Description
Book SynopsisEurope's Uncertain Path is an introduction to Europe's turbulent history from 1814 to 1914. It presents a clear narrative of the major political events, set against the backdrop of social, economic, and cultural change.
- An introduction to Europe's turbulent history from 1814 to 1914
- Provides students with a solid grounding in the main political events and social changes of the period
- Explains the causes and outcomes of major events: the effect of the emergence of mass politics; the evolution of political ideologies; and the link between foreign and domestic policy
- Offers balanced coverage of Eastern, Western, and Central Europe
- Illustrations, maps, and figures enhance student understanding
Trade Review“Still, this efficient and useful survey reminds scholars that we should indeed continue to re-evaluate how we tell the story of the modern European world and its making.” (European History Quarterly, 1 April 2015)
"His book offers a good introductory survey for first-year undergraduates, with a clear, relatively comprehensive, political narrative. This will provide students with a platform for more advanced studies and/or reading.” (Journal of European Studies, 14 November 2012)
Table of ContentsList of Maps ix
List of Figures x
Preface xii
Acknowledgements xix
1 A World Half Restored: The Vienna Settlement and the Restoration Regimes 1
The Nature of the Restored Regimes 7
Constitutional Monarchies 8
Despotism in Italy and Spain 12
The Eastern Autocracies 14
The Ottoman Empire 18
2 Political Contestation from the Vienna Settlement to the 1830 Revolutions, 1814–1832 21
Failed Revolutions 25
Conservative Consolidation 34
Erosion of the Conservative Order on the European Periphery 35
Reform and Revolution in the West 38
Resistance to Change in South, Central, and East Europe 44
3 Stability, Stasis or Decay?: Europe from 1830 to 1848 50
Structural Sources of Stability in Inter-State Relations 50
The Thin Veneer of Ideology 52
Utopian Socialism 56
Consolidation and the Constitutional Monarchies: Britain and France in the 1830s 57
Liberal Advance and Political Instability: Spain in the 1830s 63
The Volatile Complexity of Emergent Nationalism and Liberalism in Italy, Germany, and the Austrian Empire, 1830–1848 65
Toward Crisis? The Constitutional Monarchies in the 1840s 70
4 The Underpinnings of Politics: Economic, Social, and Cultural Developments up to Mid-Century 76
Population Growth and Agricultural Production 77
Rural Society: Peasants, Nobles, and Notables 79
Commerce, Industry, and the Emergent Urban Economy 82
Urban Society 88
State Formation and Social Control 94
Cultural Trends: Religious Revival and Romantic Revolt 98
5 Europe in Transition: The 1848 Revolutions and the Crimean War 104
Origins 105
The Initial Wave 105
The Springtime of the Peoples 108
The Crucible: Politics up to the June Days 110
Incomplete Conservative Recovery, July–December 1848 115
In the Balance: A Second Revolutionary Wave and Conservative Response, January–October 1849 118
Conservative Consolidation and the Spanish Exception 120
New Departures on the Left: Scientifi c Socialism and Anarchism 123
The Return of Great Power Rivalry 125
Taking Stock 128
6 Wars of National Unifi cation and Revolution in the European States System, 1850s–1871 129
Domestic Politics in the 1850s: Liberalism in the West 130
Autocratic Politics in the 1850s 134
The Quixotic Foreign Policy of Louis-Napoleon: Italian Unifi cation 136
Partial Unifi cation of Germany 139
The Early Stages of the Women's Movement 144
Domestic Politics in the 1860s: Reform in the Autocracies 146
Domestic Politics in the 1860s: Reform in Britain and France 150
Domestic Politics in the 1860s: Instability in Italy and Spain 153
Birth and Death: The Franco-Prussian War and Paris Commune 156
7 Europe from the Paris Commune to the Fall of Bismarck, 1871–1892 162
Arms, Alliances, and Inter-State Relations in the 1870s 162
The Coming of Male Democracy 165
Domestic Politics in the 1870s: Britain and France 167
Domestic Politics in the 1870s: Spain and Italy 170
Domestic Politics in the Eastern Autocracies in the 1870s 173
Inter-State Relations in the 1880s: The "New Imperialism" and the Demise of the Bismarckian Alliance System 179
West European Domestic Politics in the 1880s: Britain and France 184
Spain and Italy in the 1880s 188
The Eastern Empires during the 1880s 191
8 The Underpinnings of Politics: Economic, Social, and Cultural Developments from Mid-Century to 1914 199
Rising Population 200
Economic Expansion 202
Mid-Century Prosperity 203
Economic Slowdown 204
The Return of Rapid Growth 206
Social Change: Urbanization 208
Rural Society 209
Urban Society 212
State Response to Economic and Social Change: Increasing Intervention 216
Association "Mania" 220
Cultural Trends: Positivism and the Cult of Scientifi c Progress 223
Religious Response 226
Growing Doubt 228
Mass Culture 231
9 Toward Destruction?: From the 1890s to the mid-1900s 237
Inter-State Relations, 1890–1900: Shifting Alliances 238
Inter-State Relations, 1900–1905: Partial Clarifi cation and Continued Flexibility 241
Democracy, Mass Politics, and the Women's Movement 243
Adaptation to Mass Politics in Britain and France 244
Mixed Signs in Spain and Italy 250
Uncertainty in the Autocracies: Germany and Austria-Hungary 255
Revolution in Russia 261
10 Transition Re-routed: From the Mid-1900s to the Great War 267
Domestic Politics: The End or Beginning of an Era? 267
Evolution in Britain and Stalemate in France, 1906–14 271
Failure in Spain and Italy 276
Parliamentary Confl ict and the Limits to Opposition in Germany 280
Nationalist Divisions in the Dual Monarchy 283
Imperial Russia: One Step Back from the Brink of Revolution? 286
Toward the Abyss: Inter-State Relations, 1905–14 290
From the First Moroccan Crisis to the Annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1904–9 290
Temporary Stabilization and the Return of Crisis, 1909–12 293
The Final Destruction of the European States System, 1911–14 294
The Causes of World War One 302
Culmination? 305
Conclusion 309
Notes 317
Bibliography 324
Index 338
