The 19 th Century and its isms So
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The 19 th Century and it’s “isms”
So What “isms” are we Talking About? • Conservatism • Liberalism • Socialism • Feminism • Nationalism • Romanticism
Ideologies? • The period 1815 -1850 can be termed the Age of Ideologies and is in response to the issues raised by the Dual Revolutions of the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution • Many Europeans in an effort to find security looked to a systematic view of human affairs in understanding the changing world around them
Conservatism • Defied the optimistic views of human rationality associated with the Enlightenment and the French Revolution • Conservatives looked backward and often believed those times were better • attracted predominantly the aristocracy and the wealthy because they saw value in the old regime • Rights are inherited - not God given but a traditional right • Conservatives generally advocated for change only when the changes were designed to strengthen the kind of society they favoured • They emphasized the wisdom of established customs, the value of the hierarchy and the social importance of religion
Edmund Burke • Edmund Burke was a leading advocate for change through adaptation and NOT violent revolution • Wrote against the events of the French Revolution • Edmund Burke and Metternich are the leading proponents of Conservatism
Metternich • The dominant personality at the Congress of Vienna • Focused his energies on erecting an anti-revolutionary chain of international alliances throughout Europe. • Using arguments borrowed from Burke, he insisted on the need for continuity with the past and orderly, organic development.
Liberalism • Liberalism was less a doctrine and more a set of attitudes • Attracted the Bourgeoisie • Liberalism is all about reforming things to fit with the times - social progress, economic development and values associated with the middle class are extremely important • Individualism is encouraged in Liberalism places most importance on natural rights life, liberty and equality • Liberals look forward and are generally progressive in nature - not interested in the past • Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill • Often considered to be the most important liberal thinker of the 19 th Century • He was a philosopher, economist and publicist and wrote some of the most influential classics of modern thought • He made freedom of thought his founding principle because he feared the intolerance and oppression which any social majority was capable • He came to recognize that collective action on the part of workers could enhance their freedom and work environment - this is particularly relevant given the Industrial Revolution in England
Socialism • Socialists believed the capitalist system was unequal and unjust • Wished to replace it with social and economic planning • Socialists offered a radical alternative to conservative and liberal ideologies and were most critical of industrial capitalism • Some of the leading thinkers argued that capitalist competition wasteful and cruel and created an environment that was indifferent to suffering • They believed that a reorganization of production and distribution would create a harmonious and orderly society
Robert Owen • One of the first socialists was a textile entrepreneur Robert Owen (1771 -1958) • Owen built a factory that took in to consideration the conditions of his workers - higher wages, improved conditions and a provision for schools • He shortened the work day to ten hours and created new housing which allowed employees rooms • Nursery schools were also created
Feminism • Many advocates of women’s rights like Mary Wollstonecraft and J. S. Mill drew from the ideas of the Enlightenment tradition of individual rights and social equality - they believed this should be extended to women as well • By 1850 feminists have made gains through the establishment of a clear agenda which included greater access to education as well as legal, property and political rights
Nationalism • Idea that nationality transcends class structures • This is the most combustible ideology of the 19 th Century - essential to understanding political and diplomatic events after 1800 • Spread by the example of the French Revolution - it initially consisted of a cultural revival and celebration of traditions that defined nations • Germany in particular (unified in 1871) experienced a wave of cultural nationalism • Johann Gottfried Herder (1744 -1803) replaced the traditional concept of state with an folk-nation best represented by the term Volksgeist or “spirit of the people” • German philosopher Hegel (1770 -1831) glorified the national state as a march of destiny through history This led to a new idea of German national unity • The Germans really start to identify themselves as a powerful german state here. Remind you of anything?
Here Comes the Dark Side - but wait, that’s not for a while yet
Romanticism • The movement consisted of mainly the artistic class • Romanticism was a literary, musical and artistic movement dominating European culture in the first half of the 19 th Century • Romantics turned away from reason and science and instead stressed Emotion, Intuition, Nature, Nationalism, Religion and the individual as unique • Some famous romantics - Lord Byron, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Sorrows of Young Werther), Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, Eugene Delacroix and Ludwig von Beethoven He sure looks happy doesn’t he?
Resources • The Western Experience • AP European History Achiever • Encyclopaedia Brittanica