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6 - Revolutions of 1830

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2020

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Summary

Abstract

The present chapter turns to the revolutions of 1830. Although events in France, Germany, and Italy are taken into account, the Belgian and Polish cases are treated with greatest depth. In doing so, the chapter explores the diverse sources of discontent – national, constitutional, and urban social distress – evoked in the concept of composite revolution. The chapter also describes significant developments in the evolution of nationalist thought during the period. Special attention is given to the productions of Polish authors who, in the aftermath of the 1830 revolutions, made particularly striking contributions to the elaboration of such doctrines.

Keywords: Belgian Revolution, Polish Revolution, The Social Question, Flemings, Walloons

It is not Belgium which I understand to be battling here, it is Revolution, which, from closer and closer, and quicker than anyone would believe, threatens even us, if we are seen trembling before it.

The present chapter examines the revolutions that broke out in the second decade of the Restoration. As indicated by the comments of Tsar Nicholas I above, the major sites of conflict in this latest wave of unrest included Belgium, France, Switzerland, parts of Italy and Germany, and finally Poland. As might be expected, such an array of cases, virtually all of which have been portrayed as having a ‘composite nature,’ presents problems of typology and interpretation not unlike those encountered in the previous chapter. On one hand, the liberal dimension of these revolutions was prominent, in the sense that many were preceded by clashes of interest in which demands for civil liberties and representation were well-sounded and employed later as the rallying point for popular mobilization. Historiographical perspectives also place emphasis on the role of social grievances connected with the advance of the industrial revolution – a factor of still greater importance in appraisals of 1848. Finally, the revolutions of these years provide many new examples of how by-now familiar doctrines regarding the status and rights of nations figured into contemporary power struggles. As in the case of the revolutions of 1820, the elasticity of a concept like national sovereignty was of such an order that it could be implicated in a wide range of conflicts – from those of an internal constitutional nature, as in the case of France (and previously Spain) – to others, as in Belgium and Poland, that are more commonly associated with bids for secession and autonomy.

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Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Revolutions of 1830
  • Dean Kostantaras
  • Book: Nationalism and Revolution in Europe, 1763–1848
  • Online publication: 20 November 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9789048536214.006
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  • Revolutions of 1830
  • Dean Kostantaras
  • Book: Nationalism and Revolution in Europe, 1763–1848
  • Online publication: 20 November 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9789048536214.006
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Revolutions of 1830
  • Dean Kostantaras
  • Book: Nationalism and Revolution in Europe, 1763–1848
  • Online publication: 20 November 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9789048536214.006
Available formats
×