Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of “I actually read and thought I knew things, but apparently I don’t!” Today we will be reviewing what we forgot we talked about in class because its the weekend and no one is actually going to open up their textbooks until its 9pm and we have to cram for tomorrow’s class.

First up: Greece! (sadly, not the musical)

Us in class (but mostly Nicole)

• As Mr. Yarnall so delicately broached the topic, why do we care?
• The Greeks had been under the control of the Ottoman Turks for quite some time. Despite this, they stayed united with a common culture and language. Feeling inspired by all the revolutionary feeling in the air, the Greeks got to it and Alexander Ypsilanti (Greek patriot and general in the Russian army) helped them to revolt against the Ottomans in 1821
• Metternich and the absolutist powers that be were not huge fans of revolution, so even though the Turks were Muslim (horribly scandalous stuff for the time) they did not back Greece and instead backed the Ottoman Empire.

• The Russians felt bad for their Orthodox friends and jumped in to help, and many educated Americans and Europeans jumped on the pro-Greece bandwagon because they loved the culture of classical Greece.
• Russia and friends (France and Britain) came to the help of the Revolting Greeks in 1827 and demanded Turkey accept an armistice, and when they did not, R&F destroyed the Turkish fleet
• Russia established a protectorate over Turkish lands after declaring another expansionist war against the Ottomans
• Greece was declared independent in 1830
• This revolution in Greece could be signs showing the movement for the people’s voices in the government

England:

• England had a stable but flexible sociopolitical structure
• society was dominated by the aristocratic landowners, but the common people had many opportunities to become successful businessman that could buy land and join the aristocracy.
• The need for political reform was based in Parliament— only 8% of the population could vote for representatives
• Two political parties to know:
• Whigs and the Tories
• Whigs: more commercially interested
• Tories: fearful of radical movements and were intensely conservative
• Rotten boroughs— left over from the feudal system, it was an area of land that used to have been ruled by a lord with several people working the land which had decreased in population (as people moved to more urban areas) but retained the same number of representatives
• usually were areas under the control of a rich aristocrat who could control the votes of those representing him in Parliament— an unfair representation of the people

  

  Us, when Yarnall kept asking what a rotten borough was

• The Reform Bill of 1832:
• The industrial areas of the country were now represented in the House of Commons and the bill eliminated the rotten boroughs
• Voters increased by 50%— about 12% or the men in Ireland and Britain could now vote
• This relieved tensions and helped to reform without a revolution
• The Chartist Movement:
• The People’s Charter of 1838 demanded universal male suffrage

  

  What? Women voting??? INCONCEIVABLE!!

• They wanted complete democracy for an equal society
• Many people signed petitions, but Parliament rejected them— they thought that democracy would lead to anarchy
• While some were busy trying to get the right to vote, others were protesting the Corn Laws
• What are the Corn Laws?
• The Corn Laws regulated foreign import of grain until the price of grain in England rose to a certain point.
• Why are people so mad about corn? I love corn!
• The law was changed in 1815 to raise the price that corn needed to be in England before it could be imported— this made it almost impossible for other markets to compete with the British market
• When the famine in Ireland began, this affected them negatively and made it difficult for them to find cheap grain to buy because the prices were set extremely high
• The Corn Laws were repealed by Robert Peel (Tory Prime Minister) in 1846
• During the protests of the Corn Laws, the Tory government temporarily prevented any assemblies and the right of habeas corpus.
• Parliament later passed the Six Acts (reminiscent of Metternich), which put heavy taxes on a controlled press and eliminated all mass meetings
• Many people gathered in protest of the Six Acts in Saint Peter’s Fields in Manchester, called the Battle of Peterloo

@ Yarn (please give me an A)

Hope you’ve enjoyed the beautiful weekend and hopefully you haven’t forgotten all of European history while doing so! (I know I have but oh well)