The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states were part of the wave of revolutions that swept across Europe that year. Starting in the south-west, liberals and radicals demanded constitutions, freedom of the press and a unified German nation, and the rulers, including Frederick William IV of Prussia, made concessions. An elected national assembly met in Frankfurt to draft a constitution for a united Germany, and offered the imperial crown to the Prussian king, who refused it in 1849. The conservative rulers recovered and used troops to suppress the remaining uprisings. Many of the revolutionaries, known as Forty-Eighters, emigrated, especially to the United States.
Before and after
- 8 November 1847Birth of Bram Stoker
- 29 November 1847Whitman massacre
- 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
More in Wars, politics & history
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- 4 July 1776United States Declaration of Independence
- 17 September 1787United States Constitution
- from 1803 to 1815Napoleonic Wars
- 1815Congress of Vienna
- from 1868 to 1889Meiji Restoration
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.