Title: 1848 REVOLUTIONS IN EUROPE- NATURE AND IMPACTS | Idea of History
Headings: 1848 REVOLUTIONS IN EUROPE- NATURE AND IMPACTS
1848 REVOLUTIONS IN EUROPE- NATURE AND IMPACTS
INTERPRETATIONS AND NATURE OF THE REVOLUTIONS –
CAUSES –
Economic Crisis –
State Aggravation –
Demands for National Unification –
COURSE –
‘SPRINGTIME OF THE PEOPLES’
CAUSES OF THE FAILURE –
COUNTER REVOLUTION AND IMPACT OF REVOLUTIONS ON THE POLITICS OF EUROPE –
LEGACY OF THE REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 –
Idea of History
-R.G. Collingwood (1946, revised edition 1993). ISBN 0-19-285306-6

Content: 1848 REVOLUTIONS IN EUROPE- NATURE AND IMPACTS | Idea of History
1848 REVOLUTIONS IN EUROPE- NATURE AND IMPACTS
The year 1848 saw Europe convulsed by a wave of revolutions which shook the political and social order to its foundations. The Revolutions of 1848 hold a very significant place as they were the largest, most widespread and violent political movements in 19th century Europe. The revolutionary zone reached from France to the German Confederation and the Austrian Empire into south-eastern Europe and Italy. However Britain and the Tsarist Empire did not experience the turbulence of the revolutions. The Revolutions of 1848 although occurring in widely differing areas aimed at similar objectives- the establishment of a constitutional democratic republic with equality before law and the end of privilege. In Italy, Germany and parts of the Austrian Empire the desire for the creation of a national state and national unification were also powerful factors. Roger Price observes that the various revolutionary movements were to some extent interdependent and even passed through similar stages. Eric Hobsbawm points to other common features. He argues that in each state, the revolutions were successful in sweeping away the existing governments in the initial months but lost initiative quite soon. The defeat of the revolutionaries was quite comprehensive.