Blood, Fire and Steel; Europe and the New World CHAPTER 6

 Europe and the new World

The effect of the opening up of the new world reached its peak in the mid-19^th century when the tide of emigration to the new world increased until millions of migrants from Ireland, Western Europe and particularly Eastern Europe chose to make the journey to the new world particularly the United States.

The invention of the steamship as the main means of transport considerably reduced the time of sailing from one month with the sail ships to two weeks with the steam ship. Newer and more efficient engines continued to reduce the sailing time until the new world become accessible in about a week in the early 20^th Century.

The effect of the Industrial Revolution and the consequent boom in economic activity increased the demand for factory and agricultural workers. Both skilled and semi-skilled workers made the journey across the middle passage in droves. The migration contributed significantly to the change in demographics in Europe and the New World.

The shift was particularly noticeable among the adult male population because this was the segment of the population that was mostly affected by the exodus. This period also saw a heavy boom in the maritime trade across the Atlantic between the New World and the Old World.

The rate of industrialization in the Americas increased significantly during this period, offering better working conditions and life style improvements for many European families. In fact, by the end of the nineteenth century, the United States economy grew to become the largest economy in the world exceeding that of the United Kingdom which hitherto had been the world’s largest.

The American ‘dream’ was a major pull for emigration for many Europeans who longed for political freedom and individual rights that existed in the United States; the world’s best established democracy. In fact the struggles for democratic reform and strengthening of individual liberties in Europe were a byproduct of the successful American democratic experiment.

Starting with Great Britain, France, Germany, the Low Countries and the Scandinavia, more countries began to imbibe the democratic spirit resulting in the drafting of new constitutions, liberalization of political parties, free and fair elections and the establishment of a sovereign parliament.

The American experiment in Revolution and democracy had its biggest pull in France in the late 18^th century where a peoples’ Revolution was soon to progress to the establishment of a Republican system of government with a sovereign national assembly with elected representatives chosen by the people in free and fair elections. The idea of universal suffrage was still highly limited at this time as only adult males with properties or lands were eligible to vote.

CHAPTER 4    

MID VICTORIAN EUROPE

Europe in 1850 was also in the midst of the reign of Queen Victoria of England. The reign of Victoria also marked the period when England was at the zenith of its power with her colonies cutting across all the continents of the world. This was the time when it was said that England was the empire whose navy ruled the waves as her naval vessels straddled the seas in all the existing time zones. She was also called the empire whose sun never sets.

This happened to be also the period when the Industrial Revolution saw England at the peak of its power. The British navy was said to rule the waves, meaning England was the world’s greatest sea power. 

While the throne of England had stretched back over nine centuries, the Russian Czars similarly enjoyed a hegemony that had covered close to a thousand years. In Germany, Friedrich Wilhelm 1, was just about being crowned Emperor,  the Holy See still exerted hegemony over most of Italy, Portugal and Spain while the Habsburgs ruled over the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The Sultan still held sway over the Ottoman Empire while kings and queens ruled over the Low Countries and Scandinavia. Dynastic rule was still the order of the day while the ideas of democracy and representative government were still budding.

By this time however, the clamor for freedom, sovereign parliaments and the right to choose leaders through popular vote was still fermenting and waxing stronger by the day in Europe. The ideas of state socialism and state control of the means of wealth and production were also springing forth in the writings of Karl Max and Friedrich Engels.

As Europe prospered in the mid-19^th century, the need to expand markets and imports grew as well. The Industrial Revolution fueled a drive for raw materials to feed the industries that were coming on board. This development, invariably led to the exploitation of colonial markets as well as the expansion of trade with the new world. Maritime trade grew at this point as trade among nations became an integral part of economic policy.

Self-reliance as an economic way of life increasingly gave way to specialization and international trade. Increasingly, nations began to concentrate on goods and services that they were most (favored to produce) and learning to sell their products, obtain foreign exchange and then buy goods that their competitors had an edge in producing.

The era of specialization naturally increased trade among nations and helped to increase the overall output in terms of the gross national products of the European nations and states.

The modernization of the production system that came with the system of factory production, the advent of mass assembly, the steam ships, the specialization of skills in the individual worker, the advent of the internal combustion engine using petrol and diesel all led to a massive explosion and growth in the volume of production of goods and services and a leap in international trade and exports.

The Industrial Revolution coupled with the rise of maritime trade particularly favored the United Kingdom which had the world’s largest number of trading ships as well as warships. Great Britain’s massive investment in ship building was mainly anchored on the fact that she was an island state with a vast network of overseas holdings. The sea lanes were vital to her survival in terms of trade and in the protection of her overseas investment.

As the population of the British Isles grew, it became apparent that the United Kingdom was going to depend more on imports of grains from the New World and Canada. She also needed a secure base and sources of raw materials for her expanding industrial base. All these were sourced overseas, and so for the United Kingdom, the sea lanes came to represent a vital interest that needed to be protected at all cost.

This invariably led to a massive ship building program for maritime trade and the Royal Navy. Great Britain became the world’s most experienced maritime trading nation, with a lot of the facilities and institutions that have to do with maritime trade being based in London. The world’s biggest shipping agency and insurance company Lloyds of London was based in the United Kingdom. This also paved the way for London to become the world’s leading center of finance for international trade and services.

 London city still hosts today the world’s biggest stock exchange as well as the largest commodity exchange. The United Kingdom has become the international reference point for every form of international business that involves the movement of goods from one nation to the other.

Great Britain’s volume of trading ships and warships gave her unparalleled influence and power on the high seas and consequently among the comity of nations. Though never possessing the world’s largest and most powerful land army, Britain’s unparalleled ability to move and maneuver forces across the world’s sea lanes, made her the most powerful nation at a time when power was registered in  the ability to maintain control on the high seas.

France, the world’s second most powerful nation at sea, but with a long and exposed boundary with Germany was to face strong challenge and competition from Prussia when Prince Otto Von Bismarck took over as Chancellor. Bismarck in a series of wars united the German states under Prussia and enabled Wilhelm I to be crowned Emperor of all Germany, thereafter tension and rivalry with France mounted.

The reorganization of the Prussian military and modernization programs of Bismarck paid off when war broke out between Prussia and France in 1870. The French army was soundly beaten, Paris was temporarily occupied and Napoleon III captured. France lost Alsace Lorraine to Germany including a loss of prestige both at home and abroad.

FRANCE IN THE MID 19^TH CENTURY

The defeat of Napoleon in 1814 and the decisions reached at the Congress of Vienna opened a new chapter in the history of France as Bourbon dynastic rule resurrected with the installation of Louis Napoleon II as the new Emperor of France.

It was quite obvious that Royalist sentiments were still very strong in France and many felt that the solution to the problems of France lay in the abolition of the first Republic and return to the monarchical system of government. Consequently the ascension of Napoleon II as Emperor was hailed and welcomed by all in the French National Assembly.

It turned out however that Louis Napoleon, nephew of the French Emperor had a different character, temperament and leadership qualities from Napoleon Bonaparte. The only thing they shared in common was the family name.

The charisma and strategic military prowess that were dominant qualities of Bonaparte were completely lacking in Louis and consequently his reign was marked by instability and declining prestige for the nation and armed forces.

The series of upheavals and unrests that trailed his administration eventually led to his deposition during the insurgencies of 1848 which subsequently led to the ascension of Napoleon III.

The 1850s and 60s were also a period of acute political and social tensions as the wind of change continued to blow across Europe. The demand for political reform was particularly strong at this point as well as the agitation and clamor for better working conditions.

 As industrialization and reforms continued, there came with it, demand for greater liberalization of the political process, free and fair elections, enforcement of individual and human rights coupled with the pressure for the adoption of the Bill of Rights especially as it related to a more democratic and representative national assembly.

The working class in particular at this time became increasingly aware of its rights and privileges and began to demand for reasonable working hours, six working days, better working conditions and pay.

The writings of Karl Max and Friedrich Engels also helped to stir the working class towards a more vigorous socialist cum people’s approach towards socialism and welfare. The introduction of the welfare policies that are well entrenched in Europe today were laid down at that period.

 France in particular was inundated with socialist teachings and ideas on governance which stressed that Government is responsible to the people and must provide for its citizens. This belief has become ingrained in her economic policies till date. The French economy was transformed around this time from a purely peasant, subsistent agricultural base to a modern industrial economy that enabled France to become one of the richest nations on earth with a strong industrial and agricultural base by the end of the 19^th century.

In the years of Emile Olivier as Prime Minister, layouts of urban designs and infrastructural blue prints that made France one of the most beautiful nation in the world, was laid down. The Elyse Palace, the Eifel Tower, the Statue of Napoleon and the broad boulevards were all laid down at this period.

 The beauty of Paris and the entire country made France a much sought after country. French technological innovations also culminated in one of her companies Suez Canal Company obtaining the concession and lease to build the Suez Canal, under the army engineers Corps of Colonel Ferdinand de Lesseps in 1875.

France’s ingenuity in urban planning, municipal developments, landscaping, painting and other expressions of beautiful realities for both cities and rural places became evident at this time. Paris took her place among the most beautiful cities in the world. The French Corps of Army engineers were at this time, acquiring a distinct reputation for incredible feats in engineering and urban construction comprising bridges, roads, canals and other infrastructural works.

RUSSIA IN THE MID 19^TH CENTURY

Russia in 1850 was under the rule of Nicholas I who was both a harsh and ambitious and expansionist Czar because of his many campaigns to win land and territories for the Russian empire. He was also a zealous religious crusader who felt obliged to fight wars to protect the Russian Orthodox Church from the incursions of the Ottoman Turks.

 His victories increased Russia’s territories and made room for Russian merchants’ ships to access the Mediterranean through the straits connecting the Black sea with the Mediterranean Sea as a result of the concessions made by the Ottoman Turkish rulers of the region.

However, the Crimean war that broke out in 1853 was to mark the end of Russian expansion around the Black Sea. Russia’s defeat in the hands of the Ottoman Turkish empire (aided by Great Britain and France), forced the Russians to sign a peace treaty in Paris in 1856.

Under this treaty, Russia gave up some of the territories it had won from the Ottoman Turks in an earlier campaign as well as provisions forbidding war ships and fortifications on and around the Black Sea. Following this defeat, the Russians began to look eastward, where she won disputed territories from China in 1858 and 1860.

Through these victories, Russian gained rights to lands in China north of the Amur River and East of the Ussuri River. The rebel tribes in the Caucasian region were also defeated in a series of campaigns in 1864. Russia’s expansion in central Asia was accomplished in a series of wars fought in 1865-1875.

The defeat of Russia in the Crimean war, made her officials under Czar Alexander II realize the fact that Russia needed to catch up with the West in terms of modernization, or she will remain only a second rate power.

Alexander II then initiated a system of reforms to modernize the economy, the banking sector and Russian life in general. His reformist vision extended to land reforms among the peasants, the development of the complex railway systems that linked European Russia to Siberia.

He also modernized the educational system and granted limited autonomy to many of the rural and municipal settlements. However, the seemingly giant strides did not satisfy many who felt that the reforms in themselves were not adequate to promote social justice.

 By this time, the opposition was divided into two camps. One camp advocated for the adoption of a socialist system of government while the other wanted Russia to become a Republic with a constitution. The agitations turned violent and led to an attempted peasant revolt in 1870 that was crushed. A terrorist group soon sprang up in the wake of a new group called the anarchists whose main objective was to destroy the Russian system of government.

Alexander II survived a number of assassination attempts before he was killed in a bombing incident in St Petersburg in 1881. His son Alexander III adopted a series of harsh measures designed to curb the opposition and this policy persisted until the 1890s. He limited press freedom and kept a rein on the educational system particularly the universities and he also reduced the powers of the newly created local and rural municipal authorities.

 His policies seemed intended to favor the aristocrats when he appointed the so-called “land captains” whose mission was apparently to curtail and suppress the rights of the peasants. His series of reforms and latter- day initiatives did little to improve the working conditions of the factory and peasant agricultural workers.

When Nicholas II became Russia’s last Czar, the agitation for change in the economic and political governance of the country was to reach new heights. Several political movements and groups were founded and flourished; all with a view to overthrowing the monarchy. The socialists and the communists were the most notable, even though there were groups that argued for the adoption of western style democracy and parliamentary reforms.

Things got to a head, when after a series of bad harvests and a deterioration of living conditions, workers strikes and other protests began to rock Russia at the close of the century. As the century came to a close, the Marxists formed the Russian Social Democratic Party in 1898.

Blood, Fire and Steel, 150 Years of European History , EVENTS IN THE EARLY 19th CENTURY CHAPTER 5

EVENTS IN THE EARLY 19^th CENTURY

The wars to unseat Napoleon as the Emperor of France and to free the states and kingdoms of Europe including Russia from the grip of Napoleon marked a watershed in the historical development of the European continent. The ascension of General Napoleon Bonaparte as the leader of France in 1799 following the French revolution that began in 1978 was a defining event not only for France but for Europe as a whole.

Napoleon’s overthrow of the autocratic rule of the Jacobins in France brought the violent part of the Revolution to an end. At the head of a military government, Napoleon quickly consolidated his hold on power and brought all the instruments of state power including the media and to a large extent the Church under his rule and control. France was quiet but under the autocratic rule of a self-styled Emperor who was bent on stretching to the maximum the boundaries of his dictatorship.

After suppressing opposition and dissent at home, Napoleon began a series of engagements that brought him military victories over Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Holland, Prussia, Austria, and Italy and for a season Russia. He became the new master of Europe and found that his only undefeated rival was Great Britain, with who he remained perpetually at war.

The Napoleonic wars were a time of great conflict, tension and turmoil in Europe as his conquests touched on virtually every aspect of Europe. He sought to impose a French hegemony that made him a lot of powerful enemies. His attempts at reform and reorganization of nations and national boundaries left him with conflicts that continued to grow and escalate as more nations allied with Great Britain in the struggle to destroy Napoleon’s hegemony.

Napoleon’s string of victories covered the defeat and expulsion of the British from Toulon in 1793, defeat of a royal rebellion in Paris, October, 1795, the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian armies in Italy 1796-1797 leading to the signing of the treaty of Campo Farmio extending French territory. His campaigns in Egypt and the Middle East threatened Britain’s position in the Mediterranean.

He however lost the battle of the Nile in 1798 when his fleet was destroyed by the Royal Navy in a classic contest involving Admiral Horatio Nelson as the British fleet commander. That defeat did not stop Napoleon Bonaparte from returning to France to proclaim himself as Emperor in 1804.

In 1805 he defeated an alliance of the European powers at Austria, repeating the same feat in Jena 1806 and Fried land in 1807. His dominion over the continent became complete after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806.

His defeat however by the British in the naval battle of Trafalgar was a turning point when Viscount Horatio Nelson dashed the hopes of Napoleon in establishing France as the dominant power at sea by smashing the Franco-Spanish fleet in the famous battle of Trafalgar, October 21, 1805 where he also met his end at the hands of a French sniper while decked in full colors as Admiral of the Fleet and elegantly savoring the full measure of British victory over the French from his frigate HMS Victory.

Napoleon’s power base however began to erode with his defeat in the Peninsula wars, 1808-1814, where the British General Sir Arthur Wesley, checked Napoleon’s incursions into Portugal and Spain. Napoleon’s attempt to overcome the Russians in the war of 1812 was met by a stiff resistance led by the Russian General Mikhail I Kutuzov at a place called Borodino where Napoleon’s advance was halted outside of Moscow.

 His subsequent capture of Moscow was undermined by the tactical withdrawal of Russia’s marshal Borodino and his army from the city before its capture, the great fire set by the Russians that devastated the city and the early onset of winter that debilitated his ill-prepared army and demoralized his troops making them easy targets for the Russians guerrilla tactics that dealt fatal blows on his weakened forces occupying the Russian capital.

 His retreat in the midst of the Russian winter marked the end of the era of the French army as the dominant military power in Europe as Napoleon’s forces in the retreat dwindled from peak strength of 600,000 men to less than 10,000 fit and capable men when he entered into France.

The defeat galvanized opposition to his rule within the same nations he had subdued and occupied and lent fresh impetus to the anti-French coalition of forces opposed to Napoleon and determined to see his downfall. The coalition was led by Great Britain.

In 1813 Napoleon attempted to reassert his dominant role in Europe, but his army was defeated by a European alliance at the battle of Leipzig, October 16-19, 1813. Napoleon was forced into abdication of office in 1814 following an invasion of France by an alliance of European powers led by Great Britain

His attempt at the restoration of his rule, when he fled the island of Elba and returned to France was met by his final defeat in the battle of Waterloo in 1815 by the British, Austrian and Prussian  coalition under the  command of the Duke of Wellington, Sir Arthur Wesley. He was then exiled to the Island of St Helena where he lived until his death in 1821.

Coming closely after the defeat of Napoleon, was the Congress of Vienna, September 1814-1815, where important decisions relating to the political future of Europe were taken. The assembly of European statesmen met at Vienna, Austria to ensure that the events of the Napoleonic years did not repeat themselves in Europe.

 The Congress’s decisions were dominated by the rulers of Austria, Metternich, Russia, Tsar Alexander I and Arthur Wesley, Duke of Wellington who led the military coalition. Also prominent were Castlereagh of Britain, Von Humboldt of Prussia and Talleyrand of France.

The Congress focused a lot on territorial adjustments among the European states leading to the establishment of the German Confederation and the kingdoms of the Netherlands and Poland which was placed under Russian rule. The Italian city states gained recognition alongside the kingdoms of Sardinia and Naples. Austrian territory was extended into parts of Italy which conceded some of its territory to Prussia.

The United Kingdom was confirmed in some of its overseas colonial conquests which were recognized by the Congress. The decisions taken at the meeting were often times not a reflection of the yearnings and aspirations of the people concerned as no consultations were made with the peoples mostly concerned.

The Congress of Vienna thus re-engineered the political map of Europe which was to remain that way for the next half century. The fact that no major war was fought in Europe for the next half century gave credence to the assiduous and tactful diplomacy that was involved in crafting some of the decisions taken.

No major peace conference on Europe’s future and political boundaries was to hold until another 100 years had passed. The Napoleonic wars had so drained Europe of its strength and energies that most of the major powers channeled their strengths into resolving many of the major disputes and conflicts diplomatically.

There was no doubt, that a number of skirmishes and local conflicts rocked the continent, but none on the scale and intensity that had rocked Europe during the Napoleonic years.

One unwritten law that had emerged during and after the wars of Napoleon was that no single power would be allowed to emerge and take a stranglehold on the affairs of Europe. That policy was to be severely tested and contributed to the breaking out of two major conflicts in the early 20^th century and is still a policy thrust in Europe today.

The defeat of the French Navy by a British fleet led by Admiral Horatio Nelson at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805 paved the way for the Royal Navy to dominate the high seas for the next 100 years. Britain’s position as an island, her dependence on maritime trade for the sustenance of her local economy and maintenance of her overseas Empire necessitated the formation of a large and formidable Navy that she depended on not only for the protection of the island, but also for the protection of her maritime trade and far flung colonies.

Napoleon Bonaparte challenged Great Britain’s naval power in the battle of the Nile 1797 and the battle of Trafalgar 1805. He lost both battles leaving Britain confirmed in her position as the greatest naval power in the world. Britain’s control of the high seas enabled her to secure her many colonies and ensured that ‘the empire, whose sun never sets’, never got disgraced abroad militarily.

Britain’s naval power complemented her military strength as her ability to move armies across the high seas to far flung distant battlefields put her in a vantage position among the leading colonial powers.

 Britain’s control of the sea meant that her military could simply not be easily beaten abroad where most of her colonial holdings lay. It was thus obvious why Britain was not interested in any territorial expansions in Europe except for some Island fortresses like Gibraltar, Malta, Crete that dotted the Mediterranean Sea.

Britain’s hegemony at sea also meant that she had an edge in the extent of her colonial holdings. The British had the largest overseas empire particularly her North American colonial holdings had that included the erstwhile American colonies and Canada; a good portion of which were won over from wars with the French and the Spanish in the 18^th century in the French and Indian Wars and wars of Spanish succession.

She also had a string of island possessions that dotted the Caribbean and Western Atlantic like Jamaica, Barbados and so many others. British interest however did not extend to South America where Spanish and Portuguese explorers held sway. Her only notable possession in the South Atlantic was the Falkland Islands and the Magellan straits.

British dominion and control of the high seas was very much a source of irritation and frustration for the major European powers that had to contend with the British policy of patrolling the high seas and enforcing international laws and conventions which oftentimes she single handedly set.

 This policy often times led to conflicts and wars such as the Anglo-American war of 1812-1814 which was mainly borne out of American frustration with the British policy of search and seizure of American vessels and impressing of American sailors into the services of the Royal Navy during the tortuous and protracted Napoleonic wars which concealed the basic problem, British non recognition of the sovereign rights of the United States of America.

Britain’s naval patrols and seizure of offending ships during the period of enforcement of the ban on slave trade beginning 1807 also produced a lot of irritation. The high point in British naval imperialism came with the attempt of Britain and France to open the straits of Dardanelles forcefully during the Crimean war with Russia in 1853 when Russia closed the straits to prevent Ottoman Turkey’s warships from gaining access to the Black Sea.

BLOOD, FIRE AND STEEL 150 YEARS OF EUROPEAN HISTORY; THE SCRAMBLE FOR EMPIRE CHAPTER 4

THE SCRAMBLE FOR EMPIRE

As industrialization and scramble for markets intensified, many European states began to be outward looking in their desire to expand their markets and acquire raw materials for their industries.

Dramatic improvements in shipping and naval capabilities meant that armies and military forces could be extended overseas in the search and scramble for areas of domination and colonization as had been the trend with the big powers for the previous one and half centuries.

As the individual European nations became more powerful and prosperous, the instinct was to shift the power play to bases beyond the continental shelf. As new technologies allowing the steam engine, machine guns and new techniques in advancement of drug production became more available, the capacity and desire for territorial expansion surged ahead.

At this time, the emergence of Germany and Italy as united and powerful nations heated up the power tussle in Europe which before then was exclusively an Anglo-French affair. The scramble for Africa was so intense that to avoid war and conflict, the German statesman and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck called for a conference of the major colonial powers in Berlin in 1884 in November to February 1885 in order to peacefully demarcate areas of influence, control and colonization in Africa.

This process led to the complete partitioning of Africa among the major European nations with the notable exception of Abyssinia, the only African country to escape colonization in the traditional sense. The major Colonial Powers; Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, and Holland partitioned major portions of Asia, the Pacific Islands and Africa amongst themselves.

 They saw the new colonies as a veritable investment in territories, raw materials, markets and recruitment grounds for man power in military, economic and political frontiers. Many governments were involved in the scramble for colonies more for the prestige and honor that came with having colonies; in so much so that many small European states acquired the status of empires and dominions on account of their colonial holdings.

 While Portugal gained control over Angola and Mozambique, Belgium took over the huge area in mid equatorial Africa called the Congo region. Germany conquered the present day Namibia, the Cameroons and Togo land. Britain on the other hand, held much of the prized possession in West Africa, southern Africa and the Horn of Africa and together with France accounted for more than two thirds of the colonial holdings. The scramble generated tensions and territorial issues among the colonial powers which often drew them close to war and conflict.

 This led to the major European powers creating a system of military alliances principally designed to rein in, and maintain effective control over these newly won lands and territories. The British colonial holdings in Africa for instance stretched all the way from South Africa to Egypt and a good portion of the Middle East.

EVOLVING SOCIAL PATTERNS IN EUROPE AND THE EFFECT OF THE NEW WORLD

As the average European family grew more prosperous , smaller and more educated, social trends and patterns began to change  as more people moved to new regions: and if necessary to even new countries and the New world in search of a new social, political and economic order.

The reduction in family size saw a new direction in sexual behavior; for instance, the use of contraceptives like condoms and even abortions became more available and socially acceptable. Families became smaller, more integrated and more mobile in search of better opportunities and lifestyles. The fall in infant mortality also helped to change the demographic balance.

The pressure for regulated and shorter working hours and holidays became more sustained as workers formed unions, labor groups and began to mount pressure as independent politically active pressure groups as distinct from the organized political parties. The desire for leisure and vacation led to the pressure for reduced working hours which declined to about 10-12 hours working day by the turn of the century.

Leisure activities and usage of time became more defined as sports; recreation and travel were beginning to be accepted as facets of the new modernity. In the 1860s, Ireland went through a difficult time after the potato harvest of that season failed, leading to wide spread hunger and starvation.

 Due to this development, many people in their quest to avoid famine, chose to relocate to the United States, leading to a period of mass migration that started in Ireland and soon spread to Germany, Italy and Eastern Europe as many began to see the Americas as the new world of freedom and opportunities.

 The middle 19^th century leading up to the 20^th century saw a period of great population shift and movement towards the new world and colonies as people began to see a shift in physical location and mobility as a veritable tool for personal and family emancipation and chance for new opportunities.

The trans-Atlantic movement of people created a new demographic structure in Europe as nations literally were emptied in the millions due to the exodus in search of better opportunities. This trend opened new markets and new opportunities for the European nations overseas leading to great expansion in trade, increase in business and better opportunities for all concerned.

The economies of the European states together with that of the nations of the New world increased by leaps and bounds as each side quickly moved to take advantage of the large pool of skilled workers available and the easy access to raw materials and emerging markets.

The demographic shift eased the pressure on the “Old World” and provided great opportunities for the ‘New World’ to grow and take root. Soon families in Europe were beginning to have relations and kinsmen in the new world opening a whole new opportunity for trade and investment on both sides of the Atlantic.

THE TRANSITION FROM MONARCHY TO REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY

The French Revolution of 1789 just like the Industrial Revolution was a turning point in the affairs of Europe. The overthrow of the French monarchy in the people-led revolt and the subsequent ascension to power of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799 was an unprecedented development in 18^th century Europe which started a chain of events that would soon rock the whole continent and leave Europe with a different face politically.

For the first time, the masses of the European nations decided that sovereignty belonged to the people and that individual liberties and equality must be guaranteed by law. The revolt which started in 1789 soon saw the complete overthrow of Louis XVI and his dynasty. After the French revolution, Europe was never the same again.

The idea of sovereignty belonging to the masses, individual liberties, representative government and elected parliament/assemblies had taken root. The acceptance of the declaration of the rights of man coupled with the events happening on the other side of the ocean in the American war of Independence had begun to fuel agitations in the European states for representative rule and the devolution of power to elected assemblies and parliaments that were accountable to the people.

By the time of the end of the Revolutions and agitations that swept across Europe in 1848, the idea of peoples’ sovereignty, democracy and accountability were spreading across Europe inexhorably. The agitation for reform and entrenchment of democratic rights began to grow so much so that it became inevitable for changes to take place.

Napoleon Bonaparte taught and exposed the French people to the reality of Republicanism, which gained ground rapidly and soon different schools of thought, shades of opinion and political groupings began to emerge demanding for the enforcement of the rights and liberties of the middle class in particular.

It was during this period that Fredrick Engels and Karl Max founded a newspaper company and began to write and publish their communist ideas. Soon the idea of the revolt of the working class began to take root, and revolutionary ideas that basically threatened the foundations of autocratic and dynastic rule began to flourish all over Europe, bringing in its wake repressive moves to suppress and if possible eliminate these thoughts and philosophies.

From the United Kingdom, to Ireland, France, Prussia now Germany, Austria, Italy, the peoples’ revolt and pressure of the middle class caused such a rise of tension and upheavals that dynastic rule began to be seen as an idea that was anti- people, anti-democratic that needed to be swept away.

 In discerning monarchies, the popular revolt led to major reforms, the establishment of a parliament and peoples’ assemblies as in France, Germany, Russia and Britain.

THE DOMINANT POLITICAL STRUCTURES

 Europe in the middle 19^th century was basically dominated by two political structures and ideologies. On the one hand was the shift to Republicanism that was evident in the ascension to power of Napoleon Bonaparte leading to the beginning of Republican rule in France which soon became identified with repressive and    arbitrary rule which was often accompanied by military control and domination of the institutions of the state

On the other side of the divide was hereditary or dynastic rule where kings and queens ruled and established a hereditary hegemony characterized by father to son and sometimes daughter succession. For a thousand years previously, Europe had known nothing but dynastic rule dominated by ruling houses and families alongside the aristocratic and upper class often known as the nobility.

This setting met its first big challenge in the French Revolution   of 1789-1799 which led to the establishment of the first Republic under Napoleon Bonaparte. The defeat of Napoleon in 1814 at the battle of Waterloo and the terms of the peace settlement of the Congress of Vienna briefly led to the restoration of the monarchy under Philippe Louis as king.

Even then, this period was brief because the defeat of France in 1870 at the hands of Germany under Otto von Bismarck soon led to a popular agitation for the abdication of the king who was personally held responsible for the military defeat and the loss of Alsace Lorraine.

 The success of people’s democracy as evidenced in the emergence of the United States of America in 1776 as the world’s only genuine experiment in democratic and representative rule soon fuelled popular agitation in many countries for a return to true Republicanism and devolution of power to popularly elected parliaments and national assemblies.

In Italy, Garibaldi Giuseppe played a major role in establishing the short lived Mazzini’s Roman Republic. Although he was to be instrumental in the uniting of the Italian city states into the United Italian kingdom under king Victor Emmanuel, his experiments and contributions to Republicanism led to the rise of Republicanism in Europe.

The wave of popular discontent that swept through Europe at this time was fueled largely by the idea that power belonged to the people and not an autocracy or oligarchy. People became aware that they are entitled to electing a parliament of their choice which will attend to issues affecting their welfare, particularly the working class and to whom the ruling class was accountable and ultimately responsible for good governance.

The agitation and social discontent led to waves of popular revolts, workers strikes, insurrection and sometimes regicide as kings of Russia and Austria suffered multiple assassination attempts. This inevitably led to crackdown and repressive measures that were known to fuel further revolts and prepare ground for later Revolutions. France in particular led the way in paving the path for Republican rule.

In German though Wilhelm I held sway as Emperor, real power lay with Otto Von Bismarck the Prime Minister and Chancellor of Germany. The power play and struggles between the king and Chancellor became reminiscent of the growing struggles between autocracy and democracy.

Emperor Wilhelm 1 had acknowledged the peculiar place Bismarck had as an arbiter of German and European affairs but the significance of Bismarck as a stabilizer of the polity was completely lost on his young and willful son Wilhelm 11, who was soon to succeed him.

The State of Europe in 1850

Europe in 1850 was truly a continent on the move, on the boil, in ferment and constantly evolving. The mid-19^th century was a time when most of the great ideas that rule the world today were new, embryonic and fermenting. That era could also be called the era of “the philosopher” as some of the great thinkers we know in the world today began to emerge and traditional norms and ethos came under increasing pressure for change and reform

The seeds of the great conflict of ideologies that pervaded the world in the 20^th century were also sown at this time when Karl Max and Friedrich Engels began to publish their largely contentious beliefs about the emerging class war in their pamphlet; “the communist manifesto”.

Truly, the working class came into being following the Industrial Revolution. The growth of the industrial age and the prosperity that followed strengthened the working class immeasurably and like all other trends, the growing power of the working class who later became known as the middle class led to the beginning of a class and power struggle in society between the working class and aristocracy.

This struggle soon became evident on the political scene as the workers began to form and join labor unions that soon became platforms for the emergence of labor parties and other political groups that basically pressed for improvement in the conditions of life and service of the working class. The beginning of the class, ideological, racial and nationalistic tendencies that were to engulf the 20^th century was basically laid then.

The 1850s was also a time of technological, scientific, philosophical and economic advances. The London exhibitions of 1851 that held in the Crystal palace in London, highlighted the growing technological and scientific changes going on in the world and also highlighted the growing power of Great Britain as an imperial power.

The 1850s also saw a shift in the balance of power in the European continent that had earlier been dominated by the British holding the upper stake on the high seas in their powerful navy, and France holding the stake on land in their powerful army. The rivalry between these two great powers had led to many wars on the continent that climaxed in the Napoleonic wars.

The battle of Waterloo in 1814 interestingly enough, was the last major war to be fought between Britain and France. Republican France ultimately shifted ground particularly after the Franco-Prussian war to become a major ally of the United Kingdom. It is interesting to note that the path to peace and ultimately alliance between Britain, France and ultimately Russia lay in the emergence of Prussia later known as Germany as a major power in Europe.

1840-1871 saw the rise of Prussia, the union of the German states, the ascension of Prince Otto von Bismarck as the force behind the emergence of modern day Germany, the ascension of Wilhelm 1, as Emperor of Germany and the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870.

The loss of Alsace Lorraine, defeat on the battlefield, the capture of Napoleon III and the brief occupation of Paris by the Prussian army was a humiliation that not only shook France but shocked the world into the realization that a great power had emerged on the scene of Europe. The appearance of Germany alongside the Austro Hungarian Empire frightened Russia and started the process that led to the triple alliance between Britain, France and Russia.