Nineteenth-century conservatives, liberals, and socialists differed greatly over the value and character of individual. This difference over the individual character of the human being is the major player in the political and social upheaval that came about during this time. It is quite interesting to see how utterly different and revolutionizing these new liberal and socialist views were to the old ways of going about life.
The conservative view was the view that had been predominant throughout history up to this time. It was a view that looked with horror at the political and social unrest caused by the new ideals that had found a following among those people of less than noble blood. Conservatives believed in the inequality of human beings. They supported a government where there was a head of state, usually a king, who had most if not all of the power over the country and the people.
Romantic history painting. Commemorates the French...
Engels in 1868
Karl Marx (1818-1883)They believed in the nobility and that those of noble blood were better then everybody else. They valued people of noble blood, but did not value one bit the lives of those who were not of noble blood. They viewed the common population with an attitude of the utmost superiority. Since they viewed the common population as lesser beings than themselves, they in turn believed that they were entitled to make decisions and rule over them. Not only were they entitled to rule over the common people, but they had an obligation to God to help their lesser brothers who were "abandoning themselves to the one feeling of hatred of God and of His immutable moral laws"1 which of course said that the conservative system was the one God supported. They thought that since the commoners were not of noble blood, they would be unable to make good decisions...