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Informationen zum Autor R. S. Alexander is a Professor in the Department of History at the University of Victoria, Canada. His books include Napoleon (2001) and Re-Writing the French Revolutionary Tradition (2003). Klappentext Europe'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. Alexander offers balanced coverage of Eastern, Western, and Central Europe. He explains the causes and outcomes of major events: the effect of the emergence of mass politics; the evolution of political ideologies; the link between foreign and domestic policy; and the breakdown of the states system. The emphasis throughout is on the relation between state formation and growth in civil society, and the differences and similarities of this experience across countries. Enhanced by illustrations, maps, and figures, Europe's Uncertain Path provides a thorough background for anyone interested in modern European history. Zusammenfassung Europe 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. Inhaltsverzeichnis List 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: It...
