Europe after the Congress
of Vienna
 “Concert of Europe” – alliance to
stop revolution
 Russia, Austrian/Habsburg Empire,
and Prussia: Remained absolutist
monarchs
 France, Spain, and many Italian
states had adopted constitutional
monarchies (with legislative branches).
Context of the Revolutions of
1848
 Dramatic shifts in economies and populations
 Enclosures – the fencing off of old common grazing lands for new
cash-crops like turnips, maize, and potatoes, which forced peasants to
become wage laborers.
 Guilds, trade organizations that could limit the number of people
working in their trade and demand a certain level of quality of product,
were losing their power throughout Europe.
 Horrible harvests in 1845 and 1846 increased the cost of food and
caused an economic crisis, as people were no longer able to afford
manufactured goods from cities.
 Labor unrest
Austrian/Habsburg Empire
 Home to a variety of
languages, religious groups, and
cultures
 Financial crisis after the
Napoleonic Wars and unable to
project its power effectively
 Led by a retarded emperor,
Ferdinand von Habsburg
Prussia
 As a result of the
Congress of Vienna,
Prussia was the dominant
state in a German
Confederation, which
controlled censorship and a
customs union, the
Zollverein, which allowed
for free trade within
member states.
Italy
 A variety of Italian states
remained after the Congress of
Vienna, but two of those – Lombardy
and Venetia – were under the control
of the Austrian Empire
 Nations that had been influenced
by the French Revolution and
Napoleon Bonaparte still held to
ideas of representative governments,
civil liberties, and the elimination of
privilege.
Revolutions of 1830s
 Paris, France
 As the French Monarchy under Louis XVIII and Charles
X turned away from liberal reforms and became more
conservative by issuing the July Ordinances, which restricted
freedom of the press, dissolved parliament, and restricted
access to the vote.
 Crowds built barricades and fought with royal troops (700
died in just three days of fighting) through late July.
 Charles X abdicated August 2, 1830.
Paris 1848
 The throne was given to Louis Philippe from
the liberal side of the Royal Family
 Promised political freedom and lowered
property requirements for voters
 As the British passed reforms that provided
for wider suffrage, French people especially
those in Paris began to demand the same
changes. Because protest was made illegal in
France in 1835, French liberals and radicals
organized in banquets (political protest rallies) in
1848. Louis Philippe then made these illegal.
Paris 1848
 In reaction, Paris then broke into open rebellion, barricades were
built and fighting again broke out.
 Parisians achieved “national workshops,” a public works program for
the unemployed; universal male suffrage; and legalization of various
trade organizations, to help negotiate wages and prices.
 Once elections were set for a Constituent Assembly, conservatives
and royalists won control by playing on the fears of “Jacobinism.”
“June Days”
 On June 21, the government closed the national
workshops and gave the unemployed a choice
between dispersal to the provinces or enrolment in
the army.
 A virtual civil war broke out in Paris: liberal and
conservative landowners and bourgeois merchants,
lawyers, and bankers supported the republican
government, while radicals came primarily from
small-scale artisan trades of the city – building,
metalwork, clothing, shoes and furniture, and from
more recent industrial establishments such as the
railway engineering workshops
 The National Guard crushed the uprising, killing
about 1,000 and exiling thousands more.
Other Revolutions
 Inspired by events in France, barricades
were put up and demands for national selfdetermination, constitutions, and civil rights
were announced throughout Europe.
Austrian/Habsb
urg Empire
 Within Austria’s empire Hungary established a free press and a
national guard, abolished feudal obligations, and demanded taxes from
nobles.
 Inspired by this students in Austria also demanded representative
government, clashed with royal troops. In response Prince Metternich
resigned, censorship was abolished, students were armed, and universal
male suffrage was granted.
 Eventually, Hungarian nationalists led by Lajos Kosuth were
defeated by Austria with the aid of Russian military forces.
Prussia
 King Frederick William IV granted relaxed censorship and an
assembly elected by universal male suffrage.
 Frankfurt Parliament was created
 “Basic Rights for the German People” were drawn up
 Rising interest in “national unity” - The Prussian Army invaded the
German speaking regions of Denmark – Schleswig and Holstein.
 After Parisian radicals were put down in June of 1849, Prussian’s
were motivated to take the offensive and drive radicals out of Germany
(including Friedrich Engels – future coauthor of the Communist
Manifesto).
Fighting in Frankfurt
Italy
 Revolutions for nation
unification broke out in Italy as well.
 Revolts in Milan and Venice
were aided by the King of the
Piedmont against Austrian forces in
hopes of creating a united Italy.
 But by the end of 1848,
revolutions in Italian cities were
being put down by Austria in the
north and the French in the south.
Results
 The peasants of eastern Prussian and the Austrian Empire
were emancipated from serfdom (forced labor on noble
estates), clearing the way for capitalism.
 Piedmont and Prussia kept new, limited constitutions
 Nationalist movements were created and continued to
press for national independence.
 However, the demands from radicals for universal male
suffrage and economic aid from government were not
achieved as monarchs regained power.