European History Europe (1815-1848) Brief Overview Timeline People Events & Qs
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Brief Overview
At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Era, Europe's leaders worked to reorganize Europe and create a stable balance of power. After that Congress, The Austrian diplomat Metternich would call several more congresses to try and preserve European stability: the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle (1818), the Congress of Troppau (1820), and the Congress of Verona (1822). The Congress System that Metternich established was Reactionary, that is, its goal was to preserve the power of the old, monarchical regimes in Europe.
Revolution was brewing, however. In Britain, the Industrial Revolution continued to accelerate, causing economic transformations that had serious political and social implications. All across Europe, and especially in France and Britain, the rising Bourgeoisie class challenged the old monarchical Reactionaries with their Liberal ideology. "Isms" abounded. Ideologies such as Radicalism, Republicanism, and Socialism rounded into coherent form. In response to events like the 1819 Peterloo Massacre, worker consciousness of a class struggle between Proletariat and Bourgeoisie began to emerge. The Bourgeoisie was clearly the ascendant class between 1815 and 1848; the Proletariat began to gain a sense of similar unification.
Another "Ism" coming into its own at this time was Romanticism, the intellectual response to the French Enlightenment rationalism and emphasis on Reason. At the same time, Romantic thinkers, artists, and writers posed powerful challenge to the Enlightenment emphasis on rationalism and reason. Such artists and philosophers as Herder, Hegel, Schiller, Schinckel, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley, John Keats, William Wordsworth, and Delacroix, to name a few, achieved remarkable intellectual and artistic heights and gained a wide following throughout Europe, particularly in Germany, Prussia, England, and to a lesser extent France.
Of all the "Isms" competing in this period, perhaps the greatest was Nationalism, an ideology, like Romanticism, which reacted against the universalist claims of French enlightenment thought. Whereas Romanticism often focused on intellectual and artistic matters, Nationalism, which proclaimed the unique character of ethnic and linguistic groups, was more overtly political. The Nationalist movements in Germany and Italy, which involved an effort at national unification, and those in the Austrian Empire, which involved efforts to carve the Austrian Empire into ethnically or linguistically defined states, created a great amount of instability in Europe.
In 1830, the various ideological beliefs resulted in a round of revolutions. These revolutions began when the Paris Mob, manipulated by the interests of the Bourgeoisie, deposed the Bourbon monarchy of Charles X and replaced him with Louis Philippe. In the rest of Europe, the French example touched off various nationalist revolts; all were successfully quelled by conservative forces.
Britain notably escaped any outbreak of violence, but it by no means escaped change: the battle between the formerly dominant landed aristocracy and the newly ascendant manufacturers led to the passage of the Reform Bill of 1832, which partially remedied the Rotten Boroughs and gave the manufactures an increased amount of Parliamentary representation. The working class benefited from the growing class rivalry between aristocracy and middle-class. Often the aristocrats would ally with the working class to act against the manufacturers, forcing the manufacturers, in turn, to ally with the workers against the aristocrats. Although the working class did not yet have the vote in England, they were pushing for universal adult male suffrage in the late 1830s and early 1840s via the Chartist Movement. While this movement failed in the short- term, its demands were eventually adopted.
In the rest of Europe, political change would not happen so peacefully. In 1848, the February Revolution broke out in Paris, toppling Louis Philippe and granting universal suffrage to adult French men, who elected Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon III) solely on name-recognition. Europe once again took its cue from Paris, and revolutions broke out nearly everywhere in Europe during 1848. Rebellion in Germany led to the establishment of the Frankfurt Assembly, which was plagued by internal squabbling and was unable to unify Germany. In the Austrian Empire, the various ethnicities revolted, and the Magyar nationalists led by Louis Kossuth pushed for an independent Hungary. Rioting in Vienna frightened Metternich so much he fled the city. All of the Eastern European rebellions were ultimately put down, a triumph for the reactionaries. However, the events of 1848 frightened the rulers of Europe out of their complacency and forced them to realize that gradually, they would have to change the nature of their governments or face future revolutions.
Timeline
1814-1815: Congress of Vienna
1815: Corn Law in Great Britain
December 1816: Corn Law riots in London
1817: Buschenschaft holds congress at Wurtburg
1818: Prussian Zollverein created
1818: International Congress held at Aix-la-Chapelle
1818: Mary Shelley publishes Frankenstein
1819: Metternich initiates Carlsbad Decrees
1819: Peterloo Massacre
1820: Several members of Cato Street Conspiracy executed
1820s: British Radicalism gets underway
1820: Louis XVIII's nephew (the Duke de Berry) assassinated
1820: Te Congress of Troppau
1822: The Congress of Verona
1823: Munroe Doctrine
1824: Louis XVIII dies, Charles X becomes French king
1825: Decembrist Revolt put down in Russia, Nicholas I comes to power
1825: Robert Owen founds New Harmony, Indiana
1827: Anglo-French-Russian navy destroys Turkish fleet, helping Greek nationalists
1829: Nations of Europe recognize an independent Greece
1829: First truly successful locomotive tested
1830s: Gothic Revival in architecture
July 1830: Charles X passes "Four Ordinances" in France
July 1830: July Revolution in France. Charles X abdicates, Louis Philippe becomes French king
1831: Mazzini founds Young Italy
1832: Goethe completes Faust
1832: Parliament passes Reform Bill
1833: Factory Act restricts child labor (Great Britain)
1834: Poor Laws passed (Great Britain)
1838: Anti-Corn Laws League
1838: Chartist movement begins
1839: Chartist movement gains 1 million signatures
1840: Frederick William IV comes to power in Prussia
1840s: Corn Laws repealed
1840s: Railway construction begins in England and Europe
1842: Chartist movement gains 3 million signatures
1847: Ten Hour Act limits women and child labor to ten hours a day (Great Britain)
January 1848: Marx and Engels publish Communist Manifesto
February 1848: February Revolution in Paris, barricades in the streets
1848: Louis Napoleon Bonaparte becomes President of France
March 1848: Metternich, terrified of unrest, flees Vienna
March 15, 1848: Hungary granted independence within the Austrian Empire, revolutions begin throughout Eastern Europe
June 1848: Pan-Slavic Conference held in Prague
May 1848: Frankfurt Assembly
December 1848: Ferdinand of Austria abdicates, Franz Joseph becomes emperor
Key People
Alexander I
Russian Czar from 1801 to 1825. He briefly allied with Napoleon before turning against him. Though Alexander envisioned himself as an "enlightened despot", Metternich managed to move him towards becoming a Reactionary after the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
Jeremy Bentham
English philosopher, a father of Radicalism and Utilitarianism. One example of his unconventional nature: when he died in 1832, he had his body preserved and placed on display in a cabinet in University College, London, where it remains to this day.
Simon Bolivar
South American freedom fighter who led the liberation of several Spanish colonies around 1820. He subsequently became a South American dictator, with hopes of uniting a South American empire.
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte
After the February Revolution in Paris in 1848, Louis Napoleon was elected President in France simply on the basis of name recognition among the newly enfranchised voters. He soon declared himself Emperor Napoleon III. France prospered under him for two decades.
Bourbon
European royal family, which had kings on the thrones of France, Spain, and Naples at various times during the early 19th century.
Edmund Burke
18th century thinker, statesman, and writer, whose 1790 work, Reflections on the Revolution in France, became the classic text of British Conservatism.
George Canning
British foreign secretary and champion of Liberalism in foreign affairs form 1822 to 1827. Canning briefly served as Prime Minister in 1827.
Castlereagh
British foreign secretary from 1812-1822. Castlereagh was a major architect of the new European balance of power established at the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
Charles X
Successor to Louis XVIII, Bourbon king of France from 1824 to his overthrow in the July Revolution of 1830. He believed in the divine-right of kings, and was unable to cope with the new, post-revolutionary realities of France.
Eugene Delacroix
French Romantic painter, who painted exotic scenes, and whose use of color over line inspired the Impressionists.
Ferdinand
Austrian Hapsburg Emperor who abdicated during the revolution of 1848, turning the throne over to Franz Joseph.
Charles Fourier
French theorist of Socialism who wanted to reorganize society into cooperative "phalanxes".
Franz Joseph
Hapsburg Emperor of Austria from 1848 to 1916. In 1867 he divided the Empire into Austria and Hungary, creating the "Dual Monarchy".
Goethe
18th and 19th century German writer, who worked in nearly every imaginable field, from science to drama. Considered one of the greatest German writers, Goethe was essential in the Nationalist construction of a German Volksgeist.
Hapsburg
Perhaps the greatest royal family of modern European history, the Hapsburg dynasty once controlled Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, and the Holy Roman Empire under one man. By the 19th century, they only really controlled the Austrian Empire. Emperors Ferdinand and Franz Joseph were both Hapsburgs.
Hegel
G.W.F. Hegel was a 19th century Romantic German philosopher who held that progress is made through conflicting opposites being resolved, via the dialectic, in a synthesis. See Introductory Lectures on History.
Louis Kossuth
Magyar (Hungarian) Nationalist who briefly controlled Hungary in 1848 and 1849, but was crushed by the Russian army.
Louis Philippe
Also called the Duke of Orleans, Louis Philippe ruled France as King from 1830 to 1848, when his government toppled in the February Revolution. Louis Philippe drew most of his support from the Bourgeoisie; he alienated and marginalized the growing French working class, leading to his overthrow in 1848.
Louis XVIII
Bourbon king of France from 1815 to his death in 1824, during which time he proved moderately Liberal, allowing an advisory Parliament to meet.
Magyars
Dominant linguistic and ethnic group in Hungary.
Robert Malthus
Early British economist. His most famous idea was that increasing the food supply would always increase the population, meaning that eradicating the suffering of the lower classes was impossible.
Karl Marx
German economist and philosopher who, along with Friedrich Engels, wrote The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital while in living in England. The ideology of Communism draws its inspiration from Marx and Engels' work, which was influenced by the social environment in Western Europe during the first half of the 19th century.
Joseph Mazzini
Italian Nationalist from Genoa who founded Young Italy in 1832, a movement that would inspire nationalist groups throughout Europe.
Metternich
Austrian foreign minister, Metternich was Europe's arch-Reactionary. He was a leading architect of the balance of power developed at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, and he called the great powers to various Congresses throughout the coming decade to put down European rebellions wherever they started. In 1848, during a revolution in Vienna, Metternich fled the city.
Nicholas I
Succeeded Alexander I, serving as Russian Czar from 1825 to 1855. Nicholas' more liberal brother Constantine was favored as successor by Russian revolutionaries, but Nicholas used the army to destroy this rebellion.
Robert Owen
Manchester manufacturer who grew upset by the conditions endured by workers in Industrial Revolution Britain, and became a reformer.
Robert Peel
Britain's conservative prime minister from 1834 to 1835, and from 1841 to 1846. Peel oversaw the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846, partially due to the ongoing Irish Famine.
David Ricardo
Early British economist who helped develop "Classical" economics. He was responsible for formulating the "Iron Law" of wages, which stated that any attempt to improve workers' lots would lead to such a population increase that the increased competition for labor would ultimately bring workers' wages back down. This argument held that no improvement in workers' lives was possible, so the government should not bother legislating wage increases.
Saint-Simon
French theorist of Socialism, he developed a concept of "Christian Socialism" emphasizing the brotherhood of all men. His conception included the centralization of industry and equal sharing of its profits.
Jose de San Martin
Much like Simon Bolivar, Jose de San Martin was a South American military leader involved in the liberation of several South American countries from Spanish colonial rule.
Friedrich Schiller
German Romantic dramatist of the late 18th and early 19th century.
Karl Friedrich Schinkel
German Romantic architect who worked both in classical forms; a leader in the Gothic Revival.
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Influential British Romantic poet, married to Mary Shelley.
Mary Shelley
British Romantic writer, wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley, and author of Frankenstein (1818), a classic allegory of the flaws of Reason and Science.
Slavs
An ethnic and linguistic classification in Eastern Europe and Western Asia that includes Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, and Macedonians.
Key Terms
Bourgeoisie
Term used to refer to the "middle class." In the 19th century concept of class struggle, the bourgeoisie were those who owned the means of production and the proletariat consisted of their workers.
Bund
A confederation of the various fragmented German states in the period after the Congress of Vienna (1815).
Burschenschaft
Student political groups that formed at German Universities beginning around 1815. These groups were expressions of German nationalism.
Capitalism
Generally middle-class economic ideology emphasizing free markets, the ownership of private property, and the accumulation of wealth by enterprising businesspeople.
Carbonari
Liberal, Nationalist secret society in Italy in the first half of the 19th century. They sought a unified Italy under governments different from those the Congress of Vienna had imposed on them.
Cato Street Conspiracy
Conspiracy of British Radicalism, plotting to assassinate the Tory cabinet. When the conspiracy was discovered in 1820, several conspirators were executed.
Chartist Movement
Reform movement in Britain of the 1830s and 1840s that demanded progressive political reforms like universal adult male suffrage and the right of working- class people to serve in Parliament. Although it failed at the time, the goals of Chartism were eventually reached.
Congress System
Term referring to the Reactionary method for maintaining political control; Metternich called a series of congresses between conservative leaders during the years from 1815 and 1848. These congresses included the Congress of Vienna, the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle, the Congress of Troppau, and the Congress of Verona.
Conservatism
British reactionary philosophy supporting monarchy and old ways. Championed by Edmund Burke, who had been horrified by the French Revolution, Conservatism argued for prudent and gradual change.
Corn Law
First passed in 1815, these laws put high tariffs on grain coming into England. This protected the profits of the land-owning aristocrats, but also increased food prices, hurting both workers and their employers, who had to pay higher wages if the price of bread went up. It is important to realize that in the British usage here, "Corn" refers to grains in general, not the kind of Corn (Maize) of which Americans usually think.
Dialectic
Theory of thought and historical progress in which opposites are created, and then reconciled to create a synthesis. This approach was pioneered by Hegel.
Holy Alliance
In 1815, Alexander I started the Holy Alliance to uphold Christian values. However, it became a common name by which the reactionary Congress System was referred to as a whole.
Laissez Faire
In French, it means "allow to do". This economic philosophy suggests that if government interferes in the economy as little as possible (takes a "hands off" approach) markets will equilibrate and the economy will run as smoothly as possible.
Liberalism
19th century ideology that sought self-government, increased male suffrage, and legal equality for all and free-market economic policies. 19th century "liberalism" is a far cry from what "liberalism" means today. Because 19th century "liberalism" ultimately triumphed in Western Europe and the United States, 19th century "liberalism" is actually closer to what is "conservative" in our own time.
Manchester
Industrial city in Northern England, which greatly increased in population during the Industrial Revolution. Because of the Rotten Boroughs, its interests were underrepresented in Parliament during the early 19th century.
Monroe Doctrine
American policy announced in 1823 in which President Monroe demanded that Europe not interfere with goings-on in the Western Hemisphere. Monroe's warning was initially followed not because of fear of the United States, but because the other European powers knew Britain's Navy would stop any further colonial adventurism in the New World.
Nationalism
Modern movement in which countries engineer a sense of unity and common purpose among a large nation. The people in these nationalist countries develop a strong sense of loyalty to their nation. Though it seems automatoc to most people in the modern world, nationalism really developed throughout Europe only in the early 19th century.
Pan-Slavism
Movement that seeks to unify the Slavs, an ethnic classification in Eastern Europe that includes Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, and Macedonians.
Proletariat
In the 19th century, a term developed to refer to the working class. Proletariats were employed by, and involved in class struggle with, the bourgeoisie.
Radicalism
Anti-Church, anti-Monarchy reform group in 19th century England, largely based on the ideas of Jeremy Bentham. Unconcerned by tradition, the British radicals challenged the old ways.
Reactionary
Having to do with what is opposed to change and progress. In 19th century Europe, the Reactionary cause was championed by Metternich, who wanted the old regimes of Europe to stay in power.
Republicanism
French equivalent of British Radicalism, Republicanism glorified the social leveling accomplished by the French Revolution.
Romanticism
Intellectual movement begun in reaction to the dominance of Enlightenment Reason. Romanticism criticized Reason, suggesting that it could not answer all questions. Leading Romantic artists and writers included Hegel, Schiller, Schinckel, Keats, Wordsworth, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, and Delacroix.
Rotten Boroughs
In England in the 19th century, voting districts were so poorly drawn that a city with half-a-million people like Manchester received only as much representation in Parliament as a small village. Though the Industrial Revolution rapidly changed the population distribution in England, the voting districts lagged behind, giving advantage in Parliament to wealthy landowners while under representing the new manufacturing cities.
Socialism
Economic ideology, opposed to Capitalism and Laissez Faire, that holds that key industry and the means of production should be centrally controlled by the government, so that workers will not be abused by bourgeoisie factory owners.
Textile
Threads, cloth and clothing. Early in the Industrial Revolution, textiles were the mainstay of British factory production.
Tory
18th and early 19th century British political party, opposed to the Whigs. Although the Tories comprised various factions, the party was opposed to Parliamentary reforms.
Utility
Utility is the measure of good or usefulness of something. It is often held that something should be done if it will maximize the overall utility of society. This belief is formulated as "Utilitarianism," and is described in John Stuart Mill's book Utilitarianism.
Volksgeist
German Romantic idea, suggested by Herder, that each nation has its own particular "special genius". Thus, what is right for one nation may not be right for another nation, and, according to German Romantics and Nationalists, each "nation" should strive to express its individual Volksgeist.
Events
Carlsbad Decrees
1819 regulation in Germany that outlawed the Burschenschaft student groups, pushing them underground. It also established censorship, and government control of universities. Metternich, from his position of influence in Austria, helped get this measure passed in the German Bund.
Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle
1818 Congress in which the European powers agreed to withdraw their armies occupying France. Alexander I tried to convince the other powers to form an international military coalition to suppress Revolution, but Castlereagh refused British participation.
Congress of Troppau
1820 Congress, dealing with collapse of the government in Naples. At the Congress, Metternich received permission to restore the old government using the Austrian army.
Congress of Verona
Congress called by Metternich to deal with revolutionary stirrings in Spain and Greece. France sent an army into Spain to quell the rebellion there. Although Alexander I expressed an interest in putting down the South American revolutions of Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin, Castlereagh promised British naval opposition. Verona was the last international Congress held in the period from 1815-1848.
Congress of Vienna
1814-1815 meeting of the Great powers that led to the reorganization of Europe in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars.
Decembrist Revolt
The 1825 death of Czar Alexander I of Russian sparked a succession dispute between Alexander's two sons. Constantine, the younger brother of Nicholas, received some support because he was known to be the more Liberal of the two brothers. The revolt in favor of Constantine was put down by the rightful heir, Nicholas I, and the army.
Enclosure Movement
18th century movement among wealthy British landed aristocrats to rationalize their farms. Using new farming technology and systems of crop rotation, they forced the agrarian poor off the old "village commons" that now became "enclosed" as private property. The jobless poor ended up constituting the proletariat working class in the upcoming Industrial Revolution.
February Revolution
1848 Revolution in Paris, primarily by lower-class workers, who overthrew Louis Philippe, established universal adult male suffrage, and elected Louis Napoleon Bonaparte president. Along with overthrowing Louis Philippe's regime, the February Revolution sparked other revolutions throughout Europe.
Frankfurt Assembly
From 1848 to 1849, a group of German bourgeoisie intellectuals and professionals who attempted (and failed) to create a unified German state.
Gothic Revival
1830s movement in architecture when buildings in the Gothic (high medieval) style became popular. It was in this period that the British Parliament building was built. This was the architectural manifestation of Romanticism. Where the Enlightenment had looked down on the Middle Ages as a "dark" period of ignorance, the Romantics celebrated the Medieval period for its spiritualism, depth, and sense of adventure.
Industrial Revolution
18th and 19th century development, beginning in Britain, in which manufacturing was increasingly done in factories by machines, rather than in small workshops by hand labor. The Industrial Revolution, in combination with the earlier the Enclosure Movement, radically reshaped the world economy and social and political development.
July Revolution
1830 overthrow of Charles X's oppressive regime; ultimately, Louis Philippe became the new French king.
Peterloo Massacre
In 1819, manufacturers organized around 80,000 workers to protest the Corn Laws. When some of the peaceful protesters were shot, the event was dubbed the "Peterloo Massacre", likening the British government's shameful use of violence on a peaceful crowd to the recent defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo.
Reform Bill of 1832
This British bill simplified voting requirements, though it actually didn't enfranchise many new people. Most importantly, it partially corrected the problem of Rotten Boroughs, giving a much larger amount of Parliamentary power to previously under-represented manufacturers like those Manchester.
Study Questions
Why was Britain an ideal place for the Industrial Revolution to begin?
First, it had capitalist property system that allowed the accumulation of wealth, making large-scale investment possible. Second, the Enclosure Movement of the 1700s increased the productivity of the land and created a large, mobile labor force looking for work.
According to David Ricardo, what was the "Iron Law of Wages"?
Ricardo argued that increases in wages would ultimately not benefit workers, because increases in wages would lead to workers having more children, who would then create an oversupply of laborers, competing the level of wages back down. (This was the justification given by Liberal economists of the "classical" bent for not raising wages even though the workers' suffered as a result. It is based on several unreasonable assumptions, and is certainly not accepted by most economists today, except perhaps in the very long run.)
Describe Czar Alexander I's general attitudes about government.
Czar Alexander I was a complex character. He was well-educated and agreed with Liberal ideas in theory, and saw himself as an "enlightened despot", but when it came to actually granting self-government and constitutional rule to the people, he chafed at the idea of having anything out of his control. Ultimately, he allowed himself to be swayed into the Reactionary camp by Metternich.
Why did Great Britain refuse to participate in Alexander I's attempts to create an international, anti-Revolutionary force?
It was not that Britain was pro-Revolution. In fact, Britain's Tory government was extremely conservative. It was simply that Castlereagh and Canning didn't like the idea of committing Britain to intervention in future events prematurely. Instead, Britain preferred to make its decisions on a case- by-case basis.
What were the goals of 19th century Liberalism?
19th century liberalism wanted political representation for the middle class, free trade, free press, free assembly, and constitutions. Above all, it wanted to keep government out of business. 19th century liberals were far from what we consider "liberal" today. In fact, 19th century liberals were more like our conservatives. 19th century liberals would be staunch opponents of the social programs of government intervention in the economy backed by modern liberals.
Define Romanticism.
It was an intellectual movement of the late 17th and early 18th century that reacted against the Rationalism of the French Enlightenment. According to Romanticism, Reason is insufficient in providing answers and is flawed in many respects. An example of Romantic conceptions is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818), in which the good intentions of Reason and Science end up creating a monster.
Briefly describe Hegel's dialectic.
The dialectic is the process through which history and thought create opposites. Progress is made when these opposites are then reconciled into a synthesis. Hegel's thinking influenced German nationalists to construe Germany as France's opposite in a historical dialectic.
What reforms did Chartism demand?
1. Yearly elections for the House of Commons 2. Universal Suffrage for adult males 3. Secret Ballots 4. An end to the Rotten Boroughs 5. No class restrictions on who could hold office 6. The establishment of salaries for members of Parliament (so poor members could afford to serve)
Why was France so revolution-prone and Britain not?
France had a long tradition of revolutions; its governments toppled every 10 to 20 years in this period. British government had been continuous back to the Glorious Revolution in 1688. Also, France in the 1815 to 1848 period was dominated by a strong bourgeoisie with little opposition, and the working class had little avenue for reform other than revolt. In England, the battle for power between the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie meant that workers could establish themselves as a swing bloc, allying with one side and then the other, thereby gaining some concessions. Because there were two powerful competing forces in British government in this period, Parliamentary conflict drove reform without the need for a violent revolution.
Why did the initially enthusiastic 1848 Revolution in Vienna peter out so quickly?
The Vienna revolution was plagued by several key weaknesses. The revolution mostly consisted of intellectuals and university students, who are great at starting revolutions but bad at maintaining them. With neither a powerful Bourgeoisie or a significant urban working class in pre-industrial Austrian society, Revolution along Western European lines proved unsustainable. Furthermore, the Austrian army was mostly made up of illiterate peasants who hadn't yet been exposed to the new ideas of Nationalism. Thus, the Austrian army stayed loyal to Emperor Franz Joseph and crushed the rebellions.
