Parliamentary representation. A few years later, in 1839, the People’s Charter
was presented to the British Parliament. In the US the abolitionist movement
emerged from the liberal agitation of the 1830s. Within this movement,
women’s rights stirred up hot debate, as some of the main advocates claimed
that theWght should be for human rights and not only for the rights of men. Yet,
most male abolitionists thought that this was not the proper time to stress
women’s rights. In other countries such as France the earliest feminists were
connected with utopian socialists (McElroy 1991; Moses 1984).
In 1848 the third wave of revolutions started. They took place mainly in
Europe although they had echoes in other parts of the world, such as Brazil.
As had been the case in the two previous revolts, their inXuence in the United
States was minimal in the short term. In Europe only Russia and Britain were
left unharmed, the former because of its lack of a strong middle and prole-
tarian class and the latter because of a series of measures that defused unrest
among the workers and middle classes (Roberts 1996: 25). France led the way,
when the February revolt forced King Louis Philippe toXee. The revolt’s
success precipitated insurgencies throughout Europe. In Germany these were
led by crowds of students, members of the progressive, liberal middle class
and also of the working classes. The unrest was especially important in Vienna
and Berlin. The Austrian Chancellor Metternich (1773–1859), a key player in
Austrian politics for several decades, had to go. In Germany a Parliament was
formed in Frankfurt with the aim of drafting a charter for all of Germany.
However, German uniWcation was put on hold when the Prussian monarch,
Frederick William IV, refused to be crowned by the liberals. In Italy revolu-
tions exploded in Milan, Venice, and Rome. In the latter city, Garibaldi and
Mazzini proclaimed the Roman Republic and social reforms that bettered the
status of the poor were implemented. French troops allowed the restoration of
papal authority with the result that GaribaldiXed to the US and Mazzini to
England. The Italian nationalist movement, the Risorgimento, had again
failed, while in Ireland the movement Young Ireland launched a rebellion in
July but was crushed by British troops.
In Eastern Europe the revolutions, led by Lajos Kossuth, produced a separ-
ate constitution for Hungary. A republic was brieXy declared in 1849, but
events took a turn for the worse. No concessions to the national minorities
within Hungary were granted, leading to further unrest. One of these national
minorities were the Slovaks. A Slovak National Council had already drafted
the ‘Demands of the Slovak Nation’ in May 1848, but their claims were
rejected. Worse yet for Hungary, the refusal to help Austria against the Italians
resulted in war in which the Russian armies brought the Hungarian revolution
to a rapid and bloody end. In Bohemia Czechs quarrelled with Germans over
whether to unify with Germany or with other Slav peoples. In June 1848
340 National Archaeology in Europe