Revolutions of 1848

Background• Revolutionary political and social

ideologies combined with economic crises and romantic impulses

• Only most advanced and most backward escaped untouched

• Governments toppled• National independence, liberal-

democratic constitutions and social reform—goals of this generation

• The revolutions failed…why?

France Louis XVIII’s Constitutional Charter of 1814 was basically a liberal constitution (Napoleonic Code)

• a) economic and social gains gained during the revolution were protected - free press, religionb) intellectual and artistic freedom was permittedc) real Parliament was created

The old aristocracy were a small minorityMany Ultra-royalists wanted revenge

•1815 the Ultras won control of government1816 Louis dissolved government - new election produced a more moderate government

Charles X changed the situation

•He was a supporter of the Old Regime and repudiated the Constitutional Charter

 Censored the pressinsurrection in Paris and in • “three glorious days” the

government collapsed• Charles fled and Louis Philippe I

(cousin) was placed on the throne• Louis Philippe accepted the

Constitutional Charter, the red, white, and blue flag, and admitted he was merely

• “king of the French people”

Revolutions of 1848 “Springtime of the peoples”Political and social upheaval

•romantic movement caused the revolutions

•Only reforming Britain and Russia remained untouched

•Bad harvests increased prices, caused unemployment and movement to the cities - revolution was expected

In the 1830s Louis Philippe’s “bourgeosie monarchy” characterized stubborn inactivity and had more enemies than friends

 

In France, 1840-1

• Republicans asked for reformsBut, also had terrible harvests and food shortages

• 1846 workers demanded the right to vote - more bad harvests

• Premier François Guizot banned a huge reform banquet in Paris

• Crowds marched in protest

France continued

• National Guard was ordered to stop the protest

• Soldiers refused to disperse the crowd

• The king fired Guizot• Soldiers panic and open fire

killing 40

The Barricades • Feb 22, 1848 barricades went up in

Paris. Louis abdicated in favor of his grandson

• The Chamber of Deputies formed a Provisional Govt. and declared the Second Republic

• Government had two groups:a) moderate Republicans led by

poet— de Lamartineb) Socialists led by Blanc

The socialists dominated the cities, the Republicans dominated the countryside

Beginning of the Second Republic 

The people started to draft a constitution for the Second Republica) every male was given the voteb) slaves in the colonies were freedc) abolition of the death penaltyd) 10 hour work day for ParisYet there were internal problems for the revolutionary coalition

Constituent Assembly • The people elected a new

Constituent Assembly with 500 moderate republicans, 300 monarchists, 100 radicals

• A moderate was Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

• The countryside was seized with a hatred of Paris

• In May, workers invaded the Constituent Assembly - failedThe Govt. responded by using the National Guard

The government started to arrest radical republicans •Close the National Workshops

June the Assembly voted to close the workshops for 3 days

•all unmarried males would be drafted into the armyThe people went wild

June Days•  After three terrible “June

Days” with thousands of deaths the republican army under General Louis Cavaignac stood victorious

•The revolution had been a spectacular failure, press was censored, clubs outlawed, and the right to assembly was removed

Louis Napoleon (nephew of Bonaparte) was elected in Dec. 1848

• His name and desire for peace at any cost allowed him to win the election

• * France was different from other countries because nationalism was not a key issue

Austria 1848

• polyglot of different cultures, languages, peoples

• few liberals, but they did want political change

• Czechs also wanted more rightsNobody really opposed the Habsburg rule just the Habsburg autocracy

Began in Hungary after the February riots in France•Louis Kossuth led the Hungarians demanding a) national autonomyb) full civil libertiesc) universal suffrage

Habsburg emperor Ferdinand promised reform - Metternich fled in disguise to London• The monarchy was forced to

abolish serfdom - robot - Austria was overwhelmingly agricultural

• The free peasants had no interest in politics and seemed like an ally for the government

• Revolutionary leaders wanted a unified Hungary

• They acted as if the monarchy did not exist

“March Laws”

• delegates in the Hungarian Diet were elected by male property owners- Emperor would remain king but there would be a separate army and Hungary would deal with her own foreign policy

Other minorities• Croats, Serbs, and Rumanians

protested• The Habsburg monarchy exploited

these problems and was soon in an armed struggle

• When the urban poor revolted the middle class panicked

• Emperor Ferdinand regained his courageBut his brother’s wife, archduchess Sophia provided the rallying point

Abdicated in favor of her son Francis Joseph

• Powerful nobles organized with Sophia to crush the revolution

• Francis Joseph became emperor in Dec. 1848

• Nicolas I of Russia helped by sending 130,000 Russian troops to Hungary

• The Habsburg ruled Hungary like a conquered territory 

Prussia

• Burschenschafen - members of student fraternities wanted a united GermanyCarlsbad Decreea) abolished free pressb) outlawed fraternities Basically allowed arch-conservative Metternich to control Germany

Prussia was different because there was the additional goal of unifying the 38 states of the confederation

• Therefore the events were actually on two separate levels

• After Austria, Prussia was the most influential German kingdom

• The fall of Louis Philippe encouraged the Germans to seek liberal reforms

• When these were not granted a social war exploded

Frederick William IV • promised a liberal constitution and

the creation of a new German stateThe workers wanted more - the middle class wanted less

• The workers demanded:a) universal suffrageb) minimum wagec) 10 hour work dayd) a ministry of laborOtto von Bismarck joined the Conservative clique around the king

The Frankfurt Assembly • had no real political power

Depended upon the states to supply the power

• Met in 1848, mostly professional people• wanted a liberal, self-governing,

federally unified Germany• They wanted no armed conflict• They feared the Chartists ideas in Britain

and the June Days in Paris• Radical riots broke out in Frankfurt in

September, the Assembly suppressed the riots – they used the Prussian armyThe big question was ‘what was Germany?’ 

The Frankfurt Assembly – • initially convened to write a constitution

became absorbed with the war with Denmark over Schleswig and Holstein

• Frederick VII nationalistic king of Denmark had tried to integrate both provinces into Denmark - the Germans revolted

• The National Assembly called on Prussian troops to help in the name of GermanyPrussia went to war with Denmark

• The National Assembly also wanted to unite the German-speaking provinces of Austria into a new Germany

Austria refused• In 1849 the Assembly gave King

Frederick William of Prussia emperor of the new German national state - minus Austria and Schleswig-Holstein,

• he refused• Frederick William with the army • disbanded the Assembly and

claimed divine right to rule“crown from the gutter”

• He tried to get the German kings to acknowledge him as emperor - they refused

• The Austrians with help from Russia forced him to renounce unification in 1850

• The German Confederation was re-established

In what ways sense were the decades between 1830-1848 thought to be the golden age of the bourgeoisie?

1. Liberalism influential2. Working class power not yet high3. Capital accumulation rapid4. Political influence gaining5. Capitalist share of profits great

What general conclusions can be drawn about Europe 1815-1848?Consider the Metternich system, the industrial revo, the isms, revolutions and the bourgeoisie

The bourgeoisie was gaining, the workers were trying to get some rights, but the conservatives were keeping both at bay on the Continents until 1848

What actions of Charles X (Artois) invited the July Revolution of 1830?• Repressive policies• Conservative practices• Foe of liberalism• Restricted suffrage to upper middle class• Dissolved Chamber of Deputies• Allowed Church to reassert power

What events precipated Charles X abdication?

• Censorship of the press• Dissolved Chamber• Revolution of workers, artisans,

students, writers—to streets and barricades

The crowning of Louis Philippe by the Chamber of Deputies in 1830 is reminiscent of what analogous event in England?

• Glorious Revolution 1688

The Revolution of 1830 produced what kind of government in France?• Constitutional Monarchy

All the revolutions failed

•To be continued…several years later