Ideology is the "ideas and manners of thinking characteristic of a group, social class, or individual." In honors history 10, we studied what that lengthy definition really means, and learned about the three major ideologies of the 19th century--conservatism, nationalism, and liberalism. By first brainstorming the modern definitions of these words, we got an idea of what we would be learning about. But as you may guess, these definitions have evolved since 200 years ago. In the spirit of a competitive political debate, the class split into groups to make 1 minute presentations on each 19th century definition of one of these ideologies. Next class we would go head to head and compete to see who had crafted the most creative and informational presentation!
My group chose to tackle liberalism-- the revolutionary ideology seeking a government based on merit as opposed to social standing. By making a common craft video, we were able to include this definition along with a few examples of liberalism in action. From watching our video, it can be gathered that liberalism wiped out the old social order of absolute monarchy for a period of time. When Napoleon ruled France and conquered countries like Prussia and Austria, he acted as a liberalist. Napoleon provided education to lower class parties who had never had access in the past, as well as overthrew the French directory. By getting rid of previous power figures and providing education to everyone, Napoleon worked to make France more of a meritocracy, aligning himself with liberal ideals. During his peak, Napoleon acted as a liberalist, but in a few years, conservatists would take over in an attempt to restore Europe’s previous social order. To learn more about liberalism, check out our common craft below!
In class we watched other students’ videos and skits to collect the definitions of conservatism and nationalism. Through funny chatterpix featuring talking M&Ms acting out nationalism, we learned that this is the ideology associated with a country’s natural unity. Nationalism is what lead established nations like Britain to push for expansion as a whole, and dispersed countries like Germany to seek unity and a native ruler. Next we learned that conservatists value tradition and monarchy from an animated video of Edmund Burke, the “father of conservatism”. In Burke’s book, “Reflections on Revolutions in France”, he reacts the same way most european elites do to the French Revolution, arguing against reform and a new social order. By the end of class I felt like watching and making our quick videos had given me an understanding of all three european 19th century ideologies. All that was left was deciding who had the best presentation!
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