Chapter 21

The Congress of Vienna, which made the peace at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, tried to restore the Old Order and its "legitimate" rulers. It established a conservative system, with a balance of power, that it hoped would give Europe a general time of peace as far as it could see into the future. It was successful—in a way, and for a time.

The conservative system ruled, but the ideals of the French Revolution continued to stir up both hope and trouble. When combined with a rising call for independence and unification in nations long dependent and divided, it became a powerful agent of revolt and reform. Greece and the countries of Latin America fought to throw off foreign masters. Revolts simmered and erupted finally in Russia, France, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Poland, and Italy. Some of them were successful, some were not; but together they made the first half of the nineteenth century a volatile time.

Intellectuals responded to the spirit of the times with various theories about human society. Men like Edmund Burke defended conservatism as the best system to preserve institutions of order and security. Men like John Stuart Mill called for liberal reforms. Some welcomed the revolts of 1848, while some feared that they would bring political disintegration. Both were surprised when the revolts led to more conservative regimes almost everywhere.

Across Europe dreamers sought freedom and a better way of life. Young people joined organizations dedicated to freeing their nations from foreign domination or uniting their separated peoples into new nations. Utopian socialists experimented with industrial, educational, and other social reforms. The cultural expression of this mixed age of reaction and rebellion was Romanticism. Writers such as Geothe, Byron, and Wordsworth heralded individualism and glorified nature. The painter Delacroix and the composer Beethoven brought to the arts their age’s suppressed urge to be free. It was a time brimming with emotion.