The Breakthrough of Liberalism in the West: Revolutions of 1830-1832

1. The Breakthrough of Liberalism in the West: Revolutions of 1830-1832 Section 11.56

2. What does this mean in the context of 1830. When France sneezes, Europe catches a cold.

3. Introduction • 1830 liberalism is breaking out and doesn’t stop • 1825 Spanish America was independent • British and the French pulled away from the congress system • Greek independence movement against the Turks is advancing in 1820s • Nicholas is more willing to support (Greeks) than Alexander was • Anglo-French-Russian intervention takes a piece out of the Ottoman Empire • Greece is reorganized • Egypt is autonomous • Serbia, Wallachia, and Moldavia are recognized Ary Scheffer (1795-1858) Greek boy defending his wounded father, 1827

4. France, 1824-1830: The July Revolution, 1830 • Charles X (a reactionary) became king in 1824 • Old regime passes an indemnity of 30 million francs a year to the émigrés (who had their land confiscated during the Revolution) • Catholic clergy is taking over classrooms • New law gave death penalty for sacrilege committed in church • Opposition is developing in the newspapers and liberal circles • March 1830, Chamber of Deputies passed a no confidence vote in gov • King dissolves Chamber, calls for new elections • Charles X uses absolutists interventions to stop liberal critics • July Ordinances (7/26/1830): restrict on vote and civil liberties • dissolved Chamber again • censorship on press • curtailed suffrage of bankers, merchants • new elections • this sparks July Revolution (the very next day) Liberty Leading the People, embodying the Romantic view of the French Revolution of 1830; its painter Eugène Delacroix also served as an elected deputy

5. Charles X Abdicates • Barricades go up and the revolt is led by the workers and intelligencia (from 7/27-29) • Charles abdicated and fled to England • Working people wanted social reforms • Bourgeois wanted protection of the constitution of 1814 (just under new leadership) • Lafayette produces Louis Philippe (on the balcony of the Paris Hotel de Ville) • Duke of Orleans • relative of the Bourbons • Offered the throne on the condition to upholds the constitution

6. The July Monarchy • Louis Philippe • Regime known as Orleanist, bourgeois, or July Monarchy • Reigns until 1848 • Viewed by other monarchies/clergy as revolutionary • a king who got power through insurrection, a deal with republicans/parliamentarians • Called himself ‘king of the French’ not of France • Flies the Tricolor instead of the Bourbon lily • Had popular manner, sober dark clothing (business suit of its time) and carried an umbrella • Constitution basically same as in 1814 but tone different • No more absolutism • Chamber of Peers ceased to be hereditary and Cham of Deputies was elected by larger body of voters • increases suffrage from 100 to 200 thousand (based on land ownership) • July Monarchy served the bourgeois class • Radical democrats are less satisfied • Modern History Sourcebook: François Guizot: Condition of the July Monarchy, 1830-1848 Modern History Sourcebook: The French Constitution of 1830

7. Revolutions of 1830: Belgium • Effect of 3 day revolution in France set off new explosions all over Europe • Belgium and the Netherlands were unified as a buffer against France (at Congress of Vienna) • Economically it was a good union (but not politically) • Dutch absolutist ideas conflicted with Belgium local liberties (French Language) • Belgians were Catholic (Dutch protestant), Bel spoke French (Dutch wanted Dutch official language) • Belgium declares independence in August, 1830

8. Revolution in Poland • Tsar Nicholas is prepared to respond (to the French and Belgium revolutions) but has to go through Poland • Polish nationalists object to presence of Russian troops on the border • Polish diet dethrones the Polish king (Nicholas) • Revolt is crushed by Nicholas • exiles, émigrés flee and settle in western Europe • thousands are sent to Siberia • University of Warsaw and Vilna closed • suppression of civil liberties • Tsar is occupied with Poland and the Belgium question is dropped • Belgium accepts monarch with ties to the British throne and declare neutrality • Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, a German prince married to British royal family became king (the uncle of Queen Victoria) • Treaty in 1831b/t British and Talleyrand set Belgium up a perpetually neutral • not allowed to form alliances, guaranteed against invasion Leopold I of Belgium

9. Reform in Great Britain • Liberal Tories (George Canning and Robert Peel) made some reforms • repealed the Test Act of 1673 • a move to a more secular state • liberalized the Navigation Acts (which now allowed colonies to trade with countries) • Reduced tariffs • Capital punishment eliminated for about 100 offenses • Professional police force created with the help of Robert “Bobby” Peel (where police get their nickname) • But Liberal Tories could NOT: • question the Corn Laws • reform the House of Commons (representation) George Canning Robert Peel

10. Problems of Representation • House of Commons in unrepresentative of the population and economy • New factory towns were un-represented (Manchester) • Some boroughs were empty and had representation • one was under water in the North Sea • Whigs propose reform bill on elections • Tories under Wellington (victor of Waterloo was most extreme conservative) refuse to act • Whigs take over the ministry • Introduce a reform bill that is rejected • Whigs resign and Tories fail to take up leadership • Whigs return an reintroduce the bill and it passes the HOC but is rejected by the House of Lords • Uproar throughout the country and revolution seems eminent • Whigs get the king to threaten to increase the peerage in the HOL • House of Lords yields and Reform Bill of 1832 becomes law Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

11. Reform Bill of 1832 • Little impact on who voted (increased from about 500 to 800 thousand • Redistributed the seats in the HOC to include the industrial cities (Manchester) • Got rid of “rotten” boroughs • The rising middle class is gaining political representation • England sidesteps a revolution through the existence of Parliament

12. Britain after 1832 • Reform Bill of 1832 did have some lasting effects • New business interests stand alongside the old aristocracy Liberal Party develops • Aristocratic Whigs, radical industrialists, and liberal Tories Conservative party • Tories, few old Whigs, and a few former radicals • Classic era to two party politics in England • 1833 Slavery is abolished • 1834 New Poor Law is passed • Provided relief for sick and aged (not able bodied) Municipal corporations act • Helped cities manage urban life problems • Reforms in the Church of England • Redistribution of Church income in more equitable terms

13. Tory counteroffensive • Tories become champions of the industrial workers • Publicized the social evils of rapid and ruthless industrialization • Humanitarian industrialists were sympathetic • Factory Act 1833 forbade child labor (under 9) • Paid inspectors to insure compliance • 1842 underground mine work was forbidden for women, girls, and boys under 10 • 1847 the Ten Hours Act • limited the labor of women and children to 10 hours • eventually men only worked ten hours also • Liberal cotton magnate John Bright called Ten Hours Act a “delusion practiced on the working class” • it was against laissez-faire

14. Anti-Corn Law League (1838) • Anti-Corn Law Whigs argued against high prices for food • Causes high wages and make manufactures more expensive, high food prices • Pro-Corn Law Tories argued that Britain should avoid becoming too exclusively dependent on imported food • Modern political practices were employed by the Anti-Corn Law League to pressure the government • Headquartered in Manchester • it sent out lecturers, agitated newspapers, held political teas, open-air meetings

15. Anti-Corn Law League (1838) • 1846 the Tory ministry under Robert Peel yields and the Corn Law is repealed • Symbolizes the change in England’s government • Industrial interests are now firmly seated in government • Free trade is to become the rule • England becomes dependant on external sources of food • Industry became the mainstay of the British economy • workers transitioned to industrial jobs • manufactures, coal, shipping, and financial services become the basis of the new economy • Importing vital necessities from the rest of the world was the fuel for the system • Britain depended on the maintenance of free trade and naval power Over London by RailGustave Doré c 1870. Shows the densely populated and polluted environments created in the new industrial cities Coalbrookdale at night, 1801 :Artist: Philipp Jakob Loutherbourg the Younger