The period between 1815 and 1830 illustrated a trend that most of western Europe had been afraid of since the start of the French Revolution—an outward spread of revolutionary sentiments that would eventually extend overseas. Even though the Terror had seen a (bloody) conclusion and Napoleon’s imperialistic military campaigns had been brought to a halt by the defeat at Waterloo, the innovative rebelliousness of the French caught on as new splinter groups formed to challenge the imposed peace of the European establishment. In 1815, this “imposed peace” came in the form of the Congress of Vienna, a gathering of the major European powers seeking to restore “legitimate authority” to France, Spain, and the Sicilies; once more, the political landscape of Europe was dramatically altered by the monarchical forces of the restoration and the Quintuple Alliance. Naturally wary of crusades and non-representative governments, the restoration quickly gained opposition in the Carbonari, a group of tastefully disguised Italians who claimed to uphold democratic ideals while squelching Austrian rule. Although the Carbonari were by no means as elegant as Robespierre’s crew, there is a certain echo of the Terror in their uprisings, from their democratic claims to the violent nature of their revolts. Other revolutionary groups, such as the Decembrists in Russia, clearly learned from their run-in with Napoleon in 1812; they had no definite political program, but their extensive military experience and genius timing allowed them to affect a change in Russian authority that would shape the future of the nation. None of the aforementioned revolutions could compete with the sheer magnitude of the one in France, but France had surely left its mark on each incendiary effort that would follow.
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