7.4.3 Conservatism

While liberalism and nationalism represented the continuation of Enlightenment ideals of natural rights and liberty, the rise of conservatism was a reaction against the ideological changes and increased freedoms associated with the revolutions of the eighteenth century. Realizing they could not return to the prerevolutionary era, proponents of conservatism instead sought to suppress the forces of nationalism and liberalism as a means of reining in newfound principles of democracy and republicanism. Based on the belief that sudden change in the form of revolution was illegitimate, conservatism advocated submitting to government authority and allowing religious doctrine to play a central role in maintaining social order and stability. Conservative theorists like Edmund Burke, moreover, asserted that individual rights were secondary to the rights of the community, and that the only acceptable way to generate political change was slowly and gradually rather than through revolution.

The central goal of conservative leaders in early nineteenth-century Europe, like the Austrian foreign minister Klemens von Metternich, was to prevent future revolutions and maintain a favorable balance of power, an equilibrium that prevents one nation from dominating others. In response to the Napoleonic Wars, during which Napoléon sought to create a Grand Empire that expanded French power over much of the European continent at the beginning of the nineteenth century, Metternich and his allies sought to contain France and restore order by establishing conservative political regimes.

In the wake of Napoléon’s defeat, Metternich and diplomats from Prussia, Russia, and Great Britain agreed to form a united front to maintain European peace and stability. To solidify their peace agreement, members of this Quadruple Alliance met at the Congress of Vienna in 1814–1815. Although it was in theory a collective effort, Metternich dominated the proceedings. He asserted that the only way to maintain stability in Europe was to restore the legitimacy of overthrown monarchs, who would reinforce traditional beliefs and institutions. By exercising a firm hand, moreover, monarchs would demand loyalty from their subjects and reverse the democratic principles of the social contract and individual liberty.

The powers at Vienna also hoped that restoring monarchy would maintain Europe’s political equilibrium and balance of power (Figure 7.17). To ensure that no single country could conquer others, they agreed to divide military and political power more equitably among themselves. For example, Russia, Prussia, and Austria all had claims to Polish territory. To ensure an equitable distribution of power, Prussia and Austria were permitted to keep some of their Polish lands, but others, such as the Duchy of Warsaw, were ceded to Russian control. Austria and Prussia were then compensated for the loss of their Polish lands with control of additional territories in the German and Italian states. France, moreover, was required to return lands it had acquired under Napoléon before the restoration of the French monarchy in 1814.

Although Vienna’s peace settlement of 1815 was intended to restrain the liberalism and nationalism of the revolutionary era, conservative leaders like Metternich underestimated the extent of popular support for these ideologies, which had become irreversible in places like the United States and France. Greek supporters of national sovereignty, for example, were guided by revolutionary principles to seek independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821, and they gained it in 1830. Nevertheless, after 1815, conservatism continued to gain favor among those who supported the leadership and privilege of hereditary monarchs, organized religion, and the aristocracy.