Download AP European History Test Review Part Four

Congress of Vienna
through Imperialism
Karine Yeterian
Talin Manoukian
Sona Soghomonian
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
A Time of change, the Nineteenth century
saw the transformation from the
Napoleonic period to the modern world.
It began with the defeat of Napoleon and
ended with an industrialized Europe with
new political alliances & great influence in
most parts of the world.
The Congress of Vienna
Purposes included:
division of the spoils of war
production of a settlement to return Europe,
as closely as possible to the way it was
before the French revolution
promotion of conservatism & suppression of
liberalism & divisive nationalism
Big 4 = England (Castlereagh), Russia
(Alexander I), Prussia (Fred. Will. II), &
Austria (Metternich).
Concerns of the Congress
Balance of Power (checks & balances):
Wanted to make sure no single power could
dominate Europe as France had done.
Legitimacy: wanted the restoration of
monarchies & the return of all original lands
(baseline = 1792)
Indemnity: France paid 700 million Francs to
support an army of occupation until 1820.
Alliance Systems
The Concert of Europe consisted of
several alliances with the purpose of
maintaining the conservative settlement
designed by the COV.
These included:
The Holy Alliance
The Quadruple Alliance (Eng, Austria,
Prussia, and Russia)
The Quintuple Alliance (Quadruple alliance
joined by France in 1818)
Results of the Congress of
Vienna
Concert of Europe put down revolts in
Italy & Spain in the early 1820’s, but broke
down by 1825 due to the fact that England
was not as conservative as the rest of the
members & pulled out.
Enforced conservatism was challenged by
the forces of liberalism, & nationalism.
Conservative settlements later led to the
revolutions of 1848.
The Revolutions of 1830
Spain: 1814--restoration of King Ferdinand VII:
revived the old regime & the inquisition.
1820: Ferdinand ordered his army to
attack & recapture former Sp. Colonies in Latin
Am., & the army mutinied.
Ferdinand had to restore the
Napoleonic constitution of 1812.
1823: Louis VIII sent troops to
restore Ferd VII after another revolt.
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
(Naples)
1815: Restoration of Bourbon King
Ferdinand I: very corrupt & conservative.
1820: Carbonari revolted against king &
forced him to accept a more liberal
constitution.
Austria sent an army to Italy to restore the
king’s power
Decembrist Uprising
2 secret revolutionary groups were operating
in Russia by the early 1800’s.
Northern Society: wanted a constitutional
monarchy
Southern Society: wanted a democratic republic
When Alex I died, liberals wanted his brother
Constantine to rule, but he abdicated in favor
of his younger brother, Nicholas.
1825: revolutionaries rioted & were crushed.
Alex set up a very repressive police state.
France (1830)
Louis XVIII died in 1824, bringing Charles X
to the throne.
Charles was extremely conservative, and
had been the leader of the “ultras” before
he became king.
Under his leadership, the Catholic church
was given control of Catholic schools & a
premier was appointed without legislative
approval.
Opposition in France
In 1830, the Chamber of Deputies cast a
vote of “no confidence” in the king, and
the king disbanded the legislature and
called for new elections.
New elections brought a more liberal
Chamber, and the king passed the July
Ordinances (4 ordinances) in response.
Revolution
The July Ordinances dissolved the Chamber,
censored the press, restricted voting to only a
few rich nobles, and censored freedom of
speech & assembly.
In response, rioters filled Paris streets and
revolution broke out.
Louis Philippe became the new king of France
& ruled until 1848.
He extended the right to vote to the upper middleclass.
Some More Revolutions
Revolutions also occurred in 1830 in Belgium,
Poland, parts of Italy, and parts of Germany.
Belgium broke away from the Dutch Republic & set
up a Constitutional monarchy.
Poland lost its constitution & Polish cities were
occupied by Russian troops
Revolutions in Parma, Modena, and the Papal
States were all put down.
Several small German states got constitutions in
1830, but Austria & Prussia made no reforms
The Revolutions of 1848
Revolutions occurred in almost every country
on the European continent, but few were
successful in gaining liberalization.
Aims of most 1848 revolutions were:
constitutionalism
liberalism
republicanism
greater democracy
nationalism
France: The February
Revolution
1846-1848: bad harvests & depression led
to unemployment & high food prices which
hurt the lower classes badly.
With the introduction of machinery into
French factories, more jobs were lost, and
industrial profits began to fall.
As a result, the working class and the
middle class were unhappy with Louis
Philippe.
Utopian Socialism
 Utopian socialists called
attention to the plight of the poor
in France and the necessity of
government action to bring relief.
 Louis Blanc planned to end
unemployment by creating
“National workshops” (social
workshops).
 Opposition from many sources
supported an end to the monarchy.
Constitution of the 2nd
Republic
Nov. 1848: The new constitution did the
following:
Universal manhood suffrage
Bill of Rights (speech, press, religion, assembly,
property)
rejected socialism
Unicameral legislature with three-year terms
Presidency with a four year term.
Louis Napoleon was elected President of
France in Dec. 1848, and became emperor in
1851 (Napoleon III).
Germany in 1848
Intellectuals and professionals in many
German states revolted in 1848 in an attempt
to gain the liberal concessions that were
previously promised by Prussian King
Frederick William IV.
Prior to 1848, he had created the Zollverein
(German Customs Union) to remove internal tariffs
and tolls and to stimulate German commerce.
The Zollverein united many German states,
economically.
Revolution in Berlin
German liberals revolted and forced Fred Will
to accept their demands.
The king called a constitutional assembly, the
Frankfurt Assembly, to strengthen the
German confederation. They couldn’t agree
on which German states to include or whether
to have a republic or a monarchy.
Austria opposed any sort of constitution for
the confederacy.
The Frankfurt Assembly
The assembly finally wrote a constitution which
called for a liberal constitutional monarchy.
When they offered the crown of Germany to
Frederick, he refused to take it, saying he
“wouldn’t accept the imperial crown from the
gutter.”
This ended the assembly and any hopes of
liberal reform.
Only lasting result: more states joined the
Zollverein.
Italy in 1848
 Italy was divided into several small states, most of whom were
occupied by foreign powers.
 Italian nationalists wanted unification and formed secret societies
such as the Carbonari and Mazzini’s Young Italy.
 The “risorgimento” (revival of nationalist pride ) drove the revolution
of 1848.
 Spring 1848: revolts broke out in the Papal states, Tuscany, Naples,
and Sardinia, and these rulers granted liberal constitutions.
 Lombardy-Venetia revolted against Austria and Naples, Sardinia,
and the Pope sent troops to help them. In the process, Sardinia
annexed L-V, Parma, and Modena.
The Roman Republic
When it appeared that Austria was going to
defeat any chance at Italian unification and
independence, radical revolution broke out in
Rome & Sardinia.
Garibaldi & Mazzini ousted the Pope &
proclaimed a democratic republic in Rome. In
Sardinia, the king was forced to continue
fighting the Austrians.
The Austrians defeated Sardinia, and Napoleon
III sent troops to reinstate the Pope.
Austria in 1848
 The Austrian empire included a large number of ethnic
minorities within its borders. Their individual nationality
was suppressed by the empire.
 In the “March Days,” revolts occurred in Italy, Hungary,
Bohemia, & Austria itself.
 The revolutions were led by a minority of intellectuals,
students, and labor leaders and were not widely
supported by the majority of the people.
 The only lasting result was the abdication of Metternich.
THE INDUSTRIAL
REVOLUTION
The industrial revolution began in England in
the mid 18th century, but many of its effects
were not felt on the continent until the 19th
century.
It was the widespread use of machinery that
characterized the industrial revolution, because
the output of products accelerated so
enormously by the substitution of machines for
human labor in manufacturing.
Causes of Industrialism
Availability of capital due to growth of
capitalism & trade.
Puritan work ethic and new attitudes toward
change caused by the Enlightenment.
Population growth caused an increased need
for goods.
Enclosure acts provided cheap labor &
urbanization.
Industrial Rev. in England
Began in England because:
Markets for manufactured goods due to
wealth of the upper and middle classes
plentiful supply of natural resources
plentiful supply of workers (Eng. Population
doubled between 1700 & 1800).
Raw materials from its colonies
capitalists with investment money
liberal government ready to further the
interests of the capitalists
More Reasons
English intellectuals urged a free trade
policy.
Few guild restrictions
Colonies for markets
Naval supremacy
Encouragement of inventions (patents,
copyrights, etc).
Sound banking systems
Advances in Production
Textile industry 1st to industrialize
New methods of iron, coal, and steel
production
New sources of power (steam engine)
Expansion of communication &
transportation (Railroads & canals &
telegraph)
Agricultural revolution
Factory system
Textiles
Large market for cotton cloth. Therefore, great
efforts were made to increase the amount of
cotton cloth produced in England.
Inventions:
flying shuttle: increased speed of weaving
Spinning Jenny: spun cotton fiber faster
Water frame: spun cotton fiber quickly & produced
a finer thread.
Spinning mule: combined frame & jenny
power loom: wove automatically
cotton gin: separated cotton fiber from seeds
The Power Loom
Advances
Iron smelted with coal, not charcoal
Steam Engine (James Watt) powered
factories
Improved roads, canals, & steam
locomotives
telegraph & telephone
expansion of banking & credit systems
Only the bank of England could issue
bank notes
French and German
Industrialization
In the early 19th century, industrialization
spread to France.
France experienced its greatest period of
industrial growth from 1850 - 1870.
Germany was hampered by guild
restrictions, poor transportation, & lack of
unification.
Industrialization began by mid century, but
was greatest after 1871.
Social Changes
Population growth: British population tripled
between 1800 & 1900.
Urbanization led to more influence by the
middle class & eventually the working class.
Breakdown of the family as cottage industries
are replaced by the factory system.
Landed aristocracy threatened by the growing
wealth & power of the industrialists.
Labor
 Workers received low, often subsistence, wages & worked in often
unsafe conditions.
 Men, women, and children often worked 16-18 hour days.
 Wages rose on the average of about 2% per year in the 1800’s in
industrial jobs in England.
Labor Conditions
 Urban workers followed three methods to improve their conditions:
Violence: some sabotaged machines & killed bosses, but this
was not successful in changing conditions.
Unions: Unions were initially outlawed in England & France, but
were finally successful by the late 1800’s
Political Agitation: Chartism & general agitation led to reforms,
such as the factory act, the mines act, and the 10 hours bill.
The Classical Economists
Adam Smith: 1776: The Wealth of Nations:
believed that individuals working for their own
self-interest would benefit the economy better
than mercantilist policies.
“Invisible hand” of supply & demand should
dictate prices & production.
Laissez-faire economics (early capitalism)
Economists
 Thomas Malthus: Essay on Population
Believed that the population grew increasingly along with food, it
eventually led to famine.
 David Ricardo: The Principles of Political Economy:
 Jeremy Bentham: Utilitarianism:
Believed in laissez-faire economics but wanted policies which
would effect the “greatest good for the greatest number.”
Believed that if an individual harmed the common good by
acting in his own self-interest, then the government should step
in.
Liberalism
 John Stuart Mill: On Liberty; Principles of Political Economy.
Mill’s Principle: Persons should have complete freedom of
action, speech, etc. as long as their actions do not harm others.
If they cause harm, then the gov’t should stop them.
 Mill served in Parliament for a time and championed the following
causes:
the right of workers to organize into unions
labor legislation to improve working conditions
universal suffrage
universal education
equal political/economic rights for women
proportional representation
Early Socialists
Socialism can be defined as an economic
system in which the means of production,
exchange, and distribution are owned by
the state rather than private individuals.
Designed to abolish the abuses of
capitalism by promoting collectivization.
Socialism ranged from strictly economic
reform in the context of a democratic
government to the extreme of Marxism.
Utopian Socialists
Utopian socialists offered no practical plan
for achieving the ideal societies they
envisioned and thought industrialists
would support their ideas as soon as they
saw their merit.
Socialism developed independently in
France and England in the 19th century.
Utopian Socialists cont
 Saint-Simon: (1760-1825): French:
Advocated the abolition of private property
 Charles Fourier (1772-1837): French:
Called for a society made up of small cooperative communities
called phalanxes
 Robert Owen: (1771-1858): English Industrialist
Believed that environmental factors influenced people
Wanted to outlaw child labor & provide mandatory education.
 Louis Blanc: French: (1811 - 1882)
organized a socialist political party to achieve socialist measures
in France.
Wanted democratic government.
Marxism
The mode of socialist thought that eventually
exerted more influence over modern European
history than any other.
Founded by Marx & Engels, it was a militant
form of socialism which is often called
Communism.
Marx and Engels asserted their ideas in The
Communist Manifesto (1848) and Das Kapital
(1867).
Marxist Ideas
 History must be interpreted economically.
Economic factors shape the institutions of civilization, such
as religion & politics.
 Dialectic: Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis.
Believed this process would continue inevitably until
Communism was established. Then there would be no more
opposition to the new system.
 Materialism:
Believed in no God or divine presence and believed that all
things happened mechanically with no divine guiding
principle.
 Marxism is also called Dialectical Materialism.
More Marxist Ideas
Marx envisioned a situation in which workers all
over the world would eventually overthrow their
existing conditions and create Communist
societies.
When this had occurred, he believed there
would be no need for governments and
predicted the “withering of the state.”
Socialist Parties Pre-WWI
First International: founded in 1864 in
London: followed Marxist ideas, but finally
disbanded.
German Social Democratic Party:
advocated many Marxist ideas & gained a
large number of seats in the Reichstag.
Fabian Society: Britain: formed to spread
socialist ideas. Its members later formed
the modern Labor party.
Anarchism
The theory that government and social
institutions are oppressive and
unnecessary and society should be based
voluntary cooperation among individuals
British Reforms
1820’s: Combination Code (that
suppressed unions) was repealed & the
Criminal Code was reformed.
1829: Catholic Emancipation Act:
permitted Catholics to hold an elected
public office.
1833: Slavery abolished in the British
Empire
The Great Reform Bill of 1832
Sponsored by the Whigs, this bill yielded to the
demands of the middle class.
It did the following:
Extended suffrage to most of the middle class and
small land owners, but still denied it to most urban
workers & peasants.
Provided for redistricting to eliminate rotten
boroughs
Gave more power to the House of Commons
After being threatened with the creation of new
Whig peers, the House of Lords passed the bill.
Chartism
Organized in the 1830’s by city workers to
achieve political reforms and improve their
living conditions.
The charter demanded:
Universal manhood suffrage
No more property qualifications for Parliament
Equal electoral districts
Secret ballot
Annual Parliamentary elections
Salaries for Parliament
More Reforms
 Great Reform Bill of 1867:
reduced property qualifications so
that most urban workers could vote
Sponsored by Benjamin
Disraeli, the Conservative Party
leader who wanted to take
credit for the reform.
 Ballot Act of 1872: secret ballot
introduced
 Reform Bill of 1884: extended
suffrage to most peasants.
Sponsored by the Liberal
Leader, Gladstone.
More Reforms
1870: Education Act: Free public
elementary education was provided for all
children, and England’s educational
standards were upgraded.
National Insurance Act of 1911: required
employers to provide health and
unemployment insurance to all workers.
More Reforms
The Parliament Act of 1911: Weakened the
House of Lords by giving it only a temporary
veto over bills passed in the House of
Commons.
Revenue bills could be delayed only 30 days.
All other bills could be delayed up to two years.
Reform Bill of 1918: Extended Suffrage to
British women over 30 years of age.
Reform Bill of 1928: Women over 21 could
vote.
The Irish Problem
The Irish people were bitter toward the British
for the following reasons:
They were forced to support the Anglican church
English absentee landlords controlled most Irish
land and charged high rents. They evicted
peasants who couldn’t pay.
The English did little to relieve the misery created
by the crop failures of the 1840’s (the potato
famines)
The Irish wanted home rule but didn’t get it in
the 19th century.
France
1852: Napoleon III declares the
establishment of the 2nd French
Empire.
His domestic policies included:
Vast public works projects (canals, roads, RR)
Removed legal barriers to trade unions
Encouraged industrialization and promoted
economic prosperity, gaining the support of the
middle class.
French Foreign Policy
Napoleon III followed these policies:
Stopped Russian aggression in the Crimean War.
Annexed Algiers
Helped Piedmont gain independence from Austria,
but stationed troops in Rome to protect the Pope
Invaded Mexico in 1862 and set up the Austrian
archduke Maximilian as King. After the US Civil
War ended, the US forced French withdrawal.
French Revolution of 1870
1870: Napoleon plunged France into war
with Prussia in hopes of restoring the glory
of France (remember the Ems Dispatch)
After the defeat of France in the FrancoPrussian war, revolts broke out &
Napoleon III abdicated.
A provisional gov’t was formed, but it was
unsuccessful because it chose to stay in
the war.
The Third French Republic
Delegates in the new National Assembly
ranged from various monarchists to radical
republicans.
Problems of the Third
French Republic
Boulanger Affair: a monarchist general
(Boul) who wanted to become dictator, he
was discredited by the government.
Dreyfus Affair: a Jewish Republican army
captain was framed by monarchist army
officers for treason. His unfair trial
discredited the monarchist faction of the
government.
Zola wrote “J’accuse” in his defense
Italian Unification
After 1815, Italy was disunited and
consisted of the following parts:
Kingdom of the 2 Sicilies (Naples) controlled
by Austria in Southern Italy
Papal States and Austrian-controlled Parma,
Tuscany, and Modena in North-central Italy
Austrian-controlled provinces of Lombardy +
Venetia and the free Kingdom of SardiniaPiedmont in North Italy.
Italian Unification
Nationalist movements to unite Italy in
1848 were a failure but nationalists did not
give up.
Several methods to unite Italy existed:
Mazzini: Romantic Republicanism “Young
Italy”
Garibaldi: Red Shirts
Cavour: Moderate Liberalism: wanted a
constitutional monarchy under the king of
Sardinia-Piedmont.
The Process of Unification
Cavour was the mastermind of the
successful unification of Italy.
He did the following things:
Strengthened the army and economy of
Sardinia-Piedmont (he was its Prime Minister)
Created an alliance with Napoleon III at the
Plombiers conference.
Provoked war with Austria and forced Austria
to ceded Lombardy to Sardinia-Piedmont.
More Steps in the
Unification Process
The Duchies of Parma, Tuscany, and Modena
successfully revolted against Austria and united
with Sardinia-Piedmont.
Garibaldi did the following:
Invaded Naples in 1861, after securing Sicily.
He won many battles in S. Italy and then turned the
region over to King Victor Emmanuel II of SardiniaPiedmont.
Cavour invaded the Papal States, taking over
everything except Rome.
Italian Unification
1861: Victor Emmanuel II becomes King
of Italy.
Transformismo policy followed
1871: Rome & Venetia annexed by Italy
Government consisted of a limited
monarchy with a bicameral legislature
consisting of a senate (appointed for life
by the king) and a chamber of deputies
(elected by the middle & upper classes).
German Unification
William began to strengthen the Prussian
army , but liberals in Parliament opposed
the spending of so much money.
William appointed Otto von Bismarck as
chancellor in 1862.
Bismarck was a typical conservative junker
who opposed liberalism
He raised money for the army by
disregarding the constitution and invoking
medieval laws.
Otto von Bismarck
Known as the “iron chancellor,” Bismarck
accomplished the following:
Created a powerful & efficient army
1864: Danish war: ended Danish control of
Schlesswig & Holstein
1866: Austro-Prussian war (7 weeks war):
established Prussian control of the German
states
Annexed the N. German Confederation
The Franco-Prussian War
Realizing that only a war with France would
allow the annexation of the S. German states,
Bismarck engineered a war with Napoleon III in
1870 through the editing of the Ems Dispatch.
(“Realpolitik”)
German armies overwhelmed French armies in
several months, and in the Treaty of Frankfurt,
France ceded Alsace & Lorraine to Germany
and paid reparations to Germany.
Unification
Following the Franco-Prussian War, the 4
Southern Catholic German provinces
joined the Prussian dominated Germany.
In 1871, the German Empire was declared
with King William I as its Kaiser (emperor).
This made Germany the most powerful
nation on the continent, and its military
power began to rival that of England.
German Government
25 states handled local matters
The federal government handled national
matters, such as defense and banking.
Constitution: bicameral legislature
Bundesrat: 58 reps from member states
Reichstag: 397 members elected by
universal manhood suffrage.
Bundesrat could only introduce legislation,
and Reichstag could only reject it.
Accomplishments of
Bismarck
Consolidation of the German Empire:
created a uniform currency, and legal code.
Tried to suppress the Catholics in the South
Catholics organized the Center Party to oppose
certain policies of the central gov’t, & Bismarck
resented them because of their ties to the Catholic
Church
 Bismarck passed a series of laws to restrict the
church (restricting education & clergy) and the
KULTURKAMPF resulted.
Eventually, Bismarck backed down.
Other Actions of Bismarck
Tried to suppress the socialists:
Socialists appealed to urban workers who resented
low pay and bad working conditions.
Bismarck tried to suppress them forcibly in 1878
with anti-socialist laws, but this failed.
By the 1880’s, Bismarck began to undermine them
by supporting social legislation to gain the support
of the workers.
These programs included unemployment insurance
& workers’ comp., and social security payments for
retired Germans.
Austria-Hungary
Although Emperor Francis-Joseph tried to
solve the problems of the empire, they
were too great for any one ruler to solve.
Problems faced by the empire included:
The great number of national minorities
which were living in the empire
Over-extension of the empire into areas,
such as Italy
Failure to compete with the growing power of
Prussia.
Dual Monarchy
Revolts occurred in the Hungarian part of the
empire between 1861 & 1867.
1867: Ausgleich:
Created a Dual Monarchy (Austro-Hungarian
empire)
Made the Hungarians (Magyars) dominant over
other nationalities in their region
Hungarians recognized the emperor and accepted
common policies for finances & foreign policy.
Hungary could make its own local laws.
Austria faced many revolts between 1860 &
1914
Russia in the 19th Century
Russian society remained semi-feudal and
backward, with much popular discontent.
Russia remained isolated from Western culture
and did not modernize.
Oppression & censorship increased and the
government was inefficient.
Czars were anti-liberal
Russia was weak internationally & began to
lose foreign wars (Crimean, Russo-Japanese)
Nicholas I (1825-55)
Dictatorial ruler who stood for strong
nationalism, autocracy, and religious orthodoxy.
He did the following:
Expanded the royal bureaucracy
Published a new legal code
Fostered industry and Railroads
Enforced strict censorship with secret police
Had strong control over the military
Lost the Crimean War
Put down a Polish revolt
Alexander II (1855-81)
A conservative reformer, who abolished
serfdom in 1861.
Zemstvo Laws: created local assemblies
to solve local problems in 1864.
As reform led to radical demands, many
groups began to plot and carry out
terrorist acts.
1881: Alexander was assassinated.
Nicholas II (1881-1917)
Industrial progress occurred during his
reign, but urban & rural conditions remained
miserable and the population was on the
verge of revolution. (Witte
1905: Russia lost the Russo-Japanese war.
1905: Revolution occurred which included
the Bloody Sunday massacre.
The czar was forced to accept the October
Manifesto which created the Duma.
The 19th Century
Intellectual Revolution
The liberal nature of society, during the
Victorian era, encouraged scientific and
intellectual experimentation and discovery.
Advances in Astronomy progressed when
better telescopes were perfected.
By the late 19th century, Lavoisier, Priestly, and
Dalton all made advances in chemistry and new
elements were being discovered.
Intellectual Developments
Advances in physics included the
following:
discovery of the law of conservation of
energy
discovery of how to analyze the spectrum
Faraday developed the generator to produce
electricity continuously (Electro-magnetism)
Edison invented the incandescent lamp
Motors were developed, thus providing a
source of power from electricity.
Medical Developments
Advances in medicine included the following:
1796: Jenner discovered how to immunize
people against smallpox
Lister introduced antiseptics
Anesthetics (ether) were introduced
Pasteur promoted the germ theory &
bacteriology
Koch also promoted the germ theory and
isolated the germ that causes tuberculosis
Scientific Developments
Atomic Developments included:
1905: Albert Einstein advanced the theory of
relativity which modified Newton’s laws.
Marie & Pierre Curie, Ernest Rutherford, Sir
James Chadwick, and Enrico Fermi all made
discoveries about the structure of atoms and
radiation.
The Theory of Evolution
Charles Darwin and Sir Alfred Wallace
simultaneously developed the theory of
evolution, but Darwin is famous, because he
was the first to publish the idea.
In his works, The Origin of the Species (1859)
and The Descent of Man (1871), Darwin held
that the existing animals and plants (including
man) have evolved during millions of years from
simpler forms of life.
Darwin, continued
Darwin also held that forms of life are
constantly changing, and that new forms of
life are coming into existence all of the time.
He claimed that life was a constant struggle
for existence, with only the strongest, most
adaptable species surviving.
He called this process Natural Selection or the
Survival of the Fittest.
Literature
The Victorian Era saw an explosion in
literature which included the following:
Dickens & Balzac: Realism
Many poets, incl. Tennyson, Arnold, the
Brownings, and Dickenson
Flaubert: French realist with romantic
tendencies
Zola: political statements (‘J’accuse”)
Playwrights: Ibsen, Shaw, Chekhov, etc.
Art
New styles of art included the following:
Impressionism: Manet, Monet, etc.
Cubism, Abstraction, and Surrealism were
practiced by Picasso, Bralve, etc.
Naturalism in sculpture: Rodin (the Thinker), and
bartholdi (Statue of Liberty)
With the advent of structural steel, skyscrapers
were built
Music: Composers tried to make music
emotionally appealing. (Wagner, Debussy,etc)
Imperialism
Imperialism is the building up of an empire
by a country.
“New Imperialism” (stimulated by the
industrial revolution) began to occur after
1870 when Africa and Asia were
consumed by the European powers.
Imperialism, continued
Reasons for imperialism included:
The need for cheap raw materials (cotton, rubber,
oil, etc.) to meet the demands of industrialization.
The need for markets for the sale of manufactured
goods
The provision of an outlet for surplus capital to be
invested
The concern for underdeveloped areas of the world
The desire to convert natives to Christianity
Geography
Imperialist nations included: Britain,
France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Japan,
and the US.
Exploited areas included the Near East,
Africa, & the Far East.
Near East: Previously dominated by Turkey
& Persia, imperialist rivalries in this area
(Balkans, etc.) were a catalyst in the outbreak
of WWI and the Crimean War.
Africa
Important developments in Africa included:
1882: British took over Egypt
1884: Belgium’s claim over the Congo was
recognized
1890’s: France extended its control over most
of NW Africa
1890’s: Britain claimed the Sudan and most of
S. Africa
Germany and Italy were desperately trying to
gain control of any African territories.
Independent Nations in
Africa
Only two independent nations remained in
Africa at the turn of the century.
Liberia: a small republic founded by
American anti-slavery groups for
emancipated slaves
Abbysinia (Ethiopia): defeated the Italians at
the battle of Adowa in 1896. This Italian
defeat was a great humiliation and was later
avenged by Mussolini.
The Far East
The following things happened in the far
east:
European powers took over Burma, Malaya,
Indo-china, and the islands of the East Indies.
Britain consolidated its control over India
China was penetrated but not partitioned by
imperialist forces who set up “spheres of
influence.”
The British Empire
South Africa:
originally settled by Boers (Dutch)
1814: Britain takes over Cape Colony and
trouble breaks out between the British & the
Boers who fled NW to escape British rule.
The Boers founded the Orange Free State
and Transvaal and soon discovered gold in
both of them.
British settlers tried to move in and take over
the gold.
The British Empire, cont.
South Africa, continued:
The Boers tried to restrict the political rights of
the British & led to friction
Eventually, Cecil Rhodes hatched a plan to take
over both states, and when it failed, Britain
declared war on the 2 states.
The British won the “Boer war,” and eventually
the 2 states were granted dominion status, after
the other S. African states combined in to the
Union of South Africa.
The British Empire
Egypt: The British wanted to control the
Suez canal.
The British took Egypt from the French after
the canal was done (1870’s)
1876: Disraeli purchased 60% of the shares
in the canal from Egypt
1877: Egypt became a British Protectorate,
but a minority of French investors (who had
built the canal) still held stock in the canal
(until 1956).
India
After the Sepoy rebellion (1857), Britain
transferred control of India from the Eng. East
India Company to the Eng. Government.
The English introduced many reforms:
roads, bridges, canals, and railroads
sanitation
humane laws
telegraph
postal service