Liberalism, Conservatism and Nationalism

1. Liberalism, Conservatism and Nationalism

3. Left v. Right • From the French Revolution • Reference to seating arrangements in national legislatures • Aristocrats sat on the right • Commoners on the left

5. Liberalism Believed in natural rights that government must protect. • Supported civil liberties • Favored representative government but opposed full democracies • Supported economic individualism

6. Liberalism • Supported by the growing middle class • Laissez faire policies appealed to the owners and managers of the Industrial Revolution • Sensitive liberals became increasingly troubled by the hardships suffered by the workers • From this comes the need for state intervention to improve conditions • Socialists argued a complete change in ownership of the means of production

7. Classical Liberalism • Classical economics • Adam Smith • Thomas Malthus • David Ricardo

8. Thomas Malthus • An Essay on the Principle of Population • Argues ---- population is increasing at too great a rate for food supply to keep up • Result – misery for humanity • Some slowing of population might result from war, famine, disease • Believed however in “moral restraint” • Was against government intervention • Believed in personal responsibility

9. Ricardo on wages • Iron Law of Wages • Wages should hover around the subsistence level • Labor’s value should fluctuate with supply and demand • Wages go up, people have more kids • Labor pool is increased, wages go down • Useless to raise wages of the worker

10. Retreat from Laissez Faire • Jeremy Bentham • Government should not be a “passive policeman” but should be more interventionist • Utilitarianism • Every aspect of life should be evaluated based on its usefulness • How much happiness does it provide • The government could assure happiness • Provide the greatest amount of freedom to make the greatest amount of people happy • An imbalance could be corrected by government involvement • Bentham’s ideas would lead to the creation of the 20th century welfare state

12. John Stuart Mill • Disagreed with classical economics • Believed there should be some control over the distribution of wealth • Workers should be allowed to form unions • Promoted universal suffrage • State –supported schooling • Capping of wealth via income taxes

13. Louis Blanc • “from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs” • Competition would eliminate competition • End result – nationalized industries • Social workshops in each industry • Workers would be more productive b/c they ran the company and shared the profits

14. Conservatism • Believed that national, historic, and religious traditions are the essential foundations of any society • Maintained that all change should be gradual • Appealed to those frightened by the social disorder and violence of the French Revolution • Edmund Burke and Metternich

15. Extreme Conservatism • Joseph de Maistre • Church should be the foundation of society • Political authority stemmed from God • Monarchs should be stern with those who advocate immediate change

16. Labor Theory of Value • The value of a product is in direct parallel to the labor invested into that product

17. Surplus Value • Central to Marxian theory • Workers should receive pay relative to their work not their time put into it

18. Utopian Socialists • Robert Owen – proved that successful capitalism did not depend on worker exploitation • Charles Fourier – people would live and work together in small 1,600 member communes. Members would perform the type of work they most enjoyed and labor would change to avoid boredom

19. Communist Manifesto • Marx and Engels sets forth in their book major ideas for what they termed “scientific socialism” • Dialectical materialism – economic conditions provided the foundation of the social order • Economic conditions determined the nature of everything else in society • Social class existence leads to class struggle • Class conflict would result in revolution • This he argued was inevitable

20. Das Kapital • Marx’s criticism of capitalism

21. Adam Smith • Wealth of nations • Advocated laissez – faire capitalism • Opposed mercantilism

22. EMS Dispatch • Some argued caused the Franco – Prussian War • Bismarck took a message from King William I and let it leak unedited. • Upset the French

23. Kulturkampf • Essentially getting the Roman Catholic Church out of Germany • Reduce the church presence in Germany • Doing this Bismarck believed would strengthen German unity • Very anti - Catholic

24. Zollverein • Coalition of German states in the 1830s designed to manage tariffs and economic policies with their territories • Prussia was the prime motivating force behind it • Kind of like a mid 19thcentury EU…..sort of

25. Nationalism • Believed that a nation consists of a group of people who share similar traditions, history, and language • Argued that every nation should be independent and include all members of a nationality • Insisted that a person’s greatest loyalty should be to a nation – state

26. Nationalism’s impact • Did a lot to bring about German and Italian unification • Did a lot to divide the Austro – Hungarian empire • Nationalism presented a serious threat to empires like the one in Austria.

29. German Unification • “Germany” = 39 small independent states • German Confederation still controlled by Austria • French policy was geared towards keeping Germany divided • Unification effort led by Prussia

30. Otto Von Bismarck • Chosen as Prime Minister by William I • Strengthen the Prussian army • “Blood and Iron” Speech – criticized liberalism for placing too much emphasis on speeches and voting. • Realpolitik – shrewd diplomacy and well-chosen alliances

31. Danish War • Gain two northern provinces of Schleswig and Holstein • Success allowed Bismarck to take on Austria

32. War with Austria • Seven Weeks War / Austro – Prussian War • Austria agrees to dissolve the German Confederation • Prussia organizes and dominates the North German Confederation • Prussian ally Italy is able to annex Venetia

35. Franco – Prussian War • France had always feared a unified Germany • War lasted only 2 months • Treaty of Versailles signed in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace at Versailles • Alsace and Lorraine are handed over to the German Empire • French national pride hurt as are it’s coal and iron ore deposits

38. German Unification • A unified Germany created a new balance of power on the continent • As Germany industrialized it began to pose itself as a rival to even Great Britain

43. Italian Unification • Prior to 1850…. • Carbonari • Giuseppe Mazzini • Austria still controlled Lombardy and Venetia • Two Sicilies still under Bourbon control • Pope Pius IX opposed Italian nationalism • Outside influence and Vatican objection • Piedmont – Sardinia was the only state run by an Italian dynasty • 1852 – King Victor Emmanuel II named Count Camillo di Cavour his prime minister

45. Cavour • Cavour believed in the same approach to politics and power as did Bismarck – Realpolitik • Agenda – strengthen Piedmont’s transportation and commerce systems • Modernize the army • France – Piedmont Alliance • Alliance designed to get Austria out of northern Italy

46. Cavour / Bismarck • Bismarck was an ultra conservative who only had Prussia’s interests in mind during “German Unification” • Cavour was a liberal who was a true nationalist who wanted sincere unification for Italy

47. War with Austria • A combined French and Piedmont military give Austria the boot from northern Italy. • Everything BUT Venetia is annexed

48. Giuseppe Garibaldi • Cavour in the North • Garibaldi in the South • 1860 – Garibaldi and his “Red Shirts” liberated the Two Sicilies • Two Sicilies placed under Sardinian control