19th Century Democracy & European Revolutions

Democracy in the 19th Century

• Democratic movements advocated for the right of ordinary people to participate in politics. Supporters aimed to end the social and economic inequalities created by bourgeois liberalism.
• The petite bourgeoisie rejected the limited male suffrage imposed by the wealthy bourgeois.
• Key principles supported by 19th-century democrats included:
  • Universal manhood suffrage: The belief that all men should have the right to vote.
  • A preference for a republic as the form of government, considering hereditary monarchy incompatible with democracy.

19th Century Political Revolutions

• These revolutions finally brought an end to absolute monarchy in many areas.
• They were based on the principles of liberalism, nationalism, and democracy.

The Revolutions of the 1820s

• In Spain and Portugal, liberal revolutions aimed to establish constitutional monarchies.
• In Greece, a liberal nationalist revolution began in 1821 seeking independence from the Ottoman Empire.

The Revolutions of 1830

• Belgium sought independence from Holland (forming the United Netherlands). Differences, particularly in language and religion, existed. Holland imposed its politics on Belgium until a nationalist and liberal revolution in 1830 secured Belgian independence. Leopold I of Saxe-Coburg became Belgium's constitutional monarch.
• In France, during the Bourbon Restoration, Charles X returned to the throne and approved restrictive decrees. Following his abdication, the assembly elected Louis Philippe of Orléans as the new king. He ruled as a constitutional monarch from 1830 to 1848.

The Revolutions of 1848

• The year 1848 marked a more radical phase in the 19th-century revolutions. The petite bourgeoisie and workers advocated for democratic principles to gain political power. These revolutions largely failed, except in France.
• In France, the petite bourgeoisie and workers successfully achieved democratic objectives, notably universal manhood suffrage. After Louis Philippe abdicated in 1848, the Second Republic was established. Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (later Napoleon III) eventually came to power, ruling France until 1870.