The Revolutions of 1848The Ismsdike Breaks

Palmer Chapter 12.59, 12.60McKay Chapter 23

This is the true story... of 4 strangers... picked to live during a Revolution... and have their lives taped... to find out what

happens... when people stop being polite... and start getting real...The Real World 1848!!!

Real World 1848 Europe• Liberalism• Con.

Monarchy• Enlightenme

nt• Reason• Freedom on

press, religion

• Laissez-faire• Limited

enfranchisement

• Bourgeoisie• Economic/

political motivations for Nationalism

• Republicanism• Republic• Sans Cullotte

(French Rev)• Often socialistic• Universal male

suffrage• Anti capitalistic• Worker protection• Social workshop• Economic planning• Proletariat• Romantic,

economic protection, political voice = motivations for nationalism

• Romanticism• Politically

mixed• Medieval

times• Emotion• Dreamers• Nationalism

based on idea that people of similar ethnicity, language, culture and history belong together

• Believe it will lead to end of war

• Conservatism• Absolute

monarchy• Ancien

regime• Tradition,

monarchy, nobility

• Hierarchy• Stability• Fear all isms,

especially nationalism

“Society was cut in two: those who had nothing united in

common envy, and those who had anything united in common

terror.” Alexis de Tocqueville

1848 The Springtime of the Peoples.

Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov. Dec.

February Revolution

-Louis Philippe Abdicates-National

Workshops est.

-Kossuth calls for Hungarian Nation-Vienna RevoltsMarch Days-Metternich flees-Ferdinand accepts March Laws-ends serfdom

Frankfurt Assembly Convenes-composed of liberals

-Sophia leads counterrevolution-Pan Slavic Congress crushed by Austria

-Frederick William IV promises constitution-Piedmont Attacks Austria

-Gen Jellachich invades Hungary

Vienna retaken by Haps-Hungary falls within 8 months -Ferdinand abdicates in favor of Francis Joseph

June Days-General Cavaignac & the NA crush socialist workers

-Louis Napoleon wins election

-Will soon become Nap. III, end 2nd Republic &

begin 2nd Empire

Blanc’s National Wksps closed

Pan Slavic Congress begins-envision a confed. of Slavic nations

Causes• Series of liberal/nationalistic/socialist

revolutions erupted across Continent – Only GB and Russia immune

• Immediate Causes: – Severe food shortages

• Irish potato famine was part of overall poor harvests

– Growing Socialism• Issues of Industrial Revolution • Laissez faire policies• widespread unemployment• bad living/working conditions

– Growing Nationalism• Acute in Austria

– Growing Liberalism• Civil liberties ignored by conservatism

– Growing Democratic Republicanism• Workers wanted universal male

suffrage

The Austrian Empire in 1848• Most populous state

except Russia• Consisted of three major

areas, numerous nationalities:

– Germans, Magyars, Slavs

• Highly interlaced populations

• Metternich – tried to crush

nationalism– Carlsbad Decree– Predicted that

nationalism would produce “the war of all against all..”

The March Days• News of February Revolution of France

reached Vienna• Vienna Uprising• Louis Kossuth

– Magyar (Hungarian) nationalist and member of the Hungarian diet demanded Hungarian independence (March 3, 1848)

• March Days– Kossuth’s speech inspired and

inflamed students (March 13) who took to the streets to demand liberal constitution

• Children of classic liberals– army failed to restore order– Metternich resigned/fled– Emperor Ferdinand(r.1835-48)

promised moderate/liberal constitution• Ended serfdom

– serfs now had little reason to support revolution

The Magyar Revolt:• Liberal Magyar (Hungarians) leaders embolden by

Vienna revolt• Opposed central control of Vienna gov.• Hungarian diet passed the March Laws:

– ensured religious equality– jury trials– free press– nobility taxes

• Emp Ferdinand approved measures• Favors Classic Liberals (Bourgeoisie) • But Nationalistic Magyars demand an independent

Hungary– tried to annex Transylvania/Croatia

• Other national groups hate this– didn’t want Hungarian language imposed– Saw Hapsburgs as only hope of preserving

culture• What it happening?

– liberalism v. nationalism v nationalism

The Hungarian cockade used in 1848

Artist Mihály Zichy's rendition of Sándor Petőfi reciting the Nemzeti dal to a crowd on March 15, 1848

Nemzeti dal ("National Song"), written by Sándor Petőfi, said to have inspired the Hungarian Revolution of 1848

• “National Song” • On your feet, Magyar, the homeland calls!

The time is here, now or never!Shall we be slaves or free?This is the question, choose your answer!

• By the God of the HungariansWe vow,We vow, that we will be slavesNo longer!

• We were slaves up til now,Damned are our ancestors,Who lived and died free,Cannot rest in a slave land.By the God of the HungariansWe vow,We vow, that we will be slavesNo longer!

• Useless villain of a man,Who now, if need be, doesn't dare to die,Who values his pathetic life greaterThan the honor of his homeland.By the God of the HungariansWe vow,We vow, that we will be slavesNo longer!

German States in 1848 • Frankfurt Assembly (May 1848-May

1849) – Uprising had broken out in Berlin– Liberal-Nationalists called for an

all German Constitutional Monarchy

– Elected assembly met in Frankfurt to create a democratic & unified Germany

– wanted a liberal, self-governing, federally unified, and democratic (not egalitarian) Germany

– were peaceable, legalistic, non-violent

• Its strength – it represents the moral sentiment

(liberalism, nationalism)

First Pan-Slav Assembly• Frankfurt Assembly

– German Nationalists met at Frankfurt in May ’48 in order to create a liberal constitutional monarchy and unite the German states

• Kossuth and Hungarian nationalist want a united Hungary

• Pan-Slavism– Slavics see this as a threat to their

culture, language, nationality– Included Poles, Czechs, Slovaks,

Croats, Serbs• Pan Slav assembly met in Prague

(June 1848)• Viewed the Austrian empire under the

Hapsburgs as a protector to preserve Slavic interests

Uniforms of the Prague National Guard and student legions from the revolution in 1848 on a contemporary coloured lithograph published by F Kretzschmar in Prague. (AMP, iconographic collection, sign. III-332. Photo: JL)

Italy in 1848• Italian liberals and nationalists wanted to oust the

Hapsburgs and create Italian nation– Looked to: King Charles of Piedmont-Sardinia & Pope

Pius IX of the Papal States– Both had had a liberal reputations

• Pope Pius was frightened after the assassination of his minister (Count Pelligrino Rossi) & violence of revolution

• Pius IX returned an ardent reactionary• Syllabus of Errors (1864)

– Reactionary tract against everything that went under the names liberalism, progress, modern civilization

• King Charles of Piedmont was lured into a war with Austria – Piedmont quickly defeated – King abdicated for son, Victor Emmanuel II (r.1849-

78) • Now the Republicans are alone (No Pope, No Charles)• France Intervenes

– Louis Napoleon didn’t want powerful Italy– attacked Rome/restored pope– dissolved Roman Republic

Political cartoon showing the duplicity of Pope Pius IX

THE SYLLABUS OF ERRORS BY PIUS IX • As human reason is placed on a level with religion itself, so theological

must be treated in the same manner as philosophical sciences• Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided

by the light of reason, he shall consider true. -• Man may, in the observance of any religion whatever, find the way of

eternal salvation, and arrive at eternal salvation. -- Encyclical "Qui pluribus,"

• Protestantism is nothing more than another form of the same true Christian religion, in which form it is given to please God equally as in the Catholic Church.

• The ecclesiastical power ought not to exercise its authority without the permission and assent of the civil government.

• The Church has not the power of using force, nor has she any temporal power, direct or indirect.

• In the case of conflicting laws enacted by the two powers, the civil law prevails.

• In the present day it is no longer expedient that the Catholic religion should be held as the only religion of the State, to the exclusion of all other forms of worship.

• The Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization

June turns Springtime into Winter -Tom Morris

• Revolution of 1848 begins to collapse after June 1848• Why?• Divided and competing Isms• Liberals

– Bourgeoisie , students, intellectuals• Favored constitutional monarchy, civil liberties, limited

suffrage– Did not understand social and economic problems of

lower class– afraid of lower classes

• Republican Socialists – Working class – Wanted employment, (socialism in some cases),

universal suffrage (democratic republicanism)• Nationalism

– Interlaced nationalities (minorities) feared being dominated by another nationality

• Serfs – free and no longer interested in revolution

• Armies – largely run by conservative aristocrats and influenced

peasant soldiers

Conservative Winter Returns• France intervenes in Italy• Russia intervenes in Hungary• Hapsburg's crush Pan Slavism

– Army forced King Ferdinand to abdicate on Dec. 2, 1848

– Had given-in to revolution– Install Francis Joseph (R1848-

1916) as Emperor of Austria (later Austro-Hungarian Empire

The German Question

• Were 39 states recognized after Congress of Vienna– German Confederation

• Nationalism Obstacles– Traditions of independence– Desire to maintain sovereignty (like US v UN)– Large states of Prussia (from Baltic to

Rhineland) and Austria (Motley Empire) were threatened by one another

– Small states maintained their independence through balance of power tactics

• German dualism– Defined= Polarity & rivalry between Berlin

and Vienna (Prussia and Austria)– Which nation should lead “Germany”???

• Powerful Junkers enjoyed status and autonomy within Prussia– were indifferent to all German dream

• Western regions perceived Prussia and uncouth and eastern

German States

Grossdeutsch v Kleindeutsch• Most difficult question faced by the

Assembly • What is Germany?• Did it include:

– Austria– Bohemia– parts of Prussia, parts of Denmark– Schleswig and Holstein– parts of Hungary– Moravia, – city of Riga, Zurich, Holland

• What are the borders to be?• Grossdeutsch (Large Germany)

– Great Germans: should include Austria (except Hungary) and federated crown should go to Habsburg Monarchy

• Kleindeutsch (Small Germany)– Little Germans: said No Austria – supported Hohenzollern Monarchy (King of

Prussia would be King)

An Untimely Revolution• Frankfurt Assembly met in May 1848• But Assembly had no real power

– No military– No civil administration with which to take over

• It looked like the National Assembly of 1789 BUT

• there was no preexisting structure (all German army, civil service) to take over

• Became dependent on the support of the states it was trying to supersede

• Timing of the assembly is too late– fear of social revolution is fueling reactionary

attitudes (June Days of Paris, Chartists)• Revolution could not be achieved without the link

between classes– Threat of lower class violence is needed for

change to occur– Middle and Lower Class need symbiotic

relationship• Radical Riots in Frankfurt are repressed by the

Assembly • Denmark attempted to take over Germanic lands

(Schleswig-Holstein)– Frankfurt Assembly called upon the Prussian

army to keep the peace & stop Denmark• Afterward the Assembly is dependent on the Prussian

(Junker-led) Army

Berlin: Failure of the Revolution in Prussia• Prussia was illiberal but not

backward• Frederick William III and IV

(1840) refused constitutionalism

• Gov. was not democratic but was efficient, progressive, and fair

• Strong educational system– High literacy rates

• Government used mercantilist methods of planning the economy

• Established the tariff union Zollverein (a German NAFTA)

– Very nationalistically liberal (economically)

– eventually included almost all Germany

– List’s Dream

Frederick William IV of Prussia

The Failure of the Frankfurt Assembly• Frankfurt issued a Declaration of

the Rights of the German People (not man)

• Modeled after American and French but only for Germans

– Anti-Enlightenment Tone (Herder, Hegel)

• FA finally offered the crown of “Germany” to Frederick William IV

• Accepting the crown would mean – Internal unrest from the Junkers– Forcing his title (Hohenzollerns)

over the smaller states that had the real power

– Challenging Austria and the threat of war

– Accepting liberalism

To be King or not to be King…?

The Failure of Liberal Nationalism• Fred Will IV declined saying he

could not “pick up a crown from the gutter”

• If he was to be emperor it would have to come from the Princes

• Frankfurt Assembly dissolved• Part of what remains calls for

riots and elections• Junker army moves in and the

Assembly is driven out of Frankfurt

• Germany’s Arrested Development– Failure of German liberalism

stops maturation process toward democracy

– Leave population susceptible to autocracy & overly obedient

Democrats being swept out of the German lands after the failure of the 1848 revolutions.

The Prussian Constitution of 1850• FW IV produces a

constitution in order to placate everyone

• Remained in effect until 1918

• Single parliament for all regions in Prussia

• divided the population into 3 estates (Class)

– Wealthy (4%)– less wealthy (16%)– Poor (80%)

• Resembled the Esates System of Ancien Regime

• big tax payers chose a third of members (so a few wealthy had as much power as hundreds)

• Controlled by east Elbian Junkers

Constitution of 1850 Continued• Rising industrials now

share power with Junkers

• Somewhat progressive for 1850

• Outpaced by western constitutions that are more liberal

• Gives industrialists and large land owners a position of special privilege within the state

Conclusion• “History reached its turning point and failed to

turn” A.J.P. Taylor • The Springtime of the Peoples is crushed• Serfdom is over but …• Romantic notions of nationalism, liberalism,

republicanism harden into more Machiavellian, realistic, scientific (positivism), pragmatic ideology

• IE. Realpolitik• From 1850 to 1914 nations will be united and

nationalism will grow via conservatives’ utilization and exploitation of romanticism, liberalism, and republicanism