M.A. (Part - I) History Paper - III - History of Europe (1789-1919) - (Eng) PDF
M.A. (Part - I) History Paper - III - History of Europe (1789-1919) - (Eng) PDF
M.A. (Part - I) History Paper - III - History of Europe (1789-1919) - (Eng) PDF
FRENCH REVOLUTION-I
During the ten years of the Revolution, France first transformed and
then dismantled the Ancient Regime (Old Order), the political and
social system that existed in France before 1789, and replaced it
with a series of different governments. Although none of these
governments lasted more than four years, the many initiatives they
enacted permanently altered France‘s political system. These
initiatives included the drafting of several bills of rights and
constitutions, the establishment of legal equality among all citizens,
experiments with representative democracy, the incorporation of
the church into the state, and the reconstruction of state
administration and the law code.
For more than thirty years Louis XV continued through his shameful
policies the worst features of the Ancient Regime. He also followed
a disastrous foreign policy that culminated in the humiliation of the
Seven years War (1756-63). His government became increasingly
inefficient which was controlled by his mistresses. His enormous
court incurred heavy expenditure on the state treasury. All these
developments opened the gates of the deluge that swept over
France. Louis XV escaped the disaster. However, he could not
prevent the progress of new political and social philosophy that
repudiated the theory and practice of the irresponsible and arbitrary
royal absolutism. The Austrian ambassador at Paris, Comte de
Mercy writing to Empress Marie Theresa outlined the conditions in
France at the end of Louis XV‘s reign in these words: ―At court,
there is nothing but confusion, scandals and injustice. No attempt
has been made to carry out good principles of government;
everything has been left to chance; the shameful state of the
nation‘s affairs has caused unspeakable disgust and
discouragement, while intrigues of those who remain on the scene
only increase the disorder. Sacred duties have been left undone,
and infamous behaviour tolerated.‖
In 1774, following the death of Louis XV, his grandson, Louis XVI
(1774-93) became the king of France at the age of twenty. The new
king was an honest and energetic young man who tried to attend to
the state affairs. But he tried to avoid difficulties and lacked the
capacity to enforce his own judgment. His irresolution made him a
blind follower of his advisors, particularly his Queen Marie
Antoinette. She was the daughter of Marie Theresa, Empress of
Austro-Hungarian Empire. Marie Antoinette was beautiful, gracious
and vivacious. She had a strong will, a power of quick decision and
a spirit of initiative. However, she lacked in wisdom and breadth of
judgment. She did not understand the temperament of the French
people and the spirit of the times. Being born in a royal family she
could not understand the point of view of the underprivileged. She
was extravagant, proud, willful, impatient and fond of pleasure. She
6
The clergy of the Roman Catholic Church was rich and powerful.
The higher clergy was comprised of the archbishops, bishops and
the abbots. They lived luxuriously in their palaces and monasteries.
The Church owned nearly a fifth of the land in France. The Church
8
The nobles had lost all political power. They either entered the
army or the church. Important public offices like ambassadors were
reserved for them. A majority of the nobles had no lands and
derived their income from their old feudal rights. They were
exempted from the bulk of the taxes.
Belonging to the third estate, but beneath the bourgeois were the
artisans living in towns and cities. They were comparatively a
smaller class as the industrial life in France was not yet highly
developed. These artisans were usually organized in guilds.
9
The peasants formed the majority of the third estate. France was
an agricultural country. Thus, more than ninety per cent of the
population was peasants. About a million of the peasants were
serfs. The rest were free men, but they were all discontented
against the existing system of the government and social
organization. The burden of the society was on their shoulder.
Nearly the entire revenue of the government was raised from the
third estate. The peasants paid nearly 55% in taxes of what they
produced or earned. The peasants paid taxes to the state, tithes to
the Church, and feudal dues to the nobles. The peasants paid tolls
to the nobles for the use of the roads and bridges in their estates.
The peasants were forced to use the flour mill, oven and winepress
of the nobles and paid for the service.
The peasants also paid indirect taxes like the gabelle (salt tax). The
abuse connected with the administration of the salt-tax was the
most glaring and scandalous. The salt-tax collectors called
gabellous were the most hated by the French people. In France,
each family was required by law to buy annually a specific amount
of salt for household use. The price of the salt was very high in
northern and central provinces and less in others. As a result many
individuals turned into smugglers bringing in salt from the provinces
where the rate of the salt was cheaper. Under these circumstances
the gabellous used to make house to house searches and harass
the people for hoarding of the salt. Besides the salt tax, the
commoners had to pay the excise duty, taille (property tax),
customs duties, etc. The feudal dues include corvee (forced labour)
of two or three days and contribution in kind.
1.2.3. b. Heavy Taxes: Unlike the trading nations, France could not
rely solely on tariffs to generate income. While average tax rates
were higher in Britain, the burden on the common people was
greater in France. Taxation in France relied on a system of internal
tariffs separating the regions in France, which prevented a unified
market from developing in the country. Taxes, such as the
extremely unpopular gabelle were contracted out to private
collectors who were permitted to collect far more than what the
government demanded. This system led to an arbitrary and
unequal collection of many of the consumption taxes in France.
Further, the royal and feudal (signorial) taxes were collected in the
form of compulsory labour (corvee).
Many public officials had to buy their positions from the King. They
tried to make profit out of their appointment not only to make up the
money that they had to pay for heir positions but also to enjoy
hereditary rights over these positions. For instance, in a civil
11
The economic boom was like a bubble which burst very soon. In
spite of a steady increase in taxes the annual deficit had risen to
more than one hundred million livres. Under these circumstances
the economic crisis was developing to serious proportions. France
had reached a state of virtual bankruptcy. No one was ready to lend
funds to the King which would be sufficient to meet the expenses of
the government and the court. The loans amounted to one
thousand six hundred and forty six millions and there was an
annual deficit of a hundred and forty million livres.
Questions
1. Discuss the conditions in France on the eve of the
Revolution of 1789.
15
2
FRENCH REVOLUTION-II
After his return to France from England in 1729 and his banishment
from Paris in 1734, Voltaire produced several tragedies. These
included ‗Brutus‘ (1730) and ―Zaire‖ (1732). In 1733 he met Madam
Emile du Châtelet, whose intellectual interests, especially in
science, matched with his own. They took up residence together at
Cirey, in Lorraine. In 1746, Voltaire was voted into the "Academie
Francaise." In 1749, after the death of Emile du Chatelet and at the
invitation of the King of Prussia, Frederick the Great, Voltaire
moved to Potsdam, near Berlin in Germany. In 1753, Voltaire left
Potsdam to return to France.
Questions
1. Examine the intellectual background of the French
Revolution of 1789.
2. How far were the French philosophers responsible for the
Revolution of 1789?
3. Discuss the contribution of Voltaire and Montesquieu to the
outbreak of the Revolution of 1789 in France.
4. Review the role of Montesquieu and Rousseau in preparing
the intellectual background of the French Revolution of 1789.
5. Write short notes on the following:
(a) Voltaire
(b) Montesquieu
(c) Rousseau
(d) Encylopedists
(e) Physiocrats
25
3
FRENCH REVOLUTION-III
3. A.1. Introduction: When Louis XVI could not solve the problem
of financial crisis he abolished all the parlements in a general
restructuring of the judiciary. Public response to the actions of the
king was strong and even violent. People began to ignore royal
edicts and assault royal officials. Pamphlets denouncing despotism
began to flood the country. At the same time, people began to
demand for an immediate meeting of the Estates-General to deal
with the crisis. The Estates-General was a consultative assembly
composed of representatives from the three French estates, or
legally defined social classes: clergy, nobility, and commoners. It
had last been convened in 1614. Under increasing political
pressure and faced with the total collapse of its finances Louis XVI
reluctantly agreed to convene the Estates General. The king hoped
that the Estates General might pull the state out of the deplorable
situation and that it might help in replenishing the empty treasury.
Within a short period the Estates General was converted into the
National Assembly, which also came to be known as the
Constituent Assembly.
3. A.2. Cahiers: During the early months of 1789, the three estates
prepared for the coming meeting by selecting deputies and drawing
up cahiers des doléances (lists of grievances). These lists reflected
overwhelming agreement in favor of limiting the power of the king
and his administrators through a constitution and establishing a
permanent legislative assembly. The cahiers also suggested
improvements in prison and hospital conditions and for reforms in
economic, religious and political matters.
26
3. A.5. The Tennis Court Oath: When the members of the newly
formed National Assembly went to their usual meeting place on
20th June 1789, they found the entrance of the hall was blocked by
soldiers. As the members of the National Assembly felt that their
initiative was about to be crushed they regrouped at a nearby
indoor tennis court on 20th June 1789 and swore not to disband
until France had a constitution. This pledge became known as the
‗Tennis Court Oath‘.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man further laid down that law is
the expression of the general will. Every citizen has a right to
participate personally or through his representative in its formation.
The law must be same for all. No person shall be accused, arrested
or imprisoned except according to the terms prescribed by law.
Louis XVI did not approve both these laws and eventually vetoed
both of them. This was exactly what the Girondins desired and had
prepared for. By his refusal to sign these laws the King came to be
looked upon as the enemy of the Revolution. The Girondins went
further. They wished to make a traitor of the King himself and to do
this a foreign war was necessary. Thus, the Girondins deliberately
set themselves to provoke a foreign war.
France was not thoroughly prepared for the war. The Girondins
could not prosecute the war and the war progressed disastrously
for France. It was a five months story of defeat, humiliation and
invasion. The French army was disorganized due to lack of proper
leadership and discipline. There was no unity in the command and
confidence between the officers and men. A number of officers and
soldiers deserted which further weakened the morale of the French
army.
Questions
1. Review the developments in revolutionary France between
1789 and 1791.
36
4
FRENCH REVOLUTION-IV
WORK OF NATIONAL CONVENTION
(1792-95) AND DIRECTORY (1795-99)
4. A. THE NATIONAL CONVENTION (1792-1795)
Objectives:
On the other hand, the Jacobins drew their strength from the
capital, Paris. They considered Paris as the brain and heart of the
country. The Girondins were anxious to observe the legal forms
and processes. The Jacobins on the other hand were not so
scrupulous. They were rude, active and indifferent to law. They
believed in the application of force wherever and whenever
necessary. The Girondins hated the three prominent leaders of the
Jacobins-Robespierre, Danton and Marat.
were arrested on the convention floor. During the next two days,
Robespierre and 82 of his associates were guillotined.
The Reign of Terror was the most radical phase of the Revolution,
and it remains the most controversial. Some have seen the Reign
of Terror as a major advance toward modern democracy, while
others call it a step toward modern dictatorship. Certain defenders
of the Revolution have argued that the Reign of Terror was, under
the circumstances, a reasonable response to the military crisis of
1793. Others have rejected this idea, pointing out that the military
victories of early 1794, far from diminishing the intensity of the
Reign of Terror, were followed by the Great Terror of June and July
1794, in which more than 1300 people were executed in Paris.
Barras was elected to the third Estate and in the course of time, he
became a staunch Jacobin. He took courage in attacking
Robespierre. He saved the National Convention by employing
Napoleon Bonaparte in 1795. Later, barras was made one of the
five Directors. He was a clever politician, entirely unscrupulous and
immoral, who ‗loved the throne for its velvet‘ and was always in
debt. He was the leader of the Parisian society.
The period of four years that the Directory was in power was
plagued by plots and intrigues. The royalists and the reactionaries
found their way into the legislature through elections. They did not
hesitate to use fair or foul means to sabotage the government.
They were kept in check only by the use of force by the
government.
northern Italy. The Sardinian armies were defeated and were forced
to give away Nice and Savoy to France.
Questions
1. Discuss the work done by the National Convention in France
between 1792 to 1795 during the Revolution.
44
5
RISE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE- I
RISE TO POWER
Objectives:
For the next two years the fortunes of Napoleon varied. Following
the downfall of the Jacobin leader Maximilien Robespierre,
Napoleon was arrested and was briefly imprisoned in August 1794,
but was released within two weeks.
46
In May 1798 Napoleon sailed from Toulon with a fleet and an army.
An unusual aspect of the Egyptian expedition was the inclusion of a
large group of scientists and Egyptologists to throw light on the
monuments and antiquities of the then little-known country. One of
their significant discoveries was the finding of the Rosetta Stone
that helped in the deciphering of the hieroglyphics. This deployment
of intellectual resources is considered by some as an indication of
Napoleon‘s devotion to the principles of the Enlightenment, and by
others as a masterstroke of propaganda that covered the true
imperialist motives of the invasion. In a largely unsuccessful effort
to gain the support of the Egyptian populace, Bonaparte also
issued proclamations casting himself as a liberator of the people
from Ottoman oppression, and praising the principles of Islam.
Battle of the Nile capturing or destroying all but two French vessels.
With Napoleon away from the coast, his goal of strengthening the
French position in the Mediterranean Sea was frustrated, but his
army nonetheless succeeded in consolidating power in Egypt,
although it faced repeated uprisings.
In early 1799, Napoleon led the army into the Ottoman province of
Syria, now modern Israel and Syria, and defeated numerically
superior Ottoman forces in several battles. However, his army was
weakened by disease, mostly bubonic plague, and poor supplies.
Napoleon led 13,000 French soldiers to the conquest of the coastal
towns of Al Arish and Jaffa. At Jaffa the slaughter of prisoners and
brutality against the inhabitants did much damage to Napoleon‘s
reputation. After his army was weakened by the plague, Napoleon
was unable to reduce the fortress of Acre, and was forced to return
to Egypt in May 1799. He was still strong enough to destroy a
Turkish army which was sent into Egypt.
council which was in session in the palace of St. Cloud away from
Paris. Seeing the troops and fearing for their lives majority of the
legislators fled. The rump of those who remained voted the
constitutional revision and appointed three provisional Consuls to
carry it out. These three Consuls were: Napoleon, Sieyes and
Ducos. The three Consuls promised ‗fidelity to the Republic, to
liberty, equality and the representative system of government‘.
Early on 11 November 1799 Napoleon was back in Paris and the
coup d’etat was over. Paris and France accepted it with surprising
calm. There was no sympathy with the Councils or with the
Directors and France was ready for a new experiment.
The peace between France and Britain was uneasy and short-lived.
The monarchies of Europe were reluctant to recognize a republic,
fearing that the ideas of the revolution might be exported to them.
In England, the brother of Louis XVI was welcomed as a state
guest although officially England recognized France as a republic.
England failed to evacuate Malta, as promised, and protested
against France's annexation of Piedmont.
Questions
1. Give an account of the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte to
political power in France.
55
6
RISE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE- II
declaration was attached to it. However, at the end the Pope had
no other alternative but to accept it.
Napoleon agreed to place the churches and chapels at the disposal
of the bishops. The Pope accepted the payment of salaries to the
clergy by the state. The bishops were to be appointed by the First
Consul and instituted by the Pope. The bishops were required to
take an oath of loyalty to the head of the state. They would retain
the church land that had been sold to the peasants during the
revolution. However, such lands, which were under state control,
would be restored to the church. Thus, Napoleon accomplished
within a short period reconciliation between the state and the
church.
One of the greatest evils of the ancient regime was the lack of a
uniform code of law. The revolutionary assemblies had prepared a
number of drafts, but none of them had been put into effect.
Napoleon did not have any legal background. However, he
approached the question of legal reforms with an open mind. In
1800, Napoleon appointed a Committee of eminent lawyers, who
drew up a draft of a Civil Code. Napoleon presided over many of
the meetings and made useful suggestions. His influence was
naturally thrown on the side of the authority of the family as well as
the state. He stood for the absolute authority of the father within the
family over wife and children alike.
The Codes, which were promulgated during the Empire all bore the
impress of the harsh paternalism and despotism which
characterized Napoleon‘s imperial ideas. A Code of Civil Procedure
upon which work was also begun during the Consulate was
completed in 1806. The Code of Criminal Procedure and the Penal
Code were also begun during the Consulate, but not completed till
1810. They continued many of the changes that were introduced
during the revolution but weakened the application of these
revolutionary principles. Equality before law was recognized by
having the same penalties for all citizens. The penalties stipulated
were harsher than those introduced during the Revolution. The
penalties included life imprisonment and death penalty. However,
the use of torture was abolished. The citizen was legally protected,
at least in theory against arbitrary arrest and imprisonment. Though
the procedure was a vast improvement over that of the Ancient
Regime, a public trial with witnesses and a jury was not always
given to all criminals. Nevertheless, after due allowance had been
made for the reactionary elements that Napoleon introduced into
the criminal procedure, the Criminal Code still remains a
consolidation of the revolutionary achievements. The Commercial
Code (1807) also served as a model for many countries in Europe.
The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Empire had far reaching
effects upon Europe. The achievements of the Revolution were
introduced in those regions overrun by Napoleon‘s armies of
conquest. In the newly conquered territories in Germany, Italy,
Poland and the Netherlands, Napoleon introduced a modern
administrative system. With the spread of revolutionary ideals,
64
Questions
1. Give an account of the reforms introduced by Napoleon
Bonaparte in France.
2. Critically examine the domestic policy of Napoleon
Bonaparte.
3. Write a detailed note on the Concordat (1801).
4. Evaluate the role of Napoleon in the legal reforms in France.
5. Write short notes on the following:
(a) The Concordat (1801)
(b) The Code Napoleon
65
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RISE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE- III
the French threat. For nearly eighteen months, the two armed
opponents stood face to face across the English Channel. The
superiority of the British navy was the chief obstacle for the French
invasion of England.
invading England two months earlier and had already reached the
Austrian capital Vienna before he received the news of the French
disaster at Trafalgar.
By this time Napoleon was at the zenith of his power. The Tsar
became his ally; Prussia was crushed so completely that for
sometime she ceased to be a factor in the European affairs and
Austria was afraid to move. Napoleon was not only supreme in a
greatly expanded France but he had established a number of
vassal kingdoms and tributary states so that his will was supreme
everywhere in western and central Europe.
countries, which had stopped their trade with England under French
threat.
7.10. The Peninsular War: It was with the object of enforcing the
Continental System that Napoleon was forced to interfere in
Portugal and Spain, which led to the Peninsular War. At first,
Napoleon arranged with Spain for the conquest and partition of
Portugal. In 1808, French forces under Marshal Joachim Murat
captured Madrid. Members of the Portuguese royal family, under
the British protection escaped to the of colony of Brazil. They
remained there until the overthrow of Napoleon.
7.12. The Battle Of Nations: The collapse of the Grand Army was
a great military and political setback for Napoleon. This encouraged
the formation of the Fourth Coalition comprising of England,
Austria, Russia, Prussia and Sweden. The Germans began their
war of liberation. Though Napoleon won initial victories against the
allies, he was defeated in the so-called Battle of Nations at Leipzig
in October 1813. Napoleon retreated into France. The allies
pursued him and captured Paris in March 1814.
Questions
1. Give and account of the expansion and consolidation of the
Napoleonic Empire in Europe.
8
ERA OF METTERNICH-I
8.3. The First Treaty Of Paris: The Allies lost no time in enforcing
their decisions on France and by 30 May 1814, the First Treaty of
Paris was signed. It was mainly due to the efforts of the able
statesman of France, Talleyrand that the Allies offered lenient
terms to France. The First Treaty of Paris fixed the boundaries of
France fixed at what they were in 1792 and not to those of 1789.
France was neither disarmed nor called upon to pay a war
indemnity, neither was she asked to restore the masterpieces of
art, which Napoleon had plundered from Italy or Germany. The
island of Malta in the Mediterranean, which Napoleon had
conquered, but which England had taken from him, remained with
England. France retained all her trading stations and commercial
privileges in India, but was compelled to dismantle all fortresses.
France ceded to England Mauritius, a naval station on way to India.
However, the allies returned to France the rich island of
Guadeloupe and most of her other possessions in the West Indies.
Tobago and St. Lucia were ceded to England and part of San
Domingo to Spain. France retained her Fishery Rights in the
St.Lawrence and off Newfoundland. Her military advantages in her
colonies were, therefore, reduced, but her commercial wealth
remained practically unimpaired. Yet the Allies could have deprived
her of every colony she possessed.
Austria had played a leading role during the revolutionary era and
its Chancellor, Metternich was greatly responsible for the downfall
of Napoleon. Thus, Vienna, the capital of Austria was chosen as
the venue of the Congress of the European sovereigns and
statesmen to settle the post-Napoleon problems of Europe.
After the final defeat of Napoleon, the Allies imposed the Second
Treaty of Paris (20 November 1815) on France. The terms of this
treaty were sterner than the First Treaty of Paris. She was now
compelled to pay a war indemnity, to restore the works of art, to
submit to being garrisoned by an Allied army until 1818. Her
boundaries in Europe were further reduced from the line of 1792 to
that of 1790, and certain strategic places on the frontier were now
taken from her. Had it not been for the moderating counsels of
Castlereagh and Wellington, France might have been compelled to
cede Alsace and Lorraine.
Questions
1. Examine the various problems faced by the European
statesmen following the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte. How
far were they successful in solving them?
2. What were the aims and objectives of the Congress of
Vienna? How far were they achieved by the Treaty of Vienna
(1815)?
3. Give an account of the settlement imposed on France in
particular and Europe in general by the European statesmen
in the Congress of Vienna.
84
9
ERA OF METTERNICH-II
Questions
1. Review the working of the Concert of Europe.
92
10
ERA OF METTERNICH-III
of the freedom of the press. Their recognized leader was the Count
of Artois, the King‘s brother, whom they looked forward to be the
next king.
It may be said that the Revolution of 1830 was a victory for the
middle class (bourgeoisie). The liberal middle class comprising of
the journalists, merchants and other professionals engineered the
revolution. Louis Philippe represented this middle class. His regime
is also known as the ‗July Monarchy‘ and also referred as the
‗Bourgeoisie Monarchy‘.
Questions
100
11
ERA OF METTERNICH-IV
Louis Philippe had many qualifications for his new task as the ruler
of France. He was shrewd though not scrupulous, and fully
conscious that he must never forget his role of constitutional king.
He was tolerant in religious matters, whereas his predecessors had
been bigoted. He took pain to divest himself of any character of
Divine Right. He sent his sons to the ordinary schools, he walked
about the streets with an umbrella under his arm, he lived in the
Tuileries and appeared readily to bow from the balcony when there
was any applause in the streets. He was anxious to represent
himself as the heir of all the historic tendencies of France. As a
Bourbon he claimed to embody the historic past, as the son of
Egalite and the soldier of Jemmappes he claimed to have shared in
the glories of the Revolution. He restored the tricolour and the
National Guard. He did not even refuse to recognize Napoleon.
During his reign, the body of the great conqueror was brought from
St. Helena by a son of a royal house and laid in the most
magnificent of resting places at the Invalides. He filled the Palace of
Versailles with pictures of all the battles of French history and
solemnly dedicated it ‗to all the glories of France.‘
Questions
1. Discuss the causes and results of the Revolution of 1848.
12
ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION-I
AGRARIAN REVOLUTION
Objectives:
America. One of the revolution‘s chief effect was the rapid growth of
towns and cities in Europe and the United States during the 1800‘s.
As fewer people were needed to produce food, farm families by the
thousands moved to the towns and cities.
gross produce, but on net profits, that is, the amount that went to
feed the industrial population in the towns. Enclosures tended to
reduce the number of the rural workers and increase those of the
towns. The same amount of food produced by fewer hands would
cost less to produce. This resulted in an increase in profit. As such
the landlords could exact more rent. Bringing the poorer lands
under farming led to a rise in the relative value of good land and
thus, rents rose due to this factor as well.
The major change was the introduction of the potato into England in
the late sixteenth century. For most of the following century it
remained a curiosity, but by the close of the seventeenth century it
seems that potatoes were fairly widely grown in the north-west for
everyday consumption. A major growth in potato cultivation took
place during the last quarter of the eighteenth century against the
background of population growing at an unprecedented rate, and a
series of bad harvests during the 1790s. In the nineteenth century,
potatoes became a food of those working on the land as well as
those working in industry. Much of the new cultivation took place in
small plots of land cultivated by agricultural labourers, in cottage
gardens, in allotments, and in potato patches in the corners of
farmers‘ fields.
providing fodder, usually for sheep, in March and April when fodder
shortages were usually most acute.
The first major change in harvesting technology was the shift from
shearing with the serrated-edge sickle to reaping with a smooth-
edged hook, then to ‗bagging‘ with a heavy smooth hook, and
115
Questions
1. Examine the various factors that led to the Agrarian
Revolution in England.
(a) Enclosures
116
13
ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION-II
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Objectives:
Until the early 1800's, almost all weaving was done on handlooms
as no one could solve the problem of mechanical weaving. In 1733,
John Kay, Lancashire clockmaker, invented the flying shuttle. This
machine doubled the speed of weaving. In the mid-1780', an
Anglican clergyman named Edmund Cartwright developed a steam-
powered loom. By this invention, textile production was
revolutionized as the speed of weaving was greatly increased. In
1803, John Horrocks, a Lancashire machine manufacturer, built an
all-metal loom. With the passage of time further improvements were
made in the loom.
120
To make iron, the metal had to be separated from the non metallic
elements in the ore. This separation process is called smelting. For
thousands of years before the Industrial Revolution, smelting had
been done by placing iron ore in a furnace with burning fuel that
lacked enough oxygen to burn completely. Oxygen in the ore
combined with the fuel, and the pure melted metal flowed into small
moulds called pigs. The pigs were then hammered by hand into
sheets. Beginning in the early 1600's, the pigs were rolled into
sheets by rolling mills.
During the early 1800's two Scottish engineers, John Macadam and
Thomas Telford, made important advances in road construction.
John Macadam discovered a method of building sturdy roads with
layers of broken stones. Such roads came to be known as
Macadamized roads. Telford developed a technique of using large
stones for road foundations. These new methods of road building
made travel by land faster and smoother.
The first rail systems in England carried coal. Horses pulled the
freight cars, which moved on iron rails. In 1804, Richard Trevithick
built the first steam locomotive. In 1814, George Stephenson built
the iron-horse worked by steam to carry coal from mine to the port.
He improved the steam engine and by 1830, Stephenson's famous
steam locomotive engine named ―Rocket‖ began to carry goods
and passengers on the Liverpool-Manchester Railway in 1830 at a
speed of 29 miles per hour.
The old method of small production in the home with one's own
tools could not meet the competition of machine production.
Moreover, the cost of machinery was prohibitive to the individual
workers. This led to the rise of the factory system. This stimulated
the growth of division of labour and of mass production through
standardization of processes and parts.
Housing in the growing industrial cities could not keep up with the
migration of workers from rural areas. Severe overcrowding
resulted in the growth of slums in many of the urban centres. As a
result many people lived in extremely unsanitary conditions that led
to the outbreak of diseases.
Due to the Industrial Revolution, the factory wages were low. Some
employers deliberately kept them low. Many people agreed with the
English writer Arthur Young, who wrote: "Every one but an idiot
knows that the lower classes must be kept poor, or they will never
be industrious." However, the working and living conditions of the
working class began to improve during the 1800's. The British
Parliament began to act in the interest of the middle and working
classes. It passed laws regulating factory conditions.
Although the working class did not first share in the prosperity of
the Industrial Revolution, members of the middle and upper classes
prospered from the beginning. Many people made fortunes during
this period. The revolution made available products that provided
new comforts and conveniences to those who could afford them.
The middle class won political and educational benefits.
Questions
1. Discuss the factors that led to the Industrial Revolution in
England.
127
14
ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION-III
DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIALISM
(UTOPIAN AND MARXIST)
Objectives:
14.1. Introduction:
The word ‗socialism‘ was first used in the early 1830s by the
followers of Robert Owen in Britain and those of Saint Simon in
France. By the mid-nineteenth century it denoted a vast range of
reformist and revolutionary ideas in England, Europe, and the
United States. All of them emphasized the need to transform
capitalist industrial society into a much more egalitarian system in
which collective well-being for all became a reality, and in which the
pursuit of individual self-interest became subordinate to such
values as association, community, and cooperation. There was
thus an explicit emphasis on solidarity, mutual interdependence,
and the possibility of achieving genuine harmony in society to
replace conflict, instability, and upheaval. A critique of the social-
class basis of capitalism was accompanied by the elevation of the
interests of working class or proletariat to a position of supreme
importance, and in some cases the principle of direct workers‘
control under socialism was invoked as an alternative to the rule of
existing dominant classes and elites.
128
Although the utopian socialists did not share any common political,
social, or economic perspectives, Marx and Engels argued that
certain intellectual characteristics of the utopian socialists unified
the disparate thinkers. In The Communist Manifesto, Marx and
Engels wrote, "The undeveloped state of the class struggle, as well
as their own surroundings, causes Socialists of this kind to consider
themselves far superior to all class antagonisms. They want to
improve the condition of every member of society even that of the
most favored. Hence, they habitually appeal to society at large,
without distinction of class; nay, by preference, to the ruling class.
For how can people, when once they understand their system, fail
to see it in the best possible plan of the best possible state of
society?. Hence, they reject all political, and especially all
revolutionary, action; they wish to attain their ends by peaceful
means, and endeavor, by small experiments, necessarily doomed
to failure, and by the force of example, to pave the way for the new
social Gospel.‖ The contribution of some of the prominent Utopian
Socialists is given below:
Owen was part owner and the head of the New Lanark Cotton Mills
in Scotland in 1799. By improving working and housing conditions
and providing schools he created a model community. His ideas
stimulated the cooperative movement by pooling of resources for
joint economic benefit. He attracted international attention by
showing that workers could be treated well, even generously,
without the employer incurring any loss. Owen wrote on the subject
of proper social conditions, and tried to interest the British
government in building ‗Villages of Cooperation‘. He suggested that
these villages should be partly agricultural and partly industrial. In
1825, Owen implemented his ideas through an experiment by
establishing the famous ―New Harmony Community‖ in Indiana
(USA). It was designed as a voluntary and freely self-governing
cooperative community. Unfortunately, the experiment was a
failure. Owen lost popularity by his anti-religious views. Many of his
associates at New Harmony refused to work. After the failure of the
New Harmony experiment in 1827, Owen returned to England.
Owen retired from business to devote all his time to his social
theories. He lived in London. He organized the ‗Grand National
Consolidated Trades Union‘ in 1833, in order that the unions might
take over industry and run it cooperatively. However, this scheme
collapsed in 1834. In ‗A New View of Society‘ (1813), he claimed
that personal character is wholly determined by environment. He
had earlier abolished child employment, established sickness and
old-age insurance and opened educational and recreational
facilities at his cotton mills in the north of England.
However, property was the basis of his system which led him to
reject the state and all forms of collectivism. Like Karl Marx, he
demanded an economic reorganization of society. He drew a sharp
distinction between economic and political action.
14.3. Marxism
The time spent in Paris was a formative period in Marx's life. When
he left the city in 1845, he was a dedicated socialist interested in
economics and the nature of history. It was in Paris that he reached
his interpretation of history which saw economic factors as the
cause of all historical change. From 1845 to 1848, Marx lived in
Brussels, Belgium. Thereafter he returned to Germany. He edited
the Neue Rheinische Zeitung, which was published from Cologne
during the German Revolution of 1848.Through this journal Marx
became a well-known figure throughout Germany as the supporter
of radical democratic reforms. After the collapse of the 1848
revolution, Marx fled from Prussia and spent the rest of his life as a
political exile in London.
134
In London, Karl Marx did not have a regular job for livelihood. He
was too proud or too much a professional revolutionary to work for
a living. However, he wrote occasional articles for newspapers. He
worked as a protocol reporter for the New York Tribune. Marx, his
wife and their six children were financially supported by Engels,
who sent them money regularly. In 1864, Marx founded The
―International Workingmen‘s Association‖. This association aimed
at improving the life of the working classes and preparing for a
socialist revolution.
The Das Kapital (Capital) is the major work of Karl Marx. The Das
Kapital, in three volumes, was published in 1867, 1885 and1894.
Marx spent about thirty years writing it. Engels edited the second
and third volumes from the original manuscripts of Marx. Both of
these volumes were published after the death of Marx. The fourth
volume exists only as a mass of scattered notes.
In the Das Kapital Karl Marx put forward his theory of the capitalist
system, its dynamism, and its tendencies toward self-destruction.
He described his purpose as to lay bare ―the economic law of
motion of modern society.‖
Much of the Das Kapital deals with Marx‘s concept of the surplus
value of labour and its consequences for capitalism. In Marx‘s
mind, it was not the pressure of population that drove wages to the
subsistence level but rather the existence of a large number of
unemployed. Marx held the capitalists responsible for this evil. He
was of the opinion that under the capitalistic system, labour was
merely a commodity and could get only its subsistence. The
capitalist could force the worker to spend more time on his job than
was necessary to earn his subsistence. The excess product, or
surplus value, thus created, was taken by the capitalist. As a result,
Marx saw the accumulation of riches being accompanied by the
rapid spread of human misery.
Hegel had based his dialectic on Plato's concept that ideas alone
possess reality. Ideas are the totality of thoughts and experiences.
Hegel was of the opinion that the task of philosophy was to arrive at
an understanding of what had happened in the past. However,
Marx differed from Hegel and emphasized that the function of
philosophy was not to interpret the world but to change it. Marx
rejected the idealist philosophy of Hegel and retained his dialectical
method. According to Hegel mind was real and matter was the
reflection of mind. Whereas Marx held that matter was real and
mind was the reflection of matter.
After formulating his idea about materialism, Marx put forward the
concept of historical materialism and applied it to the particular field
of human relations in the society. According to Marx, production
and exchange govern all human relations. Two factors enter into
production - (i) Productive forces, i.e., men, their labour, practical
skill and their instruments. (ii) Productive relations between men
and relations between men and things.
Marx was of the opinion that private ownership of the chief means
of production was the core of the class system. For the people to
be truly free, Marx believed that, the means of production must be
publicly owned by the community as a whole.
Under the industrial set up, the labourer only owns his skill to work
which he sells to the capitalist and receives wages in return.
However, the wages received by the labourer are very much lower
than the value of the labour. The amount of surplus value
appropriated by the capitalist may be calculated as follows.
Suppose a labourer works ten hours a day and only six hours work
is needed for his subsistence wage. The surplus value, in this case,
appropriated by the capitalist is equal to four hours work of the
labourer. In order to solve this problem, Marx advocated the
abolition of the capitalist society and nationalization or socialization
of all means of production, distribution and exchange.
would organize themselves against the capitalists and fight for their
rights. Thus, the revolution of the working class against the
capitalists would destroy the capitalism.
(f) Withering Away of the State: Marx had his own views
regarding the origin and nature of the state. It has been generally
accepted that the state exists or should exist to promote the welfare
of its citizens. However, Marx denied this. According to him the
state is an instrument in the hands of the economically dominant
class to establish its rule. The state is a machine for the
oppression of one class by another. Marx argued that with the
disappearance of the classes and the emergence of classless
society the need for the state will also disappear and the state will
'wither away'. Marx further asserted that the withering away of the
state will be followed by the emergence of a communist society,
free from exploitation and class war.
The dictatorship of the proletariat would not be the end or final state
of social evolution. It would be only a means to an end, i.e., the
withering away of the state. After establishing their political control
over the state machinery, the proletariat would destroy the
capitalists and the bourgeoisie and convert the means of
production, distribution and exchange into state property. When the
140
Questions
1. Who were the Utopian Socialists? Examine their contribution to
socialism.
(b) Proudhon
15
FORMATION OF NATION STATES – I
THEMES OF NATIONALISM -
UNIFICATION OF ITALY
Objectives:
Some of the things that conflicted and interfered with the unification
process were: Austrian control of Lombardy and Venice, several
independent Italian states, the autonomy of the Papal States, and
the limited power and influence of Italian leaders.
Thus, the bliss of Italian unity was short lived.
upon the need for the expulsion of the Austrian influence in Italy.
The liberals realised that Italy could never achieve unity until she is
free from the Austrian dominance. The petty Italian rulers were
more powerful against their subjects as they were backed by the
resources of the Austrian Empire. Metternich, the Austrian
Chancellor, as the promoter of the new European system based on
conservatism and reaction became a great obstacle in the way of
Italian unification.
Mazzini was one of the three men because of whom the unification
of Italy became possible. In fact, he was the forerunner in the quest
for Italian unity. Mazzini was born in Genoa in 1805. He studied law
and read widely the writings of democratic thinkers. As a young
man, he joined the revolutionary secret society, the Carbonari. His
radical views soon aroused the suspicion of the authorities and in
1830 he was arrested. Although the authorities failed to
substantiate a definite case against Mazzini, he was banished from
the country soon after his release. But he did not give himself to
despair. Firmly putting all his personal interests aside, Mazzini
devoted himself to the cause of Italian independence and unity.
Mazzini, more than any other leader had grasped the vision of a
united Italy and preached the same vision to his countrymen. His
chief aim was to educate the Italians that Italy was a nation and not
a geographical expression, and to convince the people that ―the
whole peninsula, though divided by artificial political barriers, was a
living unity with a common heritage of traditions and historic
memories‖. Though, Mazzini failed to establish a republic in Italy,
his propaganda broadened the political horizon of Italians and
created a vigorous public opinion in favour of national
independence and unity.
While Piedmont had failed against Austria, Mazzini had also failed
in his attempt in establishing a Republic at Rome in 1849. The
Pope was protected by the French troops sent by Louis Napoleon.
Following the failure of the Republic, Mazzini went in to exile. In the
face of these developments, the Pope became more conservative.
Not only there was the decline of republicanism but also Gioberti‘s
plan for a federal union of the Italian states under the Pope. The
Pope, on whom the scheme depended, repudiated it after the
overthrow of Mazzini‘s republic and the restoration of the Papal
State. The Pope also appealed to the Italians to resist the
‗encroachment‘ of Piedmont. However, the Italian Catholics while
accepting the religious supremacy of the Pope disregarded his
political counsels and co-operated in the unification of Italy.
Questions
1. Write a note on the themes of nationalism.
2. Describe the different stages in the unification of Italy.
3. Give an account of the unification of Italy.
4. Examine the role of Mazzini, Cavour and Garibaldi in the
unification of Italy.
5. Write short notes on the following:
(a) Themes of nationalism
(b) Mazzini
(c) Count Cavour
(d) Garibaldi
153
16
FORMATION OF NATION STATES –II
UNIFICATION OF GERMANY
Objectives:
16.12. War With Denmark (1864): The actual occasion for war
between the two leading Powers of the Germanic Confederation
sprang from the thorny problem of the Schleswig and Holstein
duchies. These duchies, although subject to the Crown of
Denmark, had maintained an independent existence for four
centuries, and strenuously resisted the efforts of the Danish
national party, known as the Eider-Danes, to make them an integral
part of the kingdom. The situation was complicated by the fact that,
while the male line of the Danish royal house appeared likely to die
out, the Salic law, prohibiting succession in the female line, still
prevailed in the duchies. This meant that the personal union
between Denmark and the duchies would soon terminate unless
the autonomy of the latter were first extinguished.
Questions
1. Trace the initial attempts made towards the unification of
Germany before the emergence of Bismarck.
17
EASTERN QUESTION-I
Russia had racial affinity with the Balkan peoples. Thus, Russia
always claimed to champion the cause of the Balkan people
against the Turkish atrocities. The Tsar considered himself as the
natural protector of fellow Slavs in the Ottoman Empire.
.
The social system also undermined the fighting spirit of the Turkish
forces. The Turks came to rely more and more on slaves and
foreigners to do the work for them. Religious and racial factors were
the fundamental causes for the gradual shrinking of the Ottoman
Empire. Built up by the sword, Turkish dominion was maintained
only by the sword. No ties of common sentiment nor common
religion knit together conquerors and conquered. Racially and
religiously, the Turks were quite different from the Balkan people.
17.4. Serbian Revolt: The Serbians were the first among the
Balkan nationalities to rise in revolt against the Ottoman Empire in
1804. The revolt was led by Kara (Black) George, the ancestor of
the Karageorgevic dynasty of Serbia. It was a story of heroic fights
and bloody massacres on both sides. But after eight years Kara
George maintained his position, and in the Russo-Turkish Treaty of
1812 obtained a promise of autonomy. He was defeated in 1813,
and fled the country. Later in 1815 his rival, enemy and ultimate
murderer, Milos Obrenovic, raised another revolt against the Turks.
He was successful in asserting the de facto independence of
Serbia at once and, after many and tedious delays, secured a
constitution and the recognition of himself as Prince of Serbia. It
was only in 1829 by the Treaty of Adrianople that the Serbians
enjoyed complete autonomy.
In April 1821, the revolt north of the Peloponnese spread across the
Isthmus of Corinth, north toward central Greece and toward Athens.
The Greek rebels captured a number of cities and towns from the
control of the Turks. The Greeks and the Turks manifested their
cruelty in the course of the Greek War of Independence. While the
Greek rebels massacred a large number of Muslims, the Turks
slaughtered Christians at Constantinople.
The Greeks had the advantage of superiority at sea. They were the
experienced mariners, and Greek sailors who had been working on
Ottoman ships abandoned those ships, leaving the Turks to recruit
inexperienced dock-labourers and peasants and the Turks
weakened on the sea. In 1822, the Greeks captured the coastal
region in the west just north of and across the isthmus from the
Peloponnese, and farther east they took Athens and Thebes. The
Greeks were not in control of west and east-central Greece as well
as on the Aegean islands.
than four centuries - a power which does not listen to reason and
knows no other law than its own will, which orders and disposes
everything despotically and according to caprice.‖
During the first six years (1821-1827), the Great Powers did not
intervene in the Greek War of Independence. It was generally
agreed to ‗hold the ring‘, to prevent outside interference, and to
regard the dispute as a private affair between Turkey and Greece.
During this period Russia, Austria and England followed similar
policy towards the Ottoman Empire and Greek War of
Independence.
This was the situation during the early years of the Greek War of
Independence. Yet, even at this stage it became increasingly
difficult for the European Powers to refrain from interference.
Russia, in particular, showed signs of restlessness. The Tsar could
not forget that he was the champion of the Orthodox Church, and
therefore had a particular interest in a war which bore the
171
Holy War against the Christian Powers, and repudiated the treaty
into which he had recently entered with Russia (Treaty of
Akkerman, 1826) respecting the Danubian Principalities and the
navigation of the Straits. This provided a pretext to Russia to
intervene in Turkey.
Questions
18
EASTERN QUESTION-II
The dispute between Russia and France over the question of the
Holy Places in Palestine became serious when the Tsar sent to
Constantinople Prince Menschikov, one of the most prominent
figures at the Russian Court, to demand not merely concessions in
the Holy Land, but also the recognition of the Russian claim to be
accepted as the protector of the Christians of the Balkan Peninsula.
At this point the British decided to checkmate the Tsar. The British
diplomat at Constantinople, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe feared and
disliked Russia. Though he saw the weak points of Turkey very
clearly, he was nevertheless determined to uphold her territorial
integrity and independence even at the risk of war. He took much
responsibility upon himself. Communications with London took a
long time, as the telegraph had no yet been brought to
178
Among the other European Powers, England was drawn in the war
on the side of the Ottoman Empire chiefly due to the traditional
179
At the end of October 1853, the joint French and English fleets
passed the Dardanelles to give their moral support to Turkey. While
they were in the neighbourhood of Constantinople, a Russian fleet
attacked and destroyed the Ottoman fleet at the Black Sea port of
Sinope on 30 November 1853, resulting in a public outcry in
England and France. This quite natural act of war seemed an insult
to the two great Western Powers, and an open war became
inevitable. England and France officially declared war on Russia in
March 1854. This marked a great change in European politics when
English and French soldiers appeared as allies on the battlefield,
and it may be said that it marked the beginning of the entente which
became fully established in the early twentieth century. England
and France were later joined by the Italian Kingdom of Sardinia in
1855 with the intention of being present at the peace conference
and thus able to argue for her interest in Italian unification. She also
needed assistance in her attempt to expel Austria from the smaller
Italian kingdoms.
The first object of the Allies was to drive the Russian forces from
the Principalities of Moldavia and Walachia. The Russians had laid
siege to Silestria, through which they planned to pass to a crossing
of the Balkans and to march on Constantinople. However, the
defence of the place was unexpectedly stubborn. The attitude of
Austria, while Russia remained on the Danube, was menacing. The
Russians were forced to abandon he siege of Silistria and withdrew
altogether from the principalities of Moldavia and Walachia.
Immediately Austria sent troops into the two Principalities. Austria
was to hold these principalities until the peace and handover them
to Turkey once peace was established. Meanwhile, the Vienna
Conference, in session throughout the war, formulated a peace
proposal. These proposals included: (1) the abolition of the Russian
Protectorate of the Danubian provinces; (2) the freedom of the
navigation of the Danube; (3) the complete introduction of Turkey
into ‗the European equilibrium‘; (4) the renunciation by Russia of
her exclusive patronage of the Balkan Christians.
180
into the field against Russia. A conference was held a Vienna which
lasted from March till May 1855. Meanwhile, the Russian Tsar
Nicholas I died during the course of the war in March 1855 and was
succeeded by Alexander II, who sent representatives to Vienna.
The ‗Four Points‘ were accepted by Russia as a basis of
negotiation. Finally, with the fall of Sebastopol on 9 September
1855, and after Austria threatened to enter the war, Russia agreed
to make peace. The new Tsar, Alexander II, anxious to give his
country peace agreed for a conference to be called at Paris.
Thus, the Crimean War had far reaching effects on the politics of
Europe. A check was put on the Russian influence in the Balkans
and the Black Sea. She was kept back from the Danube. Her
military strength in the Black Sea was completely finished for years
to come. The creation of two autonomous States of Moldavia and
Walachia put a barrier between Russia and Turkey. Turkey was the
greatest gainer by the Crimean War. She got a new lease of life
under the protection of the European Powers. Her territorial
integrity was guaranteed and she was admitted, for the first time, to
the European community of nations from which she had been
previously excluded.
Questions
1. Trace the circumstances that led to the Crimean War (1854-
56).
183
19
EASTERN QUESTION-III
The Russian Empire under its Tsars was also a despotic state. It
lagged behind the countries of western and central Europe in the
nineteenth century movements of industrialization, liberalism, and
constitutional government. For a brief time in the early 1860‘s Tsar,
Alexander II (1855-1881) had followed a ‗westernizing‘ policy and
introduced some liberal reforms, such as emancipating the serfs,
authorizing elective zemstovs to exercise certain powers of local
self-government, and modernizing the Empire‘s judicial system. But
the Tsar soon lost his reforming zeal and returned o the traditional
practices of repressing dissent at home and promoting expansion
abroad. In 1871, he took advantage of the defeat of France by
Germany, and of Bismarck‘s benevolent attitude, to get rid of the
limitations which had been imposed on Russia by the Treaty of
Paris (1856) following the end of the Crimean War. Violating the
provisions of the Treaty of Paris, the Tsar reestablished Russian
naval power in the Black Sea.
next few years, her very existence was threatened by Turkey, and
Russia came to the rescue of Montenegro. Rumania, though not a
Slav state, was assisted by Russia to complete her unity in 1861. In
1867 Russia intervened to remove the Turkish garrison from
Belgrade and other Serbian fortresses, and thus renewed her
intimate connection with Serbia. In 1870 Russia abrogated the
Black Sea clauses of the Treaty of Paris (1856), and announced
the restoration of the fortress of Sebastopol and rebuilding of her
navy on the shores of the Black Sea. These factors demonstrated
the revival of the Russian power and encouraged the Slav
population of the Balkans to rise against the Turks.
The first signs of revolt against the Turks began among the people
of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A bad harvest in 1874 led to the risings
in both Bosnia and Herzegovina, which became formidable in 1875.
They were helped by the people of Serbia and Montenegro. The
movement began to spread and there was the danger of a general
conflagration. The Great Powers were anxious to localize the rising
and to remove the causes of the rising. A note proposed by Count
Andrassy, the Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary was circulated
on 30 December 1875, in which the Turkish rule in the Balkans was
condemned and its shortcomings were pointed out. The Sultan
once again expressed his willingness to introduce reforms.
However, the Christian rebel nationalities had no faith in the
promises of the Sultan.
The Turks tried to crush the Bulgarian revolt with a heavy hand
resorting to outright massacre in which nearly twelve thousand
Bulgars including women and children were killed. The Turkish
atrocities against the Bulgarians stirred the deepest sympathy of
Christian Europe. When the report of the atrocities committed by
the Turks on the people of Bulgaria reached England, the British
public opinion was aroused against the Turks. These events
brought Gladstone, the leader of the Liberal Party in England from
temporary retirement and induced him to publish a pamphlet called
186
consider the situation in the Balkans. Abdul Hamid II, who had
become the Sultan of Turkey at the end of August1876 through a
palace revolution was a cruel and cunning despot. A day before the
Conference of Great Powers met at Constantinople to demand
reforms, the new Sultan promulgated a liberal constitution for the
entire Ottoman Empire. The Sultan, as a liberal and constitutionalist
informed the delegates at the conference that Turkey was now a
reformed state, and that he should not be asked to surrender his
sovereign rights over his own subjects, when he has invited them to
share in his government. Thus, the conference, nonplussed and
baffled, broke up without accomplishing anything. Once being free
from the European pressure, Abdul Hamid II ended the constitution
in May 1877, disgraced Midhat Pasha, who had promoted the
liberal constitution and murdered him a few years later.
19.8. The Treaty Of San Stefano (1878): By this treaty: (1) The
Sultan of Turkey recognized the complete independence of Serbia,
Montenegro, and Rumania. (2) The Sultan agreed to introduce
reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina under the joint control of Russia
and Austria. (3) Greater Bulgaria was to be created as an
autonomous tributary state extending from the Danube River to the
Aegean Sea and from the Black Sea to Albania comprising of north
and south Bulgaria (Eastern Roumelia) as well as considerable part
of Macedonia.
Questions
1. Examine the causes and consequences of the Russo-
Turkish War (1877-78).
20
ROAD TO WAR AND PEACE – I
However, the Three Emperors‘ League was doomed right from the
beginning. The ideas of Austria-Hungary differed essentially from
those of Russia. Austria-Hungary wished to absorb Serbia, to
annex Salonica, but to preserve the Turkish Empire if she could. On
the other hand, Russia wished to dominate Bulgaria, to annex
Constantinople, and to break up the Turkish Empire if she could.
Between these two extreme views there could be no real
reconciliation.
Russia, they would assist each other with all their forces. However,
in the event of an attack by any other Power (France), the allied
country would observe ‗benevolent neutrality‘. If Russia joined
France,either by active cooperation or military measures,‘ Austria
and Germany agreed to act together. The alliance was to continue
for five years, with a possible extension of three years. It was
renewed in 1883 and at subsequent intervals and, after 1902, was
automatically renewed at the end of every three years till 1914.
Tunis. Italy had long had her eye on Tunis, but Bismarck had
thoughtfully omitted to inform her of France‘s intentions. Italy felt
hat she was being isolated and turned to Austria-Hungary for help.
Thus, Bismarck managed to take advantage of the irritation of Italy
against the annexation of Tunis by France by drawing her into an
alliance.
21
ROAD TO WAR AND PEACE – II
saw the railway as a threat to their interests in the Middle East. The
Franco-German rivalry over Morocco nearly plunged European
powers into a war. However, diplomatic skills avoided a conflict for
the time being.
21.2.5. Policies of Kaiser William II: The German Emperor
William I died in 1888, and after the brief reign of his son Frederick,
William II came to the throne. The young Kaiser was a very
different man from the ageing Chancellor, Bismarck. Bismarck was
a shrewd statesman and calculating diplomat. The Kaiser, on the
other hand, was at the mercy of his moods and emotions. He was
born with a deformity which crippled one of his arms. Being afflicted
with a handicap which, if he had been a private citizen, would have
excluded him from a military career, he nonetheless found himself
‗supreme war lord‘ of the greatest military power in the world, and
he was resolved to prove himself equal to his position.
The old chancellor had been content with military predominance in
Europe. The new Kaiser looked beyond Europe, and in both
directions. He wanted to build a supreme navy to dominate the
Atlantic and desired to extend German influence beyond Austria to
Turkey. In 1898 the Kaiser made a spectacular tour to
Constantinople and Jerusalem. He proclaimed his friendship with
the Sultan Abdul Hamid. This double policy of expansion, on sea to
the west and overland to the east antagonized both England and
Russia. The Kaiser could never correctly calculate the indirect
consequences of his actions because he could never understand
any other point of view except his own.
danger and horror in the trenches. Those who had bled and
suffered for their country came to demand a say in running it.
21.5.4. Political Impact
(a) Establishment of Democratic Republics: Germany set up
the Weimar Republic with its parliamentary constitution to replace
the old empire. Austria also became a democratic republic. The
establishment of the League of Nations with forty-one members in
1920 raised democratic government to the international level and
stressed the liberal principles of world peace and the rule of law.
(b) Rise of New Nations: The World War I resulted in the end of
monarchies, collapse of empires and rise of new nations. The first
monarch to fall was Tsar Nicholas II of Russia in 1917. Kaiser
William II of Germany and Emperor Charles of Austria-Hungary left
their thrones in 1918. The Ottoman Sultan, Muhammad VI, fell in
1922. The collapse of old empires led to the creation of new nations
on the basis of the principle of self determination proclaimed by the
United States President Woodrow Wilson. The pre-war territory of
Austria-Hungary formed the independent republics of Austria,
Hungary and Czechoslovakia, as well as parts of Italy, Poland,
Rumania and Yugoslavia. Russia and Germany also gave up
territory to Poland. Finland and Baltic states-Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania gained independence from Russia. Most of the Arab
lands in the Ottoman Empire were placed under the control of
France and Britain. The rest of the Ottoman Empire became
Turkey. Collapse of the empires and rise of new nations led to the
redrawing the map of Europe.
(c) Emergence of Dictatorship: Outside Britain and France the
democratic honeymoon in Europe was brief. The war had
devastated the countries. The European democracies, apart from
England with her solid two-party system, had parliaments based on
five or six different political groups. Their governments were based
on coalitions with narrow majorities. This weakened the democratic
governments. They were unable to solve the post war economic
problems and provide strong and stable government. Thus, the
post-war Europe witnessed the rise of dictatorships in various
countries. Fascist dictatorship was established in Italy under
Mussolini; Nazi dictatorship in Germany under Hitler; Communist
dictatorship in Russia under Stalin and military dictatorship in Japan
under Tojo. Dictators also emerged in Spain (General Franco),
Portugal (Dr. Salazar) and Turkey (Mustafa Kemal Pasha).
(d) Change in the European Balance of Power: The war and
peace settlement destroyed the old balance of power in Europe.
Communist Russia withdrew into isolation. The Turkish and
Austrian Empires were broken up. The new nations which arose out
of the peace settlement, such as Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia
were not strong enough to fill up the power vacuum created in
212
Europe. When Germany grew strong again under Hitler she was
able to dominate the new Europe more easily.
21.5.5. The Peace Settlement: The terms of the peace settlement
which followed the World War I were debated around the
programme of war and peace aims included in President Wilson‘s
Fourteen Points. Wilson believed that the Fourteen Points would
bring about a just peace settlement, which he termed ―peace
without victory‖. In November 1918, Germany agreed to an
armistice. Germany expected that the peace settlement would be
based on the Fourteen Points.
In May 1919, the Peace Conference approved the Treaty of
Versailles and presented it to Germany. Germany agreed to it only
after the Allies threatened to invade her territory. With grave
doubts, German representatives signed the treaty in the Palace of
Versailles near Paris on 28 June 1919. The date was the fifth
anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand.
In addition to the treaty of Versailles with Germany, the peace-
makers drew up separate treaties for the other Central Powers. The
Treaty of St. Germaine was imposed on Austria in September
1919, the Treaty of Neuilly with Bulgaria in November 1919, the
Treaty of Trianon with Hungary in June 1920 and the Treaty of
Sevres with the Ottoman Empire in August 1920.
By the Treaty of Versailles, Germany gave up territories to Belgium,
Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France and Poland and lost her
overseas colonies. France gained control of coal fields in
Germany‘s Saar Valley for 15 years. An Allied military force, paid
for by Germany, was to occupy the west bank of the River Rhine for
15 years. Other clauses in the treaty limited Germany‘s armed
forces and required the country to turn over materials, ships
livestock and other goods to the Allies. A total sum of reparations
was not fixed until 1921. The total indemnity to be paid by Germany
was fixed at $ 33 billion by a Reparation Commission.
The Treaty of St. Germaine and the Treaty of Trianon reduced
Austria-Hungary to less than a third of their original area. The
treaties recognized the independence of Czechoslovakia, Poland
and Yugoslavia. These new states, along with Italy and Rumania,
received territory that had belonged to Austria-Hungary. The Treaty
of Sevres deprived the Ottoman Empire of Egypt, Lebanon,
Mesopotamia, Palestine, Syria and Trasjordan. Bulgaria lost
territory to Greece and Rumania. Germany‘s allies also had to
reduce their armed forces and pay reparations.
21.5.6. Encouragement to Nationalism: The ideals of Woodrow
Wilson, such as the justification of the U.S. entry into World War I
‗to make the world safe for democracy‘ and ‗the principle of self-
determination of the people‘ greatly inspired and encouraged the
people of Asia, struggling under the European imperialism. In many
213
Questions
1. Analyze the factors that led to World War I.
2. Discuss the causes and consequences of World War I.
3. Trace the course of events that led to the World War I.
4. Critically examine the results of the World War I.
5. Write short notes on the following:
(a) Military Alliances
(b) International Crisis
(c) Immediate cause of World War I
(d) Political Impact of World War I
214
22
ROAD TO WAR AND PEACE – III
and in the same Hall of Mirrors that the king of Prussia, in the midst
of a successful war against France was proclaimed as the German
Emperor.
war, but that she had been stabbed in the back by a conspiracy of
democrats, Communists and Jews. Thus, the Treaty of Versailles
created a sense of revenge among the Germans. Failure of the
Weimar Republic to solve the post-war problems paved the way for
the rise of Hitler and his Nazi party, who promised to undo the
Treaty of Versailles.
22.6.4. It Created Dissatisfaction among other Nations: The
victors were also dissatisfied with the Treaty of Versailles. The
French were uneasy, obsessed with fears of a German revival. The
Italians alleged that they had been cheated. The Russians, though
not directly involved in the settlement, regarded it as a hostile
conspiracy, which robbed them of lands such as the Baltic
provinces, now independent nations. Some of the new states,
however, not really nation states, like Czechoslovakia and
Yugoslavia, were unions of peoples.
22.6.5. It Failed to Maintain Peace: Much of the criticism, which
was aimed at the peacemakers, could more properly have been
aimed at the later statesmen. They were more pre-occupied with
their alleged grievances than with constructive effort to consolidate
the peace. Many leaders such as Mussolini, showed greater
concern for national self-interest rather than for international law.
Clemenceau had perhaps set a poor example, working above all in
the peace settlement for the interests of France. In due course it
became fashionable to explain the outbreak of the Second World
War in 1939 in terms of the alleged injustices of the Treaty of
Versailles, but the aggressiveness of Nazi Germany offers a more
obvious explanation.
22. 7. Other Treaties :
The Treaty of Versailles was the most important of the series of
treaties, which constituted the general peace settlement of Paris.
Following the Treaty of Versailles with Germany in June 1919, it
remained for the Allies to make peace with Germany‘s wartime
confederates, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire.
Just as representatives of Germany had been called upon to accept
the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, so, in turn, representatives of
Germany‘s confederates were summoned to other suburbs of Paris
to sign their respective treaties. Peace treaties were thus, signed at
St. Germaine with Austria (10 September, 1919); at Neuilly with
Bulgaria (27 November, 1919); at Trianon with Hungary (4 June,
1920); and at Sevres with the Ottoman Empire (1 August, 1920).
22.7.1. Treaty of St. Germaine with Austria (1919): By the Treaty
of St. Germaine Austria was required to recognize the
independence of Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and
Yugoslavia, and to cede to them many territories which formerly
were included in the Dual Empire of Austria-Hungary. The result of
this treaty was that Austria was reduced to a small republic with an
223
Questions
225
23
TRANSFORMATION OF RUSSIA-I
among the East Slavs during the 800's. The first Slavic state was
organized in the ninth century in the region of Kiev. By about 1240, the
Around 1450, the principate of Moscovy freed itself from the Mongol
control, consolidated control over the Great Russia and expanded into
The first military efforts of Peter the Great were directed against the
Ottoman Turks. His attention then turned to the north. Russia still
lacked a secure northern seaport except at Archangel on the White
Sea, whose harbour was frozen nine months a year. Access to the
Baltic Sea was blocked by Sweden, whose territory enclosed it on
three sides. Peter's ambitions for a ‗window to the sea‘ led him in
1699 to make a secret alliance with the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth and Denmark against Sweden, resulting in the
Great Northern War. The war ended in 1721 when an exhausted
Sweden sued for peace with Russia. Peter acquired four provinces
situated south and east of the Gulf of Finland, thus securing his
coveted access to the sea. There he built Russia's new capital, St.
Petersburg, as a ‗window opened upon Europe‘ to replace Moscow,
long Russia's cultural center.
The condition of the serfs under private landlords was terrible. Their
condition can be inferred from the statement of a Russian patriot in
1826, who stated that ―the negroes on the American plantations
were happier than the Russian private serfs.‖ Their owners usually
sold their serfs like cattle, even separating members of one family,
and exacting from those who remained extra dues and labour. The
Russian law relating to the serfs stated that ―the proprietor may
impose on his serfs every kind of labour, may take from them
money dues, and demand from them personal service.‖ The private
owner could also inflict corporal punishment, hand them over as
conscripts to the military authorities, or transport them to Siberia.
Historians have given accounts of horrible conditions of the serfs.
The peasants of the smaller proprietors were subject to direct
oppression at the hands of their masters. Those peasants owned
by the great nobles, who lived in St. Petersburg, also suffered at
the hands of their stewards and tenants. They perished by
hundreds in the factories established, at that period to augment the
incomes of these great landed proprietors. They were also
subjected to inhuman punishments, imprisoned in underground
cellars, kept in chains, or flogged to death, by order of the master or
his steward. Earlier, Catherine the Great had deprived the serfs of
all legal rights, and ordered that those who ventured to seek
redress against their masters should be punished and transported
to life to the mines.
the serfs. All reformers were of the opinion that the abolition of
serfdom was the indispensable starting-point of national
regeneration. In Russia there were more than 22 million serfs,
compared to 4 million slaves in the United States. They were
around 44 percent of Russia's population, and described as slaves.
They were the property of a little over 100,000 land owning lords.
Some were owned by religious foundations, and some by the Tsar
(state peasants). Some worked for people other than their lords, but
they had to make regular payments to their lord, with some of the
more wealthy lords owning enough serfs to make a living from
these payments.
In 1870, cities and towns were given powers similar to the zemstvo
- power to pursue municipal economic development and to look
after the welfare of its inhabitants. A limited democracy of sorts was
created in the form of town councils, its members elected by
property owners and taxpayers.
The reign of Alexander II was also remarkable for the reforms in the
legal system. A commission was set up to examine the judicial
system. The commission found that the existing Russian judicial
system contained no less than twenty-five radical defects. These
defects were sought to be removed by setting up new institutions
modeled on Western ideas. In 1864, the principles of English and
French jurisprudence were introduced. These principles included
the separation of judicial and administrative powers, independence
235
Under Alexander II, the system for state finances was improved,
laying a foundation for industrial expansion. The industrial
expansion in Russia had already begun in the same way that it was
in Western Europe and the United States, that is, with the
expansion of rail lines. The growth in rail lines enabled farmers to
send their crops to consumers farther away, and to sell their crops
at a more stable price. Railway expansion increased Russia's ability
to export grain, providing Russia with money to invest in more
industrialization. Railway expansion allowed for a growth in the
mining of minerals. The coal, iron and steel industries were
growing, as was the railway-equipment industry. There was more
demand for rails, locomotives and other goods, stimulating the
economy. Industrial suburbs appeared around Moscow and St.
Petersburg and industrial workers grew in number.
plunged once more into reaction, and many of the excesses which
had affected the administration of Nicholas I began to reappear.
The chief reason for the growth of a reactionary spirit in the later years of
were conceived not in the spirit of an idealist, but from the conviction that
where change was inevitable it ought to proceed from above rather than
from below. He did not possess the large creative mind and breadth of
called upon to handle. He was forced to rely upon his councilors who had
of Nicholas, who were imbibed with his reactionary doctrines. After 1864,
Polish insurrection, and partly from the fear that further reforms would
Questions
1. Give an account of the conditions in Russia during first half
of the nineteenth century.
24
TRANSFORMATION OF RUSSIA-II
against the inefficient conduct of the war and the arbitrary policies
of the imperial government, the Tsar and his ministers simply
brushed it aside. To make matters worse, the Tsar left the
government at the hands of his wife Tsarina Alexandra and went to
the war front to supervise personally the war efforts.
As the war dragged on, Russia‘s cities experienced increasing
inflation, food shortages, bread lines and general misery. The
impact was felt especially in the major cities, which were flooded
with refugees from the front. Despite an outward calm, many Duma
leaders felt that Russia would soon be confronted with a new
revolutionary crisis. .
As the tide of discontent mounted, the Duma warned Nicholas II in
November 1916 that disaster would overtake the country unless the
‗dark‘ or treasonable, elements were removed from the court. The
Tsar ignored the warning. In December a group of aristocrats, led
by Prince Felix Yusupov assassinated Rasputin in the hope that the
Tsar would then change his course. The Tsar failed to respond.
and of the Petrograd Soviet was the Minister of Justice in the first
cabinet of the Provisional Government. Later, he became the
Minister of War and finally became the Prime Minister. Kerensky
was in favour of bringing about liberal democracy in Russia.
The Provisional Government consisted of the representatives of
middle classes. It believed in constitutional government and
introduced a number of reforms in various fields. It allowed freedom
of speech and of the press. People were also assured of the
freedom of religion and to form unions to protect their interests.
Arbitrary arrest and imprisonment was discontinued. Discrimination
against the Jews, which was a legacy of the Tsarist regime was
abolished. They were granted political, civil and military rights.
Political prisoners were released. Those who had been exiled to
Siberia during the Tsarist regime were allowed to return. A promise
was made for the election of a Constituent Assembly based on
adult franchise to frame a new constitution for Russia. Autonomy
was promised to the people of Poland and constitutional rights to
the people of Finland.
24.4.2. Problems Faced by the Provisional Government:
(a) Dual authority of the Provisional Government and
Petrograd Soviet: Though the Provisional Government
conducted the business of the government and introduced a
number of reforms, the Petrograd Soviet exercised the real
power. When the Provisional Government took power, the
Petrograd Soviet of deputies, representing workers, peasants
and soldiers, also began to meet regularly. Initially the aim of
the Soviet was to keep a watchful eye on the government and
to protect the interests of the masses. It issued its own
newspaper Izvestia. Soviets were established in different parts
of Russia, which were linked in regional and national
congresses. Broadly, the Provisional Government represented
the middle classes and the soviets represented the masses.
(b) Failure to meet the demands of peasants and workers: The
Provisional Government was too slow in dealing with the
peasants‘ demand for the redistribution of land still under
private ownership. The peasants were opposed to any
compensation to the landlords for the lands acquired from
them. A decision on this problem was postponed until the
meeting of the Constituent Assembly. However, desperate
peasants began to take possession of private land. As the
news of this reached the army, peasant soldiers gave up their
army postings and joined in the land grabbing. There was also
a demand to nationalize industries without offering any
compensation to the capitalists. As the Provisional Government
had assured full individual freedom, it found it difficult to accept
these demands.
246
politics. In the mid-1890s Lenin quit his law practice and settled in
St. Petersburg. There he became associated with a group of
radicals who were similarly impressed by the ideas of Marx.
The Marxist activists of St. Petersburg under the leadership of
Lenin began working with the industrial workers of the city. They
tried to increase their awareness regarding their political and
economic power. They also attempted to help organize strikes to
improve working conditions in the factories. In 1895, the St.
Petersburg Marxists formed an organization called the Union of
Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class.
24.5.2. Arrest and Exile: The St. Petersburg union was short-lived.
The state police arrested Lenin along with other prominent Marxist
leaders. After serving 15 months in prison, Lenin was sentenced in
1897 to three years of exile, which he spent in the southern Siberia.
It was during this period in Siberia that Lenin produced his first
major work, The Development of Capitalism in Russia (1899). Lenin
believed that Russia was ready for a revolution led by the lower
classes, a revolution that would result in the overthrow of the
imperial regime and the establishment of a socialist economy and
state.
24.5.3. Leader of the Bolsheviks: Lenin‘s term of exile ended in
1900 and he went abroad, first to Switzerland and then he settled in
Munich, Germany. Together with other like-minded Marxists, Lenin
became one of the principal editors of the newspaper Iskra (The
Spark), first published in Munich in December 1900. The
newspaper‘s aim was to bring together the Marxist groups
scattered throughout Europe, particularly Russia. In 1902 Lenin
published a pamphlet What Is to Be Done?, asserting his own belief
in a dedicated revolutionary party, strictly disciplined and
professional, to lead Russians to a Marxist state. In 1903, the
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party split into two groups due
to differences about membership. Lenin became the leader of the
Bolsheviks and the other group came to be known as the
Mensheviks.
From 1906 to 1908, Lenin spent most of his time writing
revolutionary pamphlets and attending party congresses in
England, Germany, and Sweden. Due to restrictions, he found it too
difficult to carry on revolutionary activities in Russia. After two years
in Finland, Lenin went to Switzerland and then to France. In April
1912, the Bolsheviks established Pravda (Truth), a revolutionary
newspaper that was sold openly. Lenin became the chief
contributor to Pravda.
24.5.4. Lenin's views on World War I: Lenin settled again in
Switzerland, where he spent the initial years of World War I (1914-
1918). The war inspired one of Lenin‘s most influential works, titled
Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism (1916). In this book,
248
Questions
1. Analyze the cause of the February Revolution of 1917 in
Russia.
2. Discuss the course of events that led to the Bolshevik
Revolution of 1917 in Russia.
3. Evaluate the role of Lenin in the October Revolution of 1917
in Russia.
253
Reading List
8. Breuning L., Age of Revolution And Reaction, 1789-1850, New York, 1977.
9. Brogan H., The Ancient Regime And The French Revolution, London, 1966.
10. Carr E.H., The Bolshevik Revolution, 1917-1926, Vol.I, New York, 1958.
11. Crawley C.W., The Question Of Greek War of Independence, London, 1930.
12. Davies Norman, Europe: A History, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996.
14. Drot E., Europe Between Revolutions, 1815-1848, New York, 1967.
15. Fay S.B., Origins Of The World War, New York, 1991.
th
16. Fisher H.A.L., A History of Europe, From The Early 18 Century To 1935
(Vol.II), London, 1935.
17. Gershoy Leo, The French Revolution And napoleon, Central Book Depot,
Allahabad, 1984.
18. Gold Frank D.M., Origins Of The Crimean War, London, 1994.
20. Lee Bens F., European History Since 1870, New York, 1955.
21. Longer W.L., European alliance And Alignment, New York, 1951.
27. Seten-Watson R.W., Disraeli, Gladstone And The Eastern Question, London,
1935.
29. Taylor A.J.P., Struggle For mastery In Europe 1848-1948, London, 1977.
30. Thomson David, Europe Since Napoleon, Jain Pustak Mandir, Jaipur, 1977.