Capítulo 17: Chapter 17: Europe 1816-1830.
A new era.- 1816-1830
It's quite surprising for students in the Americas, especially Latin America, to discover that their period of peace, "Congress Latin America" overlapped with Europe's own period of peace, the Concern of Europe. Stereotypes abound, and just like the average European doesn't know much about Latin America aside from Mexico, Colombia, Brazil and La Plata ("the Big Four"), the average Latino thinks that Europe was still in some war during the period. The reality, of course, is completely different.
While the United Kingdom could firmly establish itself as the most powerful country in the world thanks to both naval and industrial power, they still had important competitors in Continental Europe. France was still the first British enemy, being the second most industrialized nation and conserving a very powerful army, powerful enough to defeat both Prussia and Austria at the same time. Nonetheless, France's navy was pathetic and thus France didn't represent any threat to the United Kingdom, but the fact that there was such a powerful country in the continent was a menace to the precious balance the UK wanted to conserve.
After Carlos X was crowned as King of France and Navarra, he surprised the world by appointing Lafayette of all people as prime minister. This decision brought the support of the masses as they still saw him as a hero, and also brought the United States closer to France. Under him, France successfully called for the Peace of Madrid and won the favor of Mexico and La Plata. He also supported the liberal revolutions in Spain and Portugal, creating what he called a "Liberal Block" against the rest of the continent. Relations with the Papal States and Sardinia Piedmont also improved, while keeping a somewhat stable democracy. Tensions between conservatives, reactionaries and liberals were high, especially in the French parliament, but France lived an age of prosperity overall.
Prussia meanwhile finally consolidated itself as one of the Great Powers of Europe, becoming increasingly industrialized and powerful, having one of the most modern and numerous forces in the continent. Prussia didn't care that much about the new republics in the Americas, being perfectly happy to let the United Kingdom and France have all the influence there. Some of the new republics managed to contract Prussian military advisors though, most prominently Chile and Colombia. Austria, on the other hand, started to see how ethnic nationalism was starting to threaten its very existence, from Hungarian, Italians and Slavs wanting to gain independence to how Prussia was becoming a serious contender for Austrian domination over the German peoples.
We must mention the "German Question" here. It has its origins in the Napoleonic Wars, when the German peoples started to feel that they should be united by virtue of sharing a common language, culture and history. The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved and nobody showed interest in bringing it back to life, with the loose German Confederation put in place instead. The Confederation was, naturally, Austrian led, but the rise of Prussia as another Great Power of the world make the different German kingdoms, principalities, duchies question themselves which path they should follow. The Ancient Hapsburg Empire, full of honor and victory but also full of angry minorities and practically stuck in the Middle Ages? Or Prussia, the rising star of Europe whose militaristic and industrialist culture clashed with that of some Southern German Kingdoms like Bavaria? The German would rage for the decades to come.
The Iberian Peninsula lived a somewhat stable period, under two Constitutional Monarchies propped by France. The Monarchs were displeased with the political situation, as they wanted to return to absolutism but couldn't. The people of both Spain and Portugal were also upset for the lost of their colonies and the fact that they lost much of their global status and power with them. Nobody was really satisfied with the actual governments, the Liberals angry because their countries weren't liberal enough while the reactionaries were upset because they were far too liberal for their liking. This created a tense environment where protest were very common, as well as attacks against liberals, reactionaries, common people and more. The situation conspired for the start of the first Iberian Diaspora, as the Spaniards and Portuguese abandoned their countries for the more stable and relatively wealthier (when compared with the war-torn Spain and Portugal) countries of Latin America, with Colombia being the great winner there. It's calculated that in the entire period of Congress Latin America around 200.000 people immigrated to Colombia, more than half being Spaniards.
In Eastern Europe there was some agitation in the Polish areas, but nothing came out of it. Russia, now in possession of the majority of Poland and of Finland had firmly established itself as one of the Great Powers, especially when it came to military power. The country was still backwards and wouldn't start real industrialization for various decades, though.
In the Low Countries, France was doing fine with its half of the former Austrian Netherlands, due to the fact that the inhabitants were French speaking Catholics. The only exception was Brussels, and even then the French didn't have too much problems, starting to assimilate them practically right away. The United Kingdom of the Netherlands was resentful of the French presence in Wallonia, but was happy with having Flanders. Some problems arose from the Catholic status of the population there, but the king William resolved them by promoting religious freedom, all in the name of saving his country. He also started programs to assimilate them into Protestants, but they wouldn't be very successful.
The Balkans were scenery of conflict in 1821 when the Greek War of Independence started. After years of negotiations, Russia and the United Kingdom stepped it, the former looking to protect fellow Orthodox Christians and the latter to expand its influence. France tried to take part on it, but the United Kingdom didn't want to risk the chance of France gaining yet another Constitutional Monarchy in its sphere. The Royal Navy, with some assistance from the Russians, then proceeded to crush the Ottomans in the Battle of Navarino. Greece finally reached its independence towards the end of the decade. A direct consequence was that the Ottoman Empire tried to close the Dardanelles to Russia, only to be defeated in a short war that secured Russian control in Georgia and free navigation in the straits. Another consequence was that Muhammad Ali of Egypt started to claim control of Syria in repayment of his role in the Greek War of Independence.
In North Africa a new age of Imperialism started as Charles X moved 36.000 troops to Algeria, starting the colonization of the land in the name of "civilizing" the natives. Another proof of this was the British East India Company achieving almost total control over India, the jewel in the crown of the British Empire. Many years would pass until Europe decided to set its eyes in the riches of Africa, but the foundations were laid.
If we had to remember at least one good thing an European Power did during this period, it would be the creation of the West Africa squadron by the United Kingdom, all in the name of stopping the slave trade. Most countries had already banned slavery, but it was still legal in the great majority of the Americas, most prominently Brazil and the United States. The trade itself had been banned by both Colombia and Mexico, though both nations also had to work some issues before being able to definitively ban that horrible and disgusting institution.
In the United States, after the disastrous War of 1814 practically destroyed the economy, leaving the nation in shambles, James Monroe took power. His principal concern was rebuilding the United States, starting a heavy campaign of state intervention which, is generally agreed, did more bad to the economy than good. The Union stabilized, but another question was formed due to the annexation of new territories in the west.
Monroe wanted to maintain the balance between the Southern States, hell bend in keeping slavery and the Northern States, which loathed the practice but were willing to tolerate it thanks to the great importance of cotton to the American economy. The country had just lost a great amount of territory in the north, thus it was precise to take certain actions to ensure there existed balance between both areas. The Missouri compromise was signed, prohibiting slaves above the 37º Parallel, while making an agreement of dividing the lands the United States claimed in Mexico between the South and the North. He also started a program to make the Southern economy stronger, with huge projects of industrialization, trying to make both parts of the country more equal. It's agreed that this was his fatal mistake, as it only made the South stronger when the Civil War started.
When it comes to Latin America, Monroe's infamous for his Doctrine, which said that America should be for the Americans and that no European Power had the right to interfere, have colonies there or even invest in industry or infrastructure. The doctrine was thoroughly refused by Latin America, most prominently Colombia, Brazil and Mexico, all of which greatly benefited from European intervention. The most frustrating part of the Doctrine was just how paternalistic and condescending it was towards the new nations, practically saying that the Latino Americans couldn't govern themselves and that the area was only for the United States to do as they please. The United Kingdom, still upset and with bad relations with the US, and France, which didn't want to lose its newfound influence, rejected the Doctrine as well.
An agreement was reached at the very end of Congress Latin America, agreement that stated that no European power had the right to intervene in the Americas, but no country in the Americas had any right to intervene in neither Europe nor any other country in the continent. Thus, for example, Colombia couldn't interfere in Peru and the United States couldn't interfere in Mexico. This New Doctrine, sometimes called Andrade Doctrine after the Mexican Prime Minister, was broken numerous times during the following years, of course.
In 1824 elections were celebrated in the United States. The "failure" of the Monroe Doctrine, which was revelated to have been almost completely written by John Quincy Adams, brought the outrage of several people, who did want to have complete control over Latin America. They turned to Willian Crawford and Henry Clay, as possible presidents. The situation ended in an stalemate between Crawford and Adams, situation resolved when Clay decided to switch his support to Crawford, thus allowing him to become president. Clay would later call this his greatest mistake.
Indeed, Crawford went bad from the get-go, having a stroke just a few weeks into office. His government was then largely unremarkable, with almost all of his ideas being shut down by the Congress, full of Adams' sympatizants. He failed to repair the damaged American economy (not that Monroe did much better, mind you, but Crawford was much more incompetent) and was clearly favoring the South when it came to development. A prominent supporter of States' rights and liberties, he only deepened the separation between those United States of America over which he governed.
In Asia, the British started to grow opium and export it to China in order to make their new colony of India profitable, while the Dutch consolidated their empire in Indonesia, slowly but surely. The Philippines, one of the few colonies the Spaniards still held but, like with the majority of their former colonies, didn't care about that much, were still there. Spain's new prime minister, however, decided that it was enough, and the lack of care Spain showed towards its colonies was the direct motive of the Latin American Revolutions. He started to offer education in Spanish, first in major urban centers, and also took actions to develop the Filipino resources and create some industry. Some people from Latin America who were loyal to Spain were encouraged to settle in the Philippines, with Spanish citizenship being offered in exchange. The largest populations came from Mexico and Peru and formed the basis of the new Filipino elites, but at the same time, the basis of the Filipino national identity, as they brought liberal ideas with them.
Overall, the age between 1816 and 1830 was stable and prosperous, at least for the European Powers. The war devastated world was healing. All the people looked forward to a new era, an era of unprecedented technological advances, of revolutions, imperialism and nationalism, a new era in which the ancient regimes of Europe struggled against new ideals while laying their hungry eyes in the riches of Africa and Asia; a new era in which the young republics of the Americas struggled to find their own identities and to prosper. Nobody knew what this future era would be like, yet they still saw forward to it with hearths full of hope.
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