The Isms Alexander I (1777-1825) Ellen Alexander I was emperor of Russia from 1801 until his death in 1825. During his reign, Alexander worked to improve the lives of the serfs and reform the Orthodox Church. He also played an important role in the Napoleonic Wars and was a leader in the Holy Alliance. In 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia because Alexander broke from their alliance but, Alexander was able to drive Napoleon’s massive army out. In 1815, he entered an agreement with Prussia and Austria against France called the Holy Alliance, which proceeded to restore the balance of power to Europe. His victory over Napoleon proved to be a turning point in the war against Napoleon. His efforts at the Congress of Vienna helped bring relative peace to Europe and created alliances that lasted for another hundred years. Click here to learn more about Alexander I.
Congress of Vienna (September 1814- June 1815)- Mackenzie The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors from various European States held in Vienna. The purpose of the conference was to settle issues that arose from the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. The Great powers, which were Austria, France, Russia, Prussia and the United Kingdom, in Europe dominated the conference. The result was the redrawing the boarders of France, Duchy of Warsaw, Netherlands, Confederation of the Rhine, Saxony and the Italian territories. This was important because it was the 1st series of international meetings that came to be known as the Concert of Europe. The influence of the conference and the Concert of Europe was that it was to focus on the creation of a peaceful balance of power. The Congress of Vienna served as a model for the League of Nations and United Nations. To learn more about the Congress of Vienna click here.
conservatism- Breanne Conservatives in the 1800s were people who wanted to restore the Ancien Regime and maintain the status quo. These people wanted to keep the absolute monarchy and the established state church. It is not surprising that the conservatives also liked the idea of social distinctions based on birth because most conservatives were aristocrats. The Congress of Vienna, Holy Alliance, and Concert of Europe are all examples of conservatism because they all deal with restoring things to the way they were before the French Revolution. There were many challenges to the conservative order, such as restraining Russia. Conservatism is important to this era because without it, many extreme reforms would have been made by the republicans and liberals without any views from the opposite end of the spectrum. To learn more about conservatism, click here.
liberalism- Will Though it possessed numerous different meanings to different political theaters, liberalism was the end of the political spectrum that tended towards increasing the personal liberties of the common person and reducing the authority of the nobility and monarchy. It came to prominence during and eventually after the era of the French revolution, when the established structures of European government were constantly challenged and reformed into legal codes that more directly benefited the common people. Liberalism secured and maintained numerous reforms to the established ways of governing the populace, leading to nationalist democratic uprisings and constitutional monarchies with increasingly marginalized monarchs. The western world is founded on the principles of liberalism established and enacted in the turbulent Napoleonic era, and its aftermath.
Malthus, Thomas (February 14, 1766 – December 29, 1834)- brie Thomas Malthus was born on February 14, 1766 in Surrey, England. In 1805, he became the professor of history and political economy at the East India Company College. Malthus’s greatest recognition stems from his treatise, Essay on the Principle of Population, which was originally published in 1798 but six revised editions appeared until 1826. The main idea of this book was that Malthus feared that the ever accelerating growth of the population would cause wages to decrease and thus lead the working class into poverty. Secondly, he argued that the populace requires checks, like disease, war, and famine, to prevent overpopulation. His concern for the wellbeing of the population quickly sparked a discussion about the size of Great Britain’s populace and could have ultimately influenced the decision to hold a census very ten years. Thomas Malthus’s theory on population influenced Charles Darwin’s natural selection later in nineteenth century. Click HERE to learn more.
Karl Marx (1818–1883) -sam Karl Marx was a German philosopher and economist best known for his philosophy known as Marxism. The basic philosophy behind Marxism is an anti-Capitalism stance that is against materialism and differing social classes. A majority of Marx’s ideas can be found in his most famous achievement, The Communist, which gives an analytic approach to the class struggle throughout history. Marx’s theories also played a big role in in the development of social science and the socialist political movement. He strongly advocated the theory that the working-class would eventually rise up and revolt against the higher class and so the whole class structure would be destroyed. Karl Marx is important in history because his ideas change many perspectives on economical and social thought. Marx has also been called the “father of communism” because his theories introduced the idea of communism to the world. To learn more click here.
Metternich, Prince Klemens von (1773-1859) Rebecca Prince Klemens von Metternich, one of the most important diplomats of his time, was the Foreign Minister for the Holy Roman Empire and Austrian Empire up until the Revolution of 1848. Prince Klemens von Metternich did a number of things like engineered Austria’s entry to the War of the Sixth Coalition, signed the treaty that sent Napoleon into exile, lead Austria delegation at the Congress of Vienna, and even held Chancellor of State from 1821 until 1848. “Metternich system” of international congresses was continued for at least 10 years after Austria allied with Russia and Prussia due to Metternich’s contributions. Metternich was finally exiled in London, Brighton, and Brussels but later returned to give Franz Josef, Ferdinand’s successor, advice. Prince Klemens von Metternich played a huge role in Austria’s highest point of diplomatic importance throughout Europe but especially through it role in the Congress of Vienna. Click here to learn more about Prince Klemens von Metternich.
Nationalism- Rebecca Nationalism is an idea that defines a group of people by common characteristics like the same language, customs, culture, and geographic location. Nationalists oppose legitimacy and believe that “nations” should be administered by the same government. Nationalism started to appear during the French Revolution and has been existing ever since. Places like Ireland, Italy, Poland, Austria, the Ottoman Empire, and the German States all were nationalistic pressures throughout 19th century Europe because they were all places that were ruled by people that either didn’t speak the same language, had different cultures, or even different geographic location. Nationalism is extremely in many nations and is very important in the U.S. society today due to its evolution throughout history. Click here to learn more.
Robert Owen (1771–1858) Robert Owen was an English factory owner, who was a big social reformer and one of the founders of Utopian socialism. Owen is famous for his social experiment in New Lanark, where he owned his families’ mills. The point of Owen’s experiment was to improve the conditions of the factory workers. He improved conditions by allowing children to get an education rather than working, lowered the working hours for adults, raised wages, and provided good housing for the workers. The outcome of the experiment was that production in the factories increased greatly and workers were happy, but some profits needed to be sacrificed in order to fund the experiment. Robert Owen revolutionized the industry by helping ease labor and use of children in labor and creating a fair employment standard in England. To learn more click here
Scientific Socialism-Will Scientific socialism was the more extreme field of the socialist ideology which stressed the re-shaping of society in a rigorous manner defiend by empirical principles. It was founded by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the mid 1840's, at the height of the de-humanizing effects of urban industrial revolution. The shocking philosophy of Marx and Engels stressed that the worker must eventually rise and destroy the upper classes, securing for his fellows a new society based on the interests of the worker leading to an automated utopia. This radical notion took root in numerous intellectual and academic groups, and became the catalyst and cause of many revolutions in the age to follow, most notably the Russian revolutions of 1917, which ultimately lead to a communist takeover. The product of these numerous revolutions would be a divided world, defined by antagonism between the two very different societies which civilization has only just begun to recover from.
The Industrial Revolution Arkwright, Richard (December 23, 1732 – August 3, 1792) - brie Richard Arkwright was born on December 23, 1732 in Lancashire, England into a low middle class family. After the death of first wife in 1756, Arkwright became passionate about the textile industry. His greatest recognition stems from the invention of the water frame, which is a water powered spinning jenny. With the help of the water frame, factories were able to reduce the cost of human labor and increase the amount of yarn produced. However, since the machine needed flowing water as a source of power the factories had to be built near rivers or steams, which increased the chance of flooding. Richard Arkwright’s water frame allowed for the continuation of the rapid industrialization of the textile industry and helped make cotton fabric more affordable and accessible for the common people. click HERE to learn more.
Factory Act (1833)- Breanne The Factory Act of 1833 was an act passed by Parliament to limit the hours that women and children could work in factories. Before it was passed, children were working extremely long hours, resulting in fatigue, sickness, and ultimately, premature death. The Factory Act of 1833 stated that children aged 14-18 could not work over 12 hours a day and that children aged 9-13 could only work for eight hours and have 2 hours of education per day. Also, this act didn’t allow children under 18 to work at night and forbade children under 9 to work in the factories at all. The routine inspections of the factories required by this law were intended to make the factories a somewhat safer place to work and to enforce the regulations. This act, as well as other factory acts, helped make working conditions for children better and eventually end child labor as well as make factories safer places to work. Click here to learn more about the Factory Act (1833).
Industrial Revolution (1750-1850) Ellen The Industrial Revolution was a period from 1750 to 1850 where major changes were made in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and transportation. It began in Great Britain with the invention of the steam engine. After the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815, this revolution spread to the rest of Europe. Some of the many inventions that came from this time period include the spinning jenny and water frame for the textile industry, the railroad for transportation, and the threshing machine for farming. Although these new inventions would forever change the way humans lived, some side effects included the overworking of children, poor living conditions, and drastic increase in population. This industrial boom improved transportation and increased product output but, caused a drastic increase in the poverty levels and decreased the standards of living. Many of the advancements made during the Industrial Revolution helped start the era of modern technology and continues to help improve the lives of people everywhere. Click here to learn more about the Industrial Revolution.
James Watt (1736 –1819)- mackenzie James Watt was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer who is known for improving Newcomen’s steam engine. The previous steam engine hadn’t changed for 50 years and lots of wasted energy and money. Watt’s new design was to have a separate condenser, which avoided wasting energy. This improved power efficiency and cost less money. This improvement made the steam engine an important piece of machinery and helped further develop the Industrial Revolution. James Watt not only improved the steam engine but developed the concept of horsepower to show how much the steam engine could help the industries. The SI unit of power, the watt, was named after him because of his inventions in energy.To learn more click here.
The Revolutions Louis Blanc (1811-1882) Louis Blanc was not only a socialist that liked reforms but was also a French historian and politician. He was a supporter of the creation of cooperatives that guarantee the urban poor employment. Blanc served as a member of the provisional government which interfered with the publication of his first two volumes of his Histoire de la Revolution Française in 1847. He was appointed to preside over the government labor commission because his idea for a ministry of labor was declined by the government. Louis Blanc was a very important figure during the Revolution in 1848 and because of his role in fighting for the protection of the workers which continues to be fought for in today’s society. Click here to learn more about Louis Blanc.
Chartism-Sam Chartism was a working class movement for political reform in Britain between 1838 and 1848. The workers listed out their grievances in a document known as the People's Charter of 1838. It was the first mass working class labor movement in the world, beginning with skilled artisans. The People's Charter called for reforms such as universal male suffrage, secret ballots, no property qualifications for Parliament, and a salary for members of Parliament. In 1848, amidst political upheaval throughout Europe, the political elite were able to crush the movement. Chartism is important because it was the very first movement of the working class and one of the milestones leading to democracy in England. To learn more click here.
Corn Laws- Breanne The Corn Laws were laws that protected the British grain producers from the competition of the cheaper, continental imports. The greedy aristocrats that dominated Parliament wanted to sell all of their corn and various grains at extremely high prices to make the most profit. The peasants were very unhappy that these laws had been passed and revolted, demanding higher wages if the food prices continued to be high. As a period of poor crops and even higher food prices began, people met in Manchester to form an Anti-Corn Law that helped the middle class to stop the landlords and bring the injustice to the government’s attention even more. When the Irish potato crop failed, the prime minister, Robet Peel, was compelled to support the Anti-Corn Law, which was successful in 1846. The Corn Laws were important because they showed the power of the middle class through their protest to the laws. It also lessened the power of the aristocrats that were selling the grain by allowing the foreign imports and other competition.
Decembrist Revolt (December 26, 1825) - brie The Decembrist Revolt occurred in Senate Square, St. Petersburg and since the uprising occurred in December, activates were dubbed Decembrists. After the death of Tsar Alexander I, the Russian throne was supposed to go to Constantine, his brother. However, Constantine renounced his claim to the throne, so the Russian monarchy fell into the hands of Nicholas I. The Russian officials believed that Constantine would favor a liberal constitution, so they refused to take an oath of allegiance to Nicholas. Also, the Decembrist Revolt was the first uprising in Russian history where the rebels had specific political goals. The lasting effect of the rebellion was that Nicholas I’s reign was characterized by “orthodoxy, autocracy, and nationality”. The Decembrist Revolt marked the beginning of challenges to the conservative regime of Russia and for the next two centuries this political struggle between the Russian liberals and conservatives continued. Click HERE to learn more.
Great Reform Bill (1832)- Mackenzie The Great Reform Bill was proposed by Whigs to fix problems of representation in Parliament. The bill was to eliminate the “rotten boroughs” because the population had shifted after the Industrial Revolution to the industrial north. Therefore the south aristocracy was over represented and the northern working class was under represented. The bill improved representation and voting but not completely there were still problems but the bill set a path for future reform bills to change voting. The reforms that followed were the Reform Acts of 1867 and 1884, the Factory Acts and the Abolition of Slavery Act. This is one more set in limiting the power and influence of the aristocracy in England. Click here to learn more.
Kossuth, Louis (1802-1894)- Will Louis Kossuth was a democratic nationalist revolutionary in Hungary. He came to power in the democratic revolutionary government of Hungary in 1848, when numerous nations across Europe were declaring their independence. He became highly influential in his new nation and fought vigorously to maintain Hungary's independence from the Austrian empire. He used brilliant oratory to incite nationalist spirit among his people, though ultimately he failed and was outcast. Kossuth was an incredibly significant figure in the history of Hungary, as he was one among many nationalist liberators to rise and seek self-governance for their people. In this sense, his actions were an inspiration to the great masses to seek freedom from any tyranny, and even his memory holds great power.
Louis Philippe (1773-1850) Ellen Louis Philippe was the King of the French from 1830 until 1848. From 1793 until 1815, Louis was exiled for his involvement in the French Revolution and traveled extensively throughout Europe. He was then proclaimed king in 1830 after Charles X was forced to abdicate the throne. His liberal and frugal ways made him very popular with the people at the beginning of his reign. As his reign went on, the living conditions of the people worsened and the gap between incomes was widened. In 1848, amidst a revolution in France against the conservative ways of the government, Louis abdicated the throne and the National Assembly proclaimed the Second Republic. Louis Philippe was the last monarch to rule France. Click here to learn more about Louis Philippe.
Alexander I (1777-1825) Ellen
Alexander I was emperor of Russia from 1801 until his death in 1825. During his reign, Alexander worked to improve the lives of the serfs and reform the Orthodox Church. He also played an important role in the Napoleonic Wars and was a leader in the Holy Alliance. In 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia because Alexander broke from their alliance but, Alexander was able to drive Napoleon’s massive army out. In 1815, he entered an agreement with Prussia and Austria against France called the Holy Alliance, which proceeded to restore the balance of power to Europe. His victory over Napoleon proved to be a turning point in the war against Napoleon. His efforts at the Congress of Vienna helped bring relative peace to Europe and created alliances that lasted for another hundred years.
Click here to learn more about Alexander I.
Congress of Vienna (September 1814- June 1815)- Mackenzie
To learn more about the Congress of Vienna click here.
conservatism- Breanne
Conservatives in the 1800s were people who wanted to restore the Ancien Regime and maintain the status quo. These people wanted to keep the absolute monarchy and the established state church. It is not surprising that the conservatives also liked the idea of social distinctions based on birth because most conservatives were aristocrats. The Congress of Vienna, Holy Alliance, and Concert of Europe are all examples of conservatism because they all deal with restoring things to the way they were before the French Revolution. There were many challenges to the conservative order, such as restraining Russia. Conservatism is important to this era because without it, many extreme reforms would have been made by the republicans and liberals without any views from the opposite end of the spectrum.
To learn more about conservatism, click here.
liberalism- Will
Though it possessed numerous different meanings to different political theaters, liberalism was the end of the political spectrum that tended towards increasing the personal liberties of the common person and reducing the authority of the nobility and monarchy. It came to prominence during and eventually after the era of the French revolution, when the established structures of European government were constantly challenged and reformed into legal codes that more directly benefited the common people. Liberalism secured and maintained numerous reforms to the established ways of governing the populace, leading to nationalist democratic uprisings and constitutional monarchies with increasingly marginalized monarchs. The western world is founded on the principles of liberalism established and enacted in the turbulent Napoleonic era, and its aftermath.
Malthus, Thomas (February 14, 1766 – December 29, 1834) - brie
Click HERE to learn more.
Karl Marx (1818–1883) -sam
Karl Marx was a German philosopher and economist best known for his philosophy known as Marxism. The basic philosophy behind Marxism is an anti-Capitalism stance that is against materialism and differing social classes. A majority of Marx’s ideas can be found in his most famous achievement, The Communist, which gives an analytic approach to the class struggle throughout history. Marx’s theories also played a big role in in the development of social science and the socialist political movement. He strongly advocated the theory that the working-class would eventually rise up and revolt against the higher class and so the whole class structure would be destroyed. Karl Marx is important in history because his ideas change many perspectives on economical and social thought. Marx has also been called the “father of communism” because his theories introduced the idea of communism to the world. To learn more click here.
Metternich, Prince Klemens von (1773-1859) Rebecca
advice. Prince Klemens von Metternich played a huge role in Austria’s highest point of diplomatic importance throughout Europe but especially through it role in the Congress of Vienna.
Click here to learn more about Prince Klemens von Metternich.
Nationalism- Rebecca
Click here to learn more.
Robert Owen (1771–1858)
Robert Owen was an English factory owner, who was a big social reformer and one of the founders of Utopian socialism. Owen is famous for his social experiment in New Lanark, where he owned his families’ mills. The point of Owen’s experiment was to improve the conditions of the factory workers. He improved conditions by allowing children to get an education rather than working, lowered the working hours for adults, raised wages, and provided good housing for the workers. The outcome of the experiment was that production in the factories increased greatly and workers were happy, but some profits needed to be sacrificed in order to fund the experiment. Robert Owen revolutionized the industry by helping ease labor and use of children in labor and creating a fair employment standard in England. To learn more click here
Scientific Socialism-Will
Scientific socialism was the more extreme field of the socialist ideology which stressed the re-shaping of society in a rigorous manner defiend by empirical principles. It was founded by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the mid 1840's, at the height of the de-humanizing effects of urban industrial revolution. The shocking philosophy of Marx and Engels stressed that the worker must eventually rise and destroy the upper classes, securing for his fellows a new society based on the interests of the worker leading to an automated utopia. This radical notion took root in numerous intellectual and academic groups, and became the catalyst and cause of many revolutions in the age to follow, most notably the Russian revolutions of 1917, which ultimately lead to a communist takeover. The product of these numerous revolutions would be a divided world, defined by antagonism between the two very different societies which civilization has only just begun to recover from.
The Industrial Revolution
Arkwright, Richard (December 23, 1732 – August 3, 1792) - brie
click HERE to learn more.
Factory Act (1833)- Breanne
The Factory Act of 1833 was an act passed by Parliament to limit the hours that women and children could work in factories. Before it was passed, children were working extremely long hours, resulting in fatigue, sickness, and ultimately, premature death. The Factory Act of 1833 stated that children aged 14-18 could not work over 12 hours a day and that children aged 9-13 could only work for eight hours and have 2 hours of education per day. Also, this act didn’t allow children under 18 to work at night and forbade children under 9 to work in the factories at all. The routine inspections of the factories required by this law were intended to make the factories a somewhat safer place to work and to enforce the regulations. This act, as well as other factory acts, helped make working conditions for children better and eventually end child labor as well as make factories safer places to work.
Click here to learn more about the Factory Act (1833).
Industrial Revolution (1750-1850) Ellen
Click here to learn more about the Industrial Revolution.
James Watt (1736 –1819)- mackenzie
The Revolutions
Louis Blanc (1811-1882)
Click here to learn more about Louis Blanc.
Chartism-Sam
Chartism was a working class movement for political reform in Britain between 1838 and 1848. The workers listed out their grievances in a document known as the People's Charter of 1838. It was the first mass working class labor movement in the world, beginning with skilled artisans. The People's Charter called for reforms such as universal male suffrage, secret ballots, no property qualifications for Parliament, and a salary for members of Parliament. In 1848, amidst political upheaval throughout Europe, the political elite were able to crush the movement. Chartism is important because it was the very first movement of the working class and one of the milestones leading to democracy in England. To learn more click here.
Corn Laws- Breanne
The Corn Laws were laws that protected the British grain producers from the competition of the cheaper, continental imports. The greedy aristocrats that dominated Parliament wanted to sell all of their corn and various grains at extremely high prices to make the most profit. The peasants were very unhappy that these laws had been passed and revolted, demanding higher wages if the food prices continued to be high. As a period of poor crops and even higher food prices began, people met in Manchester to form an Anti-Corn Law that helped the middle class to stop the landlords and bring the injustice to the government’s attention even more. When the Irish potato crop failed, the prime minister, Robet Peel, was compelled to support the Anti-Corn Law, which was successful in 1846. The Corn Laws were important because they showed the power of the middle class through their protest to the laws. It also lessened the power of the aristocrats that were selling the grain by allowing the foreign imports and other competition.
To learn more about the Corn Laws, click here.
Decembrist Revolt (December 26, 1825) - brie
Click HERE to learn more.
Great Reform Bill (1832)- Mackenzie
The Great Reform Bill was proposed by Whigs to fix problems of representation in Parliament. The bill was to eliminate the “rotten boroughs” because the population had shifted after the Industrial Revolution to the industrial north. Therefore the south aristocracy was over represented and the northern working class was under represented. The bill improved representation and voting but not completely there were still problems but the bill set a path for future reform bills to change voting. The reforms that followed were the Reform Acts of 1867 and 1884, the Factory Acts and the Abolition of Slavery Act. This is one more set in limiting the power and influence of the aristocracy in England.
Click here to learn more.
Kossuth, Louis (1802-1894)- Will
Louis Kossuth was a democratic nationalist revolutionary in Hungary. He came to power in the democratic revolutionary government of Hungary in 1848, when numerous nations across Europe were declaring their independence. He became highly influential in his new nation and fought vigorously to maintain Hungary's independence from the Austrian empire. He used brilliant oratory to incite nationalist spirit among his people, though ultimately he failed and was outcast. Kossuth was an incredibly significant figure in the history of Hungary, as he was one among many nationalist liberators to rise and seek self-governance for their people. In this sense, his actions were an inspiration to the great masses to seek freedom from any tyranny, and even his memory holds great power.
Louis Philippe (1773-1850) Ellen
Louis Philippe was the King of the French from 1830 until 1848. From 1793 until 1815, Louis was exiled for his involvement in the French Revolution and traveled extensively throughout Europe. He was then proclaimed king in 1830 after Charles X was forced to abdicate the throne. His liberal and frugal ways made him very popular with the people at the beginning of his reign. As his reign went on, the living conditions of the people worsened and the gap between incomes was widened. In 1848, amidst a revolution in France against the conservative ways of the government, Louis abdicated the throne and the National Assembly proclaimed the Second Republic. Louis Philippe was the last monarch to rule France.
Click here to learn more about Louis Philippe.