The 1848 Revolutions in German-Speaking Europe / Edition 1

by H.J. Hahn

Overview

In 1848 the continent of Europe was rocked by revolutions: only Great Britain and Russia remained relatively immune to the upheaval. Most spectacularly, the Revolutions swept across the German-speaking lands of central Europe, with the newly-released forces of nationalism and mass popular protest smashing the reactionary Metternich regimes which had held sway since the defeat of Napoleon. The Metternich system was dead: nationalism and national self-determination asserted themselves as the dominant dynamic forces of continental Europe in the later nineteenth century. This impressive history examines the political and social implications of the 1848 Revolutions for the future destiny and shape of Europe as a whole, and explores the wider forces at play in the German lands of nineteenth-century Europe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780582357655
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/24/2001
Series:	Themes In Modern German History
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	252
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Hans-Joachim Hahn is Professor and Head of the Department of German, Oxford Brookes University.

Table of Contents

PrefaceApproaches to the German revolutions of 1848/9Structure of the bookAuthor's acknowledgements and editorial policy1 German society in transition (1789-1815)VlllVlllXIlXlll1The impact of the French Revolution of 1789 1Intellectual responses to the French Revolution of 1789 2The struggle for supremacy between Austria and Prussia 5Events in Switzerland and other non-imperial Germanspeaking territories 8The emergence of a 'Third Germany' 9Constitutional and socio-economic reforms 10Reforms in Prussia and Austria 12The wars of liberation and the restoration of the old order 142 The 'Holy Alliance' and Vormärz: the demise ofthe German ancien regime and the preface tothe revolutionsThe German Confederation, a battle-ground for forces of18reaction and modernization 19The period of re action (1815-30) 21From re action to protest: the role of the intelligentsia 26Religious strife 30The nationality issue and the formation of political groups 32Political literature during the Vormärz 34Social and economic conditions within the Confederation 36The Swiss civil war 403 The March and April revolutions in the'Third Germany'The impact of the French February RevolutionObservations on the social strata in the 'Third Germany'The rural population46465353v ContentsArtisans and industrial workers 55The 1848 uprising in Baden and its impact on otherGerman regions 58The role of established protest groups 65Government responses and the establishment of thePre-Parliament 704 The revolutions in Vienna and Berlin 77The revolution in Vienna: Social and economic conditions 77Vienna's March revolution 80From the May revolution to the September crisis 82The 'October revolution' and reactionary victory 87The revolution in Berlin 89Social and economic conditions in Berlin 90The '