Jackson’s Reviews > Revolutionary Spring: Europe Aflame and the Fight for a New World, 1848-1849 > Status Update

The Birth of Realism (pp. 676-680)

The collapse of the revolutions and the success of the counterrevolutionaries led to a subsequent philosophical shift. No longer did many important thinkers understand the world of ideas, philosophies, and ideologies as primary. Instead, the focus because power and force, in whatever form the thinker understood them, as the most base and important drivers of change.

The Iron Net Descends (pp. 622-628)

Electoral results in France in the fall of 1848 confirmed the fall of the radicals but also moderate republicans. Napoleon III won 75% of the vote and his victory reflected a widespread rejection by non-urban French of radical ideas. And in Prussia, the king appointed a conservative PM which used military support to forcefully close the National Assembly, despite many protests.

A Revolution Shuts Itself Down (pp. 550-565)

The closure of workshops in Paris caused an insurgency in June in Paris. The lack of leadership in the insurgency led many prominent liberals and even radicals to avoid lending support, and it was crushed by republican forces. This led to the disillusionment of radicals in the 3rd Republic and was the final death knell in the liberal/moderate-radical/socialist alliance

Radical Breakaway (pp. 492-503)

Radicals in Baden, frustrated with liberal domination in the Frankfurt Assembly and other new institutions, led violent insurrections in the late spring of 1848. Though they were defeated quickly by south German forces, their leaders, like Friedrich Hecker, became continental celebrities. Further, it served to alienate non-radicals and even some institutionalist radicals, like Blum

Vagabond Sovereignty (pp. 473-492)

As the revolutions gave way to preliminary concessions, liberal and racial activists began splintering one when and how to replace the old government. In Berlin and Paris, conservatives and moderate liberals acted to reduce the power of radicals, mostly successfully. In Vienna, radicals successfully took control of the city, but Hapsburg officials were able to relocate and survive

Liberty and Risk (pp. 443-462)

Jewish emancipation took place in a complicated political and social patchwork of anti-Semitism. Post-revolutionary emancipation continued to take placed fractally, often being endorsed by some and used an excuse for violence against Jewish communities by others, and everything else in between. While some initial gains were made, many counterrevolutionaries reversed these gains later

Black 1848 (pp. 416-426)

Abolition in the French empire was fractured and complex. Slaves in the Indian Ocean preempted a declaration from Paris, inspiring other colonies to do the same. Parts of the declaration caused consternation among the Caribbean and African holdings, which delayed or refused to implement it fully. This led to the institution lingering for decades but it began an important process.

Elect a Parliament (pp. 378-398)

Early parliaments were riddled with problems; questions about the legitimacy to exist, limited enfranchisement, fractured groupings, etc. Additionally, many of the first returns were of a conservative delegation. Despite these issues, the social, political, and cultural impact these had on European societies is hard to overstate, even if it didn’t result in concrete outcomes

Establish a Government (pp. 363-378)

The post-revolution governments formed were a constellation of different structures. Some experienced new governments made up of broad coalitions, some were melded onto the continuing authority of the old regime, and others took distinct paths. But in all of these states, they were vulnerable to elite pushback and unclear/fragile mandates from the general populace.

Revolutionary Space (pp. 344-352)

Post-resolutely urban spaces changed dramatically, from the renaming of significant locations to honor the revolution to the increase in public activity in cafes, squares, etc. However, these developments were viewed with concern from the newly appointed revolutionary authorities, which sought to maintain legitimacy while preserving their own authority/prevent additional revolution.