After Napoleon's downfall, a wave of conservatism hit the European mainland. In 1815, leaders of all the major European powers gathered together in the Congress of Vienna, hoping to stabilize the balance of power and prevent another conqueror like Napoleon from rising up again. But alas, the Congress of Vienna had underestimated the power of the people, as we will clearly see in 1848.
The two nations that were not affected by this surge of revolution were Britain and Russia. If you look at the state of these two nations in this context, it makes sense. Britain had a slow gradual approach to making liberal reforms instead of trying to achieve liberalism with a sudden act of revolution. Throughout the 19th century, Parliament would pass one law after another to ensure the gradual and peaceful transition into a more liberal state. Russia, on the other hand, was quite different. After the Decembrist Revolt in 1825 (read up on my previous post on that!), Tsar Nicholas was intent on maintaining an autocratic rule where no revolutions were possible.
Now onto the rest of Europe. The emergence of industrialization and urbanization highlighted certain social inequalities within different states. The ideal of democratic socialism became prominent during this time, emphasizing universal male suffrage, abolition of class distinction, and redistribution of wealth.
Let’s look at France first. After having a revolution less than 50 years ago, France nevertheless returned to the regime of the Bourbon monarchy. By 1848, the French king was Louis-Philippe. The lower classes, along with the bourgeoisie, called for an expansion of voting rights among other reforms, and when these were denied, the people forced Louis-Philippe to abdicate the throne. Socialist Louis Blanc offered national workshops for the unemployed. The National Assembly shut down this proposal, and faced a rioting mob, which they put down. Eventually, Louis-Napoleon (Napoleon’s nephew, later Napoleon III) wins over the republic and rises to power.
Italy also had its fair share of revolution and eventually, unification. Ever since the fall of the Roman Empire way before 1848, Italy had not been a truly unified state. The northern part of the peninsula was occupied by the Austrian Habsburgs, the middle the papacy, and the south the Spanish Bourbons. By the 19th century however, people in the region were getting inspiration to unify into one. There were small-scale revolutions throughout the peninsula, most of them supporting a man named Giuseppe Mazzini, who advocated for a republican government. Although these revolutions at first were ineffective, Italy would be officially unified in 1871.
Similarly to Italy, Germany would also become unified by 1871. Their form of revolution took shape as an assembly in Frankfurt, where Austria, Prussia, and other leaders of the region debated on how a unified Germany could take shape and who would rule over it. Reforms were brought up, such as universal suffrage and representation of a middle class. In short, the Frankfurt Assembly fell apart as both Austria and Prussia failed to reach a compromise both were satisfied with. A few decades later, Germany would be unified with the help of Otto von Bismarck.
Lastly, let’s look at Austria. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, Austria had been a pretty conservative state. And due to this, there were many regions within Austria that sought to gain independence, one of which was Hungary. During this time, Austria was under the control of Emperor Franz-Josef I. Political leader Lajos Kossuth led the independence movement for Hungary. The Hungarians also embraced liberal ideas of democracy and freedom. In the end, the Hungarians got only a part of what they wanted: with the help of the diplomacy of Franz-Josef’s wife Empress Elisabeth (or “Sisi”), Austria would become a dual monarchy, Austria-Hungary.
So, were the revolutions effective? At first glance, they might not seem to be. France found itself once again under a Bonaparte, Italy and Germany remained decentralized for two decades, and Hungary was still under the influence of an Austrian monarch. However, to say these revolutions had no effect on the political landscape of Europe would be a far understatement. France would be prone to more revolts and uprisings to come, Italy and Germany would eventually come together and serve as powerful forces in World War 1, and the relationship between Austria and Hungary would remain understandably tense.
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