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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
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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
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
German Confederation Austrian lands 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