What was the immediate cause of the springtime of the peoples

Yet there has been none which spread more rapidly and widely, running like a bushfire across frontiers, countries and even oceans. The year of , as described by Eric Hobsbawm, was painted with the colours of revolution all across continental Europe. Excepting England and Russia, all other states in Europe witnessed a revolution in this year. Many historians point out that the Revolutions of were inspired by two other major events from the prior century: the French Revolution of and the American Revolution of Seaman goes to the extent of arguing that all revolutions of the 19 th century evolved from both these revolutions.

He says that both of them taught two lessons to the people of Europe. The first was that any people could succeed in a revolution against their king. The second was that revolutions were the means to fulfill the dreams and desires of every nation. Jacque Droz and many other historians argue that the Revolutions of were caused by a combination of two factors— political crisis and economic crisis. Let us look at the economic crisis first. The economic crisis is divided into two major crises—agrarian crisis and financial or credit crisis.

There is a debate, though, regarding as to which crisis was the prime feature of the economic crisis. Some historians argue that it was the agrarian crisis, which led to a problem of credit; while others say that a credit crisis led to widespread harvest failure. It is, however, clear that in , many regions of Europe saw harvest failure. Historians agree that it was mainly barley, wheat and potato that failed; and all being staple crops, the crisis was very sharp.

Eric Vanhaute points out that the effects of the crisis were not uniform throughout Europe. Many historians like J. Mokyr, A. Maharatna and M. Lachiver state that the crisis was more severe in regions than others. Some of these were regions that were dependent upon a single-crop pattern for agriculture; for example Scotland and Ireland.

Other places where the support of the Church and that of the State declined, the peasantry had little help 3 ; making the crisis more taxing, like that in France. Besides these, regions with low industrialization and lesser opportunities for jobs not based in land faced the brunt of the crisis much more.

He goes onto highlight how it led to other problems for the cities. The general inadequacy of the land as far as food production was concerned had caused migration on a vast scale… The majority of this immigrant population was itinerant, as shown by the vast increase in the numbers living in lodging-houses in the central districts [in Paris]. Thus, it is safe to conclude that the crisis in food production impacted the rural peasant folk and the urban working class the most.

Mark Spencer says that the rising poverty due to lower wages and high prices shows how it was mainly the crisis of agriculture that shaped up the discontent amongst the populations, culminating in the revolutions of However, many other historians like Helge Berge argue that the main cause for the economic decline in Europe lay not in the crisis of food production.

It is the crisis in another sector of the economy that they put the main source of the economic malaise in the s—the credit crisis. Thus, any crisis in the economy would also be caused by a crisis in the finance and credit sectors.

As the 19 th century Le Journale des Economistes ed. In the s, the major investment was primarily in the railways and industry.

The landlords chiefly invested in both these emerging sectors; and thus decreased the gross investment in agriculture; leading to an overall decline in the output of land. A huge chunk of land was freed from cultivation mainly by landlords and put into the industrial sector. This further lowered the land under cultivation, lowering the total output from land. Also, guarantee on credit was virtually absent as land comprised of the major asset against loans; which was in itself in scarcity, as discussed above.

Personal loans and borrowings further increased the pressure on the credit system. Thus, the whole mechanism of credit crashed under this enormous weight. Also, this led to a depression in trade and commerce, leading to major discontent amongst the middle classes or the bourgeoisie.

The clear demand of this class was thus for more and more policies of Liberalism, as Peter Jones notes. However, as Droz argues, the economic crisis was ebbing out by the beginning of Yet the Revolution happened just after that. Thus, economic factors were not the sole cause of the Revolutions in A lot of developments in the political realms and the development of newer political theories and ideologies also had an important presence in the years before the revolutions of broke out.

Historian Vivier argues that the economic reasons are not enough to explain the outbreak of the revolutions in He says that a mix of various crises—political and ideological and social— effected them. The political motivations of the revolutionaries were evident from their demands and their actions in the early phase of the revolution. It must not be forgotten that the forces of Conservatism and Reaction consolidated the period after Monarchs ruled all countries in Europe and became the targets for the revolutionaries.

The first instance of the Revolution was on 12 January in Naples, Italy. The revolution here was directed against the foreign rule of Ferdinand II of the Spanish-Bourbon dynasty. The main targets were the foreign monarchy and the territorial settlement at the Congress of Vienna Therefore, the Metternich System was at the head of malcontents. Similarly, in France, on 12 February , barricades were set up in the streets of Paris against Louis Phillip of the Orleans dynasty and his Reactionary prime minister Guizot.

The Revolution was up against inadequate political rights of the petite bourgeoisie and the working class and the maladministration of the monarch. There were two dominant trends in the political patterns of the revolution.

One was seen in Austria, Italy and Germany, where the revolution was directed against foreign rule and the settlements of the Congress of Vienna. Meanwhile, France, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal saw revolutions against inadequate rights and inconsistent policies of the parliament.

Thus the revolutions followed two major patterns and sets of grievances. As Peter Stearnes argues, some major political strands or ideologies emerged and influenced the Revolutions. The first was that of the Liberals. They believed in the ideas of Liberalism as forwarded by many intellectuals in the 18 th century.

They had a more or less moderate goal, i. However, they were weary of leading the revolution as they viewed the Revolution in France as a major catastrophe.

Besides, they wanted a limited representation and a small base of suffrage, based on ownership of property and education.

The other faction was that of the Radicals. They were an offshoot of the liberals but looked at a more radical goal, that of total Republicanism. Peter Stearns elaborates that. Most of them were democrats, and all wanted a wide suffrage… They were not socialists but they were concerned about economic injustice and talked of the need for social reform to protect the working classes. Thus, it is clear that the Radical method of achieving the goal was only and only revolution.

Thus, many a Radical leaders also played a key role during the Revolutions of Another group of moderates emerged in the Nationalists. They believed in the supremacy of the nation over the individual; however, they agreed with the Liberals that civil liberties must be ensured by the state upon its citizens. However, as Mazzini, a thorough Nationalist, theorized, the liberation of the nation is a precursor to the endowment of liberty to the people. A minor group within Italy emerged, called the Neo-Guelfs.

Ben Davis March 12, What was an immediate cause of the French Revolution the enlightenment the Springtime of the Peoples the ideas of the Communist Manifesto a financial crisis?

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