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Chapter 4 - What They Were Up Against

from Part Two - Taking Its Measure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2022

Vic Gatrell
Vic Gatrell
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

Britain’s miseries and inequalities after the 1815 Peace provoked popular unrest and upper-class anxiety on an uprecedented scale, but not a revolutionary situation. The centre held firm. Repressive laws, imprisonments, and executions counted as much as popular deference and loyalism in preserving order. These inflictions were backed by an efficient spy system and the multiplication of military barracks across London and the rest of the country.As one military commander wrote, ‘Fools! We have the physical force, not they.’Plebeian radicals were akin to peasants armed with pitchforks, and were as innocent as peasants about the disciplinary forces that faced them.

Keywords

revolutionary conditionsloyalismsubmissionpovertyinequalityunrestlawrepressionsoldiers
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Conspiracy on Cato Street
A Tale of Liberty and Revolution in Regency London
 , pp. 66 - 93
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • What They Were Up Against
  • Vic Gatrell, University of Cambridge
  • Book: Conspiracy on Cato Street
  • Online publication: 06 April 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108974981.005
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  • What They Were Up Against
  • Vic Gatrell, University of Cambridge
  • Book: Conspiracy on Cato Street
  • Online publication: 06 April 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108974981.005
Available formats
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • What They Were Up Against
  • Vic Gatrell, University of Cambridge
  • Book: Conspiracy on Cato Street
  • Online publication: 06 April 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108974981.005
Available formats
×