REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 Europe was literally convulsed by a wave ...
-
Upload
akashag11111 -
Category
Documents
-
view
323 -
download
0
Transcript of REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 Europe was literally convulsed by a wave ...
REVOLUTIONS OF 1848
• Europe was literally convulsed by a wave of revolutions in 1848– Unprecedented in their scale and aspirations
• Revolutions were the culmination of a series of political, economic, and social crises which had started in the late 1840s– Began with widespread harvest failures in 1847
and were intensified by an international financial and industrial crisis• Result was widespread hunger, disease,
unemployment, business failure, and revolution
ECONOMIC CRISIS• Severe economic crisis intensified
social problems created by industrialization and rapid population growth from 1845 on– Began in agricultural sector and then
spread to industry• Poor grain harvests hit most countries
in 1845 and 1846– Caused food prices to skyrocket– Demand for manufactured products
declined as people now spent a larger proportion of their incomes on food
• Unemployment therefore increased dramatically
• Connected in an indirect way to crisis was a serious contraction of credit– Caused cash flow problems for many
and led to numerous bankruptcies
VARIED IMPACT OF CRISIS• Social and geographic impact of the
crisis varied– Harvest bad in Great Britain in
1845 but it improved in 1846• Relatively advanced economy,
involvement in overseas trade, and repeal of Corn Laws made England well placed to secure additional food supplies
• Economic crisis was therefore not particularly severe there
– Russia and Poland were also spared worst aspects of economic crisis
• Because their grain harvests remained good
– Hardest hit countries were Ireland, Belgium, Prussia, and northern part of Austrian Empire
THE REAL DANGER
• Economic crisis generated widespread sense of grievance among those who felt it was the duty of their governments to take positive action to help them– Included urban and rural
workers, businessmen, peasants, and all those frightened by increase in crime and disorder
• The real danger for European governments was that this discontent might take political shape– That economic misery might
become politicized
MIDDLE CLASS LIBERALISM• Economic difficulties only become
dangerous when they receive a political focus– Decisive factor in this process appears
to have been the aggravation of discontent within the middle class
• Who had the organizational capacity to mobilize themselves and wider mass support
• Middle class tended to present demands within the context of liberalism– Ideology which favored end of arbitrary
government by reducing power of traditional institutions, a wider sharing of power by means of developing parliamentary government, and guarantees of individual freedoms
– Liberals generally rejected democracy in favor of rule by those who owned property
John Stuart Mill
Liberal philosopher
SOCIALISM
• Issue of poverty attracted considerable attention in the 1840s– Witnessed by numerous official and
private inquiries into the problem– And by growing popularity of the
humanitarian socialism of Louis Blanc and Etienne Cabet
• Found receptive audience among skilled craftsmen in towns of Central Europe and France
• Workers looked forward to the day when, through the formation of workers’ cooperatives, they might become masters of their own destinies
• Less skilled workers showed little interest in democratic or socialist ideas
Louis Blanc
BANQUET CAMPAIGN• A variety of opposition groups appeared
in France during 1840s– Included Republicans
• Pressed for extension of the right to vote
• Republicans launched reform campaign in July 1847– Organized banquets to get around law
prohibiting political meetings– Louis Philippe’s hostility to demands
presented at banquets radicalized movement
– Radical republicans assumed an increasing prominent role at the expense of more moderate men
• Alexandre Ledru-Rollin– Banquet campaign was planned to
culminate with mass banquet in Paris on February 22, 1848
Ledru-Rollin
PRUSSIA• Frederick William IV relaxed censorship and
created semi-elected body of advisors– Encouraged liberals to push for
completely constitutional regime• Variety of social clubs and
professional organizations formed to be fronts for political debate and training ground for political organization
• Their ideas spread down hierarchy to lower middle class and skilled workers
– Most believed that their interests would be best served by the protection of their handicraft way of manufacturing against industrial competition and through reinforcement of their guild privileges
» Not the way middle class saw thingsFrederick William IV
THE SOCIAL QUESTION• German liberals were not in complete
agreement– Seen in their attitude towards the
“social problem”• Some were determined to blame
the “lazy” poor for their own misery
– Which could only be eased by rapid economic modernization combined with moral education
• Others had a desire to protect the interests of the small independent craftsman and farmer from unrestrained capitalism
• Minority of radicals even advocated compulsory education and progressive income tax
• Even before 1848, it was evident that popular unrest was leading many German liberals to question their blind faith in progress and look to the state as a source of protection
AUSTRIAN EMPIRE• Influential works smuggled into
the empire from the west attacked inefficient bureaucracy, censorship, taxation, centralization of political power in Vienna, a favoritism shown nobles– Stimulated discussions of
reform in the Legal Political Reading Club, the Concordia Society, and the Lower Austrian Manufacturers’ Society
• In Bohemia and Hungary, opposition combined with nationalist discontent– Mainly only among educated
upper classes
ITALY
• In Austrian-controlled northern Italy, local elites of landowners, aristocrats, and wealthy professionals and merchants felt unfairly excluded from government– Also resented Austrian
censorship– Businessmen objected
to economic policies which favored Austria
– Italian clergy objected to Austrian interference in ecclesiastical affairs
PIUS IX
• Election of Pius IX in June 1846 – Freed 2000 political
prisoners– Relaxed censorship– Stimulated liberal and
nationalist sentiment throughout Italy
• Governments of Tuscany and Sardinia-Piedmont made similar concessions
• Widespread and growing criticism of Austrian government in years leading to 1848
ENGLAND
• Mass propaganda in favor of democratic reforms embodied in Great Charter– But Chartism did not lead
to revolution• Limited concessions
and the fear of disorder that Chartism contained reduced middle-class support of radical politics
– Depriving masses of the leadership necessary to mobilize popular discontent
Chartist Demonstration
UNCOMPROMISING CONTINENTAL GOVERNMENTS
• In France, Louis-Philippe and his prime minister Francois Guizot were confident that no concessions were necessary and that protest could be contained
• Frederick William IV of Prussia was convinced of his divine right to rule and was confirmed in this belief by his narrow circle of aristocratic advisors
• In Austrian Empire, a poorly educated king and elderly Metternich could not respond effectively to financial problems and pressure for reform
• All continental governments had lost touch with the reality of an Europe undergoing rapid economic and social change– Resulted in political polarization– Unresolved crises caused loss of
confidence among government supporters
Francois Guizot
Why did revolutions break out in 1848?
Revolutions of 1848 began in capital cities
and urban centers and then spread to
other towns and rural areas
Outbreak in Paris on February 23-24 clearly served as major stimulant
Intensifying government crisis
elsewhere and encouraging opposition
FEBRUARY 22, 1848
• Banquet, planned for February 22 1848, banned by French government out of fear of disorder
• Radicals call for protest demonstration– Students and
workers gather at Place de la Concord where sporadic violence occurred
FEBRUARY 23, 1848• Elements of National
Guard defect to the side of the protestors– Louis Philippe loses
nerve and fires Guizot
• Barricades erected in poorer quarters of Paris
• Nervous troops near Foreign Ministry fire at crowd– 10 pm– Enrages popular
opinion
FEBRUARY 24, 1848
• By morning, 1500 barricades had been constructed and a mass insurrection was underway
• Louis Philippe orders troops to smash revolt– Difficult to move troops
in city and they become demoralized and are forced to withdraw
• Louis Philippe abdicates• Group of prominent
republicans proclaim Provisional Government from balcony of city hall
SUMMARY• Revolution took place in France
because, in a situation of economic and social crisis, the regime had lost the confidence of its habitual supporters– It had failed to introduce timely
concessions in response to the growing demand for political reform
• And when an essentially fortuitous incident led to a mass uprising, government was paralyzed by a crisis of confidence and unable to coordinate effective repressive measures– As a result, a small body of active
republicans took advantage of the regime’s paralysis to mobilize mass support, to seize power, and establish new government
MARCH 3, 1848 IN THE AUSTRIAN EMPIRE
• Hungarian Diet officially supports program of constitutional reform designed to establish the autonomy of Hungary within the Empire
• On the same day, the Legal-Political Reading Club in Vienna issues proclamation demanding – Creation of an United Diet in which both
middle classes and peasants would be represented and to which ministers would be responsible
– Expansion of education– Equitable taxation– Abolition of censorship
FALL OF METTERNICH• Metternich was determined not to
give in and considered imposing martial law
• Large crowds take to the street on March 13– Troops ordered to disperse
them were met with hail of rocks and bottles and open fire in response
– Demonstrators construct barricades and full-scale insurrection was underway
• On March 15, Metternich resigned and the emperor promised a liberal constitution– On the same day the emperor
met with delegates from the Hungarian Diet and granted them greater autonomy
BOHEMIA AND ITALY• Subject peoples of the Empire take
advantage of government collapse– Stirrings of independence in Bohemia– Big trouble in Italy
• Riots forced Ferdinand II to grant his people a constitution
• Grand Duke of Tuscany, the pope, and King Charles Albert of Piedmont-Sardinia all granted, or promise to grant, their people constitution
– To avoid violence• Revolt erupts in Milan on March 18
– Austrian commander withdraws after 5 days of fighting
• Similar event in Venice– Results in establishment of
Venetian Republic under leadership of Daniel Manin
Daniel Manin
GERMANY• News from France sparks disorders
in Bavaria, East Prussia, and northern Germany– Rural disorders occurred in
southwest and central Germany• In Prussia, Frederick William IV is
faced with numerous petitions for reform and serious urban and rural disorders– When he learned of collapse of
Austrian regime, he decided to make concessions
– Too late—riots already swept Berlin and army had been forced to withdraw from city
– King announces that he will establish a constitutional monarchy
• Other German rulers do essentially the same thing
GREAT BRITAIN AVOIDS TROUBLE
• Chartists originally received news of events in Paris with enthusiasm– But most Chartist leaders
refused to depart from their commitment to strictly legal agitation
• Movement was already in decline and proved unable to mobilize support
• Another factor was official preparedness– Preventive measures were
put into effect immediately– But premature repression
was also avoided
SYNOPSIS I
• With the exception of Great Britain and Russia, it was a combination of poor leadership, division among the propertied classes, loss of confidence among political elites, and the domino effect of governmental collapse which stimulated demands for reform and discouraged effective government resistance in France, Germany, and Austrian Empire
SYNOPSIS II
• Initial revolutionary outbreaks varied– Violent overthrow of
monarchy in France– Violent efforts to expel
foreign rulers in Lombardy and Venetia
– Peaceful effort by Hungary to assert its autonomy
– Various searches for constitutional compromise in German states, Austria, and Bohemia
SYNOPSIS III
• Groups which seized power or who were seeking accommodation were mostly coalitions of people with differing and often conflicting objectives
• Old Regimes had collapsed so suddenly that those who now claimed power were surprised and unprepared– Actually the rapid progress of
events had advantages• Little initial opposition to
widespread assumption of power by liberal critics of earlier regimes