Radicalism (historical)
Encyclopedia
The term Radical was used during the late 18th century for proponents of the Radical Movement. It later became a general pejorative
term for those favoring or seeking political reforms which include dramatic changes to the social order. Historically, early radical aims of liberty and electoral reform
in Great Britain
widened with the American Revolution
and French Revolution
so that some radicals sought republicanism
, abolition of titles, redistribution of property
and freedom of the press
. Initially identifying itself as a far left
party opposed to the right-wing parties; the Orleanist
s, the Legitimists and the Bonapartist
s in France in the nineteenth century
, the Republican, Radical and Radical‐Socialist Party progressively became the most important party of the Third Republic
(1871–1940). As historical Radicalism became absorbed in the development of political liberalism
, in the later 19th century in both the United Kingdom
and continental Europe
the term Radical came to denote a progressive liberal ideology.
the first use of the word "Radical" in a political sense is generally ascribed to the English whig
parliament
arian Charles James Fox
. In 1797, Fox declared for a "radical reform" of the electoral system drastically expanding the franchise to the point of universal manhood suffrage
. This led to a general use of the term to identify all supporting the movement for parliamentary reform. The Britannica biography of Fox mentions his dismissal from the Privy Council
in 1798 for reaffirming the doctrine of the sovereignty of the people in a public speech. However, the biography does not describe the specifics of Fox's declaration. Fox was no democrat: he would never have countenanced the notion that property would be safe in a democratic society in which the property-less voters would obviously be in a majority. Fox stated his view as being that property was the true foundation of aristocracy, and a country best prospered whose government was in such hands. These sentiments appear to be at odds with the Radical cause, but at this time parliament operated on shifting patronage rather than party lines, and Fox was noted for inconsistencies.
The word was first used in a political sense in 18th century Great Britain
. Initially confined to the upper and middle classes, in the early 19th century "popular radicals" brought artisan
s and the "labouring classes" into widespread agitation in the face of harsh government repression. More respectable "Philosophical radicals" followed the utilitarian philosophy of Jeremy Bentham
and strongly supported parliamentary reform, but were generally hostile to the arguments and tactics of the "popular radicals". By the middle of the century parliamentary Radicals
joined with others in the Parliament of the United Kingdom
to form the Liberal Party
, eventually achieving reform of the electoral system.
, with the first Radicals, angry at the state of the House of Commons
, drawing on the Leveller
tradition and similarly demanding improved parliamentary representation. These earlier concepts of democratic and even egalitarian reform had emerged in the turmoil of the English Civil War
and the brief establishment of the republic
an Commonwealth of England
amongst the vague political grouping known as the Levellers
, but with the English Restoration
of the monarchy such ideas had been discredited. Although the Glorious Revolution
of 1688 had increased parliamentary power with a constitutional monarchy
and the union of the parliaments brought England
and Scotland
together, towards the end of the 18th century the monarch still had considerable influence over the Parliament of Great Britain
which itself was dominated by the English aristocracy and by patronage. Candidates for the House of Commons stood as Whigs
or Tories
, but once elected formed shifting coalitions of interests rather than splitting along party lines. At general election
s the vote was restricted to property owners, in constituencies which were out of date and did not reflect the growing importance of manufacturing towns or shifts of population, so that in many rotten borough
s seats could be bought or were controlled by rich landowners, while major cities remained unrepresented. Discontent with these inequities inspired those individuals who later became known as the "Radical Whigs
".
William Beckford
fostered early interest in reform in the London
area. The "Middlesex
radicals" were led by the politician John Wilkes
, an opponent of war with the colonies who started his weekly publication The North Briton
in 1764 and within two years had been charged with seditious libel
and expelled from the House of Commons. The Society for the Defence of the Bill of Rights he started in 1769 to support his re‐election developed the belief that every man had the right to vote and "natural reason" enabling him to properly judge political issues. Liberty consisted in frequent elections. For the first time middle‐class radicals obtained the backing of the London "mob". Middlesex and Westminster
were among the few parliamentary constituencies with a large and socially diverse electorate including many artisan
s as well as the middle class and aristocracy, and along with the county association of Yorkshire
led by the Reverend Christopher Wyvill
were at the forefront of reform activity. The writings of what became known as the "Radical Whigs
" had an influence on the American Revolution
.
Major John Cartwright
also supported the colonists, even as the American Revolutionary War
began, and in 1776 earned the title of the "Father of Reform" when he published his pamphlet Take Your Choice! advocating annual parliaments, the secret ballot and manhood suffrage
.
In 1780 a draft programme of reform was drawn up by Charles James Fox
and Thomas Brand Hollis
, and put forward by a sub‐committee of the electors of Westminster. This included calls for the six points later adopted in the People's Charter (see Chartists below).
The American Revolutionary War
ended in humiliating defeat of a policy which King George III had fervently advocated, and in March 1782 the King was forced to appoint an administration led by his opponents which sought to curb Royal patronage. In November 1783 he took his opportunity and used his influence in the House of Lords
to defeat a Bill to reform the British East India Company
, dismissed the government and appointed William Pitt the Younger
as his Prime Minister. Pitt had previously called for Parliament to begin to reform itself, but he did not press for long for reforms the King did not like. Proposals Pitt made in April 1785 to redistribute seats from the "rotten borough
s" to London and the counties were defeated in the House of Commons by 248 votes to 174.
, Thomas Paine
wrote The Rights of Man (1791) as a response to Burke
's counterrevolutionary
essay Reflections on the Revolution in France
(1790), itself an attack on Richard Price
's sermon that kicked off the so-called "pamphlet war" known as the Revolution Controversy
. Mary Wollstonecraft
, another supporter of Price, soon followed with A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
. They encouraged mass support for democratic reform along with rejection of the monarchy
, aristocracy
, and all forms of privilege. Different strands of the movement developed, with middle class "reformers" aiming to widen the franchise to represent commercial and industrial interests and towns without parliamentary representation, while "Popular radicals" drawn from the middle class and from artisan
s agitated to assert wider rights including relieving distress. The theoretical basis for electoral reform was provided by "Philosophical radicals" who followed the utilitarian philosophy of Jeremy Bentham
and strongly supported parliamentary reform, but were generally hostile to the arguments and tactics of the "popular radicals".
Popular Radicals were quick to go further than Paine, with Newcastle
schoolmaster Thomas Spence
demanding land nationalisation to redistribute wealth in a penny periodical he called Pig's Meat in a reference to Edmund Burke
's phrase "the swinish multitude". Radical organisations sprang up, such as the London Corresponding Society
of artisans formed in January 1792 under the leadership of the shoemaker Thomas Hardy
to call for the vote. One such was the Scottish
Friends of the People society which in October 1793 held a British Convention in Edinburgh
with delegates from some of the English corresponding societies
. They issued a manifesto demanding universal male suffrage with annual elections and expressing their support for the principles of the French Revolution. The numbers involved in these movements were small, and most wanted reform rather than revolution, but for the first time working men were organising for political change.
The government reacted harshly, imprisoning leading Scottish radicals, temporarily suspending habeas corpus
in England and passing the Seditious Meetings Act 1795
which meant that a license was needed for any meeting in a public place consisting of fifty or more people. Throughout the Napoleonic Wars
the government took extensive stern measures against feared domestic unrest. The corresponding societies ended, but some radicals continued in secret, with Irish sympathisers in particular forming secret societies to overturn the government and encourage mutinies. In 1812 Major John Cartwright
formed the first Hampden Club, named after the English Civil War
Parliamentary leader John Hampden
, aiming to bring together middle class moderates and lower class radicals.
After the Napoleonic Wars, the Corn laws
(in force between 1815 and 1846) and bad harvests fostered discontent. The publications of William Cobbett
were influential, and at political meetings speakers like Henry Hunt
complained that only three men in a hundred had the vote. Writers like the radicals William Hone
and Thomas Jonathan Wooler
spread dissent with publications such as The Black Dwarf
in defiance of a series of government acts to curb circulation of political literature. Radical riots in 1816 and 1817 were followed by the Peterloo massacre
of 1819 publicised by Richard Carlile
who then continued to fight for press freedom from prison. The Six Acts
of 1819 limited the right to demonstrate or hold public meetings. In Scotland
agitation over three years culminated in an attempted general strike and abortive workers' uprising crushed by government troops in the "Radical War
" of 1820. Magistrates powers were increased to crush demonstrations by manufacturers and action by radical Luddite
s.
To counter the established Church of England
doctrine that the aristocratic social order was divinely ordained, radicals supported Lamarckian
Evolutionism
, a theme proclaimed by street corner agitators as well as some established scientists such as Robert Edmund Grant.
government made economic and criminal law improvements, abandoning policies of repression. In 1823 Jeremy Bentham
co‐founded the Westminster Review
with James Mill
as a journal for "philosophical radicals", setting out the utilitarian philosophy that right actions were to be measured in proportion to the greatest good they achieved for the greatest number. Westminster
elected two radicals to Parliament during the 1820s.
The Whigs
gained power and despite defeats in the House of Commons
and the House of Lords
the Reform Act 1832
was put through with the support of public outcry, mass meetings of "political unions" and riots in some cities. This now enfranchised the middle classes, but failed to meet radical demands. The Whigs introduced reforming measures owing much to the ideas of the philosophic radicals, abolishing slavery and in 1834 introducing Malthusian
Poor Law
reforms which were bitterly opposed by "popular radicals" and writers like Thomas Carlyle
. Following the 1832 Reform Act the mainly aristocratic Whigs in the House of Commons were joined by a small number of parliamentary Radicals
, as well as an increased number of middle class Whigs. By 1839 they were informally being called "the Liberal party
."
This radicalism is still carried on today in the UK by the Liberal Democrats
, campaigning for electoral reform, an elected House of Lords
and fewer constituencies. In 2011 at the party spring conference said in a speech "I joined the Liberals out of a desperate desire to see Britain run fairly, to see economic policies that served the interests of the people, especially the poorest. I joined a party that was unmistakeably a radical, social liberal, progressive, internationalist, green party."
cause of electoral reform expressed in the People's Charter drawn up by six members of Parliament and six from the London Working Men's Association
(associated with Owenite Utopian socialism
), which called for six points: Universal suffrage
, equal‐sized electoral
districts, secret ballot
, an end to property qualification for Parliament, pay for Members of Parliament and Annual Parliaments. Chartists also expressed economic grievances, but their mass demonstrations and petitions to parliament were unsuccessful.
Despite initial disagreements, after their failure their cause was taken up by the middle class Anti-Corn Law League
founded by Richard Cobden
and John Bright
in 1839 to oppose duties on imported grain which raised the price of food and so helped landowners at the expense of ordinary people.
joined with the Whigs and anti-protectionist
Tory
Peelite
s to form the Liberal Party
by 1859. Demand for parliamentary reform increased by 1864 with agitation from John Bright
and the Reform League
.
When the Liberal government led by Lord Russell
and William Ewart Gladstone
introduced a modest bill for parliamentary reform, it was defeated by both Tories and reform Liberals, forcing the government to resign. The Tories under Lord Derby
and Benjamin Disraeli took office, and the new government decided to "dish the Whigs" and "take a leap in the dark" to take the credit for the reform. As a minority government they had to accept radical amendments, and Disraeli's Reform Act 1867
almost doubled the electorate, giving the vote even to working men.
The Radicals, having been strenuous in their efforts on behalf of the working classes, earned a deeply loyal following; British trade unionists from 1874 until 1892, upon being elected to Parliament, never considered themselves to be anything other than Radicals, and were labeled Lib-Lab
candidates. Radical trade unionists formed the basis for what later became the Labour Party
.
it was technically illegal in France
to openly advocate republicanism until 1848, so republicans
usually called themselves "radicals" and the term radical came to mean a republican (who, by definition, supported universal manhood suffrage
). From 1869 a faction, led by Georges Clemenceau
, calling themselves Radicals claimed to be the true heirs of the French revolutionary tradition and drifted away from the moderate republicanism of Léon Gambetta
. At Montmartre
in 1881 they put forward a programme of broad social reforms. At that time, Radicals located themselves on the far left of the political board, opposed to the "Republican opportunists
" (Gambetta), the liberal Orléanist
s, the Legitimists
(both monarchist factions) and the Bonapartist
s.
These radicals then formed the Radical-Socialist Party (or Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party, to give it its full name) in 1901, which was the first French left-wing
modern party. Four years later, the socialist French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) party was formed by the fusion of Jean Jaurès
's and Jules Guesde
's rival tendencies; and the French Communist Party
(PCF) was created in 1920. The Radical -Socialist Party continued to be the main party of the Third Republic
(1871–1940), but was discredited after the war due to the role of Radical members of the National Assembly in voting for the establishment of the Vichy regime
. The Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance
was established after World War II
to combine the politics of French radicalism with credibility derived from members' activism in the French resistance
.
Opposing Gaullism
and the Christian democratic
People's Republican Movement (MNR), Pierre Mendès-France
tried to anchor the Radicals to the left wing. Although he managed to put an end to the First Indochina War
through the Geneva Accords
signed in 1954 with North Vietnam
's Premier Pham Van Dong
, he finally left the party in 1961 to join the Unified Socialist Party
(PSU) which advocated workers' self-management
, while the Radical Party split into the more conservative Radical Party "valoisien", the legal successor of the Radical Party, and a faction advocating alliance with the left, named the Radical Party of the Left. The Parti radical valoisien moved to the centre-right
and affiliated itself first with the pro-Giscard d'Estaing Union for French Democracy
, then with the conservative
Union for a Popular Movement
(UMP), while the Radical Party of the Left, which claims to be the political heir of the Republican Radicals, has close ties to the Socialist Party
.
formed in 1881 was the strongest political party and was in power in the Kingdom of Serbia
more than all others together. The 1888 Constitution of the Kingdom of Serbia that defined it as an independent nation and formalized parliamentary democracy was among the most advanced in the entire world, due to Radical contribution, it's known as The Radical Constitution. In 1902 a crack had occurred in which the Independent Radical Party left and "the Olde" remained in the party, leading it to its considerable downfall and veering to the into conservatism
. In the Yugoslavian kingdom, the Independent Radicals united with the rest of the Serbian opposition and the liberal and civic groups in the rest of the new country and formed the Yugoslav Democratic Party
as the central , while several Republican dissidents formed a Republican Party. The NRS had promoted Serb nationalism and put itself as the defender of Serb national interests. Democrats and Radicals were the dominant political parties, especially since the exclusion of the Communists.
In Montenegro modelled a People's Party
was formed in 1907 as the first political party and remained the largest in the period of country's parliamentary history until the Yugoslavian unification. Later a True People's Party
was formed, which never got widespread popular support and whose bigger part had joined the original NS, but the difference was not ideological, but opposition and support of the Crown and, sometimes, in foreign relations to Serbia (the clubbists were the crown's dissidents and supporters of the people as well as Serbia as a regional power and brotherly ally; the rightists were generally anti-democratic and autocratic monarchist, whereas also distrustful to the Serbian government's acts on the national plan).
and Latin America
, as, for instance, in Italy
, Spain
, Chile
and Argentina
, Radicalism developed as an ideology in the 19th century to indicate those who supported, at least in theory, a republic
an form of government, universal male suffrage, and, particularly, supported anti-clerical
policies. In northern and central European countries, like Germany
this current is known as Freisinn (Free Mind — German Freeminded Party
from 1884 to 1893, then Eugen Richter
's Freeminded People's Party
— and the Free Democratic Party of Switzerland
). However, by the twentieth century at the latest, radicalism, which did not advocate particularly radical economic policies, had been overtaken as the principal ideology of the left by the growing popularity of socialism
, and had become an essentially centrist political movement (as far as "radicalism" survived as a distinct political ideology at all).
In some countries the radical tendency is a variant of liberalism. Sometimes it is less doctrinaire and more moderate; other times it is more extreme. In Victorian era
Britain
the Radicals were part of the Liberal coalition, but often rebelled when the more traditional Whigs
in that coalition resisted democratic reforms. In other countries, these left wing liberals have formed their own radical parties with various names, e.g. in Switzerland
and Germany
(the Freisinn), Bulgaria
, Denmark
, Italy
, Spain
and the Netherlands
but also Argentina
, Chile
and Paraguay
. This does not mean that all radical parties were formed by left wing liberals. In the French political literature it is normal to make a clear separation between liberalism and radicalism in France
. In Serbia both radicalism and liberalism have had their distinctiveness during the 19th century, with the Radical Party being the dominant political party throughout the entire multi-parliamentary period before the unification of Yugoslavia. It had cracked in 1903 when the Independent Radical Party had left, leaving the old People's Radical Party strafing far from liberalism and into right-wing nationalism and conservatism. The Independents had created the Democratic Party
, whereas the Radicals of today are a far-right political group.
But even the French radicals were aligned to the international liberal movement in the first half of the twentieth century (founded on August 29, 1924 and dissolved in 1934), in the Entente Internationale des Partis Radicaux et des Partis Démocratiques similaires.
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
term for those favoring or seeking political reforms which include dramatic changes to the social order. Historically, early radical aims of liberty and electoral reform
Electoral reform
Electoral reform is change in electoral systems to improve how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of:...
in Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
widened with the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
and French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
so that some radicals sought republicanism
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
, abolition of titles, redistribution of property
Property
Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...
and freedom of the press
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
. Initially identifying itself as a far left
Far left
Far left, also known as the revolutionary left, radical left and extreme left are terms which refer to the highest degree of leftist positions among left-wing politics...
party opposed to the right-wing parties; the Orleanist
Orléanist
The Orléanists were a French right-wing/center-right party which arose out of the French Revolution. It governed France 1830-1848 in the "July Monarchy" of king Louis Philippe. It is generally seen as a transitional period dominated by the bourgeoisie and the conservative Orleanist doctrine in...
s, the Legitimists and the Bonapartist
Bonapartism
Bonapartism is often defined as a political expression in the vocabulary of Marxism and Leninism, deriving from the career of Napoleon Bonaparte. Karl Marx was a student of Jacobinism and the French Revolution as well as a contemporary critic of the Second Republic and Second Empire...
s in France in the nineteenth century
France in the nineteenth century
The History of France from 1789 to 1914 extends from the French Revolution to World War I and includes:*French Revolution *French First Republic *First French Empire under Napoleon...
, the Republican, Radical and Radical‐Socialist Party progressively became the most important party of the Third Republic
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
(1871–1940). As historical Radicalism became absorbed in the development of political liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
, in the later 19th century in both the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and continental Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
the term Radical came to denote a progressive liberal ideology.
United Kingdom
According to Encyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
the first use of the word "Radical" in a political sense is generally ascribed to the English whig
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
parliament
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
arian Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox PC , styled The Honourable from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned thirty-eight years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and who was particularly noted for being the arch-rival of William Pitt the Younger...
. In 1797, Fox declared for a "radical reform" of the electoral system drastically expanding the franchise to the point of universal manhood suffrage
Universal manhood suffrage
Universal manhood suffrage is a form of voting rights in which all adult males within a political system are allowed to vote, regardless of income, property, religion, race, or any other qualification...
. This led to a general use of the term to identify all supporting the movement for parliamentary reform. The Britannica biography of Fox mentions his dismissal from the Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
in 1798 for reaffirming the doctrine of the sovereignty of the people in a public speech. However, the biography does not describe the specifics of Fox's declaration. Fox was no democrat: he would never have countenanced the notion that property would be safe in a democratic society in which the property-less voters would obviously be in a majority. Fox stated his view as being that property was the true foundation of aristocracy, and a country best prospered whose government was in such hands. These sentiments appear to be at odds with the Radical cause, but at this time parliament operated on shifting patronage rather than party lines, and Fox was noted for inconsistencies.
The word was first used in a political sense in 18th century Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
. Initially confined to the upper and middle classes, in the early 19th century "popular radicals" brought artisan
Artisan
An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...
s and the "labouring classes" into widespread agitation in the face of harsh government repression. More respectable "Philosophical radicals" followed the utilitarian philosophy of Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism...
and strongly supported parliamentary reform, but were generally hostile to the arguments and tactics of the "popular radicals". By the middle of the century parliamentary Radicals
Radicals (UK)
The Radicals were a parliamentary political grouping in the United Kingdom in the early to mid 19th century, who drew on earlier ideas of radicalism and helped to transform the Whigs into the Liberal Party.-Background:...
joined with others in the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
to form the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
, eventually achieving reform of the electoral system.
Origins
The Radical movement had its beginnings at a time of tension between the American colonies and Great BritainKingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
, with the first Radicals, angry at the state of the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
, drawing on the Leveller
Levellers
The Levellers were a political movement during the English Civil Wars which emphasised popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law, and religious tolerance, all of which were expressed in the manifesto "Agreement of the People". They came to prominence at the end of the First...
tradition and similarly demanding improved parliamentary representation. These earlier concepts of democratic and even egalitarian reform had emerged in the turmoil of the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
and the brief establishment of the republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
an Commonwealth of England
Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland...
amongst the vague political grouping known as the Levellers
Levellers
The Levellers were a political movement during the English Civil Wars which emphasised popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law, and religious tolerance, all of which were expressed in the manifesto "Agreement of the People". They came to prominence at the end of the First...
, but with the English Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
of the monarchy such ideas had been discredited. Although the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
of 1688 had increased parliamentary power with a constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...
and the union of the parliaments brought England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
together, towards the end of the 18th century the monarch still had considerable influence over the Parliament of Great Britain
Parliament of Great Britain
The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland...
which itself was dominated by the English aristocracy and by patronage. Candidates for the House of Commons stood as Whigs
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
or Tories
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
, but once elected formed shifting coalitions of interests rather than splitting along party lines. At general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
s the vote was restricted to property owners, in constituencies which were out of date and did not reflect the growing importance of manufacturing towns or shifts of population, so that in many rotten borough
Rotten borough
A "rotten", "decayed" or pocket borough was a parliamentary borough or constituency in the United Kingdom that had a very small electorate and could be used by a patron to gain undue and unrepresentative influence within Parliament....
s seats could be bought or were controlled by rich landowners, while major cities remained unrepresented. Discontent with these inequities inspired those individuals who later became known as the "Radical Whigs
Radical Whigs
The Radical Whigs were "a group of British political commentators" associated with the British Whig faction who were at the forefront of Radicalism...
".
William Beckford
William Beckford (politician)
William Beckford was a well-known political figure in 18th century London, who twice held the office of Lord Mayor of London . His vast wealth came largely from his plantations in Jamaica...
fostered early interest in reform in the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
area. The "Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
radicals" were led by the politician John Wilkes
John Wilkes
John Wilkes was an English radical, journalist and politician.He was first elected Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he fought for the right of voters—rather than the House of Commons—to determine their representatives...
, an opponent of war with the colonies who started his weekly publication The North Briton
The North Briton
The North Briton was a radical newspaper published in 18th century London. The North Briton also served as the pseudonym of the newspaper's author, used in advertisements, letters to other publications, and handbills....
in 1764 and within two years had been charged with seditious libel
Seditious libel
Seditious libel was a criminal offence under English common law. Sedition is the offence of speaking seditious words with seditious intent: if the statement is in writing or some other permanent form it is seditious libel...
and expelled from the House of Commons. The Society for the Defence of the Bill of Rights he started in 1769 to support his re‐election developed the belief that every man had the right to vote and "natural reason" enabling him to properly judge political issues. Liberty consisted in frequent elections. For the first time middle‐class radicals obtained the backing of the London "mob". Middlesex and Westminster
Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)
Westminster was a parliamentary constituency in the Parliament of England to 1707, the Parliament of Great Britain 1707-1800 and the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801. It returned two members to 1885 and one thereafter....
were among the few parliamentary constituencies with a large and socially diverse electorate including many artisan
Artisan
An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...
s as well as the middle class and aristocracy, and along with the county association of Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
led by the Reverend Christopher Wyvill
Christopher Wyvill
Christopher Wyvill was an English political reformer who inspired the formation of the Yorkshire Association movement in 1779.The American Revolutionary War had forced the government of Lord North to increase taxation...
were at the forefront of reform activity. The writings of what became known as the "Radical Whigs
Radical Whigs
The Radical Whigs were "a group of British political commentators" associated with the British Whig faction who were at the forefront of Radicalism...
" had an influence on the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
.
Major John Cartwright
John Cartwright (political reformer)
John Cartwright was an English naval officer, Nottinghamshire militia major and prominent campaigner for parliamentary reform. He subsequently became known as the Father of Reform...
also supported the colonists, even as the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
began, and in 1776 earned the title of the "Father of Reform" when he published his pamphlet Take Your Choice! advocating annual parliaments, the secret ballot and manhood suffrage
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
.
In 1780 a draft programme of reform was drawn up by Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox PC , styled The Honourable from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned thirty-eight years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and who was particularly noted for being the arch-rival of William Pitt the Younger...
and Thomas Brand Hollis
Thomas Brand Hollis
Thomas Brand Hollis , born Thomas Brand, was a British political radical and dissenter.Thomas Brand was born the only son of Timothy Brand of Ingatestone, Essex and was educated at Felsted School, Trinity College, Cambridge, the Inner Temple and Glasgow University.In 1748-9 he toured Europe with...
, and put forward by a sub‐committee of the electors of Westminster. This included calls for the six points later adopted in the People's Charter (see Chartists below).
The American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
ended in humiliating defeat of a policy which King George III had fervently advocated, and in March 1782 the King was forced to appoint an administration led by his opponents which sought to curb Royal patronage. In November 1783 he took his opportunity and used his influence in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
to defeat a Bill to reform the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
, dismissed the government and appointed William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
as his Prime Minister. Pitt had previously called for Parliament to begin to reform itself, but he did not press for long for reforms the King did not like. Proposals Pitt made in April 1785 to redistribute seats from the "rotten borough
Rotten borough
A "rotten", "decayed" or pocket borough was a parliamentary borough or constituency in the United Kingdom that had a very small electorate and could be used by a patron to gain undue and unrepresentative influence within Parliament....
s" to London and the counties were defeated in the House of Commons by 248 votes to 174.
Popular agitation
In the wake of the French RevolutionFrench Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine
Thomas "Tom" Paine was an English author, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, intellectual, revolutionary, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States...
wrote The Rights of Man (1791) as a response to Burke
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....
's counterrevolutionary
Counterrevolutionary
A counter-revolutionary is anyone who opposes a revolution, particularly those who act after a revolution to try to overturn or reverse it, in full or in part...
essay Reflections on the Revolution in France
Reflections on the Revolution in France
Reflections on the Revolution in France , by Edmund Burke, is one of the best-known intellectual attacks against the French Revolution...
(1790), itself an attack on Richard Price
Richard Price
Richard Price was a British moral philosopher and preacher in the tradition of English Dissenters, and a political pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the American Revolution. He fostered connections between a large number of people, including writers of the...
's sermon that kicked off the so-called "pamphlet war" known as the Revolution Controversy
Revolution Controversy
The Revolution Controversy was a British debate over the French Revolution, lasting from 1789 through 1795. A pamphlet war began in earnest after the publication of Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France , which surprisingly supported the French aristocracy...
. Mary Wollstonecraft
Mary Wollstonecraft
Mary Wollstonecraft was an eighteenth-century British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. During her brief career, she wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French Revolution, a conduct book, and a children's book...
, another supporter of Price, soon followed with A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects , written by the 18th-century British feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, is one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. In it, Wollstonecraft responds to those educational and political theorists of the 18th...
. They encouraged mass support for democratic reform along with rejection of the monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
, aristocracy
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
, and all forms of privilege. Different strands of the movement developed, with middle class "reformers" aiming to widen the franchise to represent commercial and industrial interests and towns without parliamentary representation, while "Popular radicals" drawn from the middle class and from artisan
Artisan
An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...
s agitated to assert wider rights including relieving distress. The theoretical basis for electoral reform was provided by "Philosophical radicals" who followed the utilitarian philosophy of Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism...
and strongly supported parliamentary reform, but were generally hostile to the arguments and tactics of the "popular radicals".
Popular Radicals were quick to go further than Paine, with Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
schoolmaster Thomas Spence
Thomas Spence
Thomas Spence was an English Radical and advocate of the common ownership of land.-Life:Spence was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England and was the son of a Scottish net and shoe maker....
demanding land nationalisation to redistribute wealth in a penny periodical he called Pig's Meat in a reference to Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....
's phrase "the swinish multitude". Radical organisations sprang up, such as the London Corresponding Society
London Corresponding Society
London Corresponding Society was a moderate-radical body concentrating on reform of the Parliament of Great Britain, founded on 25 January 1792. The creators of the group were John Frost , an attorney, and Thomas Hardy, a shoemaker and metropolitan Radical...
of artisans formed in January 1792 under the leadership of the shoemaker Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy (political reformer)
Thomas Hardy was an early Radical, the founder and also the first Secretary of the London Corresponding Society....
to call for the vote. One such was the Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
Friends of the People society which in October 1793 held a British Convention in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
with delegates from some of the English corresponding societies
London Corresponding Society
London Corresponding Society was a moderate-radical body concentrating on reform of the Parliament of Great Britain, founded on 25 January 1792. The creators of the group were John Frost , an attorney, and Thomas Hardy, a shoemaker and metropolitan Radical...
. They issued a manifesto demanding universal male suffrage with annual elections and expressing their support for the principles of the French Revolution. The numbers involved in these movements were small, and most wanted reform rather than revolution, but for the first time working men were organising for political change.
The government reacted harshly, imprisoning leading Scottish radicals, temporarily suspending habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
in England and passing the Seditious Meetings Act 1795
Seditious Meetings Act 1795
The Seditious Meetings Act 1795, approved by the British Parliament in November 1795, was the second of the well known "Two Acts" , the other being the Treason Act 1795. Its purpose was to restrict the size of public meetings to fifty persons...
which meant that a license was needed for any meeting in a public place consisting of fifty or more people. Throughout the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
the government took extensive stern measures against feared domestic unrest. The corresponding societies ended, but some radicals continued in secret, with Irish sympathisers in particular forming secret societies to overturn the government and encourage mutinies. In 1812 Major John Cartwright
John Cartwright (political reformer)
John Cartwright was an English naval officer, Nottinghamshire militia major and prominent campaigner for parliamentary reform. He subsequently became known as the Father of Reform...
formed the first Hampden Club, named after the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
Parliamentary leader John Hampden
John Hampden
John Hampden was an English politician, the eldest son of William Hampden, of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire, John Hampden (ca. 15951643) was an English politician, the eldest son of William Hampden, of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire, John Hampden (ca. 15951643)...
, aiming to bring together middle class moderates and lower class radicals.
After the Napoleonic Wars, the Corn laws
Corn Laws
The Corn Laws were trade barriers designed to protect cereal producers in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland against competition from less expensive foreign imports between 1815 and 1846. The barriers were introduced by the Importation Act 1815 and repealed by the Importation Act 1846...
(in force between 1815 and 1846) and bad harvests fostered discontent. The publications of William Cobbett
William Cobbett
William Cobbett was an English pamphleteer, farmer and journalist, who was born in Farnham, Surrey. He believed that reforming Parliament and abolishing the rotten boroughs would help to end the poverty of farm labourers, and he attacked the borough-mongers, sinecurists and "tax-eaters" relentlessly...
were influential, and at political meetings speakers like Henry Hunt
Henry Hunt (politician)
Henry "Orator" Hunt was a British radical speaker and agitator remembered as a pioneer of working-class radicalism and an important influence on the later Chartist movement. He advocated parliamentary reform and the repeal of the Corn Laws.Hunt was born in Upavon, Wiltshire and became a prosperous...
complained that only three men in a hundred had the vote. Writers like the radicals William Hone
William Hone
William Hone was an English writer, satirist and bookseller. His victorious court battle against government censorship in 1817 marked a turning point in the fight for British press freedom.-Biography:...
and Thomas Jonathan Wooler
Thomas Jonathan Wooler
The publisher Thomas Jonathan Wooler was active in the Radical movement of early 19th century Britain, best known for his satirical journal The Black Dwarf....
spread dissent with publications such as The Black Dwarf
The Black Dwarf
The Black Dwarf was a satirical radical journal of early 19th century Britain. It was published by Thomas Jonathan Wooler, starting in January 1817 as an eight page newspaper, then later becoming a 32 page pamphlet. It was priced at 4d a week until the Six Acts brought in by the Government in 1819...
in defiance of a series of government acts to curb circulation of political literature. Radical riots in 1816 and 1817 were followed by the Peterloo massacre
Peterloo Massacre
The Peterloo Massacre occurred at St Peter's Field, Manchester, England, on 16 August 1819, when cavalry charged into a crowd of 60,000–80,000 that had gathered to demand the reform of parliamentary representation....
of 1819 publicised by Richard Carlile
Richard Carlile
Richard Carlile was an important agitator for the establishment of universal suffrage and freedom of the press in the United Kingdom.-Early life :...
who then continued to fight for press freedom from prison. The Six Acts
Six Acts
In the United Kingdom, following the Peterloo Massacre of August 16, 1819, the British government acted to prevent any future disturbances by the introduction of new legislation, the so-called Six Acts which labelled any meeting for radical reform as "an overt act of treasonable conspiracy"...
of 1819 limited the right to demonstrate or hold public meetings. In Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
agitation over three years culminated in an attempted general strike and abortive workers' uprising crushed by government troops in the "Radical War
Radical War
The Radical War, also known as the Scottish Insurrection of 1820, was a week of strikes and unrest, a culmination of Radical demands for reform in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which had become prominent in the early years of the French Revolution, but had then been repressed...
" of 1820. Magistrates powers were increased to crush demonstrations by manufacturers and action by radical Luddite
Luddite
The Luddites were a social movement of 19th-century English textile artisans who protested – often by destroying mechanised looms – against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt were leaving them without work and changing their way of life...
s.
To counter the established Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
doctrine that the aristocratic social order was divinely ordained, radicals supported Lamarckian
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de la Marck , often known simply as Lamarck, was a French naturalist...
Evolutionism
Evolutionism
Evolutionism refers to the biological concept of evolution, specifically to a widely held 19th century belief that organisms are intrinsically bound to increase in complexity. The belief was extended to include cultural evolution and social evolution...
, a theme proclaimed by street corner agitators as well as some established scientists such as Robert Edmund Grant.
Political reform
Economic conditions improved after 1821 and the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
government made economic and criminal law improvements, abandoning policies of repression. In 1823 Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism...
co‐founded the Westminster Review
Westminster Review
The Westminster Review was a quarterly British publication. Established in 1823 as the official organ of the Philosophical Radicals, it was published from 1824 to 1914. James Mill was one of the driving forces behind the liberal journal until 1828....
with James Mill
James Mill
James Mill was a Scottish historian, economist, political theorist, and philosopher. He was a founder of classical economics, together with David Ricardo, and the father of influential philosopher of classical liberalism, John Stuart Mill.-Life:Mill was born at Northwater Bridge, in the parish of...
as a journal for "philosophical radicals", setting out the utilitarian philosophy that right actions were to be measured in proportion to the greatest good they achieved for the greatest number. Westminster
Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)
Westminster was a parliamentary constituency in the Parliament of England to 1707, the Parliament of Great Britain 1707-1800 and the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801. It returned two members to 1885 and one thereafter....
elected two radicals to Parliament during the 1820s.
The Whigs
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
gained power and despite defeats in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
and the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
the Reform Act 1832
Reform Act 1832
The Representation of the People Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales...
was put through with the support of public outcry, mass meetings of "political unions" and riots in some cities. This now enfranchised the middle classes, but failed to meet radical demands. The Whigs introduced reforming measures owing much to the ideas of the philosophic radicals, abolishing slavery and in 1834 introducing Malthusian
Thomas Malthus
The Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus FRS was an English scholar, influential in political economy and demography. Malthus popularized the economic theory of rent....
Poor Law
Poor Law
The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief which existed in England and Wales that developed out of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws before being codified in 1587–98...
reforms which were bitterly opposed by "popular radicals" and writers like Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era.He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator.Coming from a strict Calvinist family, Carlyle was...
. Following the 1832 Reform Act the mainly aristocratic Whigs in the House of Commons were joined by a small number of parliamentary Radicals
Radicals (UK)
The Radicals were a parliamentary political grouping in the United Kingdom in the early to mid 19th century, who drew on earlier ideas of radicalism and helped to transform the Whigs into the Liberal Party.-Background:...
, as well as an increased number of middle class Whigs. By 1839 they were informally being called "the Liberal party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
."
This radicalism is still carried on today in the UK by the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
, campaigning for electoral reform, an elected House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
and fewer constituencies. In 2011 at the party spring conference said in a speech "I joined the Liberals out of a desperate desire to see Britain run fairly, to see economic policies that served the interests of the people, especially the poorest. I joined a party that was unmistakeably a radical, social liberal, progressive, internationalist, green party."
Chartists
From 1836 working class Radicals unified around the ChartistChartism
Chartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, between 1838 and 1859. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838. Chartism was possibly the first mass working class labour movement in the world...
cause of electoral reform expressed in the People's Charter drawn up by six members of Parliament and six from the London Working Men's Association
London Working Men's Association
The London Working Men's Association was an organization established in London in 1836. It was one of the foundations of Chartism. The founders were William Lovett, Francis Place and Henry Hetherington. They appealed to skilled workers rather than the mass of unskilled factory labourers...
(associated with Owenite Utopian socialism
Utopian socialism
Utopian socialism is a term used to define the first currents of modern socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, and Robert Owen which inspired Karl Marx and other early socialists and were looked on favorably...
), which called for six points: Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
, equal‐sized electoral
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
districts, secret ballot
Secret ballot
The secret ballot is a voting method in which a voter's choices in an election or a referendum are anonymous. The key aim is to ensure the voter records a sincere choice by forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation or bribery. The system is one means of achieving the goal of...
, an end to property qualification for Parliament, pay for Members of Parliament and Annual Parliaments. Chartists also expressed economic grievances, but their mass demonstrations and petitions to parliament were unsuccessful.
Despite initial disagreements, after their failure their cause was taken up by the middle class Anti-Corn Law League
Anti-Corn Law League
The Anti-Corn Law League was in effect the resumption of the Anti-Corn Law Association, which had been created in London in 1836 but did not obtain widespread popularity. The Anti-Corn Law League was founded in Manchester in 1838...
founded by Richard Cobden
Richard Cobden
Richard Cobden was a British manufacturer and Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with John Bright in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League as well as with the Cobden-Chevalier Treaty...
and John Bright
John Bright
John Bright , Quaker, was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with Richard Cobden in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League. He was one of the greatest orators of his generation, and a strong critic of British foreign policy...
in 1839 to oppose duties on imported grain which raised the price of food and so helped landowners at the expense of ordinary people.
Liberal reforms
The parliamentary RadicalsRadicals (UK)
The Radicals were a parliamentary political grouping in the United Kingdom in the early to mid 19th century, who drew on earlier ideas of radicalism and helped to transform the Whigs into the Liberal Party.-Background:...
joined with the Whigs and anti-protectionist
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
Tory
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
Peelite
Peelite
The Peelites were a breakaway faction of the British Conservative Party, and existed from 1846 to 1859. They were called "Peelites" because they were initially led by Sir Robert Peel, who was the British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader in 1846....
s to form the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
by 1859. Demand for parliamentary reform increased by 1864 with agitation from John Bright
John Bright
John Bright , Quaker, was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with Richard Cobden in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League. He was one of the greatest orators of his generation, and a strong critic of British foreign policy...
and the Reform League
Reform League
The Reform League was established in 1865 to press for manhood suffrage and the ballot in Great Britain. It collaborated with the more moderate and middle class Reform Union and gave strong support to the abortive Reform Bill 1866 and the successful Reform Act 1867...
.
When the Liberal government led by Lord Russell
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, KG, GCMG, PC , known as Lord John Russell before 1861, was an English Whig and Liberal politician who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century....
and William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
introduced a modest bill for parliamentary reform, it was defeated by both Tories and reform Liberals, forcing the government to resign. The Tories under Lord Derby
Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, KG, PC was an English statesman, three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and to date the longest serving leader of the Conservative Party. He was known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley...
and Benjamin Disraeli took office, and the new government decided to "dish the Whigs" and "take a leap in the dark" to take the credit for the reform. As a minority government they had to accept radical amendments, and Disraeli's Reform Act 1867
Reform Act 1867
The Representation of the People Act 1867, 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102 was a piece of British legislation that enfranchised the urban male working class in England and Wales....
almost doubled the electorate, giving the vote even to working men.
The Radicals, having been strenuous in their efforts on behalf of the working classes, earned a deeply loyal following; British trade unionists from 1874 until 1892, upon being elected to Parliament, never considered themselves to be anything other than Radicals, and were labeled Lib-Lab
Liberal-Labour (UK)
The Liberal–Labour movement refers to the practice of local Liberal associations accepting and supporting candidates who were financially maintained by trade unions...
candidates. Radical trade unionists formed the basis for what later became the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
.
France
In the aftermath of the Napoleonic WarsNapoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
it was technically illegal in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to openly advocate republicanism until 1848, so republicans
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
usually called themselves "radicals" and the term radical came to mean a republican (who, by definition, supported universal manhood suffrage
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
). From 1869 a faction, led by Georges Clemenceau
Georges Clemenceau
Georges Benjamin Clemenceau was a French statesman, physician and journalist. He served as the Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909, and again from 1917 to 1920. For nearly the final year of World War I he led France, and was one of the major voices behind the Treaty of Versailles at the...
, calling themselves Radicals claimed to be the true heirs of the French revolutionary tradition and drifted away from the moderate republicanism of Léon Gambetta
Léon Gambetta
Léon Gambetta was a French statesman prominent after the Franco-Prussian War.-Youth and education:He is said to have inherited his vigour and eloquence from his father, a Genovese grocer who had married a Frenchwoman named Massabie. At the age of fifteen, Gambetta lost the sight of his right eye...
. At Montmartre
Montmartre
Montmartre is a hill which is 130 metres high, giving its name to the surrounding district, in the north of Paris in the 18th arrondissement, a part of the Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on its summit and as a nightclub district...
in 1881 they put forward a programme of broad social reforms. At that time, Radicals located themselves on the far left of the political board, opposed to the "Republican opportunists
Opportunism
-General definition:Opportunism is the conscious policy and practice of taking selfish advantage of circumstances, with little regard for principles. Opportunist actions are expedient actions guided primarily by self-interested motives. The term can be applied to individuals, groups,...
" (Gambetta), the liberal Orléanist
Orléanist
The Orléanists were a French right-wing/center-right party which arose out of the French Revolution. It governed France 1830-1848 in the "July Monarchy" of king Louis Philippe. It is generally seen as a transitional period dominated by the bourgeoisie and the conservative Orleanist doctrine in...
s, the Legitimists
Legitimists
Legitimists are royalists in France who adhere to the rights of dynastic succession of the descendants of the elder branch of the Bourbon dynasty, which was overthrown in the 1830 July Revolution. They reject the claim of the July Monarchy of 1830–1848, whose kings were members of the junior...
(both monarchist factions) and the Bonapartist
Bonapartism
Bonapartism is often defined as a political expression in the vocabulary of Marxism and Leninism, deriving from the career of Napoleon Bonaparte. Karl Marx was a student of Jacobinism and the French Revolution as well as a contemporary critic of the Second Republic and Second Empire...
s.
These radicals then formed the Radical-Socialist Party (or Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party, to give it its full name) in 1901, which was the first French left-wing
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
modern party. Four years later, the socialist French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) party was formed by the fusion of Jean Jaurès
Jean Jaurès
Jean Léon Jaurès was a French Socialist leader. Initially an Opportunist Republican, he evolved into one of the first social democrats, becoming the leader, in 1902, of the French Socialist Party, which opposed Jules Guesde's revolutionary Socialist Party of France. Both parties merged in 1905 in...
's and Jules Guesde
Jules Guesde
Jules Basile Guesde was a French socialist journalist and politician.Guesde was the inspiration for a famous quotation by Karl Marx. Shortly before Marx died in 1883, he wrote a letter to Guesde and Paul Lafargue, both of whom already claimed to represent "Marxist" principles...
's rival tendencies; and the French Communist Party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
(PCF) was created in 1920. The Radical -Socialist Party continued to be the main party of the Third Republic
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
(1871–1940), but was discredited after the war due to the role of Radical members of the National Assembly in voting for the establishment of the Vichy regime
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
. The Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance
Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance
The Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance was a French political party found at the Liberation and in activity during the Fourth Republic...
was established after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to combine the politics of French radicalism with credibility derived from members' activism in the French resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
.
Opposing Gaullism
Gaullism
Gaullism is a French political ideology based on the thought and action of Resistance leader then president Charles de Gaulle.-Foreign policy:...
and the Christian democratic
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...
People's Republican Movement (MNR), Pierre Mendès-France
Pierre Mendès-France
Pierre Mendès France was a French politician. He descended from a Portuguese Jewish family that moved to France in the sixteenth century.-Third Republic and World War II:...
tried to anchor the Radicals to the left wing. Although he managed to put an end to the First Indochina War
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
through the Geneva Accords
Geneva Conference (1954)
The Geneva Conference was a conference which took place in Geneva, Switzerland, whose purpose was to attempt to find a way to unify Korea and discuss the possibility of restoring peace in Indochina...
signed in 1954 with North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
's Premier Pham Van Dong
Pham Van Dong
Phạm Văn Đồng was an associate of Ho Chi Minh. He served as prime minister of North Vietnam from 1955 through 1976, and was prime minister of a unified Vietnam from 1976 until he retired in 1987.- Early life :...
, he finally left the party in 1961 to join the Unified Socialist Party
Unified Socialist Party (France)
The Unified Socialist Party was a socialist political party in France, founded on April 3, 1960. It was originally led by Édouard Depreux , and by Michel Rocard .- History :...
(PSU) which advocated workers' self-management
Workers' self-management
Worker self-management is a form of workplace decision-making in which the workers themselves agree on choices instead of an owner or traditional supervisor telling workers what to do, how to do it and where to do it...
, while the Radical Party split into the more conservative Radical Party "valoisien", the legal successor of the Radical Party, and a faction advocating alliance with the left, named the Radical Party of the Left. The Parti radical valoisien moved to the centre-right
Centre-right
The centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...
and affiliated itself first with the pro-Giscard d'Estaing Union for French Democracy
Union for French Democracy
The Union for French Democracy was a French centrist political party. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over the right. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's...
, then with the conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
Union for a Popular Movement
Union for a Popular Movement
The Union for a Popular Movement is a centre-right political party in France, and one of the two major contemporary political parties in the country along with the center-left Socialist Party...
(UMP), while the Radical Party of the Left, which claims to be the political heir of the Republican Radicals, has close ties to the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (France)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...
.
Serbia & Montenegro
Radicalism had played a pivotal role in the birth and development of parliamentarism and the construction of the modern Serbian state leading to the Yugoslavian unification. The People's Radical PartyPeople's Radical Party
The People's Radical Party of Serbia was a political party formed on January 8, 1881, which was active in the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes...
formed in 1881 was the strongest political party and was in power in the Kingdom of Serbia
Kingdom of Serbia
The Kingdom of Serbia was created when Prince Milan Obrenović, ruler of the Principality of Serbia, was crowned King in 1882. The Principality of Serbia was ruled by the Karađorđevic dynasty from 1817 onwards . The Principality, suzerain to the Porte, had expelled all Ottoman troops by 1867, de...
more than all others together. The 1888 Constitution of the Kingdom of Serbia that defined it as an independent nation and formalized parliamentary democracy was among the most advanced in the entire world, due to Radical contribution, it's known as The Radical Constitution. In 1902 a crack had occurred in which the Independent Radical Party left and "the Olde" remained in the party, leading it to its considerable downfall and veering to the into conservatism
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
. In the Yugoslavian kingdom, the Independent Radicals united with the rest of the Serbian opposition and the liberal and civic groups in the rest of the new country and formed the Yugoslav Democratic Party
Democratic Party (Serbia)
The Democratic Party is a political party in Serbia. It is described as a social liberal or social democratic party.-Pre-war history:The Democratic Party was established on 16 February 1919 from unification of Sarajevo parties independent radicals, progressives, liberals and the Serbian part of...
as the central , while several Republican dissidents formed a Republican Party. The NRS had promoted Serb nationalism and put itself as the defender of Serb national interests. Democrats and Radicals were the dominant political parties, especially since the exclusion of the Communists.
In Montenegro modelled a People's Party
People's Party (Montenegro)
The People's Party is an opposition populist political party in Montenegro. It is the main conservative party in Montenegro, as opposed to ruling party and its main opposition, both of which are socialist orientated.At the last legislative elections in Montenegro, in March 2009, NS formed a...
was formed in 1907 as the first political party and remained the largest in the period of country's parliamentary history until the Yugoslavian unification. Later a True People's Party
True People's Party
The True People's Party was a political party in Montenegro.Also known locally as pravaši, its members were supporters of the absolute rule of King Nikola I of Montenegro. Members included: Jovan S. Plamenac, Lazar Mijušković, Mitar Radulović, Niko Tatar and priest Krsto Popović...
was formed, which never got widespread popular support and whose bigger part had joined the original NS, but the difference was not ideological, but opposition and support of the Crown and, sometimes, in foreign relations to Serbia (the clubbists were the crown's dissidents and supporters of the people as well as Serbia as a regional power and brotherly ally; the rightists were generally anti-democratic and autocratic monarchist, whereas also distrustful to the Serbian government's acts on the national plan).
Continental Europe and Latin America
In continental EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, as, for instance, in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Radicalism developed as an ideology in the 19th century to indicate those who supported, at least in theory, a republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
an form of government, universal male suffrage, and, particularly, supported anti-clerical
Anti-clericalism
Anti-clericalism is a historical movement that opposes religious institutional power and influence, real or alleged, in all aspects of public and political life, and the involvement of religion in the everyday life of the citizen...
policies. In northern and central European countries, like Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
this current is known as Freisinn (Free Mind — German Freeminded Party
German Freeminded Party
The German Free-minded Party was a German liberal party, founded as a result of the merger of the German Progress Party and Liberal Union in 5 March, 1884....
from 1884 to 1893, then Eugen Richter
Eugen Richter
Eugen Richter was a German politician and journalist.-Career:Born as the son of a combat medic, Richter attended the Gymnasium in his home town of Düsseldorf. Since 1856, he studied Law and Economics at the Universities of Bonn, Berlin and Heidelberg, that he finished with a law degree in 1859...
's Freeminded People's Party
Freeminded People's Party (Germany)
The Free-minded People's Party was a left liberal party in the German Empire, founded as a result of the split of the German Free-minded Party in 1893. One of its most notable members was Eugen Richter, who was party leader from 1893 to 1906...
— and the Free Democratic Party of Switzerland
Free Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Free Democratic Party was a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It was one of the major parties in Switzerland until its merger with the smaller classical liberal Liberal Party, to form FDP.The Liberals on 1 January 2009....
). However, by the twentieth century at the latest, radicalism, which did not advocate particularly radical economic policies, had been overtaken as the principal ideology of the left by the growing popularity of socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
, and had become an essentially centrist political movement (as far as "radicalism" survived as a distinct political ideology at all).
Radicalism and liberalism
- See also liberalismLiberalismLiberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
In some countries the radical tendency is a variant of liberalism. Sometimes it is less doctrinaire and more moderate; other times it is more extreme. In Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
the Radicals were part of the Liberal coalition, but often rebelled when the more traditional Whigs
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
in that coalition resisted democratic reforms. In other countries, these left wing liberals have formed their own radical parties with various names, e.g. in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
(the Freisinn), Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
but also Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
and Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
. This does not mean that all radical parties were formed by left wing liberals. In the French political literature it is normal to make a clear separation between liberalism and radicalism in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. In Serbia both radicalism and liberalism have had their distinctiveness during the 19th century, with the Radical Party being the dominant political party throughout the entire multi-parliamentary period before the unification of Yugoslavia. It had cracked in 1903 when the Independent Radical Party had left, leaving the old People's Radical Party strafing far from liberalism and into right-wing nationalism and conservatism. The Independents had created the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (Serbia)
The Democratic Party is a political party in Serbia. It is described as a social liberal or social democratic party.-Pre-war history:The Democratic Party was established on 16 February 1919 from unification of Sarajevo parties independent radicals, progressives, liberals and the Serbian part of...
, whereas the Radicals of today are a far-right political group.
But even the French radicals were aligned to the international liberal movement in the first half of the twentieth century (founded on August 29, 1924 and dissolved in 1934), in the Entente Internationale des Partis Radicaux et des Partis Démocratiques similaires.
See also
- Industrial Radical Party, a fictional party in the British Empire in the novel The Difference EngineThe Difference EngineThe Difference Engine is an alternate history novel by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling.It posits a Victorian Britain in which great technological and social change has occurred after entrepreneurial inventor Charles Babbage succeeded in his ambition to build a mechanical computer .The novel was...
- Italian RadicalsItalian RadicalsItalian Radicals is an Italian political party which describes itself as a liberale, liberista e libertario political movement .It was...
- Liberalism and radicalism in DenmarkLiberalism and radicalism in DenmarkThis article gives an overview of liberalism and radicalism in Denmark. It is limited to liberal and radical egalitarian parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in that scheme...
- Liberalism and radicalism in FranceLiberalism and radicalism in FranceLiberalism and radicalism in France do not form the same type of ideology. In fact, the main line of conflict in France during the 19th century was between monarchist opponents of the Republic and supporters of the Republic...
- Liberalism and radicalism in ItalyLiberalism and radicalism in Italy- Background :The formation of political groups in the 19th century in divided Italy is based on personalities, like Camillo di Cavour and Giuseppe Mazzini. Both the Historical Right and the Historical Left were composed of monarchist liberals, while radicals organised themselves as the Radical...
- Radical democracyDirect democracyDirect democracy is a form of government in which people vote on policy initiatives directly, as opposed to a representative democracy in which people vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives. Direct democracy is classically termed "pure democracy"...
- Radicals (UK)Radicals (UK)The Radicals were a parliamentary political grouping in the United Kingdom in the early to mid 19th century, who drew on earlier ideas of radicalism and helped to transform the Whigs into the Liberal Party.-Background:...
- Radical Party (France)
- compare ProgressivismProgressivismProgressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
External links
- British History Online — London Radicalism
- Kramnick, "English middle-class radicalism in the eighteenth century"
- London Chartism
- Public & Republic — The New English Radicals
- Radical Reformers
- Reformers - William Cobbett
- Scotland Guide - Thomas Muir (and the 1820 Radical War: extracts from Steel's Scotland's Story).
- The Transatlantic 1790s: Project: Loyalists — Radical Activities
- USA: Readers Companion to American History - Radicalism
- WWW-VL: History: US Radicalism