The European Revolutions of 1848, sometimes called the Spring of Nations, were a wave of uprisings that spread across the continent, beginning in Sicily and then spreading to France, where King Louis-Philippe was overthrown. Revolts followed in the German states, the Habsburg lands and Italy, driven by demands for constitutions, civil liberties and national unity, together with discontent over poverty and food shortages. A national assembly met in Frankfurt to draft a constitution for Germany. Most revolutions were suppressed by conservative forces by 1849, but they led to lasting reforms such as the end of serfdom in the Habsburg lands, and in France Louis-Napoleon was elected president.
Before and after
- 1848Rise of Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
- 1848Der Ring des Nibelungen
- 1848Revolutions of 1848 in the German states
- from 1848 to 1849First Italian War of Independence
- from 12 January 1848 to 4 October 1849European Revolutions of 1848
- 24 January 1848California Gold Rush
- 24 January 1848Gold is found at Sutter's Mill: the California Gold Rush begins
- 2 February 1848Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
- 16 February 1848Birth of Octave Mirbeau
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 18 June 1812 to 18 February 1815War of 1812
- 1815Congress of Vienna
- from October 1853 to February 1856Crimean War
- from 19 July 1870 to 28 January 1871Franco-Prussian War
- from 1885 to 1914Scramble for Africa
- from 8 February 1904 to 5 September 1905Russo-Japanese War
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.