Revolutions(1830-1848 – France)

Please take out your HW so you have these terms/events in front of you

The Congress of Vienna & Conservatives

• After Napoleon’s defeat, European diplomats let by Metternich met at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to devise a peace settlement

• A victory for conservatives• Conservatives = monarchs and their officials,

noble landowners and church leaders• Conservatives supported the political and social

order that existed before the French Revolution• Peasants who wanted to preserve traditional

ways were also Conservatives

New Revolutions in Europe• After Congress of Vienna there was peace among

nations in Europe for almost 100 years – but revolutions occurred because of unhappiness with the results

• Causes: 2 new movements challenged conservatism– Liberalism: opposed the power of monarchs and

sought democratic reforms; supported Laissez-Faire economics

– Nationalism: wanted independent nation-states that were free from foreign rule; sometimes led to intolerance of other groups

The French Revolution of 1830: Congress of Vienna

• Post- Congress of Vienna– Louis XVIII restored to throne, holds on to much

power despite new safeguards– Constitution = The Charter of French Liberties– 2 house legislature– Limited freedom of the press

Sources of Unrest

• Ultraroyalists = king’s supporters on the far right who despised Constitutional government and wanted to restore the old regime

• Liberals wanted to extend suffrage and win back power for the middle class

• Radicals wanted a republic like in 1790s• Urban poor wanted affordable food and

decent pay

July Revolution

• New king Charles X suspended the legislature, limited the right to vote and restricted the press – back to absolute monarchy???

• Liberals and radicals threw up barricades, fired on soldiers and took control of Paris

• Charles X abdicated and fled to England• Louis Philippe became the new king

Les Miserables, a novel by Victor Hugo

• Depicts the living conditions and political problems of France and Paris during the French Revolutions of 1830 and 1848.

• Characters• Working class

French Revolution of 1848: Discontent

• In 1840s, radicals forming secret societies to work for a French republic

• Utopian socialists wanted an end to private property

• Liberals even denounced Louis Philippe’s gov’t for corruption and called for expanded suffrage

• Recession = period of reduced economic activity

French Revolution of 1848

• In 1848 revolution flared across France for the third time

• This time, socialist workers and bourgeoisie liberals alike were angry at “citizen king” Louis-Philippe because France’s economy was in a shambles

• Militants took to the streets battling royal troops• Louis Philippe then abdicated • New Constitution written, creating a presidency and

legislature• Louis Napoleon won the first presidential election

“June Days”

• By June, upper and middle-class won control of the gov’t

• Shut down national workshops• “Bread or lead”: Workers took to the Streets

but bourgeoisie liberals turned violently on the protesters

• Peasants joined in against the rioting workers (b/c didn’t want socialists to take their land)

• Finally, rebellion crushed after 1500 killed.

Louis Napoleon

• @ end of 1848, National Assembly issued new constitution for the 2nd Republic

• Strong president and one-house legislature• Gave vote to all adult men, the widest

suffrage in the world at the time – in France the vote went from 200,000 to 9 million!

• Election for president won by Louis Napoleon, presenting himself as caring about social issues but with a conservative name

SERBIA: Nationalistic Revolution

• A successful revolution• Serbian identity strengthened when leader

Karageorge led unsuccessful guerilla war against Ottomans from 1804-1813

• With Russia’s help, Obernovic led second, more successful rebellion– Shared language and religion with Russians– By 1830, Serbs won self-rule within Ottoman

Empire (and later on, formal independence)

Greece: Nationalistic Revolution

• mixed success• Sought independence from Ottomans in 1815• Forged nationalism• Western European nations helped them gain

independence in 1830 though forced to accept a German king

BELGIUM (1830)

• A successful revolution• Belgians resented being ruled by Dutch king– Belgians were Catholic, Dutch were Protestant– Belgians were manufacturers, Dutch were traders– Different languages

• Barricades thrown up in Brussels; supported by GB & France

• Dutch king got no help from Austria, Prussia & Russia b/c they were busy with revolts in their countries

• 1831 Belgium formed

POLAND (1830)

• Failed revolution• Poland under Russian rule• Students, army officers, landowners rose up

but brutally crushed by Russian forces• Uprising didn’t have mass support -- peasants

not a part

1848: Another Wave

• Middle class liberals wanted more political power; protections and rights

• Workers wanted relief• Nationalists wanted to throw off foreign rule• Many failed b/c lack of support, disputes

among revolutionaries and powerful gov’t resistance

Austrian Empire• Started when students took to the streets for

democracy and individual rights & factory workers joined

• Metternich tried to mobilize troops but failed; eventually resigned

• At same time, Louis Kossuth led Hungarian nationalists in demand for independent gov’t, end to serfdom and written constitution & Austrian troops needed there

• At same time, Czechs made similar demands in Prague• At first Austrian emperor promised reforms but then

called on Russians for reinforcements. Order was restored.

Italian States

• Italy did not exist as we know it in 1848; back then it was made up of small kingdoms

• 1848: In North, some kingdoms ruled by Austria launched a revolt that overthrew the Austrians and established republican governments

• Likewise, people living in southern kingdoms overthrew their kings & created republics as well.

• Once Austrian troops put down revolts at home they ousted new gov’ts

German States• Prussia: King Frederick William IV forced to agree

to written Constitution by elected assembly• He dissolved assembly within a year• Issued own constitution keeping power in hands

of himself and friends• Frankfurt Assembly: Meeting of delegates from

German states in 1848. Couldn’t agree on unification. Finally, Prussia’s King Frederick William IV offered crown and he rejected it. Assembly dissolved

Summing Up

• Revolutions failed b/c military force on part of rulers, lack of mass support and growing gulf between liberals who wanted moderate reform and workers who wanted radical change

Why did colonists in Latin America Resent the Spaniards?

• Why is it called Latin America? France, Spain, Portugal• Mercantilism: Spain controlled all Latin American trade for

the benefit of Spain• Social Order

– Most important political and military jobs were controlled by peninsulares (people born in Spain)

– Creoles (European-descended Latin Americans who owned haciendas, ranches and mines) resented second-class status• Led revolts• Dominated gov’ts post-revolution

– Mestizos (Native American and European) and mulattoes (African & European) were denied staus of whites

Opportunity Strikes

• When Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Spain he put his own brother on throne

• Latin America leaders viewed this as Spanish weakness and took advantage

HAITI’S DISCONTENT

• Most valuable French possession in the 1700s• French planters ran sugar plantations

powered by African slaves• Also 25,000 free mulattoes but not at same

level as French creoles

A Slave Revolt

• The French colony of Haiti was the first Latin American colony to revolt against European rule.

• 1791: What else was going on that year?• In Haiti, French planters owned large sugar

plantations powered by 500,000 African slaves• Free Mulattoes also had few rights

Toussant L’Overture

• Toussant L’Overture, a self-educated former slave, led the slave rebels

• He was familiar with Enlightenment thinkers and wanted to lead his people to liberty

• A very difficult & bloody struggle• French, Spanish and British involvement• 1798: Haitian slaves freed and TLO’s forces in

control

Haiti and France

• Even after revolt over, Haiti still a French colony• War for Independence: Napoleon tried to

reestablish French dominance in Haiti in 1802• Toussant captured and imprisoned; died in Alps• French troops ravaged by sickness and agreed to

a truce• Eventually gained freedom on 1804 and became

a republic in 1820

Simon Bolivar

• Wealthy Latin American Creole sent to Europe to complete his education

• There he learned about the Enlightenment and the French Revolution

• “Liberator”: Later led struggle to liberate northern South America from Spain

Struggle for Independence

• 1810-1822: Series of military campaigns that won independence for Venezuela, New Granada (now Colombia), Ecuador, Peru & Bolivia

• Joined forces with Jose de San Martin who had defeated Spanish in Argentina & Chile in 1810s

Difficulties Ahead

• Bolivar had many military victories against the Spanish but failed to create a large, united Latin American state

• Spain’s former empire thus became divided into a number of separate, independent states

• Latin American nations have faced a long struggle to gain stability, achieve social equality and eliminate poverty