Revolutions of 1848

The main Causes of the 1848 revolution are as follows: 1) Socialism: Socialism was getting exposure at this time. The main factor of socialism was the rise of workers issues, which were things like low wages, long hours and poor working and living conditions. Because of the exposure of socialism, ideas there were uprising in Lyons in 1831 and 1834. 2) The franchise (who had the right to vote): There were 2 strands that wanted the current amount of people who were allowed to vote to be expanded. The first strand simply wanted for the franchise to be widened so that the lower bourgeoisie could vote. The second strand was the workers who wanted universal suffrage, and everyman had the right. The problem was Louis-Philippe was totally opposed to electoral reform, and refused them. As a result they joined together and had reform banquets where they could voice their thoughts and opinions and listen to others, the cancellation of one of these the catalyst for the revolution. 3) Economy: During this time, bad harvests had taken place all over Europe. It had begun around 1847, and nothing was being done to help the starving poor, food prices where high and wages were either low or non-existent. As a result food riots took place. 4) One last cause of the Revolution of 1848 was Louis-Philippe’s policies, foreign and domestic. There was not enough military victory and there were hardly any reforms taking place at home.

The major participants in the revolutions were the Czechs, Croats, Danes, French, Germans (including the Austrians), Hungarians, Italians, Poles, Slovaks, and the Romanians. The revolutions of 1848 began in France during February. The French people were demanding liberal reforms, especially universal male suffrage. Unemployment was a serious problem and contributed to the revolution. The February Revolution in France inspired others in Europe to demand liberal reforms or seek to change recalcitrant monarchial governments by force. In Germany