A Middle Class Woman's View on the Changing Family in the 1800s

Many changes have taken place when it comes to love and marriage. It seems as though marrying for convenience has been overtaken by marrying for love. Premarital sex has greatly increased. As a result, the births of illegitimate children has also increased - however after 1850 it started decreasing again. This shows that the working classes have finally gained some sort of intelligence. However the men in this society have not made so much progress. So many young men have turned to prostitution! This has led to increased sexism. Thus, many women have stopped working outside the home - that is except for all those lower class women. The rest of the female population has returned to the home to rear her children. After a while these women became tired of being inferior. They started to fight for their rights!
--from the diary of a middle class woman

Science and Thought

During this time in history scientific thought began to yield beneficial change in society. In other words, theoretical knowledge began to be applied in everyday uses. Louis Pasteur and his process of Pasteurizing milk is a prime example of this shift in modes. Even while practical applications were being developed, however, theory was still advancing at a rapid pace. the Law of Conservation of Energy - stating that energy can neither be created nor destroyed - proved to people that the world is government by strict unchanging laws. Even the process of systematic research and development (R&D) was developed at this time. In the end, science began to triumph over religion as reason began to replace faith.
Social Scientists, such as Marx, began to study society as a whole from children to crime rates. Everything was represented statistically and analysts spent a good portion of their lives study trends. One significant analyst was Auguste Comte. Comte noted that explanation of things, such as cosmic patterns, shifted from theological (will of God) to metaphysical (orderly nature) to scientific (unchanging laws). His method of reason was known as the Positivist Method, more commonly known as the Scientific Method. During this time Darwin also published his thesis On the Origin of Species by the Means of Natural Selection. This document led to great outrage, and also to the concept of Social Darwinism.
The triumph of science also led to the Realist literary movement. In Realism authors strove to depict things as they were in real life without mixing in romanticized views and only using hard science. The pioneer of this movement was Emile Zola with her literary manifesto.

Metternich's View of Conservatism

Hello, I am Prince Klemens von Metternich. I am a wealthy aristocrat from Austria. My position is the Austrian foreign minister. You've probably heard of me, because I led the Congress of Vienna. I would like to state precisely why I support Conservatism. First, tradition is extremely important and I strongly believe in the ideals of the monarchy and nobility. There are many problems in the world today that have started with the lower classes. In my opinion, all of these problems were promoted because of liberalism. I fear that liberalism will cause a great war and ultimately lead to the breakup of Austria-Hungary. To prevent liberalism from spreading, I have created the Holy Alliance, which will monitor any liberal or radical ideas. I've also established the Carlsbad Decrees, which intervene and repress ath any sign of liberalism. I firmly stand by my belief that tradition (and conservatism) will keep peace throughout Europe. Conservatism is practical because it favors obedience to political authority. Another main tenet of this ideology is the belief that organized religion is crucial to the order of a society. In conclusion, conservatism is by far the best ideology because it allows countries to remain peaceful. The only thing a radical idea does is stir up trouble.
Sincerely,
Prince Klemens von Metternich
(an aristocrat)