Empire of the Sun

What were the main tenets of conservatism, liberalism, nationalism, and utopian socialism, and what role did each play in Europe in the first half of the 19th century? How did they lead up to the revolutions of 1848 and the failure of these revolutions?

The day of the Old Order had passed; the American and French revolutions had created profound changes in political thought that are still extant. In the nineteenth century, conservatism was the ideology that asserted that tradition is the only trustworthy guide to social and political action. It was also their goal to maintain a balance of power in Europe in order to ensure permanent peace. Traditionally they were supported by vested interests, such as landowners, manufacturers, merchants and the churches. Those interests, therefore, usually affected their economic and social policies. Supporters of the conservative position originally came from the traditional elites of Europe. Liberalism was a product of enlightenment thinking, and held that human progress was inevitable. Liberals believed that all people should be equal before the law; all were born free, were basically good, and capable of improvement. (Spielvogel, 2010) Liberalism expected all governments to be representative, (rather than autocratic), freedom of the press, speech, assembly, and from arbitrary arrest. (Spielvogel, 2010) Classical Liberals favored an economic policy of unrestrained private enterprise, commonly known as Laissez Faire. The prevailing philosophy was "that government is best which governs least." Government was to remain completely aloof from economic interference Liberalism became very popular in Britain during the Industrial revolution, particularly with Factory owners, as the demand for workers was always much less than the supply. Nationalism was a radical ideology. It evolved from a real or imagined cultural identity, which is represented by a common language, common history, and common territory (Spielvogel, 2010). Nationalists traditionally attempt to turn this cultural identity into a political identity, whereby political boundaries coincide with cultural unity*for example, "France" is composed of French speaking people who consider themselves French. The preceding example may seem overly simplistic; but when one considers the large number of ethnic groups forced to live under a government comprised of another ethnic group, such as in Russia, or nineteenth century Austria,