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.