Were the Revolution in the European countries in 1848 Important?

-- Introduction

Many European countries revolted in 1848, because people desired for political changes. Either independence of their country or freedom of individuals became important at that time. Instead of being ruled by the higher levels, nationalism or liberalism became focused. The desire of nationalism or liberalism caused the revolutions in 1848.

-- Why were there so many revolutions?

Many revolutions occurred in European countries in 1848. Although the reasons for the revolutions were not all the same, the overall start was caused by the Natural and Economic Disasters, and the Austrian Empire.

Natural disaster was the food (such as potato, bread and wheat) harvest failures in 1845-1846. Since only a few amounts of crops could be harvested and the population gradually rose, food became expensive and rare. This caused riots and starvation.

People could not afford money, because Western Europe also suffered from economic depression which affected many people in losing their jobs.

No Mans Land, Flanders Field, France, 1919 (LOC)

[Forum Boario, Rome, Italy] (LOC)

[The Vatican I, Rome, Italy] (LOC)

Many peasants moved to cities or towns in order to find jobs, which influenced them to have interest in politics. These two disasters led resentment from the people to the government, and demand of reforms in the country. -In some places, the outcome was also the rise of liberalism.

Natural and Economic Disasters caused the 1848 February revolution in Paris, France. King Philippe struggled, because of unemployment and low wages. Peasants demanded that the country's wealth should be divided more evenly among all people, because they had to pay the most taxes. Although workers wanted to protest, it was prevented by the law, and only 24,000 out of 32 million people had rights to vote. Banquets which were the only place where people could say their opinions were stopped by the Prime Minister, Guizot. This caused the fight during the February Revolution, which ended with the...