UNIT NINE

The Age of Revolutions: 1750s to 1815

Industrial Capitalism in Europe

The period between the mid-18th century and the early 19th century witnessed profound transformations in Europe,
collectively known as the Age of Revolutions. A pivotal development during this era was the rise of industrial
capitalism, which originated in Great Britain in the late 1700s and subsequently spread globally.

Consolidation of Capitalism- The changes in producing cloth, iron, steel, and other manufactured goods led to the
consolidation of capitalism in Europe. Capitalism itself had emerged earlier, in the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly
in Northwestern Europe and Great Britain. Industrial capitalism is defined as a mode of production characterized by
large, centrally controlled accumulations of capital used to finance commodity production. Key characteristics of
capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, a price system, private property and property rights,
voluntary exchange, and wage labor.

Economic Philosophies and Global Impact -The ethos of industrial capitalism challenged mercantilist ideas of trade
barriers and protective monopolies. By the mid-19th century, Britain fully embraced a laissez-faire economy, with
liberalism and trade competition becoming core political and economic philosophies of capitalism. By the 19th
century, Britain was recognized as the world's workshop. However, the forces of industrial capitalism, similar to those
in Britain, also impacted other parts of Europe and North America.

Technological Advancements and Infrastructure -Steam engine technology was fundamental to the invention of
steam-powered locomotive engines and the development of railways in the early 19th century. Railways played a
crucial role in politically, culturally, and economically integrating vast continental spaces. For instance, the British
began building railways in India in the 1850s, and the first transcontinental railroad in North America opened in 1869.

Effects of Industrial Revolution

Political Effects -Industrialization led to a shift in political structures due to the increasing power of industries, some
of which later became monopolies. The mechanization of labor resulted in the displacement of thousands of laborers.
The rise of industrial capitalism throughout the 19th century coincided with an increase in strikes and other forms of
labor protests.

Social Effects - The Industrial Revolution drastically changed social life in Europe and worldwide. This was evident in
the growth of cities and the emergence of two new social classes: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie
owned the factories, machines, raw materials, and finished goods, while the proletariat sold their labor for wages.
Proletariats were often poorly paid, subjected to strict work discipline, and faced unemployment. Living conditions
changed significantly with the emergence of these class differences. Children also became a cheap source of labor.

Economic Effects

Economically, the Industrial Revolution transformed agricultural and handicraft economies into large-scale industry,
mechanized manufacturing, and the factory system. This transformation led to an increase in wealth, production of
goods, and the overall standard of living. People also gained access to healthier diets, better housing, improved
education, and cheaper goods.
Negative Effects

Despite the advancements, the Industrial Revolution also had numerous negative consequences. These included:

 Environmental degradation
 Poor sanitation
 Spread of diseases
 Pollution
 Poor working conditions and low wages
 Child labor

French Revolution

The French Revolution was a significant period of social upheaval that occurred between 1787 and 1799, lasting for
ten years. It began on July 14, 1789, with the storming of the Bastille prison by revolutionaries. The Revolution
concluded in 1799 when General Napoleon overthrew the revolutionary government and established the French
Consulate, with himself as the leader.

Pre-Revolutionary France and Causes

Before the 18th century, France was a feudal nation with a highly oppressed society. This feudal oppression
contributed to revolutionary conditions in the late 18th century, leading to the outbreak of the French Revolution in
1789. Three primary reasons for the revolution were:

 The French monarchy was bankrupt, and its autocratic kings were inefficient.
 The influence of French philosophers stimulated society against feudal oppression and its political, economic,
and social injustices.
 The French people were significantly influenced by the English bourgeois Revolution and the American War
of Independence, more so than other European societies.

Social Structure: The Three Estates

Society was divided into three Estates:

 First Estate: Included the royal family and the clergy. They owned vast lands and held special socio-economic
and political privileges, being exempt from government taxation.
 Second Estate: Comprised the French nobility. Similar to the First Estate, they owned extensive lands and
enjoyed privileges and tax exemptions.
 Third Estate: Formed the largest segment of French society, consisting of peasants and the bourgeoisie. This
Estate owned little land, had no social, economic, or political rights, and bore the burden of heavy taxation and
exploitation by the French government.

The Estates General and the Storming of the Bastille -The Estates General, a gathering of the three Estates, had not
been convened for 175 years since 1614, with France remaining an absolute monarchy where power was concentrated
in the hands of individual monarchs. Facing financial bankruptcy, King Louis XVI finally called for a meeting of the
Estates General on May 5, 1789, providing an opportunity for the French people to express their discontent. Conflict
erupted between the three Estates immediately, as the Third Estate sought to control the Assembly.
As Louis XVI prepared for a struggle by gathering troops, the revolt spread rapidly throughout France, fueled by the
poor of Paris struggling with high bread prices. On June 17, 1789, the Estates-General transformed into the National
Assembly (later called the Constituent Assembly). On July 14, 1789, revolutionaries stormed the Royal Castle and
Prison of Bastille, an event often called "the Storming of the Bastille". This left Louis XVI powerless, as he doubted
the loyalty of his army. Many aristocrats also began fleeing France. In June 1791, Louis XVI and his family attempted
to escape but were recognized and taken back as prisoners to the capital, an episode known as the Varennes crisis.

Reforms and Political Achievements

The French Assembly maintained the king as a symbol until he signed the new constitution in September 1791. The
greatest political achievements of the French Revolution occurred between 1789 and 1791.

 The "August Days of 1789" saw the abolition of old feudal privileges.
 In August 1789, the National Assembly declared the rights of man and all citizens.
 A constitution was written in 1791, establishing a limited monarchy instead of an autocracy. However, voting
rights were limited to "active citizens" who paid taxes, excluding "passive citizens" who could not meet the
financial qualifications.
 The National Assembly also enacted a law against the Catholic Church, confiscating church lands and
suppressing monasteries.

Emergence of Political Forces and the Reign of Terror - New political forces, acting as political parties, emerged in
Paris and other French cities from 1789-90, leading the Revolution. Disagreements arose among the revolutionary
leaders, with some being moderate and others radical. In 1792, these leaders faced threats from royalist counterattacks
and external forces. Austria and Prussia declared war on France in April 1792, supporting the French monarchy. The
French people valiantly fought against these external forces, marching into Paris singing "La Marseillaise," which
became the French National Anthem.

The French army defeated enemy forces at the Battle of Valmy on September 20, 1792, and two days later, France was
proclaimed a republic. Louis XVI was tried in December 1792, found guilty, and executed on January 21, 1793. In
February 1793, France faced a coalition of Britain, Austria, Prussia, Holland, Spain, Sardinia, and other Italian states,
continuing the effort to restore the French monarchy.

The early years of the French Republic were turbulent and bloody. The revolutionary leaders had internal differences.
The Girondists, representing the big and middle bourgeoisie, formed the extreme right political wing. The left-wing
was led by the Jacobins, who defeated the Girondists and established the Jacobin revolutionary dictatorship in June
1793. The Jacobins adopted a new constitution on June 24, 1793. To protect the Revolution from internal enemies,
they instituted the "Reign of Terror" against counter-revolutionaries. The Reign of Terror peaked under Robespierre's
leadership, with the guillotine becoming a prominent execution machine. The Jacobins, under Robespierre, executed
members of the Girondists and others. They also introduced reforms encouraging merchants and free trade. However,
their harsh suppression of opponents led to a loss of support, and Robespierre and his followers were guillotined in
July 1794, ending the Jacobin Revolutionary Dictatorship. Authority then passed to a five-man board known as the
Directory, whose power ended with the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Results of the French Revolution

The French Revolution dismantled the old feudal order in France and paved the way for the development of the
capitalist system, further contributing to the growth of industrial capitalism. Although poor peasants and other lower
sections of French society were the driving forces, the bourgeoisie ultimately assumed leadership. The revolution did
not extend political rights to the broad masses or significantly improve the lives of working people.
Napoleonic Era
• The French Revolution ended when a French general named Napoleon Bonaparte took power and established a
dictatorship over France and most of Europe.
• The period of the rule of Napoleon in France and Europe is known as the Napoleonic Era (1799 -
1815).
• Napoleon Bonaparte was born in 1769 on the Mediterranean Island of Corsica.
• At the age of twenty-six, he became an officer in the French army. He was a supporter and a friend of the French
revolution. He used to call himself "the son of the revolution".
• Since 1795, Napoleon started to become famous as a defender of the revolution from the reactionary forces of the
European monarchical states.
• He saved France from foreign danger and reversed the invasion.
• Napoleon Bonaparte commanded the French army that fought in Italy and got victory over Austria in 1796.
• From 1798 to 1799, he was in Egypt and managed a short-lived conquest of that country. On his return from Egypt,
he was given a warm national welcome in France in 1799.
• He took over government power by a coup d’état in 1799. Since that year, he ruled as 'The first consul' and from 1802
onwards as 'Consul for Life'.
• Napoleon finally made himself 'Emperor' of France on 2 December 1804. He introduced the reforms that are stated as
follows:
1. He made himself an imperial dictator.
2. He introduced press censorship and used the police and the army to strengthen his dictatorship.
3. His administration was highly centralized. He introduced the Napoleonic Code of Laws in 1804.
4. Employment and promotion in government offices were made based on ability.
5. Collection of revenues from the provinces, called departments of the Empire, became efficient.
7. Public works, such as roads, bridges, monuments, and palaces, were carried out.
8. He settled differences between his state and the Church.
9. The Pope finally accepted the confiscation of Church properties, and Napoleon promised to pay the salaries of the
clergy of France.
10. Steps were taken to education. State secondary schools and universities were opened.
11. In his colonial policy, Napoleon regained Louisiana for France. However, it was sold for $ 11,000,000 to the
U.S.A. in 1803.
• He claimed that he fought the wars of conquest to spread the democratic ideals of the French Revolution, i.e.,
“liberty, equality and fraternity,” and for the glory of France.
• He fought against Britain, Prussia, Russia, Austria, Italy, Southern and Western Germany, Spain, Belgium, Holland,
Poland, Sweden and Switzerland.
• Between 1805 and 1808, he built a large European Empire. In 1808, the Napoleonic Empire included Belgium, Spain,
Holland, Switzerland, Italy, the Southern and Western German States on the Rhine River, Poland, and France.
• At this time, Russia, Prussia, Denmark and Norway were Napoleon's allies and he Old established national states and
new arising national forces resisted French rule.
✓ The first of these resistances came from the direction of Britain.
✓ British navy under Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated the allied French and Spanish naval forces at the sea Battle
of Trafalgar in 1805.
✓ Napoleon imposed a blockade on British trade with mainland Europe. This was known as the Continental System.
✓ In Spain, a nationalist revolt took place between 1808 and 1812. With the help of Britain, Spain fought against
France and became free from French rule in 1812.
✓ Prussia and other German states started to strengthen themselves between 1807 and 1813.
✓ In Russia, Napoleon met the strongest and the most successful resistance.
✓ Napoleon began the war to conquer Russia with a giant army of 600 000 soldiers.
✓ The Russians mobilized a force of 400,000 troops. However, they chose to use the strategy of withdrawal and
scorched-earth tactics
✓ Moreover, the Russian winter was unbearable to Napoleon's force. Nevertheless, it contributed much to defeating
Napoleon's Grand Army- Hunger, cold and disease defeated the French Army.
✓ Napoleon was defeated and withdrew from Russia.
✓ At the Battle of Leipzig in Northern Germany, also known as the Battle of the Nations, European coalition forces of
Russia, Britain, Sweden, Prussia, and Austria defeated Napoleon's retreating, tired and demoralized troops.
✓ Napoleon fled from Germany and went to France. The European coalition forces occupied Paris and forced
Napoleon to abdicate on March 31, 1814.
✓ He was exiled to the Island of Elba. King Louis XVIII was put on the throne of France.
✓ However, Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to France on March 20, 1815. He ruled France for one hundred
more days.
✓ On June 18, 1815, at the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium, the English commander Arthur Wellesley (the Duke of
Wellington) and the Prussian general Blucher defeated him.
✓ He was exiled to the Island of St. Helena in the southern Atlantic Ocean, where he stayed until his death in 1821.

9.4 American War of Independence

✓ The American Revolution was also called the U.S. War of Independence.
✓ The war was the insurrection fought between 1775 and 1783, through which 13(thirteen) of Great Britain's North
American colonies threw off British rule to establish the sovereign United States of America.
✓ The struggle of these European settlers (thirteen colonists) against British colonial rule for independence was coined
in world history as the American War of Independence.
As the British began to impose heavy taxations, the thirteen colonists gathered at Philadelphia - the First Continental
Congress and they adopted a non-importation, non-consumption
✓ Again, they met in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775. The Congress set the Army of the United Colonies and Colonel
George Washington to be Commander-in-Chief of the Army.
✓ The fighting started in the largest cities and trading ports.
✓ Finally, in 1776, representatives from 13 colonies met in Philadelphia to declare themselves independent.
✓ Thomas Jefferson drafted a document called the Declaration of Independence (July 14, 1776 which announced the
birth of a new nation called the USA.
✓ The constitutional convention of 1787 faced severe challenges in 1788 when a gulf was created between federalists
and anti-federalists.
✓ finally, anti-federalists joined the federalists to ratify the constitution on June 25. Consequences of the War
✓ The war of independence brought about the liberation of the American people from British rule.
✓ It also created independent American nations, which were formerly the British colonies.
✓ highly influenced many countries like the French and Latin Americans.
✓ It was one of the immediate causes for the French Revolution outbreak in 1789.
✓ George Washington became the first President of the USA.
✓ The American War of Independence did not abolish slavery.
9.5 The Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna began in September 1814, five months after Napoleon I's first abdication and
completed its "Final Act" in June 1815. The objective of the Congress of Vienna was to provide a long-
term peace plan for Europe by settling critical issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars and the
Napoleonic Wars.
✓ The subsequent peace treaties with France, signed on May 30 not only by the "four"(Britain, Russia,
Austria and Prussia) but also by Sweden and Portugal and on July 20 by Spain, stipulated that all
former belligerents should send plenipotentiaries to a congress in Vienna..
✓ King Frederick William III of Prussia had Karl, Prince von Hardenberg, as his principal
minister. Great Britain was represented by its foreign minister, Viscount Castlereagh.
✓ They restored Louis XVIII of France sent Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand.
✓ The social side of the congress was, in fact, one of the causes of the long and unexpected delay in producing a
result, for Metternich at least sometimes subordinated business to pleasure.
✓ The major points of friction occurred over the disposition of Poland and Saxony, the conflicting claims of Sweden,
Denmark, and Russia, and the adjustment of the borders of the German states.
✓ In general, Russia and Prussia were opposed by Austria, France and England, which at one point (January 3, 1815),
went so far as to conclude a secret treaty of defensive alliance.
✓ The Final Act of the Congress of Vienna comprised all the agreements in one great instrument..
✓ Territories had been bartered about without much reference to the wishes of their inhabitants.
✓ It was later realized how difficult their task was, as was the fact that they secured for Europe a period of peace
✓ However, the statesmen failed to give to international relations any organ by which their work
could be adapted to the new forces of the 19th century and it was ultimately doomed to destruction.