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The Revolutions of 1848
Europe endured hard times during much of the 1840s. A series of bad harvests
culminating in the potato blight of 1845-46 brought widespread misery
and some starvation. An economic depression added to the hardship, spreading
discontent among the poor and the middle class alike. A popular uprising
in Paris in February 1848 turned into a revolution, forcing the French
king Louis Philippe to flee to Britain.
The success of the revolution sparked revolts elsewhere in Europe. Numerous
German cities were shaken by uprisings in which crowds consisting mainly
of the urban poor, but also of students and members of the liberal middle
class, stormed their rulers' palaces and demanded fundamental reform.
Berlin and Vienna were especially hard hit by what came to be called the
revolutions of 1848. The rulers of both cities, like rulers elsewhere,
quickly acceded to the demands of their rebellious subjects and promised
constitutions and representative government. Conservative governments
fell, and Metternich fled to Britain. Liberals called for a national convention
to draft a constitution for all of Germany. The National Assembly, consisting
of about 800 delegates from throughout Germany, met in a church in Frankfurt,
the Paulskirche, from May 1848 to March 1849 for this purpose.
- German Confederation,
1815-1866
- Economic and Political
Trends Toward Unification
- The Revolutions of
1848
- The Restoration
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