Demi Wack
Period 1

Age of Revolution From the late Eighteenth Century to mid Nineteenth Century, Europe revolved around the revolutionary spirit. This “Age of Revolutions” evolved from many factors: heavy taxes from war debt, harshness of labor, the Enlightenment influence and, diversity of social classes. The range of factors coincides with the various attitudes toward the Revolutions themselves (especially those of France). Many revolutionary supporters argued that revolution was the only way to invite justice and equality into Europe. The other’s saw the consequences of the revolutionaries’ actions and sided with the aristocracy. This radical spree of war was avoided by England--not because it was a country of compete justice and equality, but because of its flexible government (which developed from Queen Elizabeth reign). With a heavy disliking of the current conditions, many sought of the benefits of the revolution, which included the down fall of the aristocracy. Dickens advocated to the horror of the aristocracy with the depiction of his character Monseigneur, a Great Lord of the royal court and a massive terror to French citizens. Besides the guiltless murder of a child, he is provided four men to assist him in the strenuous chore of eating (doc 2). Meanwhile, the working class of France falls to their knees for the slightest sip of wine. With Monseigneur being the example for the upper class, it is no question to why there was a call for change. This same attitude is shown in Delacroix’s masterpiece- Liberty Leading the People (doc 6). This work depicts the heroic and compelling revolutionaries and serves as a memorabilia to the hard war fought the previous year (1830). This depiction, although heavily influential, is obviously biased to the third estate. Delacroix’s depiction shows the sans-culottes in their height and glory which is a reflection of his romantic and pro-revolutionary attitude. Delacroix felt it was just as much his duty to paint the event as it was the revolutionaries’ duties to fight in it. This bias is also seen in Young’s vision of the French revolution--which may be partial because he is a British traveler and his opinion of the French government was prejudged. Young argues for the injustices committed against the French peasants and that the total of the oppressions fell on the Third Estate alone (doc 1). This attitude was shared with Heine who also wrote about the aristocrats’ social injustices (doc 9). However, these injustices he focuses on were those outside of France, and instead on the social issues within his home, Germany. By all means, Heine’s poem “The Silesian Weavers” is prophetic, which is realized in 1848 when the King was forced by revolution to grant a constitution to Prussia. The spirit of a social change was in the hearts of many. The revolutions brought some successful terror, but many believed the repercussions caused more harm than good. While some writers romanticized the revolutionaries, others such as Wordsworth, took romanticism on to the side of the Aristocracy. Wordsworth questioned whether “[They will] find [their] happiness, or not at all” (doc 5). Here he recognizes that the debt of the revolution could never be filled with the radical promises. A year later (1805), Wordsworth followed up his accusations within a poem. This poem (being one of many about the French Revolution) demonstrates that when everyone is a victim, nobody comes out strong (doc 7). Wordsworth was already a highly influential romantic poet and this made the revolutions effect on him easily noticed. While before he obsessed with the beauty and drama of nature alone, his works began to be more humanized and he could not separate his philosophy from his emotions. His attitude toward the revolution is also shared by Burke. Burke’s Reflections of the Revolution in France asks, “[If] all these dreadful things [were] necessary?” (doc 3). He advocates that the revolution was more like a triumphal procession than a progressive war and that the visions of revolutionaries were impractical. As a member of the Whig party in the late eighteenth century, there is no question to why Burke’s writing would have favored the aristocratic families. This fact makes him clearly a biased source. These arguments made the destructiveness of the revolution apparent. The British view of reform was not, however, only focused on France (like Young). Byron (who opposed all attempts to control man) wrote Song of the Luddites in order to support those breaking (control) from the machines (doc 4). This is a result of Britain’s industrialization and its effects on the workers. It reveals that the spirit of the revolution is spreading. Another example of fear created by Britain’s industrialization are the interviews and testimonies given but those working in them. In Burton’s interview with Blincoe, Blincoe expresses the horror of a girl’s death in a British textile mill--where he also works (doc 9). This shows the danger and the harshness of the industrialization, especially to those working in factories. These same conditions are shown in a Testimony to the Sadler Commissions, ten years later (1832). Here a woman of age twenty-three answers to questions about the factory she has been working at since age six (doc 10). She addresses the terrible conditions, lack of freedom ,and cruel punishments of factory life. However, the factories were not the only injustices seen in Britain. The “Peterloo Massacre” of 1819 struck fear and anger into many lives. Here, an orderly protest was savagely broken-up by armed cavalry (doc 12). The protest led to the government issuing the Six Acts. The reason for protest was for the repeal of the Corn Laws which brought widespread unemployment and postwar economic stress. The protest was held by mostly urban laborers, who were supported by radical intellectuals. The lack of farness then called some to want to enforce reform, just as their French neighbors. With the many issue of British economy, the call for revolution wouldn’t have been out of question. However, unlike most nations of the age, Great Britain was flexible. This flexibility enabled the laws to be changed according to the circumstances of the economy. In the years 1802-1918, there was an enforcement of twenty-five reforms, all to entail better conditions for peoples’ lives (doc 13). One of these acts was The Factory Act of 1833, which limited to working hours for children (doc 11). Acts such as this are what made avoiding revolution possible and better secured peoples trust Great Britain. European life in the late eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries revolved around reform. The call for change ranged in its causes: diversity of social classes, unfair conditions and socialist views. For most nations of the age, reform meant revolution. However, some single individuals believed that the consequences of the uprisings’ far out-weighed its benefits. The one single nation that avoided a violent revolution was Great Britain, whose flexible government made the reforms. These turbulent times marked change in many European nations.