THE PEOPLES' SPRING ACHIEVEMENTS OF 1848 - HISTORY - 2025

The achievements made during the Spring of the Peoples of 1848 were the consolidation of the working class as a force for change, monarchical overthrows, resignations of emperors and the abolition of old laws, among other changes of great historical relevance.

It was a series of revolutionary movements that involved dozens of European countries that rose up in the same period and spontaneously against the governments or reigns in power, without any apparent planning between them.

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Although these movements were appeased, they left some victories in their wake and paved the way for the objectives that were not initially achieved, see the light in the future.

Origin

The Spring of the Peoples of 1848 was the third revolutionary wave of the 18th century on the European continent, after the uprisings of 1820 and 1830.

Several events occurred that generated these revolutions, among which the following stand out:

- An agrarian crisis recorded between 1845 and 1849 due to a plague that affected potato crops and caused intense famine in many of the European countries.

- The presence of socialist ideologies that encouraged the people to action. That same year the Communist Manifesto of Karl Marx (1818-1883) was published, while the French socialists called on the people to defend their rights.

Achievements of the Spring of the Peoples

The achievements obtained as a consequence of these revolutionary processes are as diverse as the number of uprisings that took place.

The achievements are linked to the specific struggle of each people, for which the achievements obtained according to the regions of focus of the uprisings are listed below.

Italian unification

The origin of the 1848 revolutions had its beginning in Italy, where in January of that year a Sicilian uprising was generated. By then Italy was not an independent state but one of many regions under the control of the Austrian Empire.

Italy was made up of the Kingdom of Piedmont and Sardinia, the Duchies of Parma, Modena and Tuscany, the Kingdom of Lombardo Veneto, the Kingdom of Naples and the Papal States.

Despite the fact that each kingdom was politically independent, its peoples managed to unify with the aim of defeating the absolutist power that ruled them and rejecting the Austrian invasion.

There were positive steps, since in the north they gained territories occupied by Austria, created a provisional government and established the republic of San Marcos. A similar situation occurred in Milan and Sardinia, while in Sicily the uprisings managed to defeat absolutism and form the Roman Republic.

However, these victories were not permanent, as soon the Austrian Empire would again take control.

France and the formation of the Second Republic

Historians claim that while Italy was the first country where the revolutionary outbreak occurred, France was where the spark that would spread throughout the continent was lit.

In February 1848 the working class, students and a small part of the bourgeoisie rose up against King Louis Philippe of Orleans, who occupied the throne after the monarchy was reestablished in that country after the revolutionary movements of 1830.

This new French uprising forced the king to abdicate, leading to the creation of the Second Republic, which brought with it the approval of the direct vote (male only), freedom of the press and association, and the implementation of the right to work.

However, the climate became radicalized, and the petty bourgeoisie that originally participated in the uprising betrayed the working class and joined the upper bourgeoisie, causing a class struggle that ended with over a thousand people executed.

Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, nephew of General Napoleon Bonaparte, was elected president of the Second French Republic that only lasted four years, since in 1852 he proclaimed himself emperor, beginning the Second French Empire.

Soon the seed of the revolution did not take long to spread throughout most of the rest of Europe, helped by the presence of new elements of communicational importance such as the train and the telegraph.

Germany and the unification of its state

In Germany, the so-called March Revolution was initiated in response to the desire to unify its State, which was also made up of a confederation of reigns similar to the Italian conformation.

The middle class and the working class demanded political and civil rights and rejected government censorship. However, these groups did not form a united front, which resulted in the failure of their movement.

Despite its failure, this uprising paved the way for an eventual unification of Germany that would take place 25 years later.

Austrian Empire

This empire was made up of regions where today the countries of Germany, Hungary, Romania, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Ukraine and Serbia are established, among others.

It was led by Chancellor Klemens von Matternich (1773-1859) due to the impossibility of Ferdinand I to exercise power due to suffering from a mental illness.

Matternich ruled the empire with a heavy hand, spoke out against the revolution and liberalism, and censored freedom of expression and the press, in addition to resisting at all times to grant the people some kind of freedom that would favor their rights.

The revolutionary movements that were generated in the countries of the empire, promoted the abolition of feudal obligations in much of Eastern Europe, which granted the emancipation of the peasants and economic control over their lands, previously at the service of the manorial powers.

These events made Matternich flee and abdicate Emperor Ferdinand I, who was immediately succeeded by Francisco José I.

The empire was not abolished, but the message was heard.

Peoples' Spring Learning

Historians agree that the so-called Spring of the Peoples is a phenomenon of study due to the massive way in which the events unfolded.

Although most of the events were finally put down, they established certain aspects:

- They questioned the power of the monarchy and empires again.

- They had a great presence of the labor sector, as never before. This group became aware of its importance in the struggle to achieve their rights.

- It was a process of globalization even before this concept was coined, because it involved a significant number of countries that agreed in their individual but similar struggles.

- It showed failed revolutions where their failures lay, which social groups to join and which ones to avoid to achieve their goals.

Scholars of the subject indicate that it was all a snowball effect, that one event inevitably dragged the other and that the proximity of the regions and the new communication media present helped to shape it.

European democracies have roots that come from these turbulent times that, although for those involved meant a significant loss of life and great frustration, they paved the way for modern freedoms, human rights and universal suffrage, just to mention a few positive elements.

Eventually each country managed to achieve the freedom it had longed for over the centuries.

References

1. Saarang Narayan. (2016). The seed ot the "springtime of the peoples.. A study in the causes of the Revolutions of 1848". Taken from inquiriesjournal.com
2. Gary J. Bass (2009) The Prage (Berlin, Paris, Milan) Spring. Taken from nytimes.com
3. British Encyclopedia. Taken from Brittanica.com
4. The not so negative consequences of the 1848 revolutions. Taken from redhistoria.com
5. Jamie Jackson Jessel (2017) Coincidence or Contagion? Why did so many European States experience revolution of 1848 Taken from dover.broecks.com