European Restoration and Revolutions (1815-1848)

The Restoration (1815-1848)

After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, the victors decided to return to the situation before the French Revolution. Thus began the Restoration, a period that lasted until 1848 and had these characteristics:

• A conservative and counter-revolutionary ideology based on the principles of tradition, authority, and religion, *against* the Enlightenment ideals of freedom and reason. It was considered that Enlightenment ideals lead to revolution and anarchy. A major proponent of this ideology was Britain's Edmund Burke.
• A complete rearrangement of the map of Europe, held at the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815).

The Congress of Vienna

In this international congress, Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, under the leadership of Prince Metternich, applied four principles:

1. Legitimacy: Legitimate monarchs returned to their thrones. No new states were recognized, such as Norway, Belgium, and Poland.
2. Equilibrium: No country should have more influence than another. Austria and Britain wanted to control France and Russia.
3. International Responsibility: All the major powers, including a restored France, had to keep the peace, security, and stability of borders. Therefore, political changes that could lead to war had to be avoided.
4. Right of Intervention: In the case of extraordinarily revolutionary attempts in some countries, monarchies would intervene to prevent it.

The Revolutions of 1820 and 1830

Revolutions of 1820

The revolutions of 1820 focused on the European-Mediterranean area, notably in Spain, Naples, and Greece. The revolutions failed due to the intervention of neighboring absolute monarchies. Only in Greece, which rebelled against the Turkish Empire, did the movement, supported by Britain, succeed. In 1829, following a war of nearly ten years, Greek independence was recognized. Many of the liberal insurrections were sponsored by very select minorities grouped in secret brotherhoods, with deep international connections and significant influence among army officials. These groups were engaged in plotting and organizing worldwide revolution against tyranny. Among the members of these brotherhoods, the Masons and their more active heirs in Italy, the Carbonari, were prominent. However, the cause was not a liberal or mass movement, nor were the revolutions of 1820, with the exception of Greece.

Revolutions of 1830

The revolutions of 1830 affected all of Europe and altered the international situation inherited from 1815. To the west of the Rhine, several moderate liberal monarchies were created. To the east, the situation remained virtually unchanged: three multinational empires exercised absolutist guard against liberal and national movements.

The main novelties of the revolutions of 1830 compared to 1820 were:

• The great social and economic discontent of the masses had enormous influence.
• They were not the result of action by some liberal groups of conspirators, but of popular mass movements.
• They gave rise to a democratic and republican movement, even more radical.