The Four Horsemen

The 1820s marked a revolutionary moment in European history. Uprisings during this decade marked the last horseback-mounted epics where officers led their men from provincial towns in the hopes of reaching the capital and overturning the old order. Scholarly work has also stressed the great powers and their 1820s revolutions, namely, France, Germany, Italy, and Russia. In this book, Richard Stites aims to widen and refocus the lens of Europe by providing a narrative history of revolutions in Spain, Naples, Greece, and Russia and the relationships among them. Generally these uprisings are studied in individual nation-state contexts, and while this book tells the events in their national contexts, it highlights commonalities and divergences by setting them side by side. On the whole, it gives more weight to cross-national elements in the revolutions and the regimes they created or tried to create. Among the topics that emerge from their comparative study are constitutional liberalism in early nineteenth century Europe; the migratory history of the Spanish constitution of 1812; secret societies; military uprisings; the transfer of ideas and peoples across frontiers; the formation of an international community of revolutionaries; guerrilla warfare; and the appropriation of Christian symbols and language for secular purpose. Richard Stites was one of the most imaginative and broad-ranging Slavicists/Europeanists working in the United States. This book is his last work, and his colleagues John McNeill and Catherine Evtuhov have prepared the text for submission. A classic example of Stites' dazzling knowledge and idiosyncratic yet accessible writing style, this book promises to appeal to those interested in 19th century Europe and the history of revolutions. "Published posthumously, Stites's final work is both a career-defining accomplishment and something of a departure. The preeminent European historian broadens his focus from Russia and popular culture to encompass the entire continent and the spread of democracy, revolution, and self-determination." - Publishers Weekly"The Four Horsemen is a highly original and important study of revolutionary movements in early nineteenth century Europe. With a strong cast of extraordinary characters, it is also a tremendous read." --Tim Blanning, University of Cambridge "This is a beautiful book, covering a period that is chronically understudied, and doing so with great richness and subtlety, in a way that no one to my knowledge has ever done. Stites was a historian primarily of Russia, and yet his knowledge of developments across Europe was impressive. In his deft handling, a line of continuity running from Spain to Italy to Greece to Russia is exposed with incredible clarity, revealing the close connections between the disparate liberal revolutions of the 1820s, and their broader resonance throughout Europe. Stites wrote like the historian of my mind's eye: learned, wise, kindly, and humane, sensitive to life's great openings as well as to its tragic closures." -- Darrin M. McMahon, Florida State UniversityEditors' Preface ; Preface ; I. Before the Barricades Went Up ; II. Rafael Del Riego: The Ride through Andalusia ; III. Guglielmo Pepe: Marching into Naples ; IV. Alexandros Yspilanti: Across the River Pruth ; V. Sergei Muraviev-Apostol: Into the Steppe ; VI. The Torn Cloth of Memory ; Abbreviations ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index