Western Civilization - History Of European Society

484 Chapter 25

had begun and remembering how monarchists had

stolen the revolution of 1830, called for popular action.

The republican government answered the demonstra-

tions of “the June days” by giving General Louis

Cavaignac dictatorial powers. Cavaignac unleashed the

army on Paris and reduced unemployment with killings,

arrests, and deportations. Others saw his accomplish-

ment as ending a workers’ uprising and preserving the

republic. The assembly adopted a radical constitution

in November 1848 and achieved a few legislative tri-

umphs, such as the abolition of slavery in French

colonies. But it had permanently alienated one of its

strongest constituencies, the working class. The Second

Republic managed to elect one president, but it never

elected another.

The Spread of Revolution in 1848:

“The Springtime of Peoples”

The February revolution in Paris encouraged March

revolutions in many places (see map 25.1). It first stim-

ulated demonstrations in the towns of the Rhineland,

such as Heidelberg. German radicals raised posters an-

nouncing that “[o]ur brothers in France have bravely

led the way” and calling on Germans to follow. In many

of the smaller German states, rulers quickly capitulated.

Monarchs named liberal governments in Baden, Würt-

temberg, and Saxony. The king of Bavaria abdicated.

Revolution spread throughout the German Confedera-

tion in March 1848, changing central Europe so much

that Germans thereafter described the “pre-March”

(Vormärz) era as an antediluvian past.

The German revolutions of 1848 centered on three

cities: Berlin, Vienna, and Frankfurt. In Berlin, liberal

demonstrations led to the building of barricades. King

Frederick William IV sent the army into the streets and

their brutality made the liberal cause more popular. The

dead included several women, the “amazons of the Ger-

man revolution” and harbingers of a women’s rights

movement. Frederick William considered all-out war on

the revolution but capitulated to it instead of leading to

a bloodbath. Within a few days he abolished censor-

ship, called elections for a new Diet (the United Land-

tag), and promised a liberal constitution. His “beloved

Berliners,” however, did not quit the barricades until he

Illustration 25.2

Barricades in Paris.One of the characteristic features of revolutions in modern France has been the construction of barricades
closing streets—mounds constructed from nearby vehicles, trees, furniture from surrounding buildings, and paving stones from the
streets. Barricades such as the one shown here gave revolutionaries a strong position to confront government troops, and the neighbor-
ing buildings could hide snipers or provide objects to drop on soldiers.