EUROPEAN HISTORY & Miklos roessler “Abreast of recent research yet admirably readable, this book is now the best survey of modern European history for both students and general readers. A particular strength is the treatment of the French Revolution and an added bonus is the brief and select set of documents appended to the text.” —Frederick A. de Luna, Universities of Oregon, Iowa, and Alberta EurOpE Europe 1715–1919 explores the tumultuous period in European EurOpE history between the Age of Enlightenment and World War I. By 1715–1919 integrating political, social, economic, and cultural history, Shirley Elson Roessler and Reny Miklos provide an entertaining and compre- hensive account of the emergence of modern Europe. With clear and From Enlightenment to World War eloquent prose, the book explains the ideas of the Enlightenment and their effect on the social fabric of Europe, the watershed of the French Revolution, the rise and fall of Napoleon, the advances of the Industrial Revolution, and the centrifugal forces of nationalism that led, ultimately, to the disaster of World War I. Shirley Elson roessler & reny Miklos Eminently readable, Europe 1715–1919 will appeal to students, scholars, and all interested in the history of modern Europe. Shirley Elson Roessler teaches in the Department of History and Classics 1715–1919 at the University of Alberta. She is the author of the award-winning book Out of the Shadows: Women and Politics in the French Revolution, 1789–1795. Reny Miklos is an instructor in the college preparation program of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. For orders and information please contact the publisher Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200 • Lanham, Maryland 20706 1-800-462-6420 • www.rowmanlittlefield.com Littlefield Rowman & Cover painting: Jacques Louis David (1748–1825), The Oath of the Tennis Court. Pen and ink, 66 x 107cm. Erich Lessing /Art Resource, N.Y. Cover design by Hallie Gladden Europe 1715–1919 Europe 1715–1919 FROM ENLIGHTENMENT TO WORLD WAR Shirley Elson Roessler and Reny Miklos ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Oxford ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.rowmanlittlefield.com PO Box 317 Oxford OX2 9RU, UK Copyright © 2003 by Rowman & Littlefield All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Elson Roessler, Shirley, 1942– Europe 1715–1919: From enlightenment to world war / Shirley Elson Roessler and Reny Miklos. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7425-2766-2 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7425-2767-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Europe—History—18th century. 2. Europe—Intellectual life—18th century. 3. Europe—History—19th century. 4. Europe—Intellectual life—18th century. 5. Europe—History—1871–1918. I. Miklos, Reinhold, 1943– II. Title. D299.E47 2003 940.2'53—dc21 2003010251 Printed in the United States of America ∞™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. To our parents Kathleen and Elmer Elson Alexander and Magdalena Miklos and to our children Anton, David, and Kristin and Jill and Bernie CONTENTS MAPS ix ILLUSTRATIONS xi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii INTRODUCTION xv 1 IDEAS SHAPE THE MODERN STATE 1 The Age of Enlightenment 1 Society and Culture 18 Society and Economics 31 Society and Politics 40 2 WAR, REVOLUTION, AND THE MODERN STATE 57 International Rivalry in the Eighteenth Century 57 Old Regimes under Stress 70 The French Revolution 86 Napoleon Bonaparte 100 The Congress of Vienna and the Hundred Days 111 3 INDUSTRIALIZATION SHAPES THE NATION-STATE 117 Revolution in Industry and Labor 117 Politics in the Age of Metternich 127 Reform and Revolution 137 Industry Transforms Society 150 The Challenges of Nation Building 169 vii CONTENTS 4 WAR, REVOLUTION, AND THE NATION-STATE 183 The Political Landscape: 1870–1914 183 The Road to Conflict 200 The Great War: 1914–1918 213 The End of the Great War 238 APPENDIX 249 I. Baron Charles de Secondat de Montesquieu, The Spirit of Laws 249 II. Cesare Beccaria, An Essay on Crimes and Punishments 252 III. Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and the Causes of the Wealth of Nations 253 IV. Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women 255 V. Frederich the Great, Address to His Generals and Staff Officers 257 VI. Maria Theresa, Letter to Her Son Regarding the Partition of Poland 258 VII. George III, Letter to Lord North on the Necessity of Subduing the American Colonies 259 VIII. Viscount Noailles, Speech to the National Assembly 260 IX. The Revolutionary Calendar 261 X. Madame de Remusat, Commenting on Attitudes toward Napoleon Bonaparte 262 XI. Testimony Given before the Ashley Mines Commission 263 XII. Proclamation of Independence Issued by the Greek National Assembly 266 XIII. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party 267 XIV. The People’s Charter of 1842 271 XV. Decrees Issued by the French Provisional Government 273 XVI. A Congress of Labor Leaders Issue a Socialist Program at Gotha in 1875 273 XVII. Herbert Spencer, Unimpeded Struggle Is a Requisite for Progress 274 XVIII. Victor Emmanuel, Address at the Opening Session of Italian Parliament 276 XIX. The Ems Telegram 277 XX. Alexander II, On the Emancipation of the Russian Serfs 278 XXI. Letter from the “Executive Committee of the Will of the People” to Tsar Alexander III 279 XXII. The Austrian Ultimatum to Serbia 280 XXIII. Prince Regent Alexander of Serbia, Telegram to Tsar Nicholas 282 XXIV. Private Donald Fraser, Journal 283 XXV. Woodrow Wilson, “Speech on the Fourteen Points” 287 XXVI. Vladimir Lenin, Rebuttal to Opponents of Insurrection 289 XXVII. The Treaty of Versailles 291 BIBLIOGRAPHY 293 INDEX 297 ABOUT THE AUTHORS 317 viii MAPS Europe 1715 64 Europe 1789 68 Partitions of Poland 91 Europe 1812 108 Europe 1815 114 Europe 1800 and 1900: The Growth of Cities 160 Unification of Italy 174 Unification of Germany 180 Europe 1871 202 Balkans 1914 214 Europe 1919 242 ix ILLUSTRATIONS 1.1 Galileo presents his telescope to the Doge of Venice in August 1609 3 1.2 Mary Wollstonecraft, an early advocate of the rights of women 16 1.3 The reading of Voltaire’s tragedy L’orphelin de la Chine 20 1.4 Gin Lane by William Hogarth 24 1.5 The Pilgrimage to Cythera by Antoine Watteau 27 1.6 New farming techniques as illustrated in Diderot’s l’Encyclopédia 36 1.7 An equestrian portrait of Catherine the Great in military regalia 53 2.1 The slave trade in Africa 62 2.2 The opening of the Estates General 79 2.3 A crowd confronts Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette in the Tuileries Palace 88 2.4 Robespierre and Saint Just are taken to the guillotine 97 2.5 Napoleon Bonaparte 103 2.6 Compositions by Beethoven were performed during the Congress of Vienna 112 3.1 Interior of London’s Crystal Palace during the International Exhibition of 1851 121 3.2 A mid-nineteenth century London street scene 126 3.3 Episodes from September Days, 1830, on the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville in Brussels by Gustaf Wappers 134 3.4 New Lanark Mills where Robert Owen developed his model community 139 xi ILLUSTRATIONS 3.5 The Austrian minister of war, hanged by revolutionaries in Vienna 148 3.6 Steam trains and workers in the London underground 152 3.7 Electric lights outline the Bon Marché at night 162 3.8 British nurse Florence Nightingale administered to soldiers during the Crimean War 170 3.9 Garibaldi hails Victor Emmanuel as king of a united Italy 173 4.1 Courtroom scene from the espionage trial of Captain Alfred Dreyfus 187 4.2 Otto von Bismarck attempting to contain socialism 190 4.3 Central panel of the palace doors at Ikere 205 4.4 Kaiser Wilhelm II and John Bull engage in a table game 211 4.5 Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg 217 4.6 Troops leaving the trenches during the Battle of the Somme 223 4.7 Lead vessel of a convoy near England receives semaphore signals from an airship 225 4.8 Bolshevik soldiers on the streets of Moscow during the October revolution 235 4.9 A 1919 cartoon comments on Belgium’s rejection of universal female suffrage 245 4.10 A weary world struggles through a storm toward peace and security 247 xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS e wish to thank Dr. Frederick de Luna and Dr. Kenneth Munro of the WUniversity of Alberta’s Department of History and Classics who have given generously of their time and expertise in helping in the preparation of this book. We are grateful to Jeannine Green and John Charles of Bruce Peel Special Collections, University of Alberta Libraries, for their assistance in obtaining pictures, and to Dr. Robert Smith, chair of the Department of History and Classics, for his support. We thank Tara Langlois and Bernie Roessler at plumbheavy design for their expert preparation of maps. As well, we are extremely grateful to our families who have borne with us and of- fered encouragement and whose recent resounding sigh of relief has been duly noted.