Why had liberalism and nationalism grown in influence by 1848?
Two sets of ideas lay behind most of the revolutions of 1848: liberalism and nationalism.
This section explains what they meant and why they spread between 1815 and 1848.
This key question can be set in Paper 1, and is the Paper 2 source topic in November 2027.
Two ideas, and the people who feared them
Liberals wanted to limit the power of kings through a constitution: written rules saying how a country is governed and what rights its people have.
They wanted an elected parliament, a free press, fair trials and equality before the law.
Most were middle class (lawyers, teachers, officials, merchants, students), and most wanted the vote only for men with property.
Those who wanted it for all men, and often a republic, were called radicals.
Nationalists believed that people who share a language, culture and history form a nation, which should govern itself in its own state:
- Germans lived in about 39 separate states, and nationalists wanted them united.
- Italians lived in several states, with Austria ruling the richest parts of the north. Nationalists wanted Austria out, and many wanted one Italy.
- Hungarians, Czechs and Poles were ruled by foreign emperors, and wanted self-rule or independence.
Their opponents were conservatives, led by Prince Klemens von Metternich, the Austrian Chancellor.
His empire held many peoples, whom nationalism could tear apart.
Cause 1: the French Revolution and Napoleon
The French Revolution of 1789 spread the ideas that power comes from the people and that citizens are equal before the law.
Napoleon's conquests carried them further: he ended the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, merging hundreds of German territories into far fewer states, and created a Kingdom of Italy in the north.
French rule also stirred nationalism against France, as in the German "wars of liberation" of 1813.
Cause 2: the Vienna settlement of 1815
At the Congress of Vienna in 1814-15 the victors (Austria, Russia, Prussia and Britain) restored the old royal families and ignored nationality.
Key to the map:
1. France, a kingdom again.
2. Prussia, in two parts (most of the western part gained in 1815).
3. The Austrian Empire.
4. Lombardy and Venetia, Italian lands given to Austria.
5. The smaller German states. With Austria and Prussia they formed the German Confederation of 39 states, a loose league whose assembly at Frankfurt was chaired by Austria.
6. Piedmont-Sardinia, independent of Austria under the House of Savoy.
7. The Papal States.
8. The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (Naples and Sicily).
9. The Russian Empire, which also ruled most of Poland.
Members of the Austrian royal family were also given Tuscany, Modena and Parma, so Austria dominated Italy.
Cause 3: repression, the Metternich system
Metternich used censorship, spies and police.
After a student murdered the conservative writer August von Kotzebue in 1819, he pushed the Carlsbad Decrees through the Confederation: censored newspapers, inspectors in universities and a ban on student societies.
Austrian troops crushed revolts in Naples and Piedmont in 1821 and the Papal States in 1831.
Repression worked for a time, but drove the ideas into secret societies such as the Carbonari in Italy, made martyrs of liberals and made Austria the enemy.
The cartoon below is an invented source, drawn for practice.
Cause 4: 1830, proof that revolution could work
In July 1830 Paris overthrew Charles X, who had tried to restrict the press and the vote, and Louis-Philippe became king under a constitution.
The Belgians won independence from the Dutch king.
Russia and Austria crushed revolts in Poland and central Italy in 1831.
Revolution could succeed, but not where those two were free to act.
Cause 5: writers, students and festivals
- Italy. Giuseppe Mazzini, exiled in France, founded Young Italy in 1831 to win a united Italian republic by popular risings. Its risings failed, but thousands joined. In 1843 the priest Vincenzo Gioberti argued for a federation led by the Pope. When Pius IX, elected in 1846, freed political prisoners and eased censorship, many believed he would lead the national cause.
- Germany. Students met at the Wartburg in 1817; at the Hambach Festival of 1832 some 20,000 to 30,000 people gathered under black, red and gold flags. The Brothers Grimm collected German folk tales.
- Hungary and Bohemia. Lajos Kossuth's newspaper demanded reform from 1841, and in 1844 Hungarian replaced Latin as Hungary's official language. František Palacký wrote the history of the Czech people.
Cause 6: economic and social change
A growing, richer middle class wanted power to match its wealth, and railways, cheap printing and literacy spread ideas faster.
In 1834 Prussia set up the Zollverein, a customs union; by the 1840s most German states except Austria had joined, showing the benefits of unity with Prussia at the centre.
Peasants still owed their lords unpaid labour, and town workers had long hours and low pay: grievances radicals linked to political change.
What you could argue
Repression was the main reason. The Vienna settlement put foreign rulers over Italians and kept Germans divided, and censorship and Austrian troops turned reformers into conspirators and martyrs.
Long-term change mattered more. The ideas came from 1789, and the middle class, railways, newspapers and the Zollverein spread them anyway.
How deep was the influence? The ideas were strongest among educated townspeople.
Most people were peasants, who cared more about land, labour services and bread, and were often loyal to their rulers and the Church.
A strong judgement could say influence was great among a minority but shallow among the majority, which helps explain why the revolutions failed.
- Liberalism: the belief in limited government, with a constitution, an elected parliament, and rights such as freedom of speech and of the press.
- Nationalism: the belief that people who share a language, culture and history form a nation and should govern themselves in their own state.
- Conservatism: the defence of existing rulers, the nobility and the Church against rapid change, led by Metternich.
- Zollverein: the customs union of German states set up by Prussia in 1834, allowing trade between members without duties.
Why had nationalism become more popular in the Italian states by 1848? [6]
1. Reason one, explained: "In 1815 Austria gained Lombardy and Venetia, and Austrian princes ruled Tuscany and Modena. When Austrian troops crushed revolts in 1821 and 1831, Italians saw Austria as a foreign oppressor, so the demand to drive it out grew." This shows how the cause made more people nationalist.
2. Reason two, explained: "Pius IX, elected in 1846, freed political prisoners. Catholics who feared Mazzini's republic now hoped the Pope would lead Italy, so nationalism spread to moderates." This explains who joined.
3. What earns less: "Mazzini was a famous nationalist who lived in exile." This never says why nationalism grew.
Answer: two reasons, each linked to the growth of nationalism and dated.
Study the invented cartoon of Metternich on the pot. What is the message of this source? [8]
1. A detail alone ("Metternich is holding Europe down") is only a sub-message.
2. The big message reads the whole picture; the best add the cartoonist's view, with details and context.
Answer: "The message is that Metternich's repression is about to fail.
He presses down the lid on EUROPE, but steam forces its way out and the pot is cracking, so revolution is coming.
The cartoonist is hostile, showing him as a frightened old man trying to stop the unstoppable."
End every reason in a "Why" answer with its effect.
"The Congress of Vienna ignored nationality" names a cause; "so Italians were ruled by Austria and turned against it" explains it.
- Treating liberals as democrats. Most wanted the vote only for men with property.
- Writing that Germany or Italy were countries in 1815. Both were divided into separate states.
- Assuming nationalism meant unification everywhere. For Hungarians, Czechs and Poles it meant self-rule or independence.
Check your understanding
1. Describe the methods Metternich used to resist liberal and nationalist ideas. [4]
2. Why did the decisions taken at the Congress of Vienna anger nationalists in Italy and Germany? [6]
3. Study Source A. It is invented for practice.
Source A (invented): from an unsigned pamphlet smuggled into Lombardy in 1833. "Italians!
Your laws are made in Vienna and your taxes pay for foreign soldiers.
The Pope and the princes will not save you.
Only the people, united, can make Italy free."
Why was this source published? Explain your answer using details of the source and your knowledge. [8]
4. "Economic change, not repression, explains why liberal and nationalist ideas spread before 1848." How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. [10]
Answers
1. Any four, 1 mark each: censorship; spies and police; the Carlsbad Decrees of 1819; inspectors in universities; banning student societies; troops crushing revolts (1821, 1831). [4]
2. Two explained reasons for full marks, from: Italians were put under Austrian rule (Lombardy, Venetia, Austrian princes elsewhere); Germans were left in 39 states in a league chaired by Austria; old rulers returned without constitutions. [6]
3. Purpose: to persuade Italians under Austrian rule to rise for a united Italy. The appeal to "the people, united" and rejection of Pope and princes fit Mazzini's Young Italy (1831), which planned risings in 1833-34. Top answers link purpose to audience and time. [8]
4. Agree: a larger middle class; railways and printing; the Zollverein. Disagree: Austrian rule; censorship and the Carlsbad Decrees creating martyrs; troops in 1821 and 1831. Also 1789, 1830, Pius IX. A supported judgement on "how far". [10]