Eric Hobsbawm is that rare combination of innovative thinker
and immensely well-informed historian, whose writing enriches one’s
understanding beyond the mundane communication of facts. He is the individual
who coined the term “dual revolution” to describe that period in Europe between
1789 and 1848, when the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution
combined to create dramatic social change.
To manage a discussion of two distinct and pervasive
revolutions and their wide-ranging influences is a complicated task. Professor
Hobsbawm accomplishes this labor by first narrowing the foci of each revolution
to its starting point. After some initial words introducing the world of 1780,
he discusses the inception of the Industrial in England, then the French
Revolution in greater Paris. As the reverberations of these historical
earthquakes emanate from their individual epicenters, Hobsbawm follows the
cracking landscape to include the affected international areas.
It is a pleasure to read a history by a writer who has so
thorough an understanding of his period. Hobsbawm examines his time frame from
a wide variety of societal and cultural angles. Particularly rare are his
book’s later chapters which look at the impact of the dual revolution upon
fields as varied as art, religion and science. These digressions, from the pure
politics and economics that mark most tomes about this period, are refreshing
and insightful.
Few theories of history mesh in perfect comfort with the
evidence. Our conceptions may be useful short-cuts to understanding an era, but
life has a way of growing and acting beyond the boundaries we place for it.
Hobsbawm’s theories are no exception. He has a difficult time inserting the USA
into his equations. The historian’s claim that Andrew Jackson’s populist
presidential victory was “part of” Europe’s “second wave of revolution [which]
occurred in 1829-34” (Hobsbawm, p. 138) has only tenuous evidence to support
it. His efforts to downplay the influence that the North American revolution
had on Latin American liberation only serve to draw attention to the northern
example (Hobsbawm, p. 76). Some South American leaders (e.g. Simon Bolivar)
developed their revolutionary creed in Paris. Others were inspired by the
thirteen colonies’ success; which provided a more accurate template for Latin
colonial independence than did the French rebellion against monarchy. But these
discrepancies do not detract from the upheaval caused by the dual revolution in
Europe.
Some will refrain from reading this historian’s works
because he has been called a “Marxist Historian.” What the reader needs to
recognize is that a Marxist Historian is an entirely different organism from a
Marxist Activist. A Marxist Activist seeks to overthrow the capitalist system
and institute a collective ownership of property. A Marxist Historian is an
individual who has a class-based analysis of history and discusses the
evolution of relationships within and between classes over time. While there
are occasional revolutionaries among them, Marxist Historians do not
necessarily think that a communist system is the answer. Rarely do they support
Soviet- or Chinese-style communism unless they have been employed by one of
those states. The student of history may learn about different classes and
their development without accepting collectivist propaganda.
One bewildering characteristic of this book is that Hobsbawm
discusses developments leading to the outbreak of revolt in 1848, but he does
not spend any time discussing the events of that continent-wide explosion. The
Age of Revolution ends with “in 1848, the explosion burst” (Hobsbawm, p.
362). The historian’s next book in the series is entitled The Age of
Capitalism. Throughout The Age of Revolution, there are references
to 1848’s failure, but no details. I cannot begin to conjecture the reasons for
this omission. It is as if one has created a play and left-out the final act.
Despite this missing piece, Hobsbawm presents a chronology
of development from 1789 to 1848 that is unparalleled in depth and scope. It
would be a shame to miss it. Two options that a reader has regarding the
missing finale are 1) find another book and hope that it’s as insightful, or 2)
supplement The Age of Revolution with an additional book. I have a
time-saving suggestion for readers who really want to read Hobsbawm: I have now
embarked upon Jonathan Sperber’s The European Revolutions, 1848-1851
(review to follow). It is a basic depiction of the events and players of those
years without innovative analysis. If you have already read Hobsbawm, you can
skip the first 104 pages (which will contain nothing new to you) and start with
chapter three “The Outbreak of Revolution.” With just 155 pages to go, this
will adequately illustrate the final act.
Hobsbawm, Eric J. The Age of Revolution 1789 to 1848.
New York: The New American Library, Inc., 1962.
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