European Revolutions and Unifications: 18th and 19th Centuries
The Events of the French Revolution
- 1789: The Beginning of the Revolution
- The Summoning of the Estates-General
- The Tennis Court Oath
- The Storming of the Bastille
- The National Constituent Assembly
- The Declaration of the Rights of Man
- Constitutional Monarchy / Phases of the Revolution
- 1789: Abolition of the Ancien Régime
- 1789: The First Constitution of France
- Democratic Republic
- 1792: Proclamation of the Republic
- 1793: The Execution of Louis XVI
- 1793: The Period of the “Right of Terror”
- Bourgeois Republic
- 1795: The Directory
- 1799: The Consulate
- 1804: Napoleon Declares Himself Emperor
- 1991: Ancien Régime Finished and Constitutional Monarchy Established
Napoleon Bonaparte (1799-1814/15)
- Religion (Revolutionary Idea): Napoleon guaranteed religious freedom. Jews, Protestants, and Catholics could all co-exist in the new France. The Church was controlled by the state, and the clergy was elected and paid by the state.
- Education (Revolutionary Idea): The state would determine what to study. Education for everyone (except women).
- Economics (Revolutionary Idea): He wanted to stimulate the economy and serve the interests of the bourgeoisie. The state helped industry through tariffs and loans. He built roads and councils to develop infrastructure and established the Bank of France.
- Government (Authoritarian Absolutist): Napoleon wanted national unification, controlled by a strong central government. He created an army of officials, consisting of administrators, functionaries, and bureaucrats, and placed them in every town and city. The entire nation was unified under a national administration.
- Law (Revolutionary Idea, Authoritarian Absolutist): He wrote as an absolutist king. He took articles written in the French Revolution: equality, freedom of religion, equal opportunities.
The Restoration
1814: Napoleon was defeated.
1814/15: The victors (Austria, Prussia, Great Britain) – European monarchies met at the Congress of Vienna. The treaty they signed was The Holy Alliance.
Goals:
- They wanted to restore monarchic absolutism.
- They remodeled the European map: European borders returned to the boundaries in 1792.
- They agreed that in the case of a liberal revolution happening again in any European country, they all had to help that country.
Revolutions of 1820
- Main Ideas that Influenced the Revolution: Liberal and nationalist ideas.
- Characteristics of the Period: Socio-economic problems. The bourgeoisie opposed absolutist kings.
- Where? Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy, Piedmont, Naples, German states.
- Successful Where? Why? Greece: Greece was recognized as a sovereign nation in 1832.
- Failure Where? Why? Spain was the first: Liberal uprising led by General Riego. The Congress of Verona sent French soldiers (100,000 sons of St. Louis) to restore absolutism. Rebels were defeated. Portugal, Italy (Piedmont and Naples), German states: Here, the revolutions were crushed by the army.
Revolutions of 1830
- Main Ideas that Influenced the Revolution: Liberal and nationalist ideas.
- Characteristics of the Period: Socio-economic problems. The bourgeoisie opposed absolutist kings.
- Where? France, Belgium, Poland.
- Successful Where? Why? France: A liberal revolution deposed King Charles X and replaced him with a more liberal-oriented king, Louis Philippe I. France became a constitutional monarchy.
- Failure Where? Why? Poland: They declared themselves independent from Russia, but the rebellion was suppressed, and Poland was given even less freedom than before.
Revolutions of 1848
- Main Ideas that Influenced the Revolution: Socialism appeared (Marx-Engels: Communist Manifesto). Nationalism became stronger. Ideas spread more quickly.
- Characteristics of the Period: Technological changes. New class: Proletariat. Crop failures in 1846. Radical politicians (called Democrats) were looking for greater changes in parliamentary governments (universal suffrage, sovereignty of the people, and social equality).
- Where? France, Poland, German states, Austrian Empire, Italy, Piedmont.
- Failure Where? Why? France: The Second Republic was proclaimed, but Napoleon III, the president, became the ruler of the Second French Empire. Hungary gained autonomy (into the Austria-Hungarian Empire). It was the most widespread revolutionary wave in European history, but the revolutions failed.
The Unification of Italy | The Unification of Germany | |
|---|---|---|
Situation Before | After the Congress of Vienna, Italy had been organized into seven separate states under different governments. | It was divided into 39 states under different governments. -They shared a common language, culture, and history. |
Why? Main Movements | 1820-The Carbonari (coal burners) revolutionary group dedicated to the unification of Italy as one nation. This was the Risorgimento, a nationalistic movement. | There was also a Romantic movement. (Industrialization had begun) |
When | 1870 | 1871 |
Who? | Cavour (Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia), Mazzini, and Garibaldi (Italian politicians) | Otto von Bismarck (Prussian Chancellor) |
The Unification of Italy | The Unification of Germany | |
|---|---|---|
Process? | 1859: Cavour had begun a war against Austria. Austria was defeated, and Lombardy was annexed to Piedmont-Sardinia. 1860: Tuscany, Parma, and Modena (taken over by Cavour) + Two Sicilies and part of the Papal States (conquered by Garibaldi) were annexed. 1866: Veneto. 1870: Istria (the unification was from North to South) | 1834: Several states formed the Zollverein (a parliamentary union that tried to promote trade between the separate states). 1848: Some revolutionaries created the Parliament of Frankfurt that failed. 1864: War against Denmark. 1866: War against Austria. 1870: War against France. |
After Unification? (Type of government, the head of state, and the capital city). | In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II, the king of Piedmont, was proclaimed King of Italy. It was declared a constitutional monarchy. Rome was declared the capital of the unified state in 1871. | In 1871, King Wilhelm I of Prussia was named the German Kaiser, and Germany became a federal state with a constitutional monarchy. Berlin became the capital. |
The Spanish King Ferdinand VII died in 1833. He left the throne to his daughter, but a previous law prevented women from becoming monarchs… | |
|---|---|
Carlists | Isabelinoak |
They demanded the coronation of Don Carlos, Ferdinand’s brother. | They demanded the coronation of Isabella II, Ferdinand’s daughter. |
They were supported by the absolutists: the peasants, a part of the nobility, and the middle and low clergy. | They were supported by the liberals: the citizens, the high nobility, the high clergy, the administration, and almost the entire army. |
These people were afraid that with the new queen, the Ancien Régime and their privileges would disappear. | These people were in favor of a more liberal system. |
The majority of the Basques supported the Carlist ideas because they were frightened that with the liberal laws (the same law for everyone, everywhere) the foruak would disappear. | |
Consequences of these different demands (on the war):
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