The Revolutions of 1830 and 1848

                The revolutions of 1830 and 1848 were not complete successes, but were also not complete failures.  Most of the revolutionaries were fighting against a government or a specific monarch.  Many revolutionaries wanted freedoms and rights.  The governments fought to maintain conservative ideas and an absolute monarchy.  Though not all the goals of the revolutions were achieved, the revolts did keep revolutionary ideas alive and spread them across Europe.

                The revolution in Poland in 1830 had some success.  Nationalists in Poland revolted wanting to achieve independence and separation from Russia.   These revolts had strong nationalistic ideologies behind them and were said to be “truly polish”¹.  The Russian government, obviously wanting to keep Poland under its control, opposed the revolt and claimed that, “The Polish kingdom is forever linked with the Russian Empire”².  The revolt in 1830 was successful at first because they gained their independence and “snatched [it] from the lawful authority”, but after only five months this independence was once again lost to Russia who regained control of Poland³.  Despite this, the nationalistic spirit remained strong.  Poland had short lived success as the freedom they gained was short lived, but national pride was preserved.

                In France a second revolution occurred in 1830.  This revolution had some success.  The radicals and liberals were both against the monarchy.  The radicals did not want a monarchy at all and liberals wanted a constitutional monarchy.  The radicals and liberals wanted freedom of press, suffrage, and to oust the current monarch Charles X.  Charles X took away the freedom of press when he wrote that, “The liberty of the periodical press is suspended”⁴.  He also limited suffrage causing many people to dislike him.  The revolution was successful in getting a new monarch since Charles X was “too profoundly pained at the evils which afflict or which may threaten my people” and thus he took “the resolution to abdicate the crown” and Louis Philippe came into power⁵.  Louis Philippe was better liked and put in some policies that favored the middle class.  The reason the revolution was not a total success was due to the fact that the changes were short lived and freedom of press and widespread suffrage was not achieved.  Voting privileges were limited as census suffrage was used meaning votes were weighted based on your rank in society.  Also, one could not run “if, at the day of his election, he is not thirty years of age, and if he does not pay five hundred francs of direct taxes”⁶.  The French Revolution of 1830 was successful in eliminating an unpopular monarch, but did not achieve the rights and freedoms sought after. 

 http://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/french-revolution-1830/13399412/?s=EJcjwn&ref=link


            The Frankfurt Assembly in Germany existed from 1448-1849.  Nationalist rebels wanted a constitutional monarchy and to unite the country, like Poland had wanted.  The people of Germany wanted to unite Germany and have “a powerful ruling house”⁷. 

To accomplish this, the German people asked Frederick William the 4^th to be their monarch.  Frederick William though turned down the crown “because the Assembly has not the right, without the consent of the German governments, to bestow the crown which they tendered me”⁸.  Since the offer came from the people of Germany and not kings, Frederick the 4^th would not become the monarch of Germany.  He was then considered the opponent since he turned down the offer and was a conservative who did not care about the nationalistic ideologies.  This revolution was basically a failure because while they eventually achieved a constitutional monarchy, it only lasted for approximately a year, and many had to die fighting to achieve this short lived victory.  

            In Europe most of the revolutions in 1830 and 1848 ultimately did not fully succeed, but many aspects were achieved.  Sometimes success was short lived and other times the ideas of the revolutions lived on and spread.  The radicals, liberals, and nationalists against the conservative governments and monarchs caused change in various ways in Europe.

¹ Adam Jerzy Czartoryski, 1830

²Constitution of The Kingdom of Poland November 27, 1815. Official Journal of the Polish Kingdom Rights of 1815, Vol I, pp. 1-103.  http://www.law.uj.edu.pl/users/khpp/fontesu/1815.htm.

³ Tsar Nicholas I, Imperial Manifesto on Poland, March 25, 1832.

Etty, John, ed. Primary Sources in Russian History, 1801 – 1917.  London:  First and Best in Education, 2009.  www.google.com/books.

⁴ The July Ordinances, July 25, 1830 By Charles X and His Ministers. Anderson, Frank Maloy, ed.  The Constitutions and Other Select Documents Representative of  the History of France, 1789 – 1901.  (Minneapolis:  HW Wilson Company, 1904) p. 495- 515.  http://ic.ucsc.edu/~traugott/hist171/readings/Anderson%201904%20select%20docs.pdf.

⁵ Abdication of Charles X.  August 2, 1830. In Duvergier, Lois, 87-88. Anderson, Frank Maloy, ed.  The Constitutions and Other Select Documents Representative of  the History of France, 1789 – 1901.  (Minneapolis:  HW Wilson Company, 1904) p. 495- 515.  http://ic.ucsc.edu/~traugott/hist171/readings/Anderson%201904%20select%20docs.pdf.

⁶ Declaration of the Chamber of Deputies, August 7, 1830.  In Duvergier, Lois, 93-101. Anderson, Frank Maloy, ed.  The Constitutions and Other Select Documents Representative of  the History of France, 1789 – 1901.  (Minneapolis:  HW Wilson Company, 1904) p. 495- 515.  http://ic.ucsc.edu/~traugott/hist171/readings/Anderson%201904%20select%20docs.pdf.

⁷ Johann Gustav Droysen: Speech to the Frankfurt Assembly, 1848. Eva March Tappan, ed., The World's Story: A History of the World in Story, Song and Art, 14 Vols., (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1914), Vol. VII: Germany, The Netherlands, and Switzerland, pp. 276-278

Scanned by Jerome S. Arkenberg, Cal. State Fullerton. The text has been modernized by Prof. Arkenberg.

⁸ Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia: Proclamation of 1849. Eva March Tappan, ed., The World's Story: A History of the World in Story, Song and Art, 14 Vols., (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1914), Vol. VII: Germany, The Netherlands, and Switzerland, pp. 276-278

Scanned by Jerome S. Arkenberg, Cal. State Fullerton. The text has been modernized by Prof. Arkenberg.

Picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_Parliament