19th Century Europe

Congress of Vienna

Conservatism

Classical Liberalism: Capitalism

Liberalism: Socialism

Pre-Napoleon

1815

Fall of Napoleon left Europe facing many problems

1. Boundaries erased by Napoleon’s campaigns (HRE virtually destroyed)

2. Former rulers displaced: Power vacuum in many areas

3. Fear of another country growing too powerful

4. Nationalistic (liberal) sentiment seen as dangerous

Congress of Vienna“The Dancing Congress”

• Meeting by those who defeated Napoleon

• Dominated by the Big Four

• Created a ‘party’ atmosphere

Goals of the Congress3 principles advocated by the Big 4

1. Return to power old rulers (Legitimacy Principle)

2. Ensure that another country doesn’t acquire the power that napoleon’s France wielded (Balance of Power principle)

3. Reward those countries that paid a heavy price fighting Napoleon (Compensation principle)

Actions of the Congress of Vienna

1. Return to power old aristocratic families (such as the Bourbons: Louis XVIII): Legitimacy

2. Redraw map of Europe (such as the HRE being changed to the German Confederation with only 39 ‘states’): Balance of Power and Compensation

3. Create new more powerful states to surround France (such as the Netherlands): Balance of Power

4. Award those who fought Napoleon European territory and overseas colonies (such as giving Austria territory along the west coast of Balkan Peninsula): Compensation

Concert of Europe• Series of meetings

to be held every 2 or so years

• Goal of meetings were to ensure the 3 principles were being upheld

• Meeting run by Big 4 plus France

The Big 4

“We make the decisions around here!”

Blame • The revolutionary zeal of the French was blamed on enlightened ideals such as equality, constitutionalism, and national pride

• Those who upheld these ideals were called ‘liberals’

• Thus, liberalism was born

Conservatism: Enemy of the liberal

• Conservative = advocates status quo or a return to the old traditional ways

• All of the Big 4 were conservative

Most Importantly, Conservatism places State Interests above Individual Interests

Core Ideals of Conservatives

1. It venerated and found moral authority in time-tested institutions, traditions, and beliefs;

2. It rejected the Enlightenment notion that man could shape political and social institutions according to theoretical and rational models.

3. In contrast to the philosophes and the Revolutionaries who put great store in the power of human reason and abstract ideas, conservatives emphasized its limitations.

http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/ideas_19c.htm

4. Conservatives believed that men were not good by nature but inherently wicked, just as the Christian religion had taught, and their behavior had therefore to be checked by institutions, traditions, and beliefs.  In this regard, Bonald wrote:

We are bad by nature, we are made good by society!  Those who begin by supposing we are born good are like architects, who, about to build an edifice, suppose that the stones appear from the quarry

ready cut. [Theory of Political and Religious Power, 1796]

In short, conservative thinkers emphasized authority and order not the individual and his rights, as did de

Maistre when he wrote:All greatness, all power, all order depends on the

executioner.  He is the tie that binds society together.  Take away this incomprehensible force and at every moment order is suspended by chaos, thrones fall,

and states disappear.

5. They considered God, nature, and history the legitimate sources of political authority. (Conservatives emphasized the importance of the church, monarchy, and aristocracy as guardians of civilized behavior)

6. Conservatives did not reject change outright, they argued that societies were like organisms held together by ancient bonds and they favored a slow pace of change, one  that could take centuries; in this regard, the English constitution became a model.

7. They also believed the community to be more important than the individual; rights therefore came from society, not from some abstraction like nature.

Edmund BurkeSociety is, indeed, a contract.  It is a partnership in all

science, a partnership in all art, a partnership in every virtue and in all perfection.  As the ends of such a partnership cannot be obtained in many generations, it becomes a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are

living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born.  Each contract of each particular state is but a clause in the great primeval contract of eternal society, linking the lower

with the higher natures, connecting the visible with the invisible world, according to a fixed compact sanctioned by

the inviolable oath which holds all physical and moral natures, each in their appointed place.

19th Century Liberalism

• Liberal = advocate of change• Two ‘tenants’of 19th century

liberalism1. Economic Liberalism (Laissez-

faire)2. Political Liberalism

Most Importantly, Liberalism places

Individual Interests above State Interests

Core Ideas of Liberalism

1. To limit the power of government, they favored written constitutions, representative governments with a restricted electorate, ministers responsible to the legislature, and an impartial bureaucracy;

2. 19th century liberals were not democrats, for they rarely favored universal manhood suffrage.

3. Limits on the power of government meant that the individual had to take responsibility for his own fate.

http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/ideas_19c.htm

4. With regard to political and social institutions, most liberals favored utilitarianism, a rational belief that every idea, institution, or law should be measured according to its social usefulness, irregardless of how venerable its existence.

5. In the intellectual sphere, liberals like Mill argued for almost absolute freedom of thought and expression, arguing that the clash of beliefs within the free market place of ideas would lead to truth.

6. Mill also worried that the majority of the population in democratic societies would seek to control thought, and he warned against the "tyranny of the majority”.

Those most inclined to adopt liberal ideas were men of the Middle Class, businessmen, professional men, or innovating landlords who favored the modern, the

efficient, and the enlightened.  When applied to economics, liberalism called for economic

individualism, laissez-faire, freedom of contract, free competition and trade, and obedience to the natural laws of the marketplace.  The successful and hard-

working men who made the first Industrial Revolution in England were frequently champions of

liberalism, both political and economic.

John Stuart Mill

The only purpose for which power [government] can rightfully be exercised over any member of a civilized community against his will is to prevent harm to others.  His own

good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.

On Liberty (1859)

Adam Smith• Supported laissez-faire economics

1. Define laissez-faire.

• Wrote Wealth of Nations2. What is the source of wealth?

3. What is the major economic drive of the individual?

4. What is meant by “invisible hand”?

David Ricardo• Iron Law of Wages

5. What happens to labor as population increases?

6. As a result, what happens to wages?7. What happens when population

declines and labor decreases?8. Combining the above questions,

explain the ‘cycle’ of labor theorized by the Iron Law of Wages.

For Nationalism, go to:

for a thorough description

http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/ideas_19c.htm

For Socialism read textbookpages 644-646

Pay attention to the names!FourierOwenBlanc

Flora Tristan