Revolutions of 1830 and 1848

            There were many revolutions in 1830 and in 1848. These revolutions were known as the Decembrist Revolt, the 1830 revolution in France, the 1848 revolution in France, the Frankfurt Assembly, and the Hungary Revolution. Some of these revolutions can be seen as a failure or as a success. We were asked the question, "Were the revolutions in 1830 and 1848 really failures as many historians have concluded? To answer this question we were divided into six groups and each group did one of the revolutions. We read the background documents and analyzed all of the primary sources to get a better understanding of our revolution. Once everyone finished we came together to share what we learned about our specific revolution. To make sure everyone knew the basics of each topic the groups made a SurveyMonkey for the class to take.

            My group was assigned the Frankfurt Assembly which took place in Germany, 1848-1849. The goal of the Frankfurt Assembly was to unite Germany under a constitution.This was a goal set by the liberals and the nationalists of Germany. Johann Gustav made a comment about Germany uniting and getting power at the Frankfurt Assembly. He said, "We need a powerful ruling house. Austria's power meant lack of power for us, whereas Prussia desired Germany unity in order to supply the deficiencies of her own power" (Primary Source #1: Johann Gustav: Speech to the Frankfurt Assembly, 1848). The conservative Prussian king, King Fredrick William IV opposed the idea. Originally, the king was offered German power but he ended up declining the offer. He declined the offer because it came from the people, who had no power, not the princes, who have most of the power. It was said that, "The King made it perfectly clear that he had no intention of allowing his god-given rule to be diminished by a piece of paper, namely a constitution" (Primary Source #3: Between Myself and My People... 1848). The King ended up sending in Prussian military forces to dissolve the assembly. The Frankfurt Assembly ended up with reformers clashing with military forces, causing hundreds to be killed and sent to jail. Meanwhile many Germans fled their homeland to go to America. My group's SurveyMonkey can be found at:https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/T76BN7C. Down below are some screenshots from the SurveyMonkey for examples of some of the questions were on each questionnaire.

            We found that the majority of the class could answer these basic questions just from reading the Background Essay and the Primary Sources for the Frankfurt Assembly.

            A big part of the lesson was to decide if the revolution was success or a failure. That is also what the essential question was all about. I think most of the revolutions were either leaning towards being a failure or had a neutral impact. of  were more of a success instead of a failure. For example, the Frankfurt Assembly was more of a failure than a success because it ended in war and the deaths of many German citizens. Also, people had to flee their homeland in order to survive the attacks from the Prussian military. An example of a revolution with a neutral impact would be the French Revolution of 1848. The revolution left the middle class both feared and distrusted, while the working class nursed a deep hatred for the bourgeoisie. This happened because prior to this there was an attack on rioting workers and 1,500 people were killed before the government crushed the rebellion. The only revolution that I think was a complete and utter failure would be the Decembrist Revolt. The Decembrist Revolt ended in the ruler opening fire on his people who were protesting in the streets. Almost everyone in the crowd was killed and the people who survived didn't benefit in any way. Instead they were simply thrown into jail. This is my opinion on the essential question, "Were the revolutions in 1830 and 1848 really failures as many historians have concluded?"