Throughout the century, conservative kings and their aristocratic advisors remained in power in most European states. The Industrial Revolution which had begun in England during the second half of the 18th century, spread to the Netherlands and France; from there to Germany, Northern Italy, the United States, and Japan. But the 19th century was a century of progress, peace, and tremendous social change. By the end of the century, it was beginning to have an impact on Russia.
In any number of European history books you will find the nineteenth century referred to as the age of ideology. What is thereby being claimed is that, during the nineteenth century, Europe either gave birth to and/or witnessed the rapid growth of a number of ideologies, “which have shaped and are continuing to shape not only the West but also the world at large” (Macridis, 1996).
An ideology is a body of ideas, which form the basis of a political, economic, and social system. Ideology can be referred to as systems of belief or more or less systematically argued views of the proper structure and ends of human society. The ideologies with which we are concerned as well as a few others under the heading Modern socio-economic doctrines and reform movements.
Conservatism emphasized the value of tradition reacting against the rationalism over tradition of the Enlightenment and the anarchy of the French Revolution. Liberalism emphasized the value of the individual against the Old Regime and wanted to secure the liberty and equality proclaimed by the French Revolution.
Liberalism is perhaps especially difficult because liberals tend to be pragmatic rather than doctrinaire. Rather than mouth principles and slogans, liberals are more interested in what seems to work. But nineteenth-century liberals that is, classical liberals tended to be more dogmatic. And so we can....
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