A year of revolutions

Young Irelander Rebellion On July 29, Young Irelander protestors exchanged gunfire with the Irish Constabulary. The rebels were defeated.

Ballingarry Yorkshire Chartists After earlier protests failed, Chartists in Yorkshire took up arms and practiced drills in June.

Yorkshire Copenhagen Danish protestors demanded greater personal freedom. This led to events in Schleswig (see box on opposite page).

London petition In April, the Chartist Movement held a peaceful protest and asked Parliament for a people’s charter, including votes for all men.

London

Rouen In April, the working classes barricaded the streets in their fight against the aristocracy.

February Revolution

Angry mobs barricaded Paris in February, overthrowing the king and declaring a French republic. This lasted until December 1851, when Louis Napoleon declared himself emperor.

Limoges Rural areas such as Limoges joined in a second wave of violent uprisings that started in Paris when the new Republican government did not provide people with jobs.

Rouen

Paris

Lyon Silk workers, called canuts, fought for workers’ rights. They attacked factories that used machines rather than employing people.

Limoges Lyon

Sonderbund War Years of unrest in Switzerland led to a 25-day war, because seven Catholic regions wanted to govern themselves. They lost the war, but the government gave people greater freedom.

Marseille

Marseille Influenced by the events in Paris, workers in the port of Marseille rose up for their rights.

Frankfurt

Mannheim

1 6

7

Karlsruhe

SWITZERLAND

Milan

Milan In March, people fought against, and drove out, Austrian troops and tax collectors from the Austriancontrolled state.

1848 A year of revolutions

In 1848, people came out onto the streets to fight for their rights: for better working conditions; for democracy (votes for all men, not just the ruling classes); and, in the German and Italian states, for their states to unite into independent countries. Some revolts had short-term success, but most were put down with much bloodshed. By 1849, people had lost hope, yet in the following decades many of their goals would be achieved.

Copenhagen Poznań Uprising In March, Polish states in the Prussian Empire fought for an independent Poland and an end to Prussian rule. The rebels were joined by Polish prisoners who had been freed during a successful uprising in Berlin. GERMAN CONFEDERATION Revolutions in the 39 independent states of the German Confederation lasted into 1849. People wanted a united Germany with freedoms for the people.

4

Berlin

7

Dresden

Prague

Venice

Rome

Naples

Naples In January, people revolted against King Ferdinand II in support of an independent Sicily.

Poznań

Cracow Cracow In March, Poles in Cracow, part of the Austrian Empire, protested and then revolted against Austrian rule. Like people in Poznań, they wanted an independent Poland.

Vienna

3 Prague Czechs in Prague wanted freedom from Austria, but did not want to be part of Germany.

Buda and Pest

Venice Influenced by revolutions in Sicily and France, Venice declared independence from Austrian rule in March. Hungarian independence In March, Hungarian nationalists fought to gain independence from the Austrian Habsburg Empire.

Bucharest

Bologna Rebels here fought against Austrian rule.

The northern states wanted to form a united, independent Italy. Wallachian Revolution In June, rebels installed a provisional government in Bucharest for the Principality of Wallachia, in defiance of Russian and Ottoman authorities. The Ottoman Empire then suppressed it.

Rome In November, the people rose up against papal rule and the pope left Rome. A Roman republic was formed in February 1849, but lasted just a few months.

1 February : Mannheim An assembly of people of the state of Baden demanded a bill of rights, triggering similar demands in several other German states.

2 March: Munich Thousands of people met on the city’s streets demanding workers’ rights, such as fair pay and employment.

3 March: Vienna The first of several rebellions in the city caused the exile of Metternich, chief minister of the ruling Habsburg (Austrian) monarchy.

4 March: Berlin In an attempt to quell riots, the Prussian king offered to make Prussia the leader of a German national state.

5 March: Schleswig Officials in this Danish-controlled territory declared an independent government. This led to a war between Prussia, the German Confederation, and Denmark.

6 September: Frankfurt Riots against a new German National Assembly, created in May, were put down with help from Prussia and Austria.

7 May 1849: Dresden, Karlsruhe The Assembly dissolved when the king of Prussia refused to rule Germany. Riots for democracy broke out in many places, but were violently defeated by troops.

KEY In 1848, Germany and Italy were not unified countries, but made up of separate states with their own rulers.

Palermo Palermo On January 12, Sicilians in Palermo revolted against the king and central rule, and set up their own government.

State borders, 1848 German Confederation (association of Germanspeaking states) Revolt or unrest

Peaceful protest