Revolutions of 1848

Overview of 1848

• Attempted revolutions sprang from liberal and nationalist ideals, and largely failed due to conflicting nationalist interests

• Alliance between middle-class liberals and working-class leaders sparked revolutions, but then splintered as alliance broke down

• Only in France did revolution succeed, but it’s results were disappointing for liberal instigators

• Revolutions of 1848 demonstrated the potential of nationalism to destabilize Europe

• Success of conservative forces in controlling revolutions demonstrated staying power of conservatism

la Barricade de la rue Soufflot , Paris, Février 1848

France: Louis Napoleon

• 1846-7: Poor harvests, high prices, unemployment

• 1848: Liberal opponents of Louis Philippe organized “banquets,” that government cancelled

• Parisian workers rioted; Louis Philippe fled to England

• Liberals allied with working class: “workshops” in Paris, universal suffrage

• But nation elected conservative government, closed workshops, Parisians rioted

• Louis Napoleon elected to restore conservative order

• 1851: declared himself emperor, disbanded assembly, ruthlessly put down dissent, plebiscite strongly supported him as Napoleon III

Europe at 1848:National Groups

1848 Austria-Hungary• News of liberal uprising in France

caused “March Days” across Empire– Liberals, workers, students rioted in

Vienna– Hungarians demanded independence– Serfs rioted against oppression

• Metternich fled to England: end of Age of Metternich

• Flight of Metternich sparked rebellions across Germanic kingdoms

• Emperor Ferdinand – granted constitutional autonomy to

Hungary and Bohemia; – Freed the serfs, thereby undermining

strength of revolt• Italian provinces revolted, declaring

independence• German confederation called a national

assembly to create a unified Germany

Germany: Failed Unification• March Revolution: rebellions for

liberal change across German kingdoms

• Frankfurt Assembly: liberal pan-German national assembly elected to consider unification options

• Included all German kingdoms, including German areas of Prussia and Austria

• Declared a new German government; offered position of “kaiser” to Frederick William IV of Prussia; he refused. Regency given to Archduke Johann of Austria

• Kleindeutsch vs. Grossdeutsch.

• Weakness of Frankfurt Assembly led to war with Denmark over Schleswig-Holstein; called on Prussia for help, and dissolved

Frankfurt Assembly 1848

Bohemia: Pan Slavism

• Pan-Slav assembly met, imitating German Frankfurt Assembly; chose to avoid independence, preferring unity under Hapsburgs to chaos

• Sudeten Germans attracted to Frankfurt Assembly: friction in Bohemia between Slavs and Germans

• Friction created Czech insurrection, put down by Austrian army general Windischgrätz

Prague 1848

Austrian Hapsburgs: Magyar Revolt

• Hungarian Louis Kossuth: liberal and Magyar nationalist

• Moved official Hungarian capital to Budapest, declared Hungarian national language

• But Slovaks, Germans, Romanians, Serbs violently resisted

• Hungary dissolved into “war of all against all” predicted by Metternich

• Ferdinand abdicated

• Austrian army general Windischgrätz marched from Bohemia, took Vienna, and allied with Magyars to reassert antebellum Hapsburg control over Hungary

Magyar Revolt, 1848

Austrian landsGerman Confederation

Piedmont

Italy: Failed Unification

• With chaos in Austria, in 1848 Milan and Venice declared independence

• Austrian army crushed revolt

• Pope’s minister assassinated, Pope Pius IX fled, Roman Republic declared in former Papal States

• Louis Napoleon sent French army and restored Pope; Mazzini and Garibaldi fled

• Failures showed clash between Catholicism and Liberalism

Garibaldi