The Revolutions of 1830
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Transcript The Revolutions of 1830
APEURO: Lecture 6B
Mrs. Kray
Some slides taken from Susan Pojer
The Revolutions of 1830
The political settlement of
Vienna, designed to stop
revolution, inadvertently fed
the grievances of
nationalism and liberalism
in the period 1815-1848.
This Age of Revolution
gained fuel from industrial
problems and the legacy of
unfulfilled promises from
the French Revolution.
Among the great powers,
only Great Britain avoided
revolutionary outbursts
through enactment of
tentative Liberal reforms in
this period.
Aristocracy in Control
British society both flexible and remarkably stable
Dominated by landowning aristocracy
Classes weren’t closed or rigidly defined
Parliament was undemocratic
House of Commons was less representative than at any time in its 50
year history
○ Only 8% of the pop. could vote for representatives in Parliament;
manipulated by the king
○ “Rotten boroughs” – sparsely populated boroughs, some even had no
people at all
○ None of the new industrial towns in the north like Manchester had
representation
French Revolution had frightened British aristocracy
Hostile to any attempts to change the status quo
Conservative Tories in control after 1815
dominated by aristocracy & fearful of radical movements
Repressed every kind of popular protest often w/censorship
The Corn Laws, 1815
Prohibited importation of grain
Unless price at home rose to
improbable levels
Benefited landed aristocracy by
providing them with a protected market
for their crops
Hurt consumers w/high prices
Led to widespread protests by urban
laborers & radical intellectuals
Anti-Corn Law League
1817 Tory government temporarily
suspended rights of peaceful
assembly and habeas corpus
More Repression: The Six Acts, 1819
Symbol of government
determination to repress
reform
Passed as a result of the
Peterloo Massacre
Peaceful demonstration
11 killed, 100s wounded
1819: The Six Acts
Placed controls on a
heavily taxed press
Practically eliminated all
mass meetings
Parliament pressured by factory
owners and merchants for change
1830s Whig Party gained power
Reform Begins
More responsive to commercial &
manufacturing interests
1832 Reform Bill passed
Signaled emergence of House of Commons
New industrial areas of the country gained
representation
“rotten boroughs” eliminated
Approx. 1 in 5 males could vote
Workers, women, & the poor still
disenfranchised
Temporarily released pressure that had
been building
Legislation could solve problems
The Chartist Movement, 1838
Disenfranchised workers
demanded more sweeping reforms
People’s Chart, 1838
Votes for all men.
Equal electoral districts (rotten
Key
boroughs) .
Abolition of the requirement that MPs
be property owners
Payment for MPs.
Annual general elections.
The secret ballot.
Had widespread public support
Parliament refused to consider
Chartist proposals
Most of their reforms, however,
were ultimately adopted
Chartist settlements
Centers of Chartism
Area of plug riots, 1842
Anti-Corn Law League, 1845
Formed by prominent industrialists
Example of working class & middle joining
Advocated a free-trade policy
Hoped to lower food prices and increase industrial profits
Other goals: give manufactures more outlets for their
products; expand employment; lower the price of bread;
make British agriculture more efficient and productive;
promote international peace through trade contact
Wealthy landowners stubbornly resisted all reform
proposals
Corn Law Repealed, 1846
Irish potato famine strengthened support for repeal
Victory for Britain’s urban population and for free trade
More Reform in England
The working class would ally with
the middle class or aristocracy as
needed to bring reform
Factory Act of 1833
Limited the number of hours women
and children worked in factories
Mines Act of 1842
Regulated working conditions and
safety standards for coal miners
Children under 10 not permitted to
work in the mines
Safety inspections
Ten Hours Act of 1847
Limited the workday for women and
children in factories to 10 hours per
day
France: The “Restoration” Era, 1815-1830
France emerged from the
chaos of the revolutionary
period as most liberal large
state in Europe
Louis XVIII governed France
as constitutional monarch
Agreed to observe 1814
Charter or Constitution of the
Restoration Period
○
○
○
○
Limited royal power
Granted legislative power
Protected civil rights
Upheld the Napoleonic Code
Louis XVIII
(r. 1814-1824)
The “Ultras”
France was divided by those
who had accepted the ideals
of the Fr. Revolution and
those who didn’t.
The Count of Artois was the
leader of the “Ultra-Royalists”
reactionaries
“White Terror,” 1815
Royalist mobs killed 1000s of
former revolutionaries.
1816 Elections
The Ultras were rejected in the
The Count of Artois,
the future King Charles X
(r. 1824-1830)
Chamber of Deputies election in
favor of a moderate royalist
majority dependent on middle
class support.
Conservative Backlash
1820 the Duke of Berri, son of Artois, was
murdered.
Royalists blamed the Left.
Louis XVIII moved the gov’t more to the right
Changes in electoral laws narrowed the eligible voters.
Censorship was imposed.
Liberals were driven out of legal political life and
into illegal activities
1823: Triumph of reactionary forces!
French troops were authorized by the Concert of Europe
to crush the Spanish Revolution and restore another
Bourbon ruler, Ferdinand VII, to the throne there.
King Charles X of France,
(r. 1824-1830)
His Goals:
Lessen influence of the middle class.
Limit the right to vote.
Put clergy back in charge of
education.
Public money used to pay nobles for
the loss of their lands during the
French Revolution.
His Program:
Attack the 1814 Charter.
Control the press.
Dismiss the Chamber of Deputies
when it turned against him.
Appointed an ultra-reactionary as his
first minister.
Charles Sparks Another Revolution
Election of 1830
repudiated the Charles’ policies
brought in another liberal majority.
July Ordinances
Charles dissolved the entire parliament.
Imposed strict censorship
Changed the voting laws so that the government in the future
could be assured of a conservative victory.
Discontent with these and other arbitrary policies
united the working class and bourgeoisie against the
monarchy
Ignited three days of rioting in July 1830
“To the Barricades”
Eugene Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People
Unity between
working class
and bourgeoisie
proved brief
Workers wanted
a republic
Bourgeoisie
wanted a
constitutional
monarchy
They prevailed
Louis Philippe – “The Citizen King,”
1830-1848
Duke of Orleans
Relative of the Bourbons but had
steered clear of the Ultras
His Program:
Abide by Constitution of 1814
Property qualifications reduced
enough to double eligible voters.
Press censorship abolished.
The King ruled by the will of the
people, not by the will of God – he
was “King of the French”
The French Revolution’s tricolor
replaced the Bourbon flag.
The government was now
under the bourgeoisie’s control
Francois Guizot Accepts the Charter
from Louis Philippe
Continuing Worker Resentment
His government ignored the needs
and demands of the workers in the
cities.
They were seen as another nuisance
and source of possible disorder.
July, 1832 an uprising in Paris
was put down by force and 800
were killed or wounded.
1834 Silk workers strike in Lyon
was crushed.
Seething underclass.
Strike was seen as a violation of the
status quo set down at the Congress
of Vienna.
Caricature of Louis Philippe
“The Pear”
Revolution in
Belgium,
1830
Its union with Holland
after the Congress of
Vienna had not proved
successful.
Wide cultural differences
between North & South
○ North: Dutch, Protestant,
seafarers and traders
○ South: French, Catholic,
farmers and individual
workers
But there had been very little
popular agitation for Belgian
nationalism before 1830
Seldom had nationalism arisen
so suddenly.
Treaty of London, 1839
Great Powers & the Netherlands
recognized Belgian
independence exchange for
Belgium’s perpetual neutrality
Belgian Revolution, 1830
Stirrings of Polish Nationalism, 1830
The bloodiest struggle of the 1830 revolutions.
The Poles in and around Warsaw gained a special
status by the Congress of Vienna within the
Russian Empire.
Their own constitution.
Local autonomy granted in 1818.
Poles became restless under the tyrannical rule of
Tsar Nicholas I.
Polish intellectuals were deeply influenced by
Romanticism.
Rumors reached Poland that Nicholas I was planning to
use Polish troops to put down the revolutions in France
and Belgium.
Several Polish secret societies rebelled.
Failed Revolution in Poland
Revolutionaries were split into
moderate and radical factions
United they might have been
successful
The Poles had hoped that Fr &
Eng would come to their aid, but
they didn’t.
Took Russian army a year to
suppress this rebellion.
The irony by drawing the Russian
army to Warsaw for almost a year,
the Poles may well have kept
Nicholas I from answering Holland’s
call for help in suppressing the
Belgian Revolt.
Unrest in Italy
Austria dominated Northern
Italy
Italian nationalists formed a
secret society called the
Carbonari
Hoped to drive out the Austrians
and unify Italy
Inspired by events in France
and Belgium, the Carbonari
rebelled
Metternich sent in Austrian
troops to restore order
Carbonari’s failure left
Giuseppe Mazzini as Italy’s
foremost nationalist leader
The Results of the Revolutions
1. The Concert of Europe provided for a recovery of Europe after
the long years of Revolution and Napoleonic Wars.
2. The conservatives did NOT reverse ALL of the reforms put in
place by the French Revolution.
3. Liberalism would challenge the conservative plan for European
peace and law and order.
4. These revolutions were successful only in W. Europe:
Their success was in their popular support.
Middle class led, aided by the urban lower classes.
5. The successful revolutions had benefited the middle
class the workers, who had done so much of the rioting and
fighting, were left with empty hands!
6. Therefore, these revolutions left much unfinished & a seething,
unsatisfied working class.