COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE 1848 REVOLUTION IN FRANCE AND GERMANY.

The French revolution of 1739 raised the beginning of a revolutionary half-century in Europe. The population of the world was rising at a great rate than ever before; cities, multiplexes, industrial production and figures for national commerce were increasing rapidly. The years between 1789 and 1848 also saw the triumph of science reflected in the expansion in transport and communication networks. 1848 was also the ‘year of revolutions’ in Europe- super national to the revolutions had never been before, or were ever to be. The entire European heartland from the Pyrennes to the Baltic sea and from the Atlantic upto the frontiers of Russia (except Belgium) was thrown out of gear by movements that aimed to change the existing socio-politico structure. A certain uniformity of purpose and homogeneity in development pervaded the revolutions; yet each was unique in its own way, arising from the specific social content in each state. We shall survey the revolutions in France and Germany and discuss the points on which they meet or diverge in the course of the revolutions.

In their genesis the two revolutions drew upon the decades of rapid social change. In economic crisis in 1846-47 threatened to topple the world that was already out of balance. The ruin of potato and grain harvests led to a chronic food crisis. Famines and epidemics followed. The peasants often fled to the towns adding to the swelling mass of the urban——- an important element in the revolutions in France and Germany. The plight of the French artisans was much like that of the German ‘handworkers’ –caught between the old and the new. The agrarian crisis coincided with an Industrial crisis as the demand for manufacturers plummeted. In France and Germany speculators anticipated profits in the railways, leading to ——-investments in railways and consequently a shortage of liquid cash. An additional export of credit with cereal imports led to a finance crisis- with a rise in bank rates and the price of loans. Factories were shut down and unemployment increased.

In France, the immediate occasion was in the form of dramatic protests by middle class reform banquets, with oratory as the main item of the fare anti-government speeches and revolutionary demands were regular occurrences. A severe government crackdown at a time when reforms were expected did nothing to improve the situation. A monster banquet was scheduled for February 22,1948 that was termed by the government, ‘the revolutionary’ incensed, clashed with policemen, Louis Phillipe was jolted out of the stupor; he dismissed his chief minister Guizot but it was too late for such measures.

As the crowds marched towards Guizot’s residence and were predictably denied access a man ordered to a commander’s face- a shot followed and then a volley from the troops, killing fifty seeking the fate of the July monarchy.

As the news of the massacre spread rapidly, barricades came up all over Paris; accompanied by cries of “long live the republic”. Louis Phillipe refused a use ———–

Regular troops, depending instead on the national Guard that was already fraternizing with the rebels. After conferring with his ministers, the king signed the abdication and fled to England.

— Paris was once again destined to be the capital of the revolutions. Inspired by the fall of Louis Phillipe, the —— in Mannheim formulated the demands –freedom of the press, formation of people’s ——-. Trial by jury, responsible governments in all states and the summoning of a German parliament. Most princes in the German principalities ——— crowns by coinciding constitutions, as mass meetings became common in most of Germany.

Events in Prussia had a direct bearing on the revolution –frecreick William was initially reluctant to grant ——- this development in the Austrian Empire, culminating in Metternich’s fall made him reconsider his decision. A newly drafted manifesto promised a Prussian —, a constitution , internal reforms and the use of Prussia influence, a promoted constitutional reorganization of the German confederation.

As crowds marched to the king’s palace, presumately to cheer him for these decisions,—- went off accidently. The crowds, tense, concluded that the king had betrayed them and barricades were set up. The king refused to free or to let the army bombard the city —- his trust on his “dear Berliners” ….

The revolution had apparently triumphed in Berlin with the —- of liberal leaders like Camphausen anf Hansemann as ministers president and finance ministers respectively; and the decision to create a constitutional assembly —- by universal suffrage to drap a constitution for Prussia. The king need not feared his liberal ministers, they had no intentions of promoting the cause of the workers or other radical groups.

We have —how the revolutions in France and Germany developed nearly parallel to each other. There was an important difference ,France had already solved its problem of nationalism and of national identity;the revolution of France was not so much concerned with romanticism ,or associated with concepts of the `folk’ or the `nation’.It was more the question of completing the process started by the Great Revolution of 1789.1848 carried to its logical conclusion the demands of the French Revolution—the concept of equality for all found expression in the introduction of universal suffrage; `sovereignty of the people’ was introduced with the proclamation of the Republic.The national question was the main theme in Germany with Frederick William trying to —– his held by donning the red ,black and gold.

The first achievement of the revolution arises with the proclamation of the Republic by the provisional government, the members of which were selected mainly from the offices of two radical newspapers Le Reforme and Le National and included a poet –Lamartine, a social theorist- Louis Blanc and a workingman——-.Fresh elections were to be held in April.

The provisional government undertook certain regular duties like the strengthening of the army, reorganization of law and order ,reforms in the army and navy and appointing commissions to `reassure the public’. The more revolutionary the reformists the demand for the right to work for all——-.The national workshops set-up, derived from Blanc’s socialist blueprint ,were semi-military organizations of the unemployed which undertook to find work for the unemployed members and paid them two francs per day when employed, or a franc a day when out of work.

The French Revolution of 1798 was a considerable influence even on the German Revolution in 1848, as reflected in the aims of the Frankfurt Parliament the familiar concept of freedom of speech & religion, equality before law, sanctity of property, rules of representative government were discussed at length before the ‘Fundamental Rights of People’ was drafted.

Yet, there was an important difference in the German situation, mainly due to geo-political conditions. Germany in 1848 was a confederation of three hundred odd princely states; the nation question was particularly important in one German context. The special inspiration in Germany came from the ‘volleish’ (movement of the 19th century)) that had been incorporated into popular ideology mainly enough through the writings of Scheger and Heine.

As we have discussed, Fredrick William IV ‘s reluctance in grant reforms disappeared with the fall of metternich. The concessions aimed at avoiding a social revolution by appeasing the moderate reformers and advocates of nations unity. The two shots fired during the demonstration was one of those accidents that affect history. As the rows broke cut with a new fury, the collapse of absduction appeared evident.

The leaders of the constitutional movement persuaded the ___ to unite governments of all German states o elect delegate a National Parliament. Germany was to become a federal with a liberal constitution on May 28, the first national Parliament in Germany was convened at St. Paul’s church at Frankfurt.

The Frankfurt Parliament was dominated by intellectuals, theoretical questions were debated for months. The educated and propertied classes represented in the Parliament debated about what form a united Germany should take – were the frontiers to be defined by the existing confederation on the Bund; or should all the German-speaking people unite?

Large parts of Austria within the confederation included non-German speaking people like Czechs, while German speaking people resided in Hungary and Switzerland. The nationalists were divided vis-à-vis the final aim – the majority, the Great Germany (crossdeutsch) wanted the inclusion of Austrian lands leaving Hungary, though that would include non-German peoples like the Czechs and Poles. The federal crown was to go to the Habsburgs. The more cautious, exclusive ‘Lesser Germans’ (kkindeutsch) wanted to leave out the mixed races of Austria, to affect a more tightly united Germany that included Prussia, the Prussian king was to head the federation.

Religious divisions affected one alignment of opinion Catholics turned to Austria, Protestants. Prussia as leading powers of their respective faiths. The disputes continued till the revolutionary moment was past and forces of counter revolution gained the upper hand.

We shall briefly point out how the Frankfurt Parliament was different from the provisional governments installed in France. The provisional government was indeed radical in that it included a workingman, and incorporated __ elements like Louis Blaner. Yet, it is also true that this could not even survive the April elections. The Frankfurt Parliament was more representative of liberal middle class opinion than the people as a whole. Theoretically, each independent citizen had a vote, but the individual states defined the conditions of independence. In Bavana, only those paying direct dues could vote, in Baden and Saxony ____ had no votes, in Bavaria and Wittemberg domestic servants and workers were excluded from voting rights.

Such problems ingrain, atleast in part, the eventual failure of the revolutions – both in France and Germany. In France, the national workshops had encouraged the gravitation of the rural unemployed in the towns – adding to the mass of unemployed people. The middle class too were fell inieatined by the prospects of rural revolution, as did the property-owning peasantry in the countryside. In any case, the people in the provinces could not really appreciate the concept of lazy men living on public money.

These frustrations became apparent with the election results – Louis Blane and Albert were dropped , a dissolution of the workshops was ordered. These men were to be reunited into the army, inducted for private industries on for public works, or paid to return to the country. The protests of these men were ruthlessly suppressed by a National canard under Lora General Cavaignac, that was dominated by the middle class.

The desire for order and stability scored the final victory – Louis Napolean was elected to the Assembly in June. He was a leader who appealed to the wealthy bourgeoisie, the conservative peasantry, the catholic church and the nationalists, and won the workers and socialists who preferred him to Lamartine or Cavaigne. The stage was thus set for a new authoritarian regime.

The eventual success of the German counter revolution revealed a similar pattern. After initial success, the liberal middle class, greatly alarmed by the sweat fighting and barricades of the workers, aligned with the forces of the monarchy. These ministers were concerned about preserving the power of the crown, army and civil services to preserve social order while the ‘handeveruer’ broke machines in protest, and unemployed sailors attacked company vessels the ministers felt it was their duty to curb the activities of these violent agitators. Though the industrialists were willing to grant concessions a forestall violence, they called upon a largely middle class civic quards to protect property, disperse demonstrators in the towns and put down peasant revolts.

The internecine battles between the moderates and radical liberals weakened liberalism – a violent break came with the Schlesurg Holstein question. The German and Danish national both claimed Schlesurg as an integral part of their respective national territories. The Germans appealed to the Federal Dict for assistance against the ___, which, in turn, asked the King of Prussia to intervene. He did so promptly, but regretted his decision since the so called great powers disapproved and it affected Prussian commerce. He saw no point in continuing a war which pleased only the Berlin radicals. The war was suspended amidst protests from the Frankfurt Parliament. What ultimately made it against to an armistice was a fear of the radicals and of a clash with Prussia.

The left wing left betrayed. A mass demonstration in Frankfurt on September 18 demanded that left wing members leave the Parliament and form a council to continue the war; no one quit the Parliament. Clashes between the Parliament and demonstrators ensued. The popularity of the Parliament was waning, with the radicals already antagonized, and the nationalists condemning the miserable failure in Schlesurg Holstein. Class conflict festered like a sore – with soldiers having fired on the people on the parliaments’ orders. The September disorder was reminiscent of the June days in France. In both countries, a blind fear of acrid revolution mobilised the middle classes to the side of the conservatives and encouraged the forces of counter revolution. The final actions of the revolutions in both the countries, as in the rest of Europe, was a restoration of the original situation. The revolutionary zeal fizzled out as the Thumediatc recasion subsided. The partial concessions, recovery from a crisis situation in the areas, the fear of radicalism weakened the revolutions . France under Louis Napolean was to be an authoritatrian military state. Germany was not to be unified yet; liberalism had received a severe blow, the middle class had best its political confidence; through the principles of national liberalism and conservatism that appeared at the time played a rise in German history for years to come.