Industrialization led to other “isms.” The worsening plight of factory workers and the resulting lifestyles spawned several reactions on their behalf, namely socialism and communism.
Adam Smith (1723-1790): in 1776, published The Wealth of Nations:
Socialism: Thomas Owen and New Lanark factory, Scotland:
1867: Frederich Engels and Karl Marx wrote Das Kapital. Communism:
Major difference between socialism and communism: the necessity of a violent revolution.
Marx was heavily influenced by the philosophy of Georg Hegel, a German philosopher whose philosophy is summarized as “thesis, antithesis, synthesis.” Marx saw capitalism as the thesis; revolution as the antithesis; and communism as the synthesis.
More Revolution!
Guess what? The revolutions weren’t over. France was facing another one (or two).
The Bourbons were restored to the French throne in 1814, but only for a short time. Louis XVIII, Louis XVI’s brother, ruled from 1814 to 1824. Louis learned from his brother’s execution. The Bourbons gave a constitution to the nation, but kept the notion of divine right. The “constitutional charter” kept equality before the law, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press. Louis created a Chamber of Deputies, but suffrage was limited in its election.
The reactionary aristocracy who managed to survive the Revolution and Napoleon rallied around Louis younger brother, the Count of Artois. to fight for their pre-Revolution privileges. The ultraroyalists, or ultras, managed to execute some of Napoleon’s followers, fire government employees, and wreak as much havoc as possible. Louis fought the ultras until 1820, when Artois’ son was assassinated. Following the assassination, Louis allowed strict censorship, placed the Sorbonne under a bishop’s control (he promptly fired all the liberal professors), and gave the rich a second vote in elections for the Chamber of Deputies.
In 1824, Louis died, and his brother became king as Charles X. Charles tried to force the government to pay the ultras for the lands they had lost during the Revolution and attempted to end religious toleration. The result was typically French: The nation rose in revolt in 1830. Charles (choosing not to mimic brother Louis XVI) fled France.
Charles was succeeded by Louis Philippe, the Duke of Orleans and a cousin of Charles X. Louis Phillipe had supported the Revolution, served in the army until fleeing the Reign of Terror, and was counted as a liberal. Louis Phillipe expanded suffrage and relaxed censorship. Louis Phillipe chose his ministers from among the new rich, not from the aristocracy, leading critics to call his monarchy the Bourgois Monarchy. Unfortunately, while Louis Phillipe’s rule was good for the wealthy and the middle class, the lower-class workers saw little improvement. the result? More riots. Fortunately, Louis Phillipe managed to quell the riots with the army.
Metternich once said, “When Paris sneezes, Europe catches cold.” (The book’s quote on p. 658 is incorrect.) The revolution of 1830 soon spread throughout the continent:
What nation is missing here — again? Britain. Why?
British Liberalism 1801-1846
During industrialization, the British aristocracy continued to dominate the political scene. The patronage system established by Walpole perpetuated aristocratic control of the military and government.
Nonetheless, Parliament wasn’t blind to events across the Channel. In 1832, Parliament reformed its membership in the Reform Bill of 1832. The bill abolished “rotten burroughs” (areas with seats in Parliament but with no voters), moved seats to areas newly expanded by industrialization, and expanded the franchise.
In 1828, Parliament granted membership rights to non-conforming Protestants. In 1829, this was followed by the Catholic Emancipation Act (passed only because the Duke of Wellington supported it). Nonetheless, unbelievers and Jews were still excluded from Parliament.
Meanwhile, the Act of Union of 1801 had joined Ireland to the United Kingdom. (The Irish were underwhelmed at the honor.) The Irish Catholic majority were forbidden from voting for their MP’s by the Test Acts, which prohibited any non-Anglican from sitting in Parliament. Would Ireland react as the French did?
Not hardly. The Irish leader, Daniel O’Connell, saw the bloodbath in France and the results and opted for peaceful opposition.
Other liberal reformers attempted to reform the law in regards to women (The Married Women’s Property Act, which defended women’s rights to their own property even in marriage) and the everyday workers (by repealing the Corn Laws so bread would be cheaper). Other reformers started the Chartist movement, which advocated:
None of the Chartist agenda passed in the early 19th century. The liberals managed to convince the conservatives to repeal the Corn Laws by convincing them it was good for business for bread to be affordable.
Russia
Russia had experienced problems of her own. Alexander I died in 1825 with no heir. His brother, Constantine, had renounced his right to the throne in 1822. Therefore, the youngest brother, Nicholas, assumed the title of Tsar.
Nicholas was not trained for rule; he was trained to be a soldier. Liberal army officers led a revolt in December 1825; wanted:
Problem: the Decembrists were poorly organized. Nicholas crushed the rebellion and became highly suspicious of anything that even hinted of liberalism: