About John Brengman Expertise I am a history major in college and I am a politcs and current events junkie, so I can take a look at almost any situation in politics or the news and evaluate it against current trends in the countries involved, or how a given situation reflects the history of the contries involved. My specialization in history is American and European history, but I have also had a few courses dealing with Asia, and the Middle East.
Experience I have had classes dealing with US History, European History, the History of Mexico, History and Politics of Asia, and the War in Vietnam.
Education/Credentials AS - History, Casper College (2000)
Expert: John Brengman Date: 6/21/2003 Subject: revolutions in europe
Question after the fall of Napoleon, many wars were fought for national liberation for example in greece, spain, etc. I have to discuss the most important of these struggles but who were the principal opponents of the revolutionaries in these struggles?
Answer ^.^
After the revolution in France (1792), and the rise and fall of Napoleon, there was a consensus among the monarchies of Europe that nationalistic revolutions were a bad thing all-around. They caused widespread chaos among all levels of society, and perhaps more important in their minds, it generally meant the overthrow of the monarchy.
This struggle had quite a few impacts on history. For instance, had the revolts in Spain been put down forcefully, the government might have been able to reinforce its colony in Mexico and put off the revolution that resulted in independence for that colony.
This same series of revolutions and attempts to quell them resulted in US President James Monroe declaring the Monroe Doctrine in December of 1823, which basically said that the United States had little interest in European affairs, but the nations of Europe should not meddle in the affairs of the western hemisphere.
In France, the reign of Louis XVII was a tumultuous time, as royalist elements carried out a campaign to eliminate remaining Bonapartists, especially after 1815 and Napoleon's abortive attempt to recreate the Empire. Louis XVIII was followed by Charles X, who proved himself to be very much in league with the rest of the monarchies in Europe by stamping out the revolutionaries as well as those favoring liberalism or constitutionalism.
In 1820 of course, France got involved in putting down the revolutions in Spain.
In other parts of Europe, you have the tzar Alexander, who was the most strident of the monarchs in this area, and he had to deal with the fact that the Vienna settlement had created a constitutional state in Poland, which was joined weakly to Russia. This did not sit well, as none of the nobility wanted such an experiment happening RIGHT on their border. This situation was changed when Poland was integrated more heavily into Russia.
In Austria, the driving force behind government action in this area was Prince Metternich, who was involved in suppressing popular revolutionary sentiments in the German states through the Carlsbad Decrees (1819). Austria also was involved in putting down a revolution in Naples in 1820, in part because Austria considered Italy to be within its sphere of influence.
These leaders of Europe, Alexander of Russia, Charles X of France, and Prince Metternich of Austria, attempted through the Congress system to pool their resources to combat revolutionary threats to the monarchies.
The Congress system lasted until about shortly after 1824 or so. By 1825, Tzar Alexander was faced with a revolution, and another revolution broke out in Poland in 1830. France too had a revolution in 1830.
So, the short answer to your question was that the royalist forces were led by the Congress system, which was led by Alexander of Russia, Prince Metternich of Austria, and Charles X of France.
