The European Social and Political Order in 1815

Rapid social and political change over a single lifetime: Population: 167 million to 266 million, 1800-1850. 1800, 22 towns with population of more than 100,000. In 1850 there were 47. 27 of these in Britain Largest city London 960,000 to 2 million in this period. Paris 550, to 1 million Social Structure: Majority lived in countryside. Landed wealth important.

Ultimately over the century urban growth shaped European social life.
Important developments in transport and communications.

 Period saw development of a more mobile and educated workforce. Main political development partial adoption of representative forms of government. By the end of the century the political and social dominance of the landed aristocracy had come to an end in many parts of Europe.

The Vienna Settlement

Congress Meeting

Alexander I Russia (1812)

 Gathering of all major states.

They reconstructed the frontiers of states in central and eastern Europe.

Restored some monarchs this set in motion the political conflict over what sort of governments Europe should have. Main aim to establish a balance of power.

Liberalism and Nationalism

Liberalism: Political structures that limited the central power of the state/monarch

This achieved through a constitution

Central idea state legitimacy comes from the consent of the governed. The more widely the consent is required the more democratic a state is. Note liberals not necessarily supporters of democracy.

Nationalism:
Before 1789 the nation the ruling class. Your allegiance with your ruler irrespective of race/religion/language.
In 19th C. the concept of the nation was developed. National identity this taken to refer to cultural attributes problems occurred when cultural/ethnic groups sought to create nation-states. This created problems because politically/geographically Europe not organised in this way By 20th C. Most people saw themselves as citizens not subjects

Why were the concepts of liberalism and nationalism so revolutionary?

Nationalism threatened the territorial settlement made at Vienna Liberalism was a threat to the absolute power of monarchs. Revolutionary outbreaks (1820-21, 1830-31 & 1848) all sought to impose constitutions and/or redraw the map of Europe. Nationalism and liberalism linked.

Creating Nations
Industrial Societies: Silesian weavers (1844) rioted and attacked the houses of manufacturers demanding better pay. The army was brought in and 11 people were killed by troops. The event became a symbol for some in Prussian society of the dangers they faced in a changing economy.

Worker uprisings and general violence also occurred in France and Britain in the first half of the nineteenth century. Motivations could vary: o Protests against wage rates. o Threats to old ways of working by new industrial machinery. o Periods of unemployment due to economic downturns. All of these factors helped fuel political demands such as the call for universal suffrage and union rights.

 The majority of people employed in agriculture in the first half of the nineteenth century. The figures vary from country to country (the different dates reflect the earliest available censuses): - France 54% in 1856. - Britain 41% in 1841. - Austria 68% in 1869 - Germany 47% in 1882 - Russia 82% in 1926 - The Netherlands - 53% in 1849.

Industrialisation: What is This?

Involves major shift in the distribution of labour from the agricultural (the primary) sector to the manufacturing (the secondary) sector of an economy. It defines a significant increase in technological innovation and the displacement of manual skills by machine operations.

Industrialisation process slower in some countries than others but even in Britain where it started change took a couple of generations: Some countries benefited from natural resources such as water and coal.
Industry was often rural to begin with but in the second wave of industrialisation industrial towns grew rapidly. People in these fast growing cities had to be fed - successful industrialisation required an efficient agricultural system: Biggest contrast was between countries that had free labour and those were peasants were tied to the land as serfs.

The Concept of Class:

Growth of class identity was linked with changing economic processes: Was a growing awareness of the working class as social group by the beginning of the 19th C. The growing middle class (bourgeoisie) often ranged itself against the working class. The concept of class differs from how society was understood in the 18th C. The concept of class became linked to the idea of revolution Karl Marx.

The propertied classes feared attacks on property. Could make common cause with the nobility to protect property.
A peasant class remained important : could rebel against the nobility, could also support the old order.

The Rise of Nation States

A number of new countries came into being in the 19th C: Greece (1830). Belgium (1830-31). Italy (1861). Germany (1871).
Period also saw the decline of multinational states like the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires and the consolidation of national identity in countries like France and England. In the late 18th C. most people were subjects under the command of monarchs/princes and a hereditary monarchy. By the 20th C. most people saw themselves as citizens of nation states.

Why, did these important changes occur?

When considering this a number of key points should be kept in mind: The influence of the French Revolution.
Economic and social changes. The actions of political elites The role played by liberal nationalists.

Defining what we mean by state than what we mean by nation

The state refers to the apparatus of govt within a geographical region it is an administrative and political entity.

A nation will be defined more in terms of cultural attributes that are shared importantly they people must be conscious of the fact that they constitute a nation. The sense of belonging to a distinct cultural nation is usually called national identity.
Nations and states do not always overlap and large states like the Habsburg and Ottoman empires contained many distinct nations. In the nineteenth century the idea developed that each cultural nation should govern itself. A nation-state refers to a country where an identifiable nation governs itself (one nation, one state).

How were new Nations Formed?

Historians have disagreed over the process by which nation states came into being. Three processes can be identified: Unification of existing smaller states. Succession where new nation states were formed by breaking away from existing larger states. Consolidation where existing states became increasingly homogenous through erosion of regional identities.