1848, Revolutions of

The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, People's Spring, Springtime of the Peoples, or the Year of Revolution, are a series of political upheavals throughout Europe in 1848.

It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in European history.

The revolutions are essentially democratic and liberal in nature, with the aim of removing the old monarchical structures and creating independent nation states.

The revolutions spread across Europe after an initial revolution begins in France in February.

Over fifty countries are affected, but with no significant coordination or cooperation among their respective revolutionaries.

Some of the major contributing factors are widespread dissatisfaction with political leadership, demands for more participation in government and democracy, demands for freedom of the press, other demands made by the working class, the upsurge of nationalism, and the regrouping of established government forces.

The uprisings are led by ad hoc coalitions of reformers, the middle classes and workers, which do not hold together for long.

Described by some historians as a revolutionary wave, the period of unrest begins on January 12, 1848 in Sicily, then, further propelled by the French Revolution of 1848, soon spreads to the rest of Europe. \

Although most of the revolutions are quickly put down, there is a significant amount of violence in many areas, with tens of thousands of people tortured and killed., and many more are forced into exile.

Significant lasting reforms include the abolition of serfdom in Austria and Hungary, the end of absolute monarchy in Denmark, and the introduction of representative democracy in the Netherlands.

The revolutions are most important in France, the Netherlands, the states of the German Confederation that will make up the German Empire in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Italy, and the Austrian Empire.

While the immediate political effects of the revolutions are reversed, the long-term reverberations of the events are far-reaching.

Alexis de Tocqueville will remark  in his Recollections of the period that "society was cut in two: those who had nothing united in common envy, and those who had anything united in common terror."

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