EURO1004 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Phytophthora Infestans, July Monarchy, Universal Windows Platform Apps
CH 11: THE YEAR OF REVOLUTIONS
Section A
THE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC BACKGROUND
•
Important features of the revolutions of 1848:
- Poor harvests
- High food prices
- Terrible urban conditions affecting the poor
- Frustration felt by the middle classes at the lack of reform and careers
• The governments, when faced with disorder, believed they faced a significant conspiracy –
they gave way, and only later regained their nerve and used their armies to restore control
The political and economic background
- The population of Europe grew quickly over the hundred years before 1848
(roughly doubling), and food supplies came under pressure
-
The poor harvests of 1845 and 1846
drove prices up and meant starvation
threatened the urban poor
o Usually 50% of an urban worker’s income was spent on food, so there was
nothing o spare to cope with a price increase
- Purchases of manufactured goods fell, workers were laid off and unemployment
increased, making poverty more common
- Typhoid and cholera epidemics added to the death toll in 1847 and 1848, and up
to half of the deaths recorded in parts of the Habsburg empire in 1847 were of
children
-
Ireland:
potato blight destroyed the principal food crop in 1846, leading to the
deaths of half a million and widespread emigration
-
However
it is argued that the worst of the starvation conditions were over before
1848, and hunger and disease provide only part of the circumstances which made
revolution
- Cities brought wealth and poverty close together, meaning that the poor became
aware of their numbers and more open to political ideas and agitation
- Freed of the constraints of a village community, lawlessness and violence were
commonplace among the poor of the cities
- Unemployment, caused by the trade cycle or mechanisation was another feature of
life and machine-breaking was a popular crowd activity in 1848 as a result
-
Cities:
Key points in the revolutions of 1848
-
Peasant unrest
: was destabilising because it threatened the landowning nobility and
reminded them of 1789
- The difficulty of the peasantry was another contributory factory to the revolution,
with the land owning class feeling threatened and being aware of a ‘malaise’
(discontent) being a significant factor
-
The middle class
also sensed this ‘malaise’ or sickness in the state of affairs in
several countries
o Mettternich suspected the middle class of causing the problem and
blamed their arrogant pushiness for undermining the social and religious
morality which held society together
o In Louis Philippe’s France – 1% of the middle class owned 30% of the
wealth of the middle classes, the
grande bourgeoisie
of wealthy
manufacturers, bankers and merchants were the key supporters of the
regime and especially prominent.
o On the other hand, the professional middle class (e.g. doctors, lawyer)
represented appx 10% of the middle classes in Europe and were more
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aware of a ‘malaise’ – they tended to be the most important advocates of
liberal reform, e.g. free trade
o The lower middle classes of shopkeepers, small employers and the most
affluent craftsmen were the most numerous segments of the middle
classes. They shared some of the frustrations and reform interests of the
professional middle class, but they were close in every way to the urban
workers:
• They sympathised with their difficulties, and feared their
power s
o
All of these factors help to explain why there was a possibility of
revolution in Europe in the 1840s
THE COURSE OF REVOLUTION
The fall of the July Monarchy in France
- Louis Philippe’s government rested upon a very narrow electoral base and the
unpopularity of the King and his Chief Minister, Guizot, was further increased by
the economic hardships of the past 18 months
- The Bank of France had been forced to raise £1 through Barings from the Bank
of England, and scandals like the
Teste affair (where a minister accepted bribes)
,
gave the widespread impression of government incompetence and sleaze
- There were street protests which took place from 22 February
- Guizot was replaced by Molé, but demonstrations continued on the evening of the
23 February and Molé was replaced with Thiers the next day – yet events were
beyond his power to control so he abdicated and exiled in England
- Mot of the protests were the working class and the pattern of rioting developing
into revolution was to be repeated in other capitals within months
- Louis Philippe, the King of the French refused to pit his army against his citizens
of appx. 1 million. –
However
the Republican government which succeeded him
did make use of the same forces just four months later
-
The fall of the July Monarchy therefore showed another feature which was
common to the 1848 revolutions:
a failure of nerve by governments when they
were confronted by violence on the street
- The Second Republic set up a broad-based Provisional Government and despite
demands for equal rights for women to remain limited and ignored and there was
no help offered to the Poles in their struggle against Russian authority, they still
made the decision to set up National Workshops to give meaning to the right to
work. By April 70,000 unemployed people had enrolled in these schemes in Paris
and were being paid to undertake various schemes of work such as levelling the
Champs de Mars.
o This was a costly project – further draining the reserves and damaging the
new government’s creditworthiness
o Began attacking the unemployed outside of Paris, making the city more
crowded and turbulent
Revolution in the German states
-
The shockwaves set off by the events in Paris had an immediate effect throughout
much of Europe and had a substantial impact on Germany
- Constitutions were changed in numerous German states – e.g. Württemberg,
Bavaria, Brunswick, Baden
- The demands of citizens of Nassau were fairly typical and included a clear
reference to the precedent set by France
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Document Summary
The political and economic background: important features of the revolutions of 1848: The population of europe grew quickly over the hundred years before 1848 (roughly doubling), and food supplies came under pressure. Purchases of manufactured goods fell, workers were laid off and unemployment increased, making poverty more common. Typhoid and cholera epidemics added to the death toll in 1847 and 1848, and up to half of the deaths recorded in parts of the habsburg empire in 1847 were of children. Ireland: potato blight destroyed the principal food crop in 1846, leading to the deaths of half a million and widespread emigration. However it is argued that the worst of the starvation conditions were over before. 1848, and hunger and disease provide only part of the circumstances which made revolution. Cities brought wealth and poverty close together, meaning that the poor became aware of their numbers and more open to political ideas and agitation.
