Transcript Chapter 14 – Surge of Liberalism and Nationalism

Chapter 14 – Surge of Liberalism
and Nationalism: Revolution,
Counterrevolution, and Unification
Revolutions, 1848
1848: The Year of the Revolution
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Beginning in France, revolution spread
through Europe
Response to economic problems and
long denied liberal and national
demands
Revolutions Map
France, 1848
The February Revolution
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Conservatism was dead after 1830, discredited
in France by the politics of Restoration (Charles
X and the ultras) … hanging on in Austria,
Hapsburg lands
Government of Louis Philippe was bourgeois and
liberal in a limited sense (very limited voting
rights – about 3%)
Opposition (radical republicans) wanted reforms
… clashed with soldiers in February 1848
Louis Philippe abdicated and France becomes a
republic
France, 1848
The June Days
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The new republic did not include workers and the extreme
poor
To address the working poor’s needs, the middle class
government set up national workshops … provided food,
medical benefits, and employment on public works
projects
Workers hated them, land owners viewed them as a waste
of money … government closed them and workers
rebelled again (June)
The worker revolt was crushed mercilessly (1460 dead)
In December, the French elected Louis Napoleon president
of the Second Republic
French Leaders
1848 Elsewhere
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Germany
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Austria
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Nationalism emerged during the Napoleonic era and remained strong
Urban intellectuals liked liberalism; most people remained conservative
Princes made concessions to liberals during economic hard times in the 1840s
Result: Frankfurt Assembly … approved a new German Federation with Prussian king William
IV as emperor … he refused, assembly failed
Liberalism discredited in Germany
Italy
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Led by Metternich, Austria suffered from a “dissolution complex” … a concern for the
disintegration of the empire caused by liberalism and nationalism
Austria was a multi-national empire ruled by the Hapsburg Emperor Francis Joseph
Viennese liberals intimidated Metternich into a Constitutional Assembly in 1848
Hungarian Magyars, led by Louis Kossuth (1802-1894), rose up in a a nationalist rebellion
Both movements (liberal and national) were crushed by Metternich and the conservatives, but
the conservative hold on Austria was slipping
Responding to liberal activism, many Italian autocrats (Ferdinand II of Naples, Grand Duke of
Tuscany, King Charles Albert of Piedmont-Sardinia, Pope Pius IX) granted liberal constitutions
“Five Glorious Days” in northern Italy saw this spread to Milan and Venice
France intervened and the old order re-asserted itself
1848: Conclusions
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Every revolution (1820-1848) failed, whether
liberal or national
But the direction was clear … national
movements were rising at the expense of the
old conservative order AND liberalism had
stalled, even failed in many places
The Age of Revolution begun in 1789 had
come to an end