Hobsbawm
- There were waves of revolutions between 1815 and 1848
- From 1820-1824, mostly confined in the Mediterranean
- From 1829-1834, affected Europe and North America
- Wave of 1830 marked defeat of aristocraticies
- Rapid social change caused inadequate political conditions
- Created conditions for inevitable series of outbreaks
Sepinwall
- Dissatisfaction only caused revolution with additional events
- Main cause of all of the revolutions was Seven Years’ War
- Britain and France faced debt, causing them to increase taxes
- Taxation caused growing desire for independence
- Use of Enlightenment ideas and literacy may have prompted revolutions
- Scholars disagree about importance of Enlightenment books
- Despite role of new ideas, few created completely new systems
- Each revolution allowed following revolutions to be more believable
- Despite diverse supporters, only some may benefit from revolutions
- Caused conflict of interests for revolution reasons
