After the Congress of Vienna, liberal and nationalist ideas spread easily in the new European context. Uprisings were common, especially where there were also socioeconomic
problems.
- REVOLUTIONS OF 1820´s
The first in the series of these revolutions took place in 1820 in Spain. In 1812 a liberal constitution had been agreed (The Cádiz Constitution), but after the Congress of Vienna, King Ferdinand VII ignored the Constitution. In 1820 there was a military uprising led by General Riego to restore the liberal ideas, and Ferdinand was obliged to accept the constitution. In 1823 the Congress of Verona sent French soldiers – ‘100,000 Sons of Saint Louis’, to restore Ferdinand’s authority, and defeat the rebels.
Nevertheless, these liberal ideas spread quickly to Portugal, Two Sicilies, Sardinia, and to some German states, but in all these places the revolts were crushed by the army.
In 1821, there began an uprising by the Greeks against their Ottoman Turk masters, whose empire included Greece. The Greek War of Independence lasted until 1829, and by 1832 Greece was recognised as a sovereign nation.
- REVOLUTIONS OF 1830´s
In France, there was another revolution in 1830 motivated by liberal ideas. Called the ‘July Revolution’, it deposed the ultraconservative Bourbon King Charles X and replaced him with a more liberal oriented king, LouisPhillippe I. Charles, who favoured absolutism, had tried to return to the Ancien Régime but the upper bourgeoisie and many influential liberals opposed him, encouraging the people to rise up against him. France became a constitutional monarchy.
Belgium: The Kingdom of the Netherlands, established after the Congress of Vienna, included a southern part (now Belgium) which was Catholic and mainly Frenchspeaking. The north (now Holland) was Dutchspeaking and Protestant (Calvinist). In 1830 a rebellion began in Brussels which finally resulted in Belgian independence (1831), with a new king, Leopold Ist, and a liberal regime.
After 1815, Poland was called ‘The Kingdom of Poland’ but it was in truth annexed to the larger Russian empire, under Tsar Nicholas I. In 1831, he ordered Polish troops to fight against the revolutions in France and Belgium, consequence of the Congress’ decision, but the Polish sympathised with the revolutions, and started one themselves! They declared themselves independent from Russia but the rebellion was suppressed and Poland was given even less freedom than before.
After the revolutions of 1820 and 1830, liberal governments spread throughout Europe. Only Central Europe, the German and Italian states (except Savoy), and the empires of Russia, Austria and Turkey remained absolutist.
- REVOLUTIONS OF 1848
1848 was a special year in European history because of a general outbreak of revolutions and uprisings. Historians call this year “The Spring of Nations”. Added to the factors of the previous revolutions, we could argue the following causes:
- Some of the previous revolutions began to take effect – for example in France.
- In the countries where absolutism was still strong, the bourgeoisie rose up against it. But in the countries that already had a constitutional monarchy, the radical politicians, usually proletarian, (called democrats), were looking for greater changes in their parliamentary governments (for example, universal suffrage).
- Technological changes were taking place in society through industrialisation, creating a new class, the proletariat.
- Technological changes were also responsible for a wider press, helping to spread ideas more quickly to a wider range of people in society.
- Nationalism was becoming stronger.
- Socialism appeared, growing more rapidly after Marx and Engels published the Communist Manifesto in 1848.
- Another factor was the crop failures in 1846 in Europe. The resulting economic crisis caused discontent among the peasants, and also in the new workingclasses.
More sources: bourgeoisie revolutions
The revolution of 1848 took place in most of the Western and Central european countries (France, Austrian Empire, Kindom of Hungary, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Poland, Belgium, Ireland, some German states like Prussia, Saxony, Venice-Lombardy…) and also parts of South America such as Brazil. Some of these uprisings had also nationalist components as in the Italian and German territories.