A History of Modern Europe - From the Renaissance to the Present

626 Ch. 16 • The Revolutions of 1848

Charles Albert had feared. But facing British opposition and with enough to
worry about at home, the new French republic for the moment stayed out of
the Italian fray. Nonetheless, the beleaguered Austrian court seemed
resigned to losing Lombardy, and willing even to abandon its claim on Vene­
tia, provided that Piedmont would not directly annex either territory.
Benefiting from better troop morale and reinforced by soldiers arriving
from Austria, Radetzky believed he could defeat the nationalist armies of the
Italian states, which fought with more enthusiasm than experience and
lacked effective organization and supplies. One Piedmontese commander
complained that the nationalists did “nothing, except to drown themselves
wijh flowers, dancing, singing, shouting, and calling each other ‘sublime/
‘valorous,’ and ‘invincible.”’ Radetzky’s army defeated the Piedmontese-led
army of Italian nationalists at Custoza near Milan in early August 1848. The
people of Milan then scornfully turned against Charles Albert, who slipped
out of the city late at night and returned to his capital of Turin. From safer
ground, the hesitant king negotiated an armistice with Austria, hoping in
vain that he could retain Lombardy for his Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia.

The Elusive Search for Revolutionary Consensus

The Revolutions of 1848 generated resistance almost immediately from the
political and social forces that had the most to lose from their success. In
Prussia, the king and nobles feared being toppled from their privileged
positions. In the Habsburg lands, where nationalism was the most signifi­
cant factor in the revolution, the emperor and his army resisted. In France,
the upper classes generally opposed radical changes. The ultimate success
of the counter-revolution throughout Europe was aided by the revolutionar­
ies’ mixed aims. The split between liberals and radicals worked to the
advantage of those who wanted a return to the way things had been before
the spring of 1848.

Crisis in France

In France, the political crisis intensified as the provisional government faced

competing demands. On May 15, 1848, an attempt by the political clubs of

the far left to dissolve the Constituent Assembly and declare a “social” repub­

lic of the people failed. The provisional government now began to arrest radi­

cal republicans. With the provisional government rapidly running out of

money and credibility, on June 23, 1848, the Assembly announced that the

National Workshops would be closed in three days. Enrolled unmarried men

were to be drafted into the army and married workers sent to work in the

provinces. Parisian workers rose up in rebellion.

For three days the “June Days” raged in the workers’ quarters of central

and eastern Paris. General Louis Cavaignac (1802—1857) put down the