Political Freedom, Nationalism, and Revolution
Political Freedom: A Core Doctrine
Political freedom is a doctrine that advocates for a parliamentary system, national sovereignty, the separation of powers, a constitution as the fundamental law, and elections to an assembly that makes the laws. The ideological bases of political freedom are rationalism and the rights of men and women. This movement was driven by the bourgeoisie and the urban popular classes.
Nationalism and the Nation-State
Nationalism defends the idea of the nation-state.
Nation and Nationalist Movements
Liberal political revolutions create the national conference, which embodies the idea of a community with ties of history, language, and culture. This created problems in France, Britain, and Spain, which were states comprised of several communities. These states attempted a unification process to remove the differences between them. Central and Eastern Europe also faced challenges, as Germany and Italy were divided into several states, Poland was divided, Hungary was under Austrian rule, and Greece was under the control of Turkey.
Italian Unification
Piedmont, supported by France, defeated Austria in 1858, provoking the unification of Lombardy. A referendum of the duchies bound them to Piedmont. These three unions formed the Kingdom of Italy with Victor Emmanuel II as king. Republican Garibaldi won the Kingdom of Naples, removing the Bourbons, and ceded his conquest to Victor Emmanuel II. France, under Napoleon III, opposed Italy’s incorporation of the Papal States. The defeat of France against Prussia allowed the conquest of the Pontifical States.
The Italian state faced problems including hostility from the Pope, Austria retaining Italian territories, and the contrast between the industrialized north and the backward rural south.
The French Revolution
The French Revolution was driven by economical and social reasons:
- Agrarian crisis and bad harvests leading to overproduction, protests by farmers against feudal taxes, and food shortages.
- A crisis in urban craft production due to reduced purchasing power of farmers and competition from British manufactures.
- Bankruptcy of the state treasury.
Stage 1: Revolutionary Rupture and Constitutional Process
Revolt of the Privileged
Due to ministers of Louis XVI claiming that the privileged should pay taxes, which required the King’s general state to reconvene.
Revolt of the Third Estate
Demanding the vote per head and not by establishment.
Activity of the National Legislative Assembly
The Assembly published the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, suppressed the feudal system, provided the civil constitution of the clergy, and approved the constitution of 1791.
Counter-Revolution
King Louis XVI conspired with the Emperor of Austria to re-impose absolutism. This produced a revolutionary reaction, leading to the arrest of Louis XVI, a declaration of war on Austria, confiscation of property of the nobility, and radicalization of peasants and the urban proletariat.
Marxism
Marxism began in 1848 with the publication of the Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels.
The capitalist economic system is characterized by the exploitation of labor, the concentration of wealth, competition among companies, and the elimination of the weakest by the market, leading to a final crisis of capitalism.
The project for the future involves the world proletariat gaining class consciousness, resulting in a revolution to seize power and impose the dictatorship of the proletariat.