defeated the other countries.

• In the end, Robespierre and his fellows were overthrown by a coup and guillotined themselves on the month of thermidor. This is called the Thermidorian Reaction.

3.2.4.- The Directory and the Consulate (1795-1799)• The moderates enacted a new Constitution in 1795 which consisted in: • The suffrage was limited again to people who paid rent. (Census Suffrage)• A new government of five members was established. It is known as the Directory.

• The Directory started a new and successful military campaign against Italy, Prussia, Austria And Egypt.• General Napoleon Bonaparte led these expeditions and became a hero for the

French people.• Napoleon himself took part in a coup d'état that replaced the Directory by a new

government formed by three members known as the Consulate. • Napoleon became First Consul of the Republic.• This was the end of the Revolution.

3.3.- Main characters of the RevolutionMaximilien Robespierre (The

Incorruptible)Leader of the Jacobin Club and one of the 12 members of the Committee of Public Safety

Louis-Antoine de Saint-Just. Another Jacobin leader

Georges Danton. Jacobin leader.

Marquis de Lafayette. Moderate Leader.

Fouché, leader of the secret police.

Toussaint-Loverture. Leader of the Revolution in Saint Domingue (Haiti)

Louis XVI

Young general Napoleon Bonaparte

3.4.- Women and the French Revolution• Women had an active role in the French

Revolution:• The joined in protest and riots.• The queued to get bread and basic products.• They fought for their rights.

• They didn’t obtain the recognition of the Revolutions so that they were forced to keep a secondary role during the whole process.

• Some activists created the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women.

• Olympe de Gouges published an unofficial Declaration of the Rights of Woman.

Queen Marie-Antoinette

Olympe de Gouges

Mary Wollstonecraft

3.5.- Symbols of the Revolution

Tri-color cockade

Phrygian cap

4.- The Napoleonic Period (1799-1815)4.1.- Napoleon’s legacy in France• Napoleon consolidated the advances of the Revolution, pacified the country and

introduced several reforms.• The pacification of France:

• Napoleon eliminated the most radical factions.• He encouraged the return of the exiled nobility.• He signed an agreement with the Catholic Church (Concordat of 1801).

• The internal reforms:• The Civil Code was introduced in 1804. Main principles:

• Equality in the eyes of law.• The right of property and economic freedom.• The legal separation of Church and state.

• It was created a system of public assistance.• Public education was enhanced.• He promoted the construction of monuments in Paris.

4.2.- The Napoleonic Empire (1805-1815)• Napoleon was proclaimed Napoleon I, emperor of the French Empire in 1804.• He intended to create an European empire.• Between 1805 and 1810 France conquered or controlled a large part of

continental Europe through many military victories:• Austerlitz against the Austrian and Russian Empires.• Jena and Friedland against the Prussian Kingdom.• Conquered Spain and Portugal.

• France was defeated by the British navy, led by Admiral Nelson, in Trafalgar (1805).• French domination in the occupied countries provoked nationalist movements.

4.3.- Napoleon’s fall• Napoleon began the invasion of Russia with the largest army ever seen in France, known as

Grand Armée.• France suffered a massive defeat in Russia after having conquered and abandoned Moscow due

to a great fire in the city. “General winter” and the Russian forces killed the French soldiers.• France was also defeated in Spain. The Spanish resistance invented the guerrilla tactics against

the occupation forces. After that a British-Spanish army expelled the French soldiers of the Iberian Peninsula.

• In 1814 a coalition of European countries occupied Paris. Napoleon was arrested and sent to exile to the Mediterranean isle of Elba.

• By 1815, Napoleon returned from exile and recovered the power for 100 days. He suffered a decisive defeat in the battle of Waterloo against a coalition of British an Prussian forces.

• He was sent to exile again but, this time, Napoleon was confined in the Atlantic island of Saint Helena, almost in the middle of nowhere, where he died of cancer in 1821.

4.4.- Main characters of the Napoleonic Period

Josephine de Beauharnais. Napoleon’s 1st wife

Marie Louise. Napoleon’s 2nd wife

Michel Ney. Napoleon’s most famous general

Horatio Nelson. Admiral of the Royal Navy

Duke of Wellington. British military leader

5.- The Restoration and the Liberal Revolutions5.1.- The Restoration• The Restoration means the return to the Old Regime and absolutism

in Europe after the French Revolution.• The victorious countries (The UK, Austria, Russia and Prussia) met in the

Congress of Vienna were they decided:• The frontiers before the war had to be restored.• The monarchs had to be reinstated.• Metternich (Prime Minister of Austria) was the architect of the new Europe.

The Holy Alliance: Austria, Russia and Prussia signed the Holy Alliance Treaty. This alliance would watch over Europe and would eliminate any threat to absolutism.

5.2.- Liberal ideology• The liberal ideology spread across Europe despite the defeat of the

French Revolution and Napoleonic Empire.• Liberals believe in:• Individual freedom, therefore it is against the absolutism.• Separation of powers.• Economic freedom.

Liberalism was defended by the bourgeoisie, which became the revolutionary class par excellence.

5.3.- The revolutionary waves: 1820, 1830 & 1848

1st wave: The Revolutions of 1820

2nd wave: The Revolutions of 1830’s

3rd wave: The Revolutions of 1848

Where? Balance

Spain, Portugal, Piedmont and Naples

These revolutions failed but some constitutions were proclaimed though they didn’t last.

France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Poland and some states in Italy and Germany

In France, Charles X was deposed and a new constitutional monarchy was proclaimed with Louis Philippe of Orleans (the Citizen King) as ruler. In the other countries the liberals became conservative establishing census suffrage.

France, Austria and several states of Germany and Italy

In France the 2nd Republic was proclaimed. In the other countries the bourgeoisie controlled the revolutions and established moderate liberal regimes.

Eric Hobsbawm. “The Age of Revolution (1789-1848)”. Final paragraph.

6.- Nationalist movements6.1.- Nationalist ideologyWhat is a nation?Nation hasn’t got an standardized meaning. For the nationalists a nation is a community that shares common cultural traits such as:

• Language• History• Folklore

Is nation the same as state?A state is a political organization of a territory. To became a state, land, people and sovereignty are required.The nationalist ideology sets that each nation should be confirmed as a state. That is called the Nation-States.There are states that include many nations (The Russian Federation) and nations without state (Kurds)

In history, there are two types of nationalist movements:

Pro-independence movements: those which try to create a new state through the separation of a part of a pre-existent state (Today’s examples: Catalonian, Basque, Scottish and Quebecoise movements)

Pro-unification movements: those which want to create a new state by the unification of smaller states that share the same cultural traits. (Today’s examples: Kurds)

6.2.- Independence movements• In 1820’s most of the colonies of Latin America

achieved independence from Spain an Portugal by taking advantage of their defeats against Napoleon. (Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Great Colombia, Mexico, etc.)• In 1829 Greece became independent from the

Turkish Empire.• In 1839 Belgium became independent from the

Low Countries.• Ireland failed to achieve its independence from

the UK.

6.3.- The unification of Italy (1859-1870)• Italy was divided into seven states, some of then

under foreign domination.• The Kingdom of Sardinia was the central part of

the unification process. Victor Emmanuel II was its king and Count Cavour its Prime Minister.

• Garibaldi, an Italian revolutionary, completed the unification by the south.

• Stages of the Unification:• Sardinia conquered Lombardy from Austria.• Garibaldi conquered the Two Sicilies.• Both kingdoms were united in 1860 and the

Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed as a constitutional monarchy led by Victor Emmanuel.

• 1866: Venice was annexed.• 1870: The Papal States were conquered.

Victor Emmanuel II

Count Cavour Garibaldi

6.4.- The unification of Germany (1864-1871)• What we understand as Germany was a confederation

of 39 independent states, most of them controlled by Austria.

• Prussia led a unification process in order to build a new state and exclude Austria. The Kingdom of Prussia was led by William I and his chancellor Bismarck.

• Stages:• Prussia defeated Austria in 1866 and unified the northern

states.• Prussia defeated France in the battle of Sedan in 1870 and

unified the southern states.• In 1871 the German Empire was proclaimed in Versailles. Is also

known as the 2nd Reich.

• The empire established universal male suffrage and a federal system formed by states.

• Germany became the strongest country in Europe.

Kaiser William IChancellor Bismarck