POLITICS AND REVOLUTIONS: 1815-1850

AP European History

I. Congress of Vienna, 1814-15 A. Concert of Europe

1. were guided by the principle of the

balance of power. B. Congress System (1815-1822)

C. The “Holy Alliance” – RAP

II. Conservatism A. Reaction to liberalism

1. Klemens von Metternich 2. Austria and the German states

Dominated by Metternich a. Multi-ethnic Hapsburg Empire:

national self-determination

3. Carlsbad Decrees a. instituted repressive measures against liberalism in the

German Confederation.

Peoples of the Hapsburg Monarchy, 1815Peoples of the Hapsburg Monarchy, 1815

III. Liberalism A. Individual is a self-sufficient being

whose freedom and well-being are sole

reasons for existence of society

1. Political - representative government 2. Classical liberalism minimal government interference in

the economy, individual freedoms,

equality before the law

IV. Nationalism A. Characteristics

1. Cultural unity – common language 2. Desire for national border with

cultural boundaries.

3. Immediate origins: French Revolution &

Napoleonic Wars

IV. Utopian Socialism A. Advocacy of social and economic

planning

B. Early French socialists 1. Count Henri de Saint-Simon “key to progress was proper social

organization” 2. Louis Blanc 3. Pierre Joseph Proudhon “What is Property” – stolen from the

workers

C. Scientific Socialism – Marxism 1. Karl Marx (1818-1883): Communist

Manifesto (1848) w/ Friedrich Engels;

2. Criticism of Utopian Socialist: appeals to the

wealthy to help the poor were naive.3. Socialism would be established by

violent revolution. “Working men of all

countries unite!”