Chapter 18.
2 Breakdown – A History of Modern Europe:
From the Renaissance to the Present (3rd Edition)
Great Britain
Symbol of Industrial and Political Progress
• The Great Exposition of 1851, held at the Crystal Palace, represented the triumph of
Britain's constitution, free trade, industrial production, and Christianity. Prince Albert
organized the event.
Parliamentary Monarchy and Victorian Values
• Britain retained stability without a revolution in 1848 due to its constitutional
monarchy.
• Reform in 1867 expanded the number of those males eligible to vote.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
• Victoria (1819-1901) married Albert (1819-1861), who organized the 1851
exposition.
• Albert's influence included meddling in government affairs; he also promoted peace
and prosperity.
• Victoria, though emotionally distant, symbolized "respectability" and moral order.
The Victorian Consensus
• Centered around self-reliance and entrepreneurial ethic.
• Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859) reinforced individualism and
scientific thought.
Religious Reforms and Shifts
• Parliament repealed the Corporation and Test Acts in 1828 eliminating
discriminatory laws.
• In 1854 and 1856, non-Anglicans were allowed to attend Oxford and Cambridge.
• The Salvation Army began in 1875.
Crimean War (1853-1856)
• Britain joined France in war against Russia to support the Ottomans.
• Florence Nightingale revolutionized nursing during the war.
• Peace of Paris (1856): Guaranteed autonomy to Moldavia and Wallachia, and
Turkey's independence.
Liberal Era of Politics
• The Whigs, led by Palmerston, promoted laissez-faire economics.
• Palmerston also enforced British power abroad.
William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli
• Gladstone pushed moral and economic reforms, including tax reduction and limited
government spending.
• Disraeli, leader of Conservatives, passed the Reform Bill of 1867, doubling eligible
voters.
Other Victorian Reforms
• Factory and mine inspection laws.
• Public Health Act of 1866.
• Recognition of trade unions.
• Minimum wage laws.
• Ended the purchase of army commissions.
• Implemented land reform in Ireland.
Labour and Political Shifts
• James Keir Hardie founded the Independent Labour Party (1893).
• Labour Party grew significantly after Taff Vale (1901) decision and Trade Disputes
Act of 1906.
• Parliament Act of 1911 eliminated House of Lords' veto on financial bills.
Irish Question
• Gladstone disestablished the Church of Ireland (1869).
• Irish Land Act of 1870 protected tenants.
• Parnell led a moderate Home Rule campaign; bill failed in 1886 and 1893.
• Home Rule passed in 1914 but was postponed due to WWI.
Tsarist Russia
Autocratic Structure and Backwardness
• Lacked a representative political system.
• Tsar Nicholas I suppressed dissent, enforced censorship, and relied on the Third
Section police.
Intelligentsia and Writers
• Figures like Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, and Herzen shaped intellectual discourse.
• Westernizers vs Slavophiles: debate on adopting Western political models vs
Orthodox traditions.
Alexander II's Reforms
• Emancipated 22 million serfs in 1861: serfs got land through communes (mir); owed
redemption payments.
• Established zemstvos (1864): local councils with limited powers.
• Created dumas (1870): urban councils with taxation authority.
• Reformed judiciary (1864): jury trials and appeals introduced.
• Reduced military service, introduced general staff.
• Eliminated some corporal punishment.
Limitations
• Maintained censorship.
• Refused to create a national representative body.
• Continued repression through secret trials.
Imperial and Ethnic Tensions
• Suppressed Polish uprising (1863).
• Involved in Russo-Turkish War (1877-78).
• Treaty of San Stefano granted Bulgaria independence; later revised at Congress of
Berlin (1878).
Peace of Paris (1856)
• Russia relinquished Moldavia, Wallachia, and Bessarabia.
Nihilists and Populists
• Revolutionaries replaced conscience-stricken gentry of the 1830s–40s.
• Drawn from diverse social classes (nobles, merchants, peasants, Orthodox clergy).
• Nihilists:
o Rejected Western materialism and Russian tradition (thus, also Slavophiles).
o Viewed Orthodox Church as oppressive (some remained believers).
o Saw newly emancipated serfs as a revolutionary force.
o Embraced literature and violence for revolution.
o Nikolay Chernyshevsky’s novel What Is to Be Done? (1863) influenced
generations. Described “rational egoists.”
o Groups like “Land and Freedom” and “The Organization” turned to
assassination; suppressed by police.
• Michael Bakunin (1814–1876):
o Anarchist; rejected all states including Marxist visions.
o Advocated for peasant-led revolution.
o Arrested, exiled to Siberia, escaped, and continued plotting from abroad.
o Believed in creative destruction: “Destruction is a creative passion.”
• Sergei Nechayev (1847–1882):
o Advocated tight revolutionary vanguard.
o Famous quote: “The revolutionary is a doomed man.”
o Killed a fellow conspirator; died in prison.
• Populists (narodniki):
o Romantic collectivists; idealized peasant commune.
o Inspired by Peter Lavrov (Historical Letters, 1869).
o 1870s: went into countryside to “learn from the people.”
o Feared conservative peasant proprietors would hinder socialism.
o Carried out assassinations in 1878; Tsar Alexander II killed in 1881.
Alexander III and Russification
• Assumed power after father’s assassination; rejected liberal reforms.
• Restricted zemstvos, moved political trials to military courts.
• Suppressed education access to lower classes.
• Used political trials to expose regime weaknesses.
• Empire demographics:
o Population grew from 74m (1861) to 150m (1905).
o 200 nationalities, 146 languages; Russians = 40%.
• Enforced Russification:
o Banned non-Russian languages (e.g., Ukrainian).
o Orthodox Church repressed other faiths.
o Restricted Jews to “Pale of Settlement.”
o Reduced Finnish Assembly’s power.
• Result: intensified nationalism and resistance (Polish independence movement,
Socialists).
Reform, Revolution, and Lenin
• Widespread poverty and illiteracy; rising reformist sentiment.
• Liberals:
o Professionals, zemstvo leaders, bureaucrats.
o Called for tsarist consultation, not overthrow.
o Favored education and light reforms (1897 workday limits, 1903 factory
insurance).
• Socialist Revolutionaries:
o Largest radical group; relied on peasant revolution.
• Russian Social Democratic Workers’ Party (1898):
o Marxist; peasants seen as apolitical.
o Believed proletarian class must grow via capitalist stage.
• 1900s – tsar’s police exiled most revolutionary groups to Sibera or putting them in
prison.
• Lenin (Vladimir Ulyanov):
o Born 1870; brother executed.
o Studied Marx in exile; edited Iskra (The Spark).
o Published What Is to Be Done? (1902):
▪ Advocated for disciplined, secretive party.
▪ Revolution must be led by elite of intellectuals and trained workers.
o Split party:
▪ Bolsheviks ("majority") supported Lenin.
▪ Mensheviks ("minority") wanted mass support and cooperation with
liberals.
Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905)
• Russia sought Manchuria and Korea; Japan resisted.
• Japan defeated Russia in:
o Battle of Mukden (March 1905).
o Battle of Tsushima (May 1905).
• Treaty of Portsmouth (1905):
o Russia ceded influence in Korea and Manchuria.
o U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt mediated.
Revolution of 1905
• Causes:
o War loss, peasant strikes, liberal unrest.
• Bloody Sunday (Jan 22, 1905):
o Peaceful protestors shot by tsar’s troops (300+ dead).
o Shattered belief in tsar’s benevolence.
• Aftermath:
o Widespread strikes, mutinies (e.g., Potemkin).
o October Manifesto:
▪ Promised Duma, civil liberties, universal male suffrage.
▪ Liberals (Kadets) demanded more.
o Soviets (workers' councils) formed; supported by Mensheviks.
o Black Hundreds – Fanatical Russian nationalists
• Reaction:
o Uprising in Moscow suppressed.
o Tsar created State Council to counterbalance Duma.
o First Duma dissolved; Witte dismissed.
Stolypin and Aftermath
• Stolypin (PM 1906–1911):
o Second Duma – more conservative but was dissolved by him in 1907
o Third Duma (1907) – was more to the tsar’s liking.
o Repressed opposition ("Stolypin’s neckties").
o Land reform: created kulaks (wealthy peasants); encouraged individual farms.
o 5 million peasants migrated to Siberia.
• Stolypin assassinated in 1911 (possibly with tsarist complicity).
• Bolsheviks gained momentum:
o Won trade union elections.
o Legalized parties and press (despite police pressure).
France: Second Empire and Third Republic
The Second Empire (1852–1870)
• Louis Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself Emperor Napoleon III.
• Authoritarian regime:
o Press censorship.
o Ministers only responsible to emperor.
o Legislative Body elected, but upper Senate handpicked.
• Economic modernization:
o Encouraged industrial expansion, railway construction.
o French exports doubled (1853–1864).
o Credit Mobilier founded by Pereire brothers (1852) to fund investment.
o Mortgage bank (Credit Foncier) and agricultural credit expansion.
• Urban renewal and fashion:
o Haussmann’s renovation of Paris.
o Empress influenced fashion trends.
• Foreign policy misadventures:
o Crimean War and alliance with Britain.
o Helped Italian unification; gained Savoy and Nice.
o Failed imperial adventure in Mexico:
▪ Installed Archduke Maximilian; executed in 1867.
o Colonial expansion: Indochina, Senegal, Lebanon.
The Liberal Empire (Post-1859)
• Reforms to co-opt opposition:
o 1860: National Assembly allowed to discuss emperor’s address.
o Cobden-Chevalier Treaty (1860): Lowered tariffs with Britain.
o 1864: Legalized strikes.
o Press restrictions eased.
• Political opening:
o National Assembly gained power over budget.
o 1868: Allowed freedom of assembly.
• Opposition: growing strikes, nationalism, and calls for reform.
Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871)
• Triggered by Hohenzollern candidacy for Spanish throne.
• Ems Dispatch (edited by Bismarck) provoked France.
• Napoleon III declared war; Prussia swiftly mobilized.
• August 1870: Defeated at Sedan; Napoleon captured.
• Paris declared a republic (September 4, 1870).
• Siege of Paris:
o Starvation and military collapse.
o Treaty of Frankfurt (May 1871):
▪ France lost Alsace and parts of Lorraine.
▪ Paid large indemnity; occupied by Prussia until paid.
The Paris Commune (March–May 1871)
• Response to Versailles government and peace terms.
• Led by socialists, anarchists, and Jacobins.
• Reforms:
o Labor Exchange created.
o Night baking banned.
o Nurseries for working mothers.
o Women’s unions recognized.
• Suppression:
o "Bloody Week" in May 1871: 15,000–25,000 Communards killed.
o Archbishop of Paris among hostages executed.
o Viewed as both socialist beacon and cautionary tale of mob rule.
Monarchists and Republicans
• Monarchists:
o Included Legitimists (supporters of Bourbon line) and Orleanists.
o Count of Chambord: Bourbon pretender; refused tricolor flag.
o Count of Paris: Orleanist heir.
o Marshal MacMahon: Monarchist president; tried to steer France toward
monarchy.
o Supported by the Catholic Church and conservative rural elites.
• Republicans:
o Led by moderate Opportunists and later Radicals.
o Gambetta: Charismatic republican; mobilized “new social strata.”
o Opposed clericalism and the dominance of aristocratic "notables."
o Won electoral victories in 1876 and 1877.
o Wallon Amendment (1874): Cemented republic through compromise.
o Constitution of 1875 established parliamentary system.
• Political Crisis of 1877 (May 16 Crisis):
o MacMahon forced Jules Simon (moderate republican) to resign.
o Dissolved Chamber of Deputies.
o Republicans won again in new elections; MacMahon resigned in 1879.
• Aftermath:
o Chamber of Deputies became dominant political force.
o July 14 celebration reinstated; full amnesty granted to Communards in 1881.
The Third Republic
• Monarchist-dominated Assembly created provisional government.
• Wallon Amendment (1874): Republic established via compromise.
• Constitution (1875):
o Weak executive; strong Chamber of Deputies.
o Universal male suffrage.
• Opportunists (moderate republicans):
o Passed Jules Ferry education laws: free, secular, compulsory schools.
o Meline Tariff (1892) protected agriculture.
o Republicanism spread through village schools and mayors.
Crises and Scandals
General Boulanger
• General Georges Boulanger: populist military figure who attracted right-wing,
monarchist, and working-class support.
• Promised revenge against Germany and restoration of French pride.
• Elected in multiple districts despite army service; seen as a potential dictator.
• Gained backing from royalists and Bonapartists.
• Movement used mass propaganda, nationalist fervor, and antisemitism.
• 1889: poised for a coup but hesitated; fled to Belgium and committed suicide at his
mistress’s grave.
• His failure discredited right-wing conspiracies but showed fragility of the republic.
Captain Dreyfus
• Alfred Dreyfus: Jewish French army officer wrongly accused of espionage in 1894.
• Evidence against him was circumstantial; handwriting on military documents.
• Sentenced in secret court-martial; exiled to Devil’s Island.
• Later revealed that Major Esterhazy was the real traitor.
• Lieutenant Colonel Picquart uncovered evidence; was transferred for his efforts.
• Military forged new documents; Lieutenant Colonel Henry committed suicide when
exposed.
• Emile Zola published "J’accuse!" (1898), igniting public debate.
• Divided France: right (Church, army, monarchists) vs. left (republicans, socialists).
• Dreyfus retried in 1899; again found guilty with “extenuating circumstances.”
• Pardoned in 1899; fully exonerated and reinstated in 1906.
• Strengthened the republic and radicalized secular and reformist politics.
• Boulanger Affair (1880s):
o General Boulanger almost staged right-wing coup.
o Fled and committed suicide.
• Panama Canal Scandal (1889):
o Government officials bribed; antisemitic backlash.
Dreyfus Affair (1894–1906)
• Jewish officer Alfred Dreyfus falsely accused of espionage.
• Writer Émile Zola published "J’accuse!" defending Dreyfus.
• Army cover-up; forged evidence by Hubert Henry.
• Divided France:
o Right: Army, Church, monarchists.
o Left: Republicans, Socialists.
• Dreyfus pardoned (1899), exonerated (1906).
Radical Republic (Post-1905)
• Church-state separation (1905):
o Churches disestablished.
o Clergy paid by state ended; church property nationalized.
• Clemenceau (“The Tiger”):
o Anti-clerical premier; crushed labor strikes.
• Caillaux:
o Advocated diplomacy with Germany; ousted amid criticism.
• Raymond Poincaré:
o Nationalist leader; sought to strengthen alliance with Russia and regain
Alsace-Lorraine.
All Historical Figures Mentioned
• Alexander II – Tsar of Russia; emancipated the serfs; assassinated in 1881.
• Alexander III – Son of Alexander II; reversed liberal reforms; intensified
Russification.
• Michael Bakunin – Anarchist revolutionary; promoted peasant uprising and state
destruction.
• Karl Marx – German philosopher; founder of Communism; debated by Bakunin.
• Nikolay Chernyshevsky – Russian radical intellectual; wrote What Is to Be Done?.
• Sergei Nechayev – Nihilist revolutionary; believed in total devotion to revolution.
• Peter Lavrov – Populist thinker; emphasized moral obligation of intelligentsia to
peasants.
• Vladimir Lenin (Ulyanov) – Bolshevik leader; theorized professional revolutionary
party.
• Archduke Maximilian – Installed by Napoleon III in Mexico; executed by Mexican
patriots.
• Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon Bonaparte) – Emperor of France; led Second
Empire; captured in 1870.
• Ferdinand de Lesseps – Engineer behind the Suez and Panama Canals.
• Marshal MacMahon – Monarchist president of France; opposed republicanism.
• Jules Ferry – French republican statesman; pushed secular education reforms.
• General Georges Boulanger – Populist figure; nearly attempted a coup; committed
suicide.
• Alfred Dreyfus – Jewish French officer wrongly convicted of treason.
• Émile Zola – Author of “J’accuse!” in defense of Dreyfus.
• Hubert Henry – Forger in the Dreyfus case; committed suicide.
• Georges Clemenceau – Radical Premier; nationalist and anti-clerical.
• Joseph Caillaux – Moderate premier; sought diplomacy with Germany.
• Raymond Poincaré – Nationalist leader; supported Russian alliance and militarism.
• Count of Chambord – Bourbon pretender to the French throne; rejected tricolor flag.
• Count of Paris – Orleanist pretender; rival to Chambord.
• Daniel Wilson – Involved in Legion of Honor corruption scandal.
• Charles Maurras – Monarchist, anti-Semitic leader of Action Française.
• Adolphe Thiers – Head of provisional French government; led repression of the
Commune.
• Jules Simon – Moderate republican appointed by MacMahon.
• Michel Chevalier – Economic adviser; co-author of the Cobden-Chevalier Treaty.
• Louis-Adolphe Thiers – Negotiated Treaty of Frankfurt; head of 1871 French
government.
• Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern – His candidacy for Spanish throne led to Franco-
Prussian War.
• William I of Prussia – Received Ems telegram; baited into war with France.
• Charles de Gaulle (not mentioned in article but often confused)—excluded
deliberately
All Important Dates
• 1830s–1840s – Conscience-stricken gentry advocate reform in Russia.
• 1861 – Emancipation of the serfs in Russia.
• 1863 – Chernyshevsky publishes What Is to Be Done?
• 1866 – Failed assassination attempt on Tsar Alexander II.
• 1867 – Execution of Archduke Maximilian in Mexico.
• 1868 – Meiji Restoration in Japan; freedom of assembly permitted in France.
• 1870 – Franco-Prussian War begins (July 19); Napoleon III captured at Sedan
(August); French Republic declared (September 4).
• 1871 – Paris Commune (March–May); Treaty of Frankfurt signed (May 10).
• 1874 – Wallon Amendment establishes French presidency.
• 1875 – French republican constitution enacted.
• 1876–1877 – Republicans win majority in French Chamber of Deputies.
• 1877 – Crisis of May 16 in France.
• 1878 – Populist assassinations in Russia.
• 1879 – MacMahon resigns as French president.
• 1881 – Tsar Alexander II assassinated; Communard amnesty granted.
• 1887–1889 – Rise and fall of General Boulanger.
• 1889 – Panama Canal scandal breaks.
• 1891 – Church "rallying" to French Republic begins.
• 1892 – Campaign by Drumont’s La Libre Parole escalates antisemitism.
• 1894 – Captain Dreyfus arrested for treason.
• 1898 – Zola publishes “J’accuse!”; Henry forges evidence and commits suicide.
• 1899 – Dreyfus pardoned.
• 1902 – Legislation passed to exile religious orders from France.
• 1905 – Church and state formally separated in France.
• 1906 – Dreyfus exonerated and reinstated.
• 1911 – Stolypin assassinated; Caillaux's government collapses.
• 1912 – Poincaré becomes French premier.
• 1913 – Poincaré becomes French president.