Revolutions of 1830 and 1848 Post

Decembrist Revolt Educreations

In the years 1830 and 1848 revolutions sprung up all across Europe. Liberals and radicals from several different countries wanted a constitutional monarchy, and, in some cases, no monarchy at all. Another thing these revolutions have in common is they are generally regarded by historians as failures. This is true of the revolutions because they only achieved change temporarily, if at all, before the conservative ways were restored and many revolutions were very violent.

The Decembrist Revolt

One failed revolution, the biggest failure of all, was the Decembrist Revolt in Russia in 1825. In this revolution, liberals attempted to overthrow Tsar Nicholas I and create a constitution. This revolution was poorly planned and organized and failed miserably. No change was achieved at all and the revolt was very violent for the short time before it was crushed. As Nicholas I said, “The leaders and the instigators of the conspiracy will be dealt with without pity, without mercy” and he did deal with them harshly, killing or imprisoning most. The revolt was crushed entirely. Another failed revolution was the Polish Revolution of 1830. In this revolution, nationalists wanted independence from Russia. Poland did gain independence for 5 months, but it was then taken back under Russian control and no permanent change was achieved. Tsar Nicholas writes in March 1832, “an end has been put by force of arms to the rebellion in Poland, and that nation, led away by agitators, has returned to its duty, and is restored to tranquility.” Everything returned back to the way it was before the Polish revolution. The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 was also a failure. This revolution was also led by nationalists. They wanted to form a government independent from Austria, abolish serfdom, and also write a constitution. The feeling that “the future of Hungary can never be secured while Austria maintains a system of government in direct antagonism to every constitutional principle” led Hungarians to revolution. The revolutionaries actually had enough power that Metternich fled and Austria allowed reforms. However, not long after, Russia intervened and crushed the revolution. In all of these revolutions, permanent change was not achieved and instead the revolutions were crushed violently. It is for these reasons that the revolutions of 1830 and 1848 were failures; a revolution cannot be successful if nothing is changed.