2. Political Ideologies—Conservatism
• Conservatives wanted to preserve traditional Ancien Régime royal,
aristocratic, and Church power and sought controlled, slow social change;
may support absolute monarchy or constitutional monarchy
• Reactionaries were ultra-conservatives who also championed traditional
Ancien Régime royal, aristocratic, and Church power; believed in divine-right
absolute monarchy and wanted to reverse political and social change and
restore the old order
3.
4. The Concert of Europe
• After Napoleon’s defeat, conservative
Austrian Prince Klemens von Metternich
organized the Congress of Vienna
• Called for military intervention to crush
liberal revolutions to preserve legitimate
monarchies, peace, and the balance of
power
Klemens von Metternich
5. The Concert of
Europe
• Prussia, Austria,
and Russia
formed the Holy
Alliance to
suppress
liberalism and
secularism. The
addition of
Britain and
France made the
Concert of
Europe.
6. The Concert of Europe
• Concert powers
intervened to
suppress liberal
revolutions.
7. Political Ideologies—Classical Liberalism
• Classical liberalism believed in
• popular sovereignty
• constitutional limits to state power
• guaranteed individual rights including freedom of speech, press, religion
• laissez-faire economics
• Many liberals wanted to limit suffrage to the wealthy by property
qualifications and feared democratic mob rule.
8. The Political Spectrum
Right-wing conservatives:
• traditional feudal social order
• divine right monarchy
• Church
• aristocracy
Left-wing classical liberals:
• constitutions
• popular sovereignty republicanism
• secularism
• civil liberties
• laissez-faire economics
• limited suffrage for property-
owning men
left-wing right-wing
9. Political Ideologies—Radicalism
• Anti-aristocratic middle-class radicals wanted greater change. In addition to
constitutions based on popular sovereignty and guaranteed individual rights,
they wanted:
• expanded suffrage for men without property (either lower qualifications
or universal male suffrage
• British 1832 Reform Act enfranchised the middle class (allowed about
20% of adult males to vote)
• working class Chartist movement (1836) unsuccessfully sought
universal male suffrage.
• abolition of aristocratic noble titles
11. Political Ideologies—Radicalism
• Emmeline, Christabel, and Sylvia Pankhurst
led militant British Women's Social and
Political Union (1903) known for hunger
strikes, breaking windows, and burning
empty buildings.
• Attention-seeking suffragette Emily Davison
was trampled to death after leaping in front
of King George V's horse at Epsom Derby
(1913).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siZ1rcIECdk
12. The Political Spectrum
• Mid-1800s to early 1900s: The economic dominance of the landed
aristocracy was eclipsed by the new captains of industry.
• As capitalism became the new status quo, laissez-faire economics shifted to
the political right.
• Ideologies for the equitable distribution of wealth (social liberalism,
socialism, communism) emerged in the left-wing appealing to the working
classes.
13. Political Ideologies—Social Liberalism
• Britain, 1905–1922: Liberal Party Prime
Minister David Lloyd George founded the
welfare state.
• The People’s Budget raised taxes on income,
inheritance, and land to fund social programs:
• free school meals
• affordable housing
• unemployment insurance
• old age pensions.
• Unions were strengthened, and suffrage was
expanded to poor men and women over age 30.
14. Political Ideologies—Utopian Socialism
• Utopian Socialists founded experimental communities based on cooperation,
not competition.
• French Count Henri de Saint-Simon wanted a planned economy managed by
“doers” (scientists, industrialists). He wanted war, poverty, and “parasites”
(traditional elite) to disappear and a society of true equality to emerge based
on “union of men engaged in useful work.”
15. Political Ideologies—Utopian Socialism
• British Robert Owen transformed the New Lanark, Scotland, textile mill into
a successful model industrial community. He later founded the failed
communal village at New Harmony, Indiana.
16. Political Ideologies—Marxist Socialism, or
Communism
• Marxist Socialism called for an
international proletariat revolution against
the aristocracy and bourgeoisie.
• Friedrich Engels reported on the Working
Class in England (1844).
• Karl Marx and Engels collaborated on the
Communist Manifesto (1848) urging
"Workers of the world, unite!" Das Kapital
(1867–1883) elaborated Marxist theory.
Interpreting history in
economic terms, Marx
predicted that socialism
would replace capitalism.
He called for the proletariat
to overthrow capitalism and
establish a classless society.
17. Labor Unions and
Movements
• Unions were
legalized in Britain
(1872), France
(1884), and
Germany (1897).
• General strikes hit
Britain (1842),
Belgium (1894),
and Russia (1905).
18. Labor Unions and Movements
• Russian Social Democratic Party
(1898) was an illegal revolutionary
socialist party. Vladimir Lenin's
What Is to Be Done? (1902) called
for disciplined, centralized party
activists to be the "vanguard of the
proletariat.“
• Social Democratic Party of Germany
(SPD), rejected revolution in favor of
reform; was the largest German
party by 1912. Rosa Luxembourg
called for Mass Strike (1906).
19. The Political Spectrum
Classical
Liberalism
Conservativism Autocracy/
Reactionary
Communism Socialism Radicalism/
Social Liberalism
left-wing center right-wing
working class middle class upper class
rule by
force
constitutional rule
rule by
force
20. The Political Spectrum
• Anarchism opposed all forms of state control.
Liberalism Conservativism Autocracy/
Reactionary
Communism Socialism Radicalism
left-wing center right-wing
21. Political Ideologies—Anarchism
• Anarchism opposed state control and
sought a society without government.
• French Pierre Joseph Proudhon
condemned concentrated wealth in
What Is Property? (1840). He believed
that planned societies were not
feasible and called for people to act
ethically of their own free will making
government unnecessary.
22. Political Ideologies—Anarchism
• Anarchists called for propaganda of the deed—uncoordinated individual
attacks against governments—that led to the assassinations of seven heads
of state and frequent bombings.
