In the first part of this series, we looked at the Industrial Revolution, which began in the 1760s in Britain, and which changed society as we know it. We saw how, it was these changes that brought about the forces in society that led to the French Revolution. In this second part we will look at how the Industrial Revolution spread to Europe, and what the political consequences of this were. 

The Napoleonic wars come to a close in 1815. On Sunday 18th June, British and Prussian forces defeated Napoleon Bonaparte’s Imperial French Army at Waterloo. It was the end of Napoleon and the end of nearly two and a half decades of wars that had followed the French Revolution of 1789. The peace settlement was hammered out at the Congress of Vienna. This Congress had actually started the previous September after the initial defeat of Napoleon when the armies of the Russian Tzar Alexander I had occupied Paris. Napoleon’s come back from his exile on the Italian island of Elba to mount a new military campaign. Negotiations though continued through Napoleon’s 100 day comeback, and in fact the final agreement was signed in early June 1815 before the French defeat at the battle of Waterloo. 

The Congress had two main tasks. The first was to split up the booty of the war. France was stripped of all of its territorial gains in the war, and those countries were split up between the victorious powers. The second was to establish a new European order built on maintaining a balance between the main powers and to reaffirm the conservative order. It was to be a return to the Ancien régime across the continent. France, of course, was to have a king again, the Bourbon dynasty was restored and Louis XVIII became the new monarch. 

The problems though for the monarchs of Europe was that although they could construct a geo-political settlement designed to bring about peace across the continent, they couldn’t hold back the future. It was the economic changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution, which brought about the challenges to the old regime, and as this revolution spread across Europe, it created the new classes whose very existence threatened the monarchs of old Europe. 

Belgium became perhaps the second country to embrace the new economic system, even before France. Spurred on by its proximity to Britain, and the abundance of coal and iron in the south of the country, Belgium established itself as the world’s second industrial power. In Germany, the Ruhr, the area around Dortmund, had, by 1809, become known as ‘miniature England’. The fact that Germany was split into a myriad of different countries slowed the spread of industrialisation. Railways were a key component of the modern industrial package, and the complications of all the international borders held them back. When Germany eventually unified into a single state in 1871, the road was clear for it to become Europe’s strongest economic power. All of this was based either upon the local adoption of British technology or by English entrepreneurs moving abroad in search of opportunities. In the lands controlled by the Hapsburg crown the Industrial Revolution appeared first in the Czech lands with the introduction of the factory system to Prague and Brno, which became known as the ‘Moravian Manchester’. 

Revolution in France

It was back in France though that political revolution arose once more. Louis XVIII had died childless in 1824, and his younger brother, who was famed for his reactionary politics, had become Charles X at the age of 66. Almost immediately he began to make attacks upon the Charter of 1814. This charter had been the legal basis upon which the monarchy had been restored. It stated that the regime was a constitutional if not parliamentary one. On his coronation, Charles had promised to uphold the charter. Early in his reign though he started to attack its very basis. After eight months in control, he brought in an ‘anti-sacrilege’ law, which included the death penalty for certain offences. This was seen by many as violating the guarantees of equality of religious belief in the charter. Charles then clashed with parliament over both financial indemnities, and inheritance laws. His position on these questions proved unpopular, and he suffered a major defeat over inheritance, and then over attempting to introduce censorship laws. 

The decisive event though came about when he decided to dissolve the National Guard of Paris, an organisation which had been established by the Revolution of 1789. Whilst Charles was reviewing the guard, they protested against his policies. At a time when they were meant to symbolically offer loyalty to the King, they treated him with insults, demanded that his minister resign, and cursed the Jesuits. It was all too much for Charles and he disbanded the Guard the next day. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t take away their weapons. These would come out again during the revolution. 

In March 1830, the Parliament passed a motion of no confidence in the King and his government. In return Charles dissolved the parliament. Two months later in new elections, the radicals beat the supporters of the king winning nearly two thirds of the seats. In response Charles again dissolved the parliament, brought in increased censorship, and restricted the franchise.  The people responded with revolution. 

The July Revolution or the ‘Three Glorious Days’ is the one that inspired the painting of bare breasted ‘Liberty Leading the People’. It lead to a new King being placed on the throne, with a distant cousin of the King becoming a new constitutional monarch. There would be an attempt to overthrow him two years later and to bring back the Republic. This is the one that inspired Victor Hugo’s ‘Les Misérables’. This was put down as we read in the book, or saw in the film or musical. Monarchy in France is on its last legs though. It has less than a couple of decades to go. The Industrial Revolution is beginning to create a world system. In the past peasant revolts tended to be geographically isolated. As we shall see in 1848 when revolution sweeps across the continent, modern transport and communication not only brings about the further spread of the new economic system, but also allows the spread of revolutionary ideas. The following month sees revolution in the southern provinces of the Netherlands, which brings about the creation of Belgium, 1830 also sees a revolution in the Germany state of Brunswick, and failed revolutions in both Italy and Poland. As today, in for example the ‘Arab Spring’, revolution spreads across national borders with the speed of a train. 

The First Socialists

It’s during this period that we see the emergence of socialist ideas. These ideas emerge first in the countries where the Industrial Revolution is strongest, namely England and France. Perhaps the first socialist in Britain was the Welsh textile manufacturer Robert Owen, who founded the Co-Operative movement. He made his money, like many of the rising bourgeois class, from a textile mill. Unlike most of them though, he decided to spend it buying a town setting up a ‘socialist community’ in North America. It only lasted for a few years. After this he returned to Britain and involved himself in trade unions and workers causes. 

An earlier English radical had been Thomas Spence. He advocated common ownership of land and a ‘democratic equality’ of the sexes. The French Charles Fourier was another socialist. He is credited with the first use of the term ‘feminism’, and he argued there should be ‘gay rights’ before the terms ‘gay’ and ‘homosexual’ even existed. Also in France, Saint-Simon talked of the ‘working class’ and how it needs needed to be addressed to have an effective and just society. 

These early pioneers would later be described as ‘Utopian Socialists’. While they saw that a socialist world was desirable, they thought it could be implemented by people from all classes adopting their ideas. They disregarded the class struggle, and saw that socialism could be brought about, not by social revolution, but by force of argument. 

Alongside the spread of these ideas by intellectuals, generally coming from the new owning classes, we see the growth and spread of trade unionism. Originating in Britain, in part this had its roots in ‘friendly societies’, which operated as a sort of early mutual insurance fund, but they also have roots in the violent militancy of ‘Luddism’., which we discussed in the previous article. These workers organisations were initially viciously repressed. In 1820 in Scotland, 60,000 workers rose, and went on general strike. In 1832, striking workers seized control of the town of Merthyr Tydfil, then an important industrial centre, in south Wales. 10,000 striking workers raised the red flag (its first recorded use), and held the town for four days whilst spreading the strike to surrounding regions. 

Despite this repression, the trade unions grew massively. They were legalised in 1824, and in 1842, a Chartist inspired general strike involved around half a million workers. It was the biggest industrial dispute of the 19th century. The Trade Union Congress (TUC) a federation of unions from all trades and industries was formed in 1868, unsurprisingly in Manchester. Trade unionism spread rapidly across the Atlantic to North America and also to France, the Low Countries, and Germany. 

The next generation of socialist thinkers differentiated themselves from the ‘utopian socialists’ in that they believed that socialism could not be brought about by force of argument and establishing ‘socialist communities’, but that it needed direct political action by the working class. Here we find the first anarchists and communists including Proudhon, Bakunin, Marx and Engles. In 1847, Marx and Engles began to write a document that would eventually be called the ‘Communist Manifesto’ for an organisation called the ‘League of the Just’. When it was published in February 1848, revolution was spreading across Europe. Its opening line read „A spectre is haunting Europe—the spectre of communism”. 

Revolution in France Again

The revolutions of 1848 spread across the whole continent, and affected over 50 countries. It’s difficult then to talk of the causes of each separate revolution. In general though, we can come back to the social tension caused by the Industrial Revolution, exacerbated by the economic crisis of 1845-47. The primary cause for this crisis was Potato Blight. The Blight was a disease of potatoes that came to Europe from North America, and its mostly remembered today for being the cause of the Great Irish Famine of 1845-52, during which Ireland lost nearly half of its population to starvation and emigration.  It first arrived in Europe in Belgium in   June 1845, and destroyed over 75% of the Flemish potato harvest that summer. Ireland excluded, the Blight caused around 100,000 deaths mainly in the Low Countries, Germany, and France. The Blight was only stopped by drought in 1847. That too though increased food prices causing massive immiseration across the continent. Workers and peasants reacted. In France alone 1846 and 1847 saw over 400 food riots. 

Other factors were causing unhappiness amongst the peasantry. Similarly to what had previously happened in England during the enclosures, common land was being taken over by the big landowners and peasants were forced off their land. In the east where serfdom still persisted, uprisings happened with repeated frequency, perhaps the largest being the ria. Galician Peasants Uprising of 1846 in Austria. For those who fled to the cities life was not much better. At a time where food prices were increasing due to famine and drought, the mass influx of people from the countryside of the city caused a decline in real wages. Most workers on the continent were still artisans at this point, and the new factories threatened their livelihoods. In a similar reaction to the earlier English Luddite movement there were major insurrections of weavers in Lyon, France in 1831 and 1834, and in Silesia in 1844. Amongst the middle classes, their new university educations were unable to provide them with jobs that would allow them to live as their status demanded. Those who came out of university with degrees, but were unable to find suitable work, contributed significantly to the revolutionary turmoil. New ideologies, such as liberalism, nationalism, and radicalism spread across the continent, and amongst working people anarchism and communism. In 1847 everyone knew that revolution was coming. 

On 12th of January 1848, there was a rebellion in Palermo, Sicily, but perhaps the real spark that lit the fire across Europe was the February Revolution, which finally brought an end to one  and a half thousand years of French monarchy. Political meetings were banned in France. What middle class radicals did to get around this ban was to hold ‘banquets’. The government, wise to this ploy, if not altogether wise in its course of action, decided to ban a banquet set for 22nd February. The organisers declared that the banquet would still go ahead, and that they would also organise a political demonstration. The government then banned both of these events, and the organisers backed down. 

And that should have been the end of it. However, workers and students who had been mobilising for the demonstration refused to back down, and continued with their plans. Because all municipal guardsmen had been withdrawn from the area, as the demonstration had been cancelled, the protestors found virtually nobody to oppose them. The crowds were too large for the unprepared state forces to deal with, and they began to erect barricades. 

The King dismissed his government, but this failed to satisfy the protestors, who wanted more. On 23rd February a confrontation between soldiers and demonstrators ended in a massacre. 57 people were killed and the city was outraged. Fighting spread across the city. By noon the next day, the King had decided to abdicate, and fled the city escorted by cavalry. He travelled to England on a boat provided by the British. He would die there two years later. 

The National Assembly wanted to install the King’s grandson on the throne, but the revolutionary crowds had already burned it. When the demonstrators broke into the assembly, it had no choice but to proclaim a Republic. The monarchy was over. In the course of one week, the news of the revolution had spread across the continent. In Vienna, Metternich, the Austrian diplomat who had been the major figure behind the peace of 1815 stated „well, my dear, it’s all over!“

The Springtime of the People’s

By mid-March, similar revolutions had broken out in Vienna, Budapest, Venice, Krakow, Milan, and Berlin, and Munich. In Austria, after two days of street fighting from 13-15th March, Metternich was forced to resign and go into exile. The Emperor was forced to promise a constitution. Next Revolution broke out in Austrian controlled Hungary, where the Emperor was forced to concede national sovereignty led by a parliament within the Hapsburg monarchy. Revolutionary governments took power in Milan and Venice in Austrian controlled northern Italy. The King of Piedmont-Sardinia declared war on Austria, and thus began the first Italian war of Independence. 

In Berlin after one day of fighting on the barricades on 18th March, the King of Prussia ordered the army to withdraw and committed himself to running a liberal government, and to perusing German unity. Across the smaller German states revolution spread like wildfire. Revolutions took place in Baden, The Palatinate, Saxony, the Prussian Rhineland, Bavarian, and many others. All across the continent the old regime was falling. Elections were held for the newly established parliaments in France, Austria itself, and six other national parliaments within the Hapsburg empire, as well as the Frankfurt National Assembly, a parliament for the whole of Germany. 

The abolition of censorship and restrictions on political organisation saw a massive increase in both the numbers and size of both political and labour organisations. In France, in an effort to stop labour unrest, the government began to draft laws containing economic reforms, and passed a decree to guarantee work for the unemployed. Across the continent the revolution appeared to have been successful. 

So far, we have concentrated on France and Central Europe, but it should be mentioned that the revolutions of 1848, not only affected other European countries, such as Denmark, Romania, Ireland, and the Low Countries but also began to have a truly international aspect with the revolution spreading to South America and Canada being granted autonomy within the British empire. There were even protests in Batavia (now Jakarta) in the Dutch East Indies. 

Counter Revolution 

The second half of the year would see a return of the forces of reaction. In France a division began to emerge between radical workers and the new Republican government. A conservative government was elected, which began to attack the gains of the working class. The left was attacked with its leaders jailed, its newspapers and clubs banned, and the ‘National Workshops’, the scheme to provide work for the unemployed, were closed down. This led to two attempts to overthrow the new government on 15th May and 22nd of June, the second of which was drowned in blood. 

In the Austrian Empire, an uprising in Prague was  suppressed by imperial forces, and in Italy an Austrian victory over the Piedmontese army put the Emperor back in control of northern Italy. The local ruler of Croatia was encouraged to invade rebellious Hungary, which led to the beginning of the war of Hungarian Independence, and when protestors in Vienna rose in support of the Hungarians and seized control of the city for three weeks, they were bloodily suppressed putting an end to the revolution in Austria. The Austrian Emperor, Ferdinand I, whose response to Metternich informing him of the revolution had been „But are they allowed to do that?“, was forced to abdicate by government officials and replaced by his more reactionary nephew, Franz Joseph I. 

In Germany, the counter revolution began in the autumn with the armistice in the Schleswig War. This war, between Prussia and Denmark had started in support of ethnic German rebels in lands subject to the Danish crown. The armistice was forced upon Prussia by Britain and Russia, and accepted reluctantly by the Frankfurt parliament for all of Germany. This caused further uprisings across the German region by those who saw this as a betrayal, and who were dissatisfied with the slow pace of political reform. These uprisings were crushed by the German states and in Berlin the German Kaiser, Frederick William IV, dismissed his liberal ministers and imposed a new conservative constitution. 

In France, Louis Napoleon, nephew of the former French Emperor was elected President with the backing of conservatives expecting him to restore public order and suppress radical workers. The ‘Springtime of the Peoples’ was over. 

The Triumph of Reaction and the Legacy of 1848. 

1849 saw the revolution spread outside of the major capitals, and across the smaller cities of Europe leading to successes in elections in France and Austria. Revolutions in Tuscany and the Papal States saw radicals draft plans for an all Italian parliament copying the German one, and a resumption of the war against Austria. However, Italian defeat at the battle of Novara in March saw Austria triumphant and the abdication of the King of Piedmont. The revolutionary Roman Republic was defeated in July and Venice in August. 

In Austria, the new Emperor rejected parliamentary proposals of reform, dissolved the Reichstag and implemented a new conservative constitution for the entire Empire, which brought an end to Hungarian autonomy. The Hungarian response was to declare full independence from Austria, and establish a ‘revolutionary provisional government’, which immediately attacked Austria recapturing Hungarian territory. Austria was in crisis and turned to the Russian Tsar for help in „the holy struggle against anarchy“. 200,000 fresh Russian troops tipped the balance of the war for Austria, and in August, Hungray, the last remaining revolutionary state was forced to capitulate. 

In many ways the revolution was seen as a failure. Communists and anarchists denounced what they saw as their betrayal by the bourgeoisie. For nationalists particularly in Italy, Germany, and Hungary, their desires for national states had been crushed. For the liberals their dreams of democratic governance were over. In most countries, the absolutist monarchs were back in control, and even in France Louis Napoleon, the president, was elected as Emperor by referendum, and embarked on reactionary policies. 

Yet by the 1870s most of the revolutionaries goals had been fulfilled. A national state in Italy was established in 1861, and the German Empire was proclaimed in 1871 following victory in the Franco-Prussian war. Reactionary governments across Europe realised that they could not govern in the same way and feudalism was abolished first in Germany and Austria and then in Russia in 1861 while at the same time political and economic gains were made by the middle class across the continent. The only people whose demands hadn’t been satisfied were the workers. 

Revolution in France Again

The International Workingmen’s Association (know as the ‘First International’) had been formed in London in 1864. It was initially the creation of British and French trade unionists, but grew to include representatives from across Europe, and a wide range of political tendencies in the workers’ movement. It supported strikes and workers’ struggles, but also took up positions on the international events of the day, supporting Garibaldi’s campaign for Italian independence, the Union in the American Civil War (1861-65) in its campaign to abolish slavery, and opposing Russian repression in Poland. Although it contained various political tendencies, Marx was chosen to write the founding documents of the organisation. In the Inaugural Address, he summarised the situation of the working class in Europe, talked of the victory of the British unions campaign for a ten hour working day, and ended with the slogan from the Manifesto “Proletarians of all countries, unite”. The working class now had its own party committed to achieving its emancipation for itself. 

The Franco-Prussian War, which resulted in the formation of Germany ended in defeat for France. Napoleon III was captured and eventually went into exile in England, where he too died two years later. After the defeat, the National Guard and the workers of Paris rose in the last great French uprising of the 19th century. They established the Commune, a revolutionary form of government, which was then copied by workers in different parts of the country, who rose and established their own communes in Lyon, St Etienne, and Marseille. Although the commune was eventually crushed by French and German troops it would serve as an inspiration for revolutionaries of the next century. For the time though, the workers’ movement was in defeat. The International dissolved due to factional infighting between anarchists and communists and was finally dissolved in 1876. The spark though had been lit. 

In part two, we have discussed the European revolutions of the nineteenth century, and the establishment of workers’ independent political organisation. In part three, we will consider the national question in more depth, turning our attention to the Balkans, the rise of national movements here and the decline and fall of the Ottoman Empire.