Austrian Revolution of 1848

“Great news came from Vienna! There the students of the university were the first to assail the Emperor of Austria with the cry for liberty and citizens' rights. Blood flowed in the streets, and the downfall of Prince Metternich was the result. The students organized themselves as the armed guard of liberty.”

- Carl Schurz

Middle classes did not agree with the working class demands for social workshops and universal voting rights and therefore the middle class lost interest in the revolution.

Franz Yosef was crowned emperor after his eighteenth birthday in December 1848.

Works Cited

Schurz, Carl. "Modern History Sourcebook: Carl Schurz: A Look Back at 1848, 1907." Fordham University. July 1998. Web. 27 Jan. 2012. <http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1848schurz.asp>.

Ferdinand I. "Proclamation of Ferdinand to Jellachich and the Croats,June 184." Humanities and Social Sciences Online. Web. 27 Jan. 2012. <http://www.hnet.org/~habsweb/sourcetexts/ferdinand.html>.

Beginning

March 20, 1848 : Serfdom is abolished.

Newly freed men and women are no

longer intrested in the politics or the

revolution.

Nicholas I of Russia led his army to finally suppress the Hungarian revolution on June 6, 1849. After this, Habsburgs ruled Hungary as a conquered territory for a number of years.

The revolutions in Austria failed due to the issues with the freeing of the serfs, radical working class, and nationalism issues. This allowed the upper class to easily end the revolutions and reassert their power.

• Uprising in Hungary begins the revolution.
• When the monarchy in Vienna hesitates to act upon the demands for reforms, Viennese students and workers revolted.
• Ferdinand I,Emperor of Austria, promises reforms and liberal constitution in response to the uprising in Vienna.
• During this time, Metternich flees to London.

http://warandgame.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/ddferdserdfs.jpg

http://www.gogmsite.net/_Media/ca_1825_archduchess_sophie_.jpg

http://www.worldwar1.com/foto/franz2.jpg

Unstable Revolution

Nationalism conflicts between different groups of people in the Austrian Empire caused many ethnic groups to start conflicts with eachother, and not fight in the revolution.

• Czechs, Serbs, Croats, etc.

"We, Ferdinand I., Emperor of Austria, as King of Hungary, Croatia, Dalmatia, Sclavonia, the Fifth, we assure you, inhabitants of our kingdoms Croatia and Sclavonia, of our sovereign grace, and issue the following manifesto:

Croatians and Sclavonians! Our paternal heart found warm satisfaction in the trust, that while, in compliance with the wishes of our faithful nations, we extended the benefit of constitutional freedom over all our subjects, we thus bound the nations, intrusted [sic] by Providence to our care, to be grateful toward ourselves, and to adhere firmly to our throne."

- Ferdinand I of Austria

Aristocratic End

Austrian Revolution of 1848

• Due to the instablility of the revolution, conservative aristocrats gather around Emperor Ferdinand I to reassert their great strength.
• Archduchess Sophia, married to Emperor's brother, led the counter-revolution and insisted that Ferdinand abdicate the throne to her son Franz Yosef.
• Sophia led army to successfully end the revolts in Prague on June 17, 1848.