Revolutions of 1848 Notes

Revolutions of 1848

Background

  • Early 19th Century: Isolated regional resistance movements against conservative governments.
  • 1848: Revolutions erupt across Europe.
  • Causes: Economic hardship and political discontent.
  • Impact: Breakdown of the Congress of Europe, established by Metternich at the Congress of Vienna.

Revolution in France

  • Louis Philippe: Became King of France in 1830, promising to rule as a constitutional monarch.
  • Blocked attempts to expand voting rights.
  • Opposition leaders demanded a more liberal government.
  • Bread shortage in Paris.
  • Workers, students, and the unemployed rallied together; built barricades, protested the king.
  • Military opened fire, killing 50 citizens.
  • Parisians built over 500 barricades.
  • 1848: Louis Philippe abdicated.
  • Provisional government declared a new republic.
  • New laws: property tax, end of death penalty, more freedom of the press.

Failure of the February Revolution

  • Class divisions.
  • Working class concerned about the middle class ignoring their demands for national workshops (provided work for the unemployed).
  • Summer elections: Middle-class professionals elected to the National Assembly.
  • National Assembly closed national workshops.
  • French army and National Guard defeated the workers.
  • Louis Napoleon (nephew of Napoleon) elected president of France.
  • 1852: Louis Napoleon declared himself Emperor Napoleon III and reestablished an authoritarian government.

Revolution in the German States

  • Inspired by the 1848 uprising in France.
  • Demonstrators in Prussia and other German states called for civil liberties and constitutional reforms.
  • Demonstrations spread to Berlin.
  • Frederick Wilhelm IV forced to respond.
  • King promised to create a constitutional monarchy after hundreds died in March.
  • Frankfurt Assembly: Delegates sent from each German state to create a constitution and unify German states.
  • Process in Frankfurt Assembly was slow due to debates about which groups to include in the new German state.
  • Monarchy regained control in Berlin.
  • King crushed remaining protesters and refused to accept the Frankfurt constitution.

Revolution in Austria

  • Austria also experienced rebellion in the summer of 1848.
  • Government struggled to maintain control of its multi-ethnic empire.
  • Nationalities seeking self-rule: Hungarians, Poles, Czechs, Croats, and Serbs.
  • Students in Vienna demanded a more liberal government and rioted in the streets.
  • Metternich resigned, leading to further revolts in Hungary, Prague, and Italy.
  • Austrian Habsburg monarchy, with Russian help, subdued the Magyar revolt and put down Czech demands.
  • 1867: Conservative monarchy installed under Francis Joseph.
  • Francis Joseph established the dual monarchy: Austria-Hungary.
  • The agreement mostly maintained the status quo of Austrian rule, despite seeming to put the two halves on even terms.

Short-Term Results (Failures)

  • Movements scattered throughout Europe.
  • Lack of clear ideology and coordination.
  • Divisions by ethnicity.
  • Lack of strong military backing.
  • Rebels did not keep power for long.
  • Governments reacted by becoming more conservative.

Examples of Conservative Reactions

  • Russia: Tsar Nicholas I expanded the use of the secret police to crush any further attempts and rebellions.
  • France: The government banned novelists, anarchists, and others considered dangerous from writing.
  • Increased immigration.

Long-Term Results

  • Long-term impacts of 1848 and 1849 are more difficult to determine but would lead to eventual success.