Tema 2

5.2 The empire of Napoleon Bonaparte (1805-1815)Napoleon also sought to expand the revolution, creating a vast European empire under French authority. Thus, from 1805 to 1810 he fought several coalitions of European countries that were against him and defeated them in successive battles: Austerliz, Ulm, Jena, Eylau, Friendland and Wagram. These victories led to control over a large part of Western Europe. The only exception was the United Kingdom, which defeated Napoleon’s fleet of ships in the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) and resisted the economic blockade he had established (1806). Napoleon set up governments made up of family members and French generals in conquered countries. They all spread the ideas of the revolution, established constitutions, implemented the Napoleonic Code and abolished feudal taxes and the tithe.

5.3 The fall of Napoleon French domination was not accepted in many countries and strong nationalist movements against French rule grew. After the failure of the Great Army in Russia (1812) and the defeat in Spain (1814), a coalition of European powers formed by the United Kingdom, Austria, Prussia and Russia entered Paris. Napoleon was exiled and spent time on the island of Elba, and the French monarchy was restored by Louis XVIII. The following year, Napoleon escaped from the island and recaptured the throne for one hundred days. However, he was defeated for the last time by the allies at Waterloo (1815) and was exiled to Saint Helena, where he died in 1821

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE(1769-1821)He was a military leader who stood out for his military genius during the government of the Directory by defeating the Austrians in the Battle of Marengo and the Ottoman Sultan of Egypt in the Battle of the Pyramids. These victories made Napoleon the most popular figure in France.

 6 THE BOURBON RESTORATION The final defeat of Napoleon paved the way for a new period in Europe, one in which absolutism was temporarily restored. Nevertheless, the ideologies of liberalism and nationalism that came from the French Revolution were triumphant in the end. 

The Congress of Vienna and the Holy Alliance The right to intervene. is granted only in extreme cases in which public order has been so badly violated in a State that the government loses its force due to revolutionary causes … In this state of affairs. the right to intervene corresponds exposed to the threat of being overthrown by revolutionary to any government forces’. The Holy Alliance Treaty (1815) ‘In the name of the Most Holy and Indivisible Trinity. Their Majesties the Emperor of Austria, the King of Prussia, and the Emperor of Russia, in consequence of the great events which have marked the course of the three last years in Europe In consequence, their Majesties have agreed on the following Articles: Art. I. Conformably to the words of the Holy Scriptures, which command all men to consider each other as brethren, the Three Contracting Monarchs will remain united by the bonds of a true and indissoluble fraternity, and considering each other as fellow countrymen, they will, on all occasions and in all places, lend each other aid and assistance. Art. II. In consequence, the sole principle of force, whether between the said Governments or between their Subjects, shall be that of doing each other reciprocal service … Done in triplicate, and signed Paris, the year of Grace 1815. the 26th of September. Francis, Frederick William Alexander.

6.2 New ideologies 

Liberalism defended individual liberty, expressed by the rights of the citizens, equality under the law and the suppression of privileges, as well as the implementation of constitutional regimes based on national sovereignty and separation of powers. Liberal ideology spread extensively among the bourgeoisie and commoners of the major cities. Nationalism was the idea that the fundamental framework for public life was the nation or community with common historical traits and a common language and culture. Its objective was for each nation to have its own State (nation-state), and therefore it demanded that nations’ borders be those of the States. The nationalist ideology spread to territories under foreign power, such as Greece, and to those who aspired to form a unified State, such as Italy and Germany.

7 THE LIBERAL REVOLUTIONS OF THE 19 CENTURY In the first half of the 19th century, the restoration of absolutism and the spread of liberalism gave rise to a new wave of revolutions.

7.1 The revolutions of 1820 to 1830 The revolutions of 1820 were concentrated in the area of ​​the Mediterranean and Russia. Army officials and secret societies played significant roles. Liberals in Spain, Portugal, Naples, Piedmont and Russia rose up against absolutist regimes. Some monarchs initially accepted the constitutions, but in the end they imposed absolutism. The revolutions of 1830 affected practically all of Europe and placed liberals in power in many States. They began in France with the ousting of Charles X and the implementation of the constitutional monarchy of Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans. The revolution then spread to Belgium, which achieved independence from Holland, and then to Spain, Portugal and several Italian and German states. However, once power was taken, liberal leaders limited rights and freedoms and established censitary, or limited, suffrage, excluding commoners from politics and power.

7.2 The revolutions of 1848 The revolutions of 1848 were more extensive, had greater participation and were more radical. They began in France, where Louis-Phillipe was ousted from power and the French Second Republic was created, which implemented a constitution establishing universal male suffrage. The revolution also reached Prussia, Austria-Hungary, Switzerland, the German Confederation and some Italian states. In all of them, revolutionaries set up barricades the streets and demanded more rights, as well as popular sovereignty, universal male suffrage social equality. These demands terrified the bourgeoisie. who suppressed them and implemented a conservative liberalism.

 7.3 The consequences of the revolutions In spite of their limitations, the outcome of the revolutions was positive, given that certain revolutionary values ​​were consolidated. Many Western European countries, therefore, adopted liberalism and wrote constitutions in which they recognized male censitary suffrage. France maintained universal male suffrage. Serfdom was abolished in almost all central and eastern European countries, with the exception of Russia. 

The bourgeoisie gained the most from the liberal revolutions, and took control of conserving and defending public order. Commoners, on the other and, were defeated and did not achieve the deeper political and social transformations they had hoped for. But they did develop class consciousness and began to organize themselves in order to stand up to the bourgeoisie and the liberal State they had helped create.

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