Question

Explain the ideology of revolutionaries after 1815

Answer 1

The period from 1815 to 1850 was a time of competing ideologies, all of which promised a new Europe. Conservatism favored a return to hereditary monarchies with strong, and sometimes, absolute control over their people. Classical liberalism, modeled on the United States and practiced with some success in France, promised more personal freedom and governments more responsive to the wishes of the people. Nationalism, which had been heightened by the Napoleonic Wars, emphasized self-identity and the consolidation of nationalities under a common government, often at the expense of existing empires. Socialism, responding to the pressures of industrialization promised a world of communal cooperation and the elimination of class differences. And Romanticism, shunning the cold rationality of the Enlightenment, emphasized emotional reactions to events, which affected politics, art, literature, and music.

Most notably, Europe was rocked by a series of popular revolutions. In 1848, especially, oppressed people rose up against existing governmental systems and called for increased equality and rights. In some cases, governments responded violently, while in others, governments proved more receptive to change. Thus, the early 19th century can be seen as the beginning of a more egalitarian Europe than had existed before.