Liberalism in Economics and Politics
As an ideology, liberalism had a longer lineage than nationalism but enjoyed less influence among the common people. Liberalism traced its origins to the writings of John Locke in the seventeenth century and the Enlightenment philosophy in the eighteenth. The adherents of liberalism defined themselves in opposition to conservatives on one end of the political spectrum and revolutionaries on the other. Unlike conservatives, liberals supported the Enlightenment ideals of constitutional guarantees of personal liberty and free trade in economics, believing that they would promote social improvement and economic growth. Liberals generally applauded the social and economic changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, while opposing the violence and excessive state power promoted by the French Revolution. The leaders of the expanding middle class composed of manufacturers, merchants, and professionals favored liberalism.
The rapid industrialization and urbanization of Great Britain created a receptive environment for liberalism. Its foremost proponent in the early nineteenth century was the philosopher and jurist Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832). He called his brand of liberalism utilitarianism because he held that the best policy is the one that produces “the greatest good for the greatest number” and is thus the most useful, or utilitarian. Bentham criticized the injustices of the British parliamentary process, the abuses of the prisons and the penal code, and the educational system. In his zeal for social engineering, Bentham proposed model prisons that would emphasize rehabilitation through close supervision rather than corporal punishment.
British liberals wanted government to limit its economic role to maintaining the currency, enforcing contracts, and financing major enterprises like the military and the railroads. They therefore sought to lower or eliminate British tariffs, especially through repeal of the Corn Laws, which benefited landowners by preventing the import of cheap foreign grain while keeping the price of food artificially high for the workers. When landholders in the House of Commons thwarted efforts to lower grain tariffs, two Manchester cotton manufacturers set up the Anti–Corn Law League. The league appealed to the middle class against the landlords, who were labeled “a bread-taxing oligarchy” and “blood-sucking vampires,” and attracted thousands of workers to its meetings. League members established local branches, published newspapers and the journal The Economist (founded in 1843 and now one of the world’s most influential periodicals), and campaigned in elections. They finally won the support of the Tory prime minister Sir Robert Peel, whose government repealed the Corn Laws in 1846.
Free trade had less appeal in continental Europe than in England because continental industries needed protection against British industrial dominance. As a consequence, liberals on the continent focused on constitutional reform. French liberals, for example, agitated for greater press freedoms and a broadening of the vote. Louis-Philippe’s government thwarted liberals’ hopes for reforms by suppressing many political organizations and reestablishing censorship. Repression muted criticism in most other European states as well. Nevertheless, some state bureaucrats, especially university-trained middle-class officials, favored economic liberalism. Hungarian count Stephen Széchenyi (1791–1860) personally campaigned for the introduction of British-style changes. He helped start up steamboat traffic on the Danube, encouraged the importation of machinery and technicians for steam-driven textile factories, and pushed the construction of Hungary’s first railway line, from Budapest to Vienna.
In the 1840s, however, Széchenyi’s efforts paled before those of the flamboyant Magyar nationalist Lajos Kossuth (1802–1894). After spending four years in prison for sedition, Kossuth grabbed every opportunity to publicize American democracy and British political liberalism, all in a fervent nationalist spirit. In 1844, he founded the Protective Association, whose members bought only Hungarian products; to Kossuth, boycotting Austrian goods was crucial to ending “colonial dependence” on Austria.
Even in Russia, signs of liberal opposition appeared in the 1830s and 1840s. Small circles of young noblemen serving in the army or bureaucracy met in cities, especially Moscow, to discuss the latest Western ideas. Out of these groups came such future revolutionaries as Alexander Herzen (1812–1870), described by the police as “a daring free-thinker, extremely dangerous to society.” Tsar Nicholas I (r. 1825–1855) banned Western liberal writings as well as all books about the United States. He sent nearly ten thousand people a year into exile in Siberia as punishment for their political activities.