Free Sample Essays > European History
Why and to what extent did the revolutions of 1848 fail
Why, and to what extent, did the German Revolutions of 1848 fail?
Ultimately the revolutions of 1848 failed, and there were many reasons for this. The outcome was frustration among many liberals.
It is thought by some that in order for a revolution to occur, certain ideas and circumstances must exist. A united party that has the same goals is needed along with a strong leader who is ready to abdicate if needed. If there are too many small groups, all with contradicting ideas then there would be too many arguments and conflicts for a compromise. It would seem that a larger party would be more useful, and would have more support; however this was not the case in Russia in 1917. The Bolshevik party was small but as they were so determined and had an incredibly determined leader their aims were enforced and were effective in bringing about change in Russia.
In Germany however, only some of these criteria were met.
The revolutions came just after a period of economic crisis. There were failures in cereal and potato harvests throughout Europe in 1845 and 1846. There were poor communications, and an inadequate response by the government. Agriculture was still the dominant industry and therefore affected the majority of people. Everything suffered including craft and industrial production, causing increased levels on unemployment.
It has been thought by some that the parliament at Frankfurt weren’t experienced enough to handle a revolution as they wasted time on discussions instead of taking action. They followed the 19th century ideas of reasoned debate and agreed resolutions. Their naivety was exposed in their belief that they could convince the princes to merge and co-operate. It was also thought by Marx that there was a lack of support for the leading revolutionaries in Frankfurt, and therefore the important events occurred in Vienna and Berlin.
The revolutionaries that would be able to make a change were divided between liberalism and nationalism, and therefore had contradicting ideas. They were however prepared to sacrifice political reform in return for German Nationalism. The support of the masses was also divided and this led to riots and peasant risings that had no aims. This meant that there was a lack of support that was needed in order for the revolution to occur. These peasants needed a leader to control them, but this was another key reason why the revolutions of 1848 were a failure, they were causing disturbances in the countryside by refusing to perform feudal services and attacking castles.
The group of people that caused unrest within towns were called ‘Handwerkers’. They provided the majority of manufactured goods, and were annoyed that machinery was taking over their jobs, and their trades were in decline.
The middle class people were a group that could have led the masses but failed to do so. They were not representative and did not have the same ideas as the peasants. They were more interested in looking after their own economic priorities, and wanted to keep the princes ideas of order. They [next page]