1848: Year of Revolution

Rapport, M. (2009) 1848: Year of Revolution. Abacus: London. ISBN 9780349118642

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Publisher's URL: http://www.littlebrown.co.uk/Books/detail.page?isbn=9780349118642

Abstract

<br>In 1848, Europe was engulfed in a firestorm of revolution. In the early months, the streets of cities from Paris to Bucharest and from Berlin to Palermo were barricaded and flooded by armed insurgents proclaiming political liberties and national freedom. The conservative order which had held sway since the fall of Napoleon in 1815 crumpled beneath the revolutionary assault. Europe would not see anything similar in peacetime until the anti-Communist revolutions of 1989.</br> <br>The 1848 Revolutions gave liberals and nationalists an unprecedented opportunity to change the face of Europe, by forging nation-states out of the then fragmented countries of Germany, Italy, Poland and Romania, and by implanting constitutions which would guarantee civil rights and parliamentary government in almost every European state from France right up to the frontiers of the Russian Empire. 1848 was, potentially, a great turning-point, in which European history came close to swinging in a libertarian direction, with the chance of resolving such modern questions of individual rights, of nationalism and of social justice through the political channels established by liberal constitutions.</br> <br>Yet these same issues produced a tide of pressures which tore apart the fragile vessel of the liberal order. By the summer brutal street-fighting between radicals and moderates had erupted. The resulting political polarisation gave conservatives their opportunity and by the end of the year, the liberal revolutions had been soundly beaten. 1849 saw a renewed wave of revolutionary resistance, but it was to no avail.</br> <br>This book narrates the breathtaking events which overtook Europe in 1848 and which unfolded at a galloping pace from the exhilaration of the liberal triumph, through the fear of social chaos to the final despair of defeat and disillusionment. The failures of 1848 would scar European history with the contradictions of authoritarianism and revolution until deep into the twentieth century.</br>

Item Type:Books
Status:Published
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Rapport, Dr Michael
Authors: Rapport, M.
Subjects:D History General and Old World > D History (General)
D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D204 Modern History
D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D901 Europe (General)
College/School:College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > History
Publisher:Abacus
ISBN:9780349118642
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