Definition of Peoples' Spring

In 1968, a part of the world was revolutionized: Paris, Mexico, Czechoslovakia,... The revolutionary "epidemic" seemed to have no comparison, and yet 120 years earlier, the world had already seen a movement Similary.

The so-called “Spring of the Peoples” consisted of a series of revolutionary movements that emerged in Europe and, with special virulence in France and Germany, born in the heat of nationalism, the incipient labor movement, and the change of regime from absolute monarchies to democracies parliamentarians.

The various revolutions of 1848 were one more episode in the demands for greater freedoms and rights of the citizens which, at their base, were the same demands that led to the French Revolution and that they have not stopped forging revolutions of one sign or another throughout these last centuries, although that year was especially virulent in this regard, like a kind of “measles”.

To compare it to something much more contemporary, what was experienced with the

Spring Arabic a few years ago, it was similar to what was experienced in Europe in 1848.

The completion in many countries of the industrial revolution process resulted in the birth of the working class, as well as profound transformations that society had to deal with.

To this must also be added various outbursts of a nationalist look, a claim of the identity from different towns.

Although some of these revolutions were crushed by the authorities and ended up failing, their failure was not absolute.

This is because they showed the weaknesses of the old absolutist regimes, and the will of the people to obtain better conditions and greater freedom. The changes that would originate in the long run would be important and lasting, and we could say that the current concept of the welfare state owes its existence to them.

But each of these revolutions in each of the places where they occurred deserves a separate analysis, since the casuistry differs slightly, although they inspire each other.

In France, one of the most successful revolutions took place, as it led to the abdication of King Luís Felipe I and the proclamation of the Second Republic.

Despite the fact that at that time and since 1830, France was a constitutional monarchy, the blockade of legal and social reforms led to the boredom of the population, who saw how his society was controlled again by the nobility and a part of the bourgeois elite, the new entrepreneurs emerged in the heat of the industrial Revolution.

The return to the republican ideals of the French Revolution of 1789 guided the protests, which began because of the cancellation of a banquet in which officers of the National Guard had to participate, and in which there would be talk of politics. This and other banquets functioned as political meetings, since the right meeting had been abolished.

The situation quickly got out of control, and before the army's order to intervene, the National Guard (a body of reservists) sided with the popular side. To calm discontent, the king pushed for changes like that of the prime minister.

However, this was insufficient, and the situation soon degenerated into armed clashes with the dead. Barricades emerged on many corners of Paris, and the angry crowd began to flow toward the Tuileries Palace.

Faced with the prospect of civil war, the king abdicated, the republic was proclaimed, and the new government agreed to grant many of the people's demands.

The new means of communication, such as the telegraph and the mass written press, made the information about the revolution reach many parts of the world, causing an impact. And, perhaps, where it made the most impact was in Germany and Austria.

Germany was then very fragmented, a situation that had dragged on for centuries, despite the existence of a strong pan-German movement that would ultimately lead to final unification in 1870, although with Austria separated.

The question then was who would lead the movement, with two clear candidates: Prussia and Austria. It was the success of the first that separated the second from the project; If it had not been like that, today we would possibly have a single country with capital in Vienna.

Here the revolution ran from mid-1848 to late 1849, and had to be forcibly crushed between Prussia and Austria.

However, the uprisings had a profound impact on German society, resulting in political and social changes.

The poor economic situation of the working mass, not only gave impetus to the protests, but also helped to strengthen leftist political theories and swell their ranks.

The revolts began in Dresden, in the Kingdom of Saxony, being crushed by force by the government. This forced its leaders into exile, including the left-wing composer Richard Wagner who had lent his support to the revolt.

From Saxony, the revolution lit Prussia and Austria like a fuse.

In Berlin there was a real uprising, barricading the streets in the Parisian style, while in Vienna the crowd stormed the Diet (parliament). In both cases, the protesters and revolutionaries were disbanded through the use of arms.

Bavaria would also fall prey to the revolutionary wave. Both here and in the rest of the states of the Germanic Confederation, the absolutist monarchies were forced to make concessions to the people.

At the same time, the Polish regions in Prussian hands rose up in arms to try to achieve independence, although they did not succeed.

In addition to the French and German focus, there were also riots of a certain entity in Italy and Russia, and even some episode in Spain.

However, these have remained more like single lines in the history books as opposed to the main events, which took place in the streets of Paris, Dresden, Berlin and Vienna.

Themes in Spring of the Peoples