ABSTRACT
The two decades following 1830 saw a quickening of the pace ofeconomic and social developments, and a broadening of their effects when compared to the years of the Restoration. Economic innovations, such as the use of steam engines in manufacturing, the creation of new networks of transport and communication, the introduction of new forms of organization and marketing of craft production, or the utilization of new agricultural techniques, all proceeded more rapidly and were found in more European countries than had been the case in the previous fifteen years. Parallel to these economic innovations and often interacting with them was the process of the development of the institutions of civil society. There were more newspapers, organizations and mass meetings, with ever-greater readership, membership and participation. They dealt with an ever-greater range of issues, appeared in more regions of more countries, and were tied together in ever more complex networks.
