18th & 19th Century Revolutions: Demographic, Industrial, & Political

Posted on Oct 22, 2024 in History

Topic 1: Demographic and Economic Changes in the 18th Century

Demographic Transition

The eighteenth-century population increase occurred because birth rates remained high, but mortality fell. During the second half of the eighteenth century, the European demographic regime changed and began a new demographic regime characterized by the continuous expansion of the population.

Economy

Agriculture: Basic agricultural fields transitioned from open land and large expansions to enclosed fields with individual parcels.

Social Structure:

  • The Noble: The land lord was the owner of the land and had jurisdictional territory. When dispensing justice, they appointed a Mr. who collected charges or taxes.
  • The Load: The king, the lords, and the clergy collected church tithing.
  • Putting-Out System: A system used to evade the regulation of unions.

Trade:

  • International Trade: Experienced a very intense transformation in the Modern Age owing to colonial expansion and increased demand.
  • Internal Trade: While markets were local or regional centers of trade, national and even international trade fairs emerged. There were also traveling merchants and peddlers.

Privileged Society:

  • The nobility
  • The clergy (regular clergy, secular clergy)
  • Third State (no legal or economic privileges)
  • Villages (farmers, urban groups, the bourgeoisie)

Absolute Monarchy

The king, in theory, held all the powers of the state without restriction. However, resistance from various local authorities to the demands of the central government, lack of effective control by kings, and the attitudes of the aristocracy and other social bodies limited the king’s power. Absolute kings created new officials to affirm their power locally, but sought alliances with the powerful nobility and clergy. The nobility and clergy continued without paying taxes, and justice was given exclusively by the king.

Enlightened Despotism

Absolute monarchies of the eighteenth century enacted reform policies in several areas, but none of these reforms altered the basis of the Old Regime. The basis of their thought was: the predominance of reason, critical autonomy of civil power, religious tolerance, education, and interest in scientific experiments.

Origin and Growth: It was initiated in the period 1680-1730 in England and the United Provinces. By 1750, it expanded throughout Europe, and France became the center of the spread of enlightened ideas. (Great thinkers: John Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau.)

Topic 2: The Industrial Revolution

Sources of the Industrial Revolution

The British region of Lancashire in England staged a process of industrial concentration, leading to the British Industrial Revolution. This revolution saw changes that affected all sectors.

The First Industrial Revolution (1780)

The English population tripled in a century and a half.

Factors of the Industrial Revolution:

  • Agricultural revolution
  • Political and institutional context
  • Commercial and maritime power
  • Free trade
  • Liberalization of the agrarian sector

Pioneer Industries:

  • Technological innovation and progressive use of machines
  • Cotton (need to innovate, 1769… Spinning Jenny, Steam Engine)
  • Metallurgy (steel)
  • Concentration of machines near coal mines

Transport:

  • Road network of canals and roads
  • The railway was invented in 1769
  • British foreign trade had a very prominent role in the import and export of cotton products

Industrialization in Belgium, France, and Germany.

Social Classes:

  • Lower Classes: The proletariat (4.8 million)
  • Middle Classes: Skilled workers in the industry, saw a revolution in the service sector
  • Upper Classes: The nobility and the bourgeoisie became a dominant social group, whose role was as industrial entrepreneurs

Topic 3: The American and French Revolutions

The American Revolution

  • Origins of Independence
  • The War of Independence
  • The Birth of the American Republic and Constitution

The French Revolution (1789-1799)

Origins of the French Revolution:

  • Problems of the royal treasury
  • Influence of the American Revolution
  • Subsistence crisis
  • Convocation of the Estates-General and Notebooks of Grievances

Phases of the French Revolution:

  • The Moderate Revolution and the National Assembly (1789-1792)
  • A Divorce Between the King and the Nation: The Convention (1792-1794)
    • Girondins Convention
    • Convention of the Montagnards
    • The Reign of Terror
  • The Conservative Republic and the Thermidorian Convention & Directory (1794-1799)
    • Constitution of the Year III (1795)
    • Directory instability and conspiracies

The Napoleonic Empire

  • Napoleon became hereditary emperor.
  • He changed the Constitution of the Year VIII to the Constitution of the Year XII, which granted him great power.
  • He was crowned by Pope Pius VII.
  • The United Kingdom and Russia established a new anti-French coalition, which Austria later joined.
  • Famous battles included Trafalgar, Austerlitz, and Napoleon’s victory over Austria and Prussia.
  • Napoleon issued the Continental Blockade decree to defeat Britain.
  • In 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia, which led to the Peninsular War in Spain.
  • The United Kingdom and other coalitions defeated Napoleon at Leipzig and Vitoria.
  • Napoleon’s final defeat was at Waterloo.

Europe Under Napoleon (1800-1815)

  • The Consulate and the Expansion of the Revolution
  • The Napoleonic Empire (1804-1815)
  • The Legacy of Napoleon

Restoration and Revolution in Europe (1815-1848)

  • Restoration (1815-1830)
  • Liberal Revolutions (1820-1825, 1830, 1848)

Nationalisms and Nation-States in Europe (1848-1914)

  • Nationalism in the nineteenth century
  • Italian unification
  • German unification

Thinking, Science, and Culture in the Era of Revolutions

The Romantic Spirit

  • Art, literature, and music
  • Thought and science

The Congress of Vienna

The restoration of the European system was designed at the Congress of Vienna in 1814 and 1815 with the aim of restoring the balance of power between European powers. The key figure was Klemens von Metternich.

Quadruple Alliance: A military alliance between Austria, Russia, Prussia, and the United Kingdom created to defend the order established by the Congress of Vienna.

The Holy Alliance: An organization created after the defeat of Napoleon by Austria, Russia, and Prussia with the goal of maintaining absolutism and defending against the liberal threat.