Europe in Revolution

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Chris Bennett                05/03/2008

How far do you agree with the view that the nineteenth century proved to be a century in which nationalism played a dual role, on one hand transforming the European state system, while on the other hand ensuring that democracy and socialism did not challenge the power of established elites?

        The question in this essay refers to the nineteenth century.  However the subject area really lies between 1815 and 1914.  This period is defined by two important factors, firstly the end of the French revolution in 1815 and secondly, the beginning of World War 1 in 1914.  The period between these two dates was one of constant tension between revolutionary movements that challenged the divine right of Kings and that of the “ancien regime” which pursued an aggressive conservatism across mainland Europe.  In this essay I will discuss the dual role that nationalism played as it was used by both liberal revolutionaries and absolutist monarchs.

        I will start with the basis for the period I will be discussing, that of the Vienna settlement of 1815.  This settlement was imposed by the victorious powers on the French conquered territories of Europe after the defeat of Napoleon.  It is here that we see the idea of nationalism and liberalism come into its own.  Before the revolutionary wars, the concepts of liberalism and nationalism were known only by few, yet these wars helped spread revolutionary ideas of liberalism and nationalism far and wide across Europe, sewing a seed that the victorious powers were eager to destroy.  There were many terms of the settlement, however broadly speaking the significant terms sought to ensure that the Ancien regime was restored, that the divided and weak state system was restored (although with some exception), that revolution would be repressed, that political change would be prevented and that the main powers would work together to solve disputes before they developed into conflict.  This developed in what was known as the Concert of Europe.  It included Russia, Austria, Prussia and a hesitant France and Britain.  These powers agreed to work together to uphold the terms of the settlement and quell any uprisings.  

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        For the most part the Concert was successful in the thirty or so years after it was founded.  Liberalist movements rallied around the idea of nationalism, the idea that peoples were to no longer gave their loyalty and support to an individual monarch, but rather around a geographic area of distinctive peoples and culture.  The wars of the French revolution were indeed over with by 1815, but it was too late to halt the idea of reform, the seed of revolution, liberalism and nationalism had already spread far and planted deep in the hearts of many.  It was this seed, ...

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