The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, also called the March Revolution (Märzrevolution), were part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many countries of Europe and a series of loosely coordinated protests and rebellions in the states of the German Confederation, including the Austrian Empire. The revolutions, which stressed pan-Germanism, emphasised popular discontent with the traditional, largely autocratic political structure of the thirty-nine independent states of the Confederation that inherited the German territory of the former Holy Roman Empire. Furthermore, they demonstrated the popular desire for increased political freedom, liberal state policies, democracy, nationalism, and freedom from censorship. The middle class elements were committed to liberal principles while the working class sought radical improvements to their working and living conditions. However, the middle class and working class components of the Revolution split, and in the end the conservative aristocracy defeated it, forcing many liberals into exile.
Read more about Revolutions Of 1848 In The German States: Main Causes, Events Leading Up To The Revolutions, Baden, The Palatinate, Austria, Prussia, Saxony, The Rhineland or Rhenish Prussia, Bavaria, Greater Poland, National Assembly in Frankfurt, Backlash in Prussia, Failure of The Revolution
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“Revolution? Unscrew the flag-staff, wrap the bunting in the oil covers, and put the thing in the clothes-chest. Let the old lady bring you your house-slippers and untie your fiery red necktie. You always make revolutions with your mugs, your republic—nothing but an industrial accident.”
—Alfred Döblin (1878–1957)
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—Maxwell Anderson (1888–1959)
“Perhaps anxious politicians may prove that only seventeen white men and five negroes were concerned in the late enterprise; but their very anxiety to prove this might suggest to themselves that all is not told. Why do they still dodge the truth? They are so anxious because of a dim consciousness of the fact, which they do not distinctly face, that at least a million of the free inhabitants of the United States would have rejoiced if it had succeeded. They at most only criticise the tactics.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)