revolutions of 1820's and 1830's?

Question

time. countries& people involved. main causes. significant events.results/treaties.

Answer 1

THE EUROPEAN POWERS THAT DEFEATED NAPOLEON MET AT THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA TO RESTORE PEACE AND ORDER TO EUROPE.

- BECAUSE OF THIS, THE PERIOD IS SOMETIMES CALLED THE ERA OF REACTION. A REACTIONARY IS ONE WHO WISHES TO TURN BACK TO A PREVIOUS WAY OF LIFE. A CONSERVATIVE WISHES TO KEEP THE STATUS QUO. A LIBERAL WISHES TO EXPERIMENT AND MAKE GRADUAL CHANGES. A RADICAL WISHES TO MAKE WIDESPREAD AND MAJOR CHANGES RAPIDLY.

- BETWEEN 1815-1848 THERE WERE 6 GREAT POWERS IN EUROPE:

ENGLAND CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHIES

FRANCE

RUSSIA

AUSTRIA ABSOLUTE MULTINATIONAL EMPIRES

TURKEY

PRUSSIA A DYNASTIC STATE

-ENGLAND, AUSTRIA, PRUSSIA, AND RUSSIA PLAYED THE MOST IMPORTANT ROLES AT THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA.

- AT THE START, THE MOST IMPORTANT LEADERS AT THE CONGRESS WERE:

-- PRINCE METTERNICH OF AUSTRIA

-- TSAR ALEXANDER I OF RUSSIA

-- LORD CASTLEREAGH OF ENGLAND (FOREIGN SECRETARY)

-- FREDERICK WILLIAM III OF PRUSSIA

- SOON, THE VERY ABLE AND SHREWD DIPLOMAT FROM FRANCE, TALLEYRAND, WAS PLAYING AN IMPORTANT ROLE AS WELL.

- THE MOST DOMINANT ROLE WAS PLAYED BY METTERNICH, THE HOST OF THE CONGRESS.

-THE VIEWS OF METTERNICH:

- HE WAS A REACTIONARY/CONSERVATIVE WHO BELIEVED THAT GOVERNMENTS SHOULD BE RULED BY CONSERVATIVE MONARCHS.

- HE HATED LIBERALISM - IDEAS EXPRESSED BY THE PHILOSOPHIES AND CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENTS.

- HE ALSO HATED NATIONALISM - A PEOPLE'S LOYALTY AND PATRIOTISM TOWARD ONE'S NATION. HE BELIEVED THAT PEOPLE OWE THEIR LOYALTY TO THEIR LEGITIMATE RULERS INSTEAD OF TO NATIONALISM.

-THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA MADE ITS FINAL DECISIONS ACCORDING TO THE FOLLOWING PRINCIPLES:

- LEGITIMACY - RULERS WHO HAD BEEN REMOVED BY NAPOLEON AND WHO WERE "LEGITIMATE" MONARCHS WERE RESTORED TO POWER.

- COMPENSATIONS - WHEREVER POSSIBLE, COUNTRIES WHICH HAD LOST TERRITORIES UNDER NAPOLEON WERE TO REGAIN THEM. THE COUNTRIES WERE TO RECEIVE COMPENSATION ELSEWHERE FOR LANDS THAT WERE GIVEN TO ANOTHER POWER.

- RESTORATION - FRANCE, WHICH HAD UPSET THE BALANCE OF POWER, WAS RESTORED TO HER NATURAL BOUNDARIES OF 1789. THUS FRANCE WAS NOT SEVERELY PUNISHED FOR THE NAPOLEONIC WARS. AREAS THAT FRANCE MIGHT EASILY HAVE OVERRUN WERE NOW HELD BY STATES, e.g., PRUSSIA AND AUSTRIA, THAT WERE CAPABLE OF RESISTING FUTURE FRENCH AGGRESSION.

-THE EFFECT OF THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA WAS TO BRING ABOUT A DEGREE OF EXTERNAL ORDER AND STABILITY IN EUROPE THAT WOULD LAST ALMOST 100 YEARS (UNTIL AUGUST 1914). THERE WOULD BE NO UNIVERSAL WAR UNTIL WWI. AFTER A GENERATION OF FIGHTING, THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA HAD ESTABLISHED ONCE MORE THAT NO ONE STATE SHOULD DOMINATE THE CONTINENT (NO HEGEMONY).

- THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES, ENDING W.W.I, WOULD NOT NEARLY BE AS SUCCESSFUL.

- THE EFFECTS OF THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA IN TRYING TO CRUSH NATIONALISM AND LIBERALISM CREATED MUCH INTERNAL DISORDER AND INSTABILITY IN VARIOUS STATES WHICH MADE MUCH OF ITS WORK TEMPORARY.

-THE FORCES OF THE FUTURE AFFECTING EUROPE AFTER 1815:

FRANCE

-THE COUNTRY IN WESTERN EUROPE THAT WOULD CARRY THE STANDARD FLAG OF LIBERALISM WOULD BE FRANCE. LOUIS XVIII, A BROTHER OF LOUIS XVI, WAS RECOGNIZED AS THE NEW LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCH OF FRANCE.

- OTHER REVOLUTIONARIES WANTING LIBERAL GOVERNMENTS IN THEIR LANDS WOULD LOOK TO FRANCE FOR LEADERSHIP. IT WAS SAID THAT "WHEN PARIS CATCHES A COLD, EUROPE SNEEZES."

-BRITAIN AND FRANCE, BOTH HAVING SOMEWHAT LIBERAL CONSTITUTIONAL TYPE GOVERNMENTS, WOULD DRAW CLOSER TOGETHER OVER THE LONG RUN, IN OPPOSITION TO THE CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENTS OF AUSTRIA, PRUSSIA, AND RUSSIA.

-THIS IS A MAJOR DEVELOPMENT, SINCE BOTH COUNTRIES HAD JUST FINISHED THEIR SECOND HUNDRED YEARS WAR WITH EACH OTHER IN 1815.

-BRITISH WORLD POWER WAS TO CONTINUE TO RISE, WHILE FRENCH WORLD POWER WAS TO GRADUALLY DECLINE.

-NATIONALISM WAS DESTINED TO BE ONE OF THE DOMINANT FORCES IN THE 1800s. IT WAS TO PRODUCE MUCH INTERNAL STRUGGLE IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE.

AUSTRIA

-THE DOMINANT POWER IN CENTRAL EUROPE WAS AUSTRIA (THE HOUSE OF HAPSBURG).

-AUSTRIA WAS PRESIDENT OF THE GERMAN CONFEDERATION. THIS CONFEDERATION CONSISTED OF NEARLY 40 ENTITIES WITH AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA BEING THE TWO LARGEST.

-AUSTRIA HELD LANDS IN GERMANY, ITALY, AND EASTERN EUROPE.

-THROUGH MARRIAGES, SHE HAD CONNECTIONS WITH OTHER RULING HOUSES IN EUROPE. THE HAPSBURG RULE WAS WELL-ORGANIZED AND VERY CENTRALIZED. SHE, HOWEVER, HAD GRAVE CONCERNS OVER THE GROWING NATIONALISM THAT WAS SPREADING IN HER ETHNICALLY DIVERSE EMPIRE. SHE WAS PARTICULARLY CONCERNED ABOUT HUNGARY WITH ITS POWERFUL ARISTOCRACY.

-SHE ALSO HAD METTERNICH, THE MOST DOMINANT STATESMAN OF THE ERA.

PRUSSIA

-PRUSSIA'S INFLUENCE WAS ON THE RISE BECAUSE SHE HELD A SPECIAL POSITION ON THE MATTER OF NATIONALITY.

- UNLIKE AUSTRIA, THE PRUSSIAN STATE WAS MOSTLY GERMAN BY NATIONALITY.

- AS THE LARGEST OF THE GERMAN STATES, SHE WAS IN A BETTER POSITION TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE DESIRE FOR A UNITED GERMAN-NATIONAL STATE THAN AUSTRIA. SHE HEAVILY PROMOTED ECONOMIC GROWTH, INCLUDING LOWERING TARIFFS AND ESTABLISHING A CUSTOMS UNION, THE ZOLLVEREIN, WHOSE REVENUES WERE USED TO BUILD BETTER ROADS. MANY SMALLER GERMAN STATES BEGAN ADOPTING THESE IMPROVEMENTS, AND BY 1833 MOST STATES HAD JOINED THE ZOLLVEREIN.

RUSSIA

-RUSSIA FAVORED HELPING THE PEOPLE OF THE BALKANS, UNDER THE OTTOMAN TURKS, TO OBTAIN THEIR NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE.

- RUSSIA WAS A SLAVIC COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE OF THE BALKANS WERE SLAVIC. RUSSIA CONSIDERED HERSELF TO BE "THE MOTHER OF THE SLAVS."

- BY HELPING THE SOUTHERN SLAVS AGAINST THE TURKS, RUSSIA HOPED ALSO TO FURTHER HER OWN POLICY OF EXPANSION TOWARDS THE SOUTH.

- THIS RUSSIAN INTEREST IN THE BALKANS AROUSED THE OPPOSITION OF AUSTRIA, WHO REGARDED THE BALKANS AS "THEIR BACKYARD."

- THE RUSSIAN AIM OF EXPANDING SOUTH AROUSED BRITISH OPPOSITION, WHO LOOKED ON THIS POLICY AS A THREAT TO HER EMPIRE IN SOUTH ASIA, e.g., INDIA.

CONCERT OF EUROPE

-THE FOUR ALLIES WHO LEFT THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA AFTER IT WAS OVER FORMED A QUADRUPLE ALLIANCE - BRITAIN, AUSTRIA, PRUSSIA, AND RUSSIA.

- IT WAS FORMED TO CONTAIN FRANCE AND TO INSURE PEACE.

- IT WAS TO ENFORCE THE PROVISIONS OF THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA.

- BY CALLING FOR REGULAR MEETINGS, IT ESTABLISHED THE CONCERT OF EUROPE - A TYPE OF FORERUNNER TO THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS AND THE UNITED NATIONS.

- UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF METTERNICH, THE QUADRUPLE ALLIANCE BECAME THE MEANS TO PRESERVE THE POLITICAL STATUS QUO AND TO SUPPRESS ALL REVOLUTIONARY IDEAS.

-TSAR ALEXANDER I OF RUSSIA ALSO URGED THE EUROPEAN POWERS TO SIGN THE HOLY ALLIANCE.

- BY IT, THE RULERS PLEDGED TO GUIDE THEIR ACTIONS BY CHRISTIAN MORAL PRINCIPLES WITH A STRONG SENSE OF DUTY TOWARDS THEIR SUBJECTS.

- NEARLY EVERY COUNTRY SIGNED IT, BUT FEW TOOK IT SERIOUSLY. SAID THE CYNICAL LORD CASTLEREAGH, IT WAS "A PIECE OF SUBLIME MYSTICISM AND NONSENSE."

-IN 1819, METTERNICH LAUNCHED A CRACKDOWN ON GERMAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS INFLUENCED BY LIBERAL IDEAS WITH HIS CARLSBAD DECREES. THESE DECREES INTENSIFIED CENSORSHIP, OUTLAWED POLITICAL CLUBS, AND PROSCRIBED DANGEROUS PROFESSORS AND STUDENTS.

I. REVOLUTIONS OF THE 1820'S

FIRST SET OF REVOLUTIONS AGAINST METTERNICHISM: SPAIN, ITALY, RUSSIA AND GREECE.

-IN 1820, THE SPANISH PEOPLE REVOLTED AND FORCED THEIR KING, FERDINAND VII, TO GRANT A CONSTITUTION FOR THE PEOPLE. THE MAJOR POWERS, MINUS ENGLAND, INTERVENED IN 1823, PRIMARILY WITH FRENCH TROOPS, AND DEFEATED THE REBELLION AND THE CONSTITUTION WAS NULLIFIED.

-THE SAME YEAR, ITALIAN LIBERAL SECRET SOCIETIES, KNOWN AS THE CARBONARI, REVOLTED AND FORCED THE KING OF NAPLES TO GRANT A CONSTITUTION. METTERNICH SENT AUSTRIAN TROOPS TO RESTORE THE KING TO FULL POWER.

-IN 1821, THE GREEK CHRISTIANS REVOLTED AGAINST THEIR TURKISH MUSLIM RULERS.

- METTERNICH, NOT LIKING REVOLTS, FAVORING THE STATUS QUO AND MISTRUSTING RUSSIAN INTENTIONS, REFUSED THE GREEKS' CRY FOR HELP. HE HOPED THAT THE REVOLT WOULD BURN ITSELF OUT.

- BUT SYMPATHY FOR GREECE, THE BIRTHPLACE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION, WAS WIDESPREAD THROUGHOUT EUROPE.

- IN 1827, FRANCE, BRITAIN, AND RUSSIA DECIDED TO BREAK WITH METTERNICH AND HELPED THE GREEKS TO WIN THEIR INDEPENDENCE.

-WHEN TSAR ALEXANDER I DIED IN 1825, YOUNG ARMY OFFICERS STAGED THE DECEMBRIST REVOLUTION DEMANDING A CONSTITUTION. THE NEW TSAR, NICHOLAS I, AN ABSOLUTE MONARCHIST, CRUSHED THE REVOLT.

- THUS THE REVOLTS BY LIBERAL FACTIONS IN SPAIN, ITALY AND RUSSIA WERE CRUSHED BY REACTIONARY FORCES WISHING TO "TURN THE CLOCK BACK," WHILE INTERVENTION ON BEHALF OF GREECE, DESPITE METTERNICH'S WARNINGS, SECURED INDEPENDENCE FOR HER. THUS THE GREEK REVOLT BECOMES THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL NATIONAL REVOLT OF THE 19TH CENTURY. THIS WAS THE ONLY COUNTRY TO WIN INDEPENDENCE IN THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE 1820'S.

-THIS INTERVENTION IN GREECE WAS ONE OF THE MAJOR REASONS FOR THE DECLINE OF METTERNICHISM.

-THE OTHER MAJOR REASON FOR THE DECLINE OF METTERNICHISM WAS THE FAILURE OF AN ALLIANCE PROPOSED TO HELP THE KING OF SPAIN PUT DOWN THE INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT IN LATIN AMERICA.

- STRONG OPPOSITION TO THE ABOVE PROPOSAL CAME FROM TWO SOURCES: 1) ENGLAND - WHOSE FLEET CARRIED ON MUCH TRADE AND COMMERCE WITH LATIN AMERICA; AND 2) THE UNITED STATES UNDER PRESIDENT JAMES MONROE.

- THE MONROE DOCTRINE (1823) WARNED EUROPE TO KEEP ITS HANDS OFF LATIN AMERICA.

- THE PROPOSAL TO HELP SPAIN IN LATIN AMERICA HAD TO BE ABANDONED AND, LIKE THE SUPPORT GIVEN TO GREECE, IT GREATLY WEAKENED METTERNICHISM.

II. THE REVOLUTIONS OF 1830

-SECOND SET OF REVOLUTIONS AGAINST METTERNICHISM: FRANCE, ITALY, GERMAN AREAS, POLISH NATIONALITIES AND BELGIUM.

FRANCE

-FRANCE, ON THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL, GAVE NO CAUSE FOR ALARM AND WAS ADMITTED TO THE NOW QUINTUPLE ALLIANCE. FRANCE WAS TORN BY INTERNAL FACTIONS, HOWEVER, AND THE MODERATE LOUIS XVIII DID HIS BEST TO KEEP ORDER.

-UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1824, LOUIS XVIII TRIED TO STEER A MIDDLE COURSE BETWEEN THE POLITICAL RIGHT AND LEFT AND, IN HIS WORDS, "HEAL THE WOUNDS OF THE REVOLUTION."

-UPON HIS DEATH IN 1824, HIS BROTHER, CHARLES X (ANOTHER BROTHER OF THE BEHEADED LOUIS XVI) BECAME KING.

- CHARLES X WAS A COMPLETE BELIEVER IN ABSOLUTE MONARCHY AND THE DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS.

- HE UPSET THE BALANCE OF POLITICAL POWER BETWEEN THE RIGHT AND LEFT BY COMPLETELY FAVORING THE RIGHT-WING REACTIONARIES.

- CHARLES DISSOLVED THE LEGISLATURE AND ATTEMPTED TO SILENCE THE PRESS.

-THE "JULY REVOLUTION" OF 1830 BEGAN WITH A COUP D'ETAT OVERTHROWING CHARLES X AND WAS LED BY THE AGING MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. PARISIAN MOBS TOOK TO THE BARRICADES AGAINST LOYALIST TROOPS OF CHARLES X.

-THE JULY REVOLUTION GAVE FRANCE A NEW KING; LOUIS PHILIPPE. HE WAS CALLED THE "CITIZEN KING" BECAUSE HE ACCEPTED HIS CROWN FROM THE PEOPLE. HE HEADED THE HOUSE OF ORLEANS AND HIS RULE WAS KNOWN AS THE JULY MONARCHY. THUS THE HOUSE OF BOURBON RULE ENDS IN FRANCE.

- THE PRINCIPLES OF POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY WAS THUS ESTABLISHED OVER FRENCH LEADERS.

-THE NEW GOVERNMENT IN FRANCE WAS NOW COMPLETELY DOMINATED BY THE SMALL BUT GROWING MIDDLE CLASS.

-THE WORKERS AND LOWER MIDDLE CLASS STILL HAD NO REPRESENTATION AND COULD NOT VOTE.

-THIS REVOLUTION WAS NOT A WIDESPREAD UPRISING AND WAS PRIMARILY A POLITICAL AND NOT A SOCIAL REVOLUTION.

-HIGH PROPERTY QUALIFICATIONS KEPT THE TOTAL NUMBER OF VOTERS STILL VERY LOW, i.e., ONLY 1 IN 160 MEN COULD VOTE IN 1830.

-DURING THE REIGN OF LOUIS PHILIPPE THERE WERE NUMEROUS INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS:

- THE FRENCH POPULATION GREW

- PUBLIC WORK WERE SPONSORED

- SCHOOLS WERE FOUNDED

- RELATIONS WITH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WERE NORMALIZED

- THE ARTS FLOURISHED

- FRANCE WAS INVOLVED IN NO FOREIGN WARS

® AIDED GREATLY INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS

-THE SUCCESS OF THE JULY REVOLUTION BOTH AGAINST THE LEFT WHO WANTED MORE CHANGES AND THE RIGHT WHO WANTED TO "TURN BACK THE CLOCK," IN FRANCE SPARKED REVOLTS BY LIBERALS IN OTHER AREAS.

REVOLUTIONS OF 1830'S (OUTSIDE OF FRANCE)

- A MAJOR REVOLT BY POLISH NATIONALISTS AGAINST THE RUSSIANS WAS CRUSHED WITH DIFFICULTY BY TSAR NICHOLAS I (BROTHER OF ALEXANDER I).

- IN ITALY, NATIONALISTS FROM SEVERAL STATES ROSE IN REVOLT BUT WERE CRUSHED BY METTERNICH.

- UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN GERMANY WERE LIKEWISE PUT DOWN.

- THE SPIRIT OF NATIONALISM WAS SUCCESSFUL IN BELGIUM, WHICH HAD BEEN PLACED UNDER DUTCH RULE AT THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. THE CATHOLIC BELGIANS RESENTED THE FACT THAT THE PROTESTANT DUTCH WERE TRYING TO IMPOSE ON THEM THEIR LANGUAGE, LAWS, AND RELIGION. BECAUSE METTERNICH WAS PREOCCUPIED WITH ITALY AND RUSSIA WITH POLAND, THE CONCERT OF EUROPE DID NOT HELP THE DUTCH, AND BELGIUM WON HER FREEDOM WITH THE INSISTENCE OF BRITAIN.

-BELGIUM BECAME THE ONLY COUNTRY TO WIN INDEPENDENCE IN THE REVOLUTIONS OF 1830'S.

-BELGIUM AND GREECE BECAME THE ONLY 2 COUNTRIES TO GAIN INDEPENDENCE DURING THE AGE OF METTERNICH (1815-1848).

-THE JULY REVOLUTION OF 1830 IN FRANCE ALSO HAD A MAJOR EFFECT ON ENGLAND.

ENGLAND

-ENGLAND'S PATTERN OF GRADUAL, EVOLUTIONARY AND RESTRAINED PROGRESS IN SOCIAL AND POLITICAL REFORM WAS QUITE A CONTRAST TO THE REST OF EUROPE IN THE 19TH CENTURY.

- FOR ABOUT 10 YEARS AFTER THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA, ENGLAND UNDERWENT A PERIOD OF REACTION.

- THE RISE OF FACTORIES WAS PUTTING OUT OF BUSINESS MANY HAND-SKILLED WORKERS AND CRAFTSMEN. THIS LED TO MANY OF THE UNEMPLOYED BECOMING LAWLESS AND ATTACKING FACTORIES AND SMASHING MACHINES. THESE PEOPLE WERE CALLED LUDDITES AFTER A LEADER NAMED LUDD.

- THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT, CONTROLLED BY LANDED ARISTOCRATS IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS AND MEMBERS OF THE TORY PARTY REACTED BY PASSING HARSH LAWS THAT THREATENED BASIC CIVIL LIBERTIES.

- THIS PERIOD OF REACTION ENDED IN THE MID 1820'S WHEN LABOR UNIONS WERE RECOGNIZED, AND THE CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION BILL ALLOWED CATHOLICS TO BE ELECTED TO PARLIAMENT.

- THE JULY REVOLUTION IN FRANCE GAVE A GREAT PUSH TO FURTHER REFORM IN ENGLAND.

-THAT YEAR, 1830, THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON, THE PRIME MINISTER MADE AN INSENSITIVE SPEECH PRAISING THE ARISTOCRATS CONTROL OF BRITISH GOVERNMENT.

-THE ANGRY PUBLIC VOTED THE LONG ENTRENCHED TORY PARTY OUT OF OFFICE, AND ELECTED THE WHIGS ON A PLATFORM ON REFORM.

-THE WHIGS PASSED THE REFORM BILL OF 1832. ITS EFFECT WAS TO TRANSFER THE BALANCE OF POWER FROM THE LANDED ARISTOCRATS TO THE UPPER MIDDLE CLASS. THE NEW INDUSTRIAL TOWNS WERE NOW MORE FAIRLY REPRESENTED IN PARLIAMENT.

-THE REFORM BILL OF 1832 WAS THE BEGINNING OF A SERIES OF MAJOR POLITICAL REFORM THROUGHOUT THE 19TH CENTURY.

- AFTER THIS BILL, 1 IN 32 MEN COULD NOW VOTE.

- THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING BRITISH POLITICS, FROM THIS TIME FORWARD, IS THE PROCESS OF PEACEFUL, GRADUAL, AND EVOLUTIONARY REFORMS. IT STANDS IN MARKED CONTRAST TO THE REST OF EUROPE.

- IN 1833, SLAVERY WAS ABOLISHED THROUGHOUT THE EMPIRE.

- IN 1833, THE FACTORY ACT WHICH LIMITED CHILDREN'S WORKWEEK WAS PASSED (AGE 6-13 = 48 HOURS AND AGE 14-18 = 69 HOURS).

- IN 1837, QUEEN VICTORIA DID MUCH TO SAVE THE MONARCHY DURING HER LONG REIGN BY THROWING HER SUPPORT BEHIND THE MIDDLE CLASS. THE REST OF THE CENTURY IN ENGLAND WAS TO BE CALLED THE VICTORIAN AGE. SHE DIED IN 1901.

- IN 1846, THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT REPEALED THE CORN LAWS WHICH WERE TARIFFS ON IMPORTED FOOD AND DESIGNED TO PROTECT THE INTERESTS OF THE LARGE LAND OWNERS. THIS GREAT POPULAR MOVEMENT OF THE 1830's - 40's, WAS SUCCESSFUL.

-THE ACT LED TO THE DECLINE OF BRITISH AGRICULTURE IN FAVOR OF THE INDUSTRIAL MIDDLE CLASS BUSINESSMAN.

-THE BRITISH WORKING CLASS MOVEMENT, THE CHARTISTS MOVEMENT (THE SECOND GREAT POPULAR MOVEMENT OF THE 1830's - 40's) SPRANG UP IN 1836. IT CALLED FOR THE FOLLOWING POLITICAL REFORMS:

- UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE (VOTE FOR MEN)

- THE SECRET BALLOT

- NO PROPERTY QUALIFICATIONS FOR PARLIAMENT

- MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT SHOULD RECEIVE A SALARY

- EQUAL ELECTION DISTRICTS

- ANNUAL ELECTIONS TO PARLIAMENT

- ALTHOUGH THE CHARTISTS WERE SUPPRESSED IN 1848 BECAUSE THEY WERE TOO DISORGANIZED, ALL BUT THE LAST REFORM WAS GRADUALLY ENACTED.

-THE MOST SERIOUS FAILURE OF BRITISH GOVERNMENT DURING THE 19TH CENTURY WAS ITS OPPRESSION AND MISMANAGEMENT OF IRELAND.

- THE BRITISH FOUGHT HARSHLY AGAINST THE RISING TIDE OF NATIONALISM THERE.

- THEY WERE ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TERRIBLE LIVING CONDITIONS OF THE MASSES OF IRISH PEASANTS.

- IN THE YEARS 1845-1846, THE POTATO FAMINE WAS A COMPLETE DISASTER. THE IRISH LOST HALF OF THEIR POPULATION TO STARVATION AND AN EXODUS OF SOME TWO MILLION PEOPLE TO THE UNITED STATES.

- IRISH ATTEMPTS TO WIN "HOME RULE" FROM THE BRITISH ENDED IN REPEATED FAILURE. !!:-)