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Britain at the time wasn't as democratic as it is today certainly, but it was far more democratic than Napoleon's Empire that it was fighting against. Napoleon
by jhbadger 4y ago
Britain at the time wasn't as democratic as it is today certainly, but it was far more democratic than Napoleon's Empire that it was fighting against. Napoleon liked to pretend that he defended the French Revolution's ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity, but in fact he went around creating new kingdoms and making his relatives monarchs.
- ZeroGravitas 4y agoI wasn't really trying to make the case that Napolean was a great guy, but he rose to power by winning battles in a war between the French Republic and a bunch of Monarchies, so there was a fairly clear democratic side. Admittedly, the UK was warring againt the French Monach as well before, so it's not a clear cut thing, but things like Luddites and the 'Peterloo' show that Britain was not speeding towards greater democracy. They very slowly gave ground over centuries of struggle. > The Tory Prime Minister in 1830, Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington, was resolutely opposed to parliamentary reform. However, there was growing support for limited change within his party, primarily because partially extending the franchise would allow the wealth and influence of Britain's growing middle class to be exploited. That's 20 years later, a small extra step of democracy. I was just trying to point out that smashing some stuff was a fairly reasonable thing to do when you don't have a vote and you're hungry, by providing some political context on the era.