What is going on in 19th Century Europe? What a broad question. If I was to answer this with specific events, places, times, etc. I could fill 500 pages easily. Being that the 19th century was 100 years, there was a lot of "stuff" happening. But after studying some of the big events, I can now see how they all intertwine. All of these major topics can be mushed together into 6 categories: politically what happened, economically, religiously, socially, intellectually, and artistically. aka. PERSIA. From the Industrial Revolution to Romanticism to the Potato Famine, 19th century Europe was a place of new beginnings, new ideas, new inventions, but altogether change.
P: When studying history, you should first know how to classify. Politically, in the 19th century, we see a rise in "isms" as i like to call them. What are "isms"? The four main ones, although there are others, were
conservatism, liberalism, imperialism and
nationalism.
Conservatism is when people want things back to the way they used to be. A great example of this would be
Romanticism. Romanticism was a movement of art. In the pictures, people expressed their emotions and ideas, some of these ideas just happened to be of conservatism. Liberalism, on the other hand, is the complete opposite.
Liberalism is associated with the word freedom. People who were liberals wanted change, and they wanted the change to be in the form of freedoms. Perhaps the prime example of liberalism is shown in the
Greek Independence movement. The Greeks were under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, and they wanted freedom, so they started a revolution.
Imperialism is when a country has control of another one. An example of imperialism and the negative effects that it has can be shown in the
Great Potato Famine. During the famine, Ireland was controlled by England. The only reason that England wanted Ireland was for their own personal gain. When the famine hit Ireland, England did little to help the people. Lastly, we have nationalism.
Nationalism is extreme pride in ones country. The
German Independence Movement is a great example of this. After France gained control over Germany, the Holy Roman Empire ceased. Outside "aggression" brought about a sense of nationalism and the people wanted Germany united.
E: Onto economic effects. Many things changed economically in the 19th century. During this time in history, we see a rise in the opening of jobs. With new inventions being discovered everyday, Europe went through an
Industrial Revolution. With the new inventions, came more job openings. Because there was such an increase of production, the cost of the materials dropped. This meant that people could use their money for pleasurable things such as art rather than necessities...therefore connecting Romanticism with the Industrial Revolution. More money=more indulgences, so the painters of the Romantic Era became wealthier. Unfortunately, at this time, labor laws and social security were not in effect. Children and women were put to work in factories and were paid much less than men. This inequality sparked interest in
Marxism and
Feminism. Karl Marx was the leading figure in a form of government called Marxism. Through this form of government, the people were treated equally and the government, rather than the people owned everything. Everything wasn't just fine and dandy with economics in Europe at this time. We can sense this through the
British imperialism in China. The European influences in China greatly destroyed the Chinese economy. After treaties were put into effect, Chinese ports were opened. The people were forced to trade their goods, unwillingly, while not getting the right price for the items that they traded.
R: Many religious changes were happening in 19th century Europe. There was religious turmoil, secularization, and even the complete opposite...people becoming MORE religious! One thing that had a major religious impact was the Dreyfus Affair. The
Dreyfus Affair showed how the government judged people for their religion. This was primarily shown through the imprisonment of Dreyfus because he was a Jew. People split into two groups: those (the Jews) who supported Dreyfus and those who were aligned with the state AGAINST Dreyfus. Throughout the entire affair, the Church provided support for Dreyfus which is why many Jews continued to look for security from the Church. Another event that religiously impacted Europe was the
Congress of Vienna. What was it? It was a conference that was held to create new borders in Europe. When Napoleon reigned, Europe was religiously divided. The people could decide what religion they wanted their state/region to be, either Catholic or Lutheran. When the Congress of Vienna was held, some regions that were opposite religions were combined thus causing turmoil. The
Industrial Revolution is another example of how religion effected society. Secularization took place, which is when people are less focused on religion. Because there were more job openings people moved to the cities to get these jobs. Religion became less important as people diverted their attention to surviving and getting jobs. Art was also becoming secularized as shown through the paintings made during romanticism. Don't get discouraged however, some people actually became more focused on religion! European Imperialism had brought missionaries over to China spreading religion, and trying to get people to convert.
S: When you think social 19th century Europe, the first thing that should pop into your head is Marxism. This was probably the biggest social change during the 19th century. What exactly was Marxism? Think of a place where everyone is the same. People share, and no one is better than anyone else. This is Marxism. As mentioned before, the leading player during this movement was Karl Marx. He was a man that after seeing the conditions that the people (children especially) worked in, thought that society needed change. And what better way to change society than make everyone the same? We can also see social changes through the Irish Potato Famine. The Irish depended on the potatoes to live. Many people sold them for a living. When the famine hit Ireland, the people had no jobs. The lower class could no longer pay the rent for their houses. Some of the landowners that rented houses to the lower class people evicted the lower class from their homes. Others though, helped out the starving and poor families that lived in the rented houses. Some landowners went as far as buying tickets to America to send the low class there. This showed the connection of the classes during this time.
I: Intellectually we see that 19th century Europe is bombarded with new ideas and new thoughts. This can be shown through a movement known as
Feminism. When you look at the the word Feminism, what word in specific pops out at you. I'll give you a clue.
FEMINism. Yes, feminine. Feminine meaning related to the woman. So its no surprise that feminism was a movement made by women to get womans rights. Where did this all start? Why was it at this time that women finally began to speak up for themselves? The answer lies in the Industrial Revolution. As I said before, with the Industrial Revolution going on in Europe, there were more job openings. Women, men, and even children could get jobs. But what bothered many women was that they got paid much less than the men did. They decided to do something about it, and feminism started. The women that wanted to gain rights joined organizations, such as the Women's Social and Political Movement, went on hunger strikes, and even resorted to violence.
Another intellectual movement was Romanticism. People expressed their ideas through the paintings that they made. You can see that the the entire 19th century was influenced by ideas. New ways of thinking evolved into forms of government (Marxism) , movements (feminism, romanticism), and ideas (conservatism, liberalism, etc). Almost the whole century was impacted by intellectual thoughts.
A: Lastly we have artistic effects of the 19th century. This is a no brainer, the movements like Romanticism and post-Romanticism were in fact artistic. These were movements in which people expressed their emotions and ideas through art. Many get confused when the word "art" is used. The first thing that I think of when I hear the word is something along the lines of a drawing, or painting, or sculpture. And I am sure that many others think that way too. But art is much more. The dictionary definition of "art" is the
quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. This means that art is something that is used to express emotion, feelings, or ideas. Poems, stories, plays, even journal articles are considered art. Art wasn't only shown in Romanticism though. For example, during the Dreyfus Affair, many political cartoons were published to express the views on the situation.
The 19th century was full of changes, whether they were expected, like the German unification, or completely unexpected like the Potato Famine. Altogether, the changes mad (some good, and some bad) helped to shape the way that Europe is today.
