Once the reign of Napoleon had been terminated, European rulers did not want a revolution to start in their respective countries similar to French Revolution. Due to this fear many of the rulers began to make numerous political changes throughout their homelands. To make sure that France did not have enough power to restage a revolution, France's territory and power had to be distributed with the surrounding countries. The continent-wide efforts to establish and maintain a balance of power had diminished the size and power of France and increased the power of Great Britain and Prussia. In order to combat forces of revolution, Czar Alexander I, Emperor Francis I of Austria, and King Frederick William III of Prussia signed an agreement called the Holy Alliance pledging to base their relations with other nations on Christian principles. Finally, the Concert of Europe, a series of alliances planned by Prince Klemens Von Metternich ensuring that nations would help one another if any revolutions were to break out.
Louis XVIII of France tried to create balance between the wealthy and peasants by granting amnesties, but the wealthy did not want a balance between themselves and the peasants. As a result they became anti-revolutionary or, reactionary, and in 1820 the Duke of Berry, which was the king's nephew, was assassinated and caused the upper class to became even more reactionary. The Duke's father, Charles X, took the throne when Louis XVIII died in 1824. In addition to the wealthy, Charles was a very passionate reactionary and disagreed with all the changes that had been taking place in France. He believed God had appointed him to the throne and began to trample over all the reforms that we were being made in France.
The Congress of Vienna had recreated the state of Poland and assigned its ruler to be Czar Alexander I. At first Poland's government was very liberal and it had a constitution. Alexander believed in giving the people freedom, but when he did they didn't always agree with what Alexander wanted them to do. Due to this complication, Alexander began to rip Poland of their right to self-government. In desperation for self-rule Poland's nationalism began to surge.
German nationalists who were driven by romantic ideas disliked the outcome of the Congress of Vienna because it disbanded into a weak federation named the Bund. The discontent Germans began to form extremely nationalist clubs named Burschenschaft, this club held a meeting in 1817 to prove a point. Metternich then realized German nationalism was extremely powerful and could not be ignored once the nationalists began to assassinate reactionary leader. He handled the situation by using the Bund to create the Carlsbad Decrees in 1819. These decrees prohibited the Burschenschaft and caused them to become hidden, limited what was taught at universities, and started a government censorship of newspapers. The German nationalist movement was quieted for about a decade as a result of these decrees.
In 1815 the aristocratic Parliament of Great-Britain passed the corn law. This law raised taxes on grains to make imports impossible, the tariffs were also raised above the reach of the working class. Starving workers protested throughout London in 1816, however at the same time the ascendant industrialist of Manchester had been hoping for a representation in Parliament. The industrialist saw how angry the workers were and helped organize 80,000 workers to protest at St. Peters Field against the corn law and for male suffrage. Although the protest was peaceful, British soldiers open fired into the crowd killing several workers. This national scandal became known as the Peterloo Massacre. The British Parliament, frightened, passed acts in 1819 to prevent mass political organization. Displeasured a group of workers gathered to form group known as the Cato Street Conspiracy. This group's purpose was to assassinate some of the members of Parliament, however was discovered in 1820 and had its members executed.
Krieger, Larry S., Kenneth Neill, and Edward Reynolds. McDougal Littell Modern World History - Patterns Of Interaction - California Edition. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Europe (1815-1848).” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. n.d.. Web. 26 Sept. 2013.
Louis XVIII of France tried to create balance between the wealthy and peasants by granting amnesties, but the wealthy did not want a balance between themselves and the peasants. As a result they became anti-revolutionary or, reactionary, and in 1820 the Duke of Berry, which was the king's nephew, was assassinated and caused the upper class to became even more reactionary. The Duke's father, Charles X, took the throne when Louis XVIII died in 1824. In addition to the wealthy, Charles was a very passionate reactionary and disagreed with all the changes that had been taking place in France. He believed God had appointed him to the throne and began to trample over all the reforms that we were being made in France.
The Congress of Vienna had recreated the state of Poland and assigned its ruler to be Czar Alexander I. At first Poland's government was very liberal and it had a constitution. Alexander believed in giving the people freedom, but when he did they didn't always agree with what Alexander wanted them to do. Due to this complication, Alexander began to rip Poland of their right to self-government. In desperation for self-rule Poland's nationalism began to surge.
German nationalists who were driven by romantic ideas disliked the outcome of the Congress of Vienna because it disbanded into a weak federation named the Bund. The discontent Germans began to form extremely nationalist clubs named Burschenschaft, this club held a meeting in 1817 to prove a point. Metternich then realized German nationalism was extremely powerful and could not be ignored once the nationalists began to assassinate reactionary leader. He handled the situation by using the Bund to create the Carlsbad Decrees in 1819. These decrees prohibited the Burschenschaft and caused them to become hidden, limited what was taught at universities, and started a government censorship of newspapers. The German nationalist movement was quieted for about a decade as a result of these decrees.
In 1815 the aristocratic Parliament of Great-Britain passed the corn law. This law raised taxes on grains to make imports impossible, the tariffs were also raised above the reach of the working class. Starving workers protested throughout London in 1816, however at the same time the ascendant industrialist of Manchester had been hoping for a representation in Parliament. The industrialist saw how angry the workers were and helped organize 80,000 workers to protest at St. Peters Field against the corn law and for male suffrage. Although the protest was peaceful, British soldiers open fired into the crowd killing several workers. This national scandal became known as the Peterloo Massacre. The British Parliament, frightened, passed acts in 1819 to prevent mass political organization. Displeasured a group of workers gathered to form group known as the Cato Street Conspiracy. This group's purpose was to assassinate some of the members of Parliament, however was discovered in 1820 and had its members executed.
Krieger, Larry S., Kenneth Neill, and Edward Reynolds. McDougal Littell Modern World History - Patterns Of Interaction - California Edition. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Europe (1815-1848).” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. n.d.. Web. 26 Sept. 2013.