Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Revolutions of 1848

Episode Date: February 6, 2026

In 1848, a series of Revolutions occurred against European Monarchies across the continent. The revolutions were not part of an organized effort. They were spontaneous and often quite different. Although ultimately unsuccessful, the Revolutions sparked social change across multiple countries, improving the lives of some and strengthening the power of others.  Learn about the Revolutions of 1848 on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Quince Go to quince.com/daily for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! Mint Mobile Get your 3-month Unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/eed Subscribe to the podcast!  https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Austin Oetken & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/  Disce aliquid novi cotidie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1848, a series of revolutions took place against monarchies across Europe. The revolutions were not part of any organized effort. They were spontaneous and often quite different. Although ultimately unsuccessful, the revolution sparked social change across multiple countries, improving the lives of some and strengthening the power of others. Learn more about the revolutions of 1848 on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Fear is the virus is trending on TikTok. are poison. Then your yoga teacher says that sex traffic children are being sacrificed by

satanic liberals, but it's all okay. The Great Awakening is coming. What is happening? Every week on Conspiratuality Podcast, we explore the fever dreams that suck friends, family, and wellness gurus down the right-wing cult spiral in a search for salvation. Before getting into the revolutions of 1848, it is essential to understand the political environment in Europe that preceded them. After the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815, much of Europe was in political chaos. Napoleon had installed puppet governments in many of the countries that he had conquered. After Napoleon's exile, conservative monarchies moved to restore their former systems and suppressed revolutionary ideas. The Congress of Vienna was central to this effort

aiming to reverse many of Napoleon's reforms and reestablished dynastic legitimacy. This led to some frustration amongst the general population, when the world returned to its previous order. The French Revolution introduced new ideological and economic ideas to lower classes, leading to increased industrialization and urbanization, the adoption of modern agricultural practices, rapid population growth, and the rise of liberalism. In response to these new ideologies,

governments across Europe became repressive to prevent the spread of ideas such as nationalism, liberalism, and radicalism. Adding to the frustration with representative governments, in 1845 and 1847, much of Europe faced an economic crisis. This led to food shortages and an industrial recession. Civil unrest was growing, and the masses were gaining revolutionary fervor. In Central and Western Europe, people grew increasingly discontent with the existing political and economic systems, especially as conditions for the lower classes got worse.

A significant reason for this frustration was the struggle between traditional feudal systems and blossoming market economies. In the countryside, people were desiring land ownership. Customary peasant rights, such as access to common land for acquiring resources, were now denied. An example of this was the difficulty of obtaining resources such as wood following the abolition of peasants' rights to forests. Peasants used violence and legal methods to attempt to retain land rights. People resorted to stealing resources such as wood from forests, filing lawsuits, and taking increasingly violent measures against feudal lords. Labor exploitation also played a major role in the discontent towards the government and elites. Around this time, the population was growing rapidly, causing significant challenges for urban workers. As the population rose and conditions in the countryside worsened, many people migrated to cities, leading to overpopulation. Overpopulation in cities led to a surplus of workers for the number of available jobs.

This led to a reduction of wages, leaving urban workers vulnerable to food shortages, a worsening of their social status, and a decline in their standard of living. Additionally, most workers at this time were still artisans, skilled craftmakers, who earned their livelihoods through trade. By comparison, there were relatively few factory workers yet. The increase of machinery led many workers in the textile and metalworking industries to feel insecure about their future livelihoods. Another group affected was the educated middle class. Unlike in countries such as Great Britain in the United States,

mainland Europe was industrializing slowly. However, the French Revolution created an environment that encouraged education for those seeking to improve their social status. This meant that there were too many educated people and not enough jobs to employ them. Additionally, many countries deliberately excluded the educated middle class from political office. This meant that the educated middle class often ran into a brick wall which prevented any real career development within the middle class. All of these factors led to shared frustration amongst the middle class, urban workers, and rural peasants. The failure of governments to address the population's call for reform became a significant catalyst for the revolutions of 1848. This inability to respond to

popular demands led many to believe that revolution was inevitable by the close of 1847. In the 1840s, new political ideologies were developing that influence, the Revolution of 1848. These ideologies were focused on liberalism, nationalism, and radicalism. In the 19th century, liberals formed a massive political bloc, but their beliefs often varied. Generally, liberals supported equality before the law, that the law provided protections and justice for everyone regardless of class. They also supported civil liberties, including freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and the right to own property. Liberals tended to prefer the creation of constitutions to protect these rights,

and they also favored voting based on men who owned property. In addition, liberals tended to favor the elimination of absolute monarchies and the adoption of constitutional monarchies, in which the monarchy had power bounded by the limits of a constitution and the consent of the people. However, liberals feared engaging in a revolution due to fears of radical violent mob movements taking over, like what occurred in the French Revolution. Instead, they favored slower moving political change and economic reforms

through the creation of free markets, public education, and parliaments. Through these measures, they felt more men could own property and enter politics. This approach meant that when liberals gained political power, they tended to use it conservatively. This led to frustration with the radical left. The radical left was a loose coalition of socialists and Democrats. They're different from the liberals because they favored universal male suffrage or the idea that all men should vote regardless of whether they own property or not. They also favored democratic governments over constitutional monarchies. Another difference between the liberals and the radicals was that the radicals placed greater emphasis on the growth and stabilization of the working class.

The radical faction sought to narrow the divide between labor and capital. Though specific methods proposed differed, this fundamental objective was widely held. Similar to liberals, radicals opposed the existing government and were increasingly frustrated with religious authority. However, a key difference was that radicals favored enacting these changes through revolution. The final group were the Nationalists. They wanted unity amongst peoples connected through shared languages, religion, and culture. Nationalists also tended to favor annexing territory, as well as appeals to patriotism. Despite government interference in efforts to maintain political control over the electoral process, political participation did increase in the years leading up to 1848. Nonetheless, people still

had to be creative in their political participation, expressing their beliefs through activities such as publishing newspapers, reading, and writing. Informal political groups formed, often meeting in secret, illegal societies were established, and political rallies were held during public celebrations to circumvent the law. It was in this way that politics, although limited, became more accessible for all levels of society. The first country to face revolution in 1848 was Italy, beginning with a local revolt in Sicily in January of 1848. In Italy, the revolution began as a Sicilian separatist movement. Minor reforms were gradually implemented to appease the revolutionaries.

This proved ineffective, and the king of two Sicilis, Ferdinand II, granted a new, more liberal constitution. The most notable example of the 1848 revolutions began in France. Like the rest of Europe, France was experiencing industrialization, which drastically reshaped its urban centers. This transformation was exacerbated by a severe food shortage. These issues culminated in a widespread outbreak of revolts across France, in which mill-class liberals, merchants, and factory workers banded together, erected barricades in the streets, and demanded that the king stepped down. They also drafted a new constitution which extended the right to vote to every man and freed enslaved people in all French territories.

Despite agreeing on their frustrations with the current government, the various political groups in France soon began to argue with themselves over which changes they wanted implemented. The middle class prioritized political change, seeking the right to be represented in government. The working class prioritized economic changes, wanting more reliable food housing. and work. The middle-class liberals often abandon the working class once the government addressed their own demands. This is because the middle class sought to avoid the more radical institutional changes, such as a Republican or socialist government that the working class desired. The division between the middle and working classes created an opportunity for monarchists and conservatives to prevail in elections. This shift in political power coincided with the

government's violent crackdown on protesters in June of 1840. resulting in a total casualty count exceeding 10,000 people. Ultimately, the 1848 French Revolution ended with the government destabilized and with Louis Napoleon Bonaparte III elected president in December. Louis Napoleon promised the middle class stability and political rights, but did nothing for workers. This decision proved costly, as Louis Napoleon III betrayed the middle class by staging a coup in 1851 and becoming emperor under the Second French Republic in 1852. The French Revolution of 1848 was critical in the spread of revolutionary ideas to other countries.

Once news that a revolution had broken out in France spread, revolutionaries in other cities and nations were inspired to do the same. Prominent examples of these uprisings occurred in territory under Austrian control. These movements tended to be nationalistic in origin, particularly in cases involving modern-day Hungary and Italy. Hungary craved separation from the Habsburg dynasty, whereas parts of the Italian peninsula, such as Milan and Venice, sought to expel Austrian troops and influence from the region.

Ultimately, all of these revolutions were unsuccessful, with attempts at separation crushed by the Austrian authorities. Nonetheless, some positive outcomes came from the revolutions of 1848. One of the most important outcomes was the end of serfdom. Serfdom was a system in which peasants were legally bound to a lord's land, required to provide labor or payments, and denied the freedom to move or to fully control their own lives. It was close to chattel slavery except people were tied to the land and whoever owned the land.

Serfs had few personal freedoms and essentially served their lords in exchange for basic food, protection, and housing. The decision to abolish serfdom in order. Austria helped move the country towards a more modern society. Without serfdom, industry expanded, and society moved towards a free labor market. The changed helped diffuse tensions, thereby preserving the monarchy's rule. Another country to experience revolution in 1848 was the German Confederation, an organization of 39 German-speaking states. The lower classes in Germany revolted due to starvation and were inspired by the French Revolution occurring in Paris.

In Germany, a series of loosely coordinated protests occurred in 1848, aiming to improve more liberal policies. However, the established power structure ultimately crushed these movements as well. Revolutionary fervor continued to spread across Europe with revolutions occurring in numerous other cities and states. Still, the ultimate result in almost every case was that the ruling class made a few concessions while remaining in almost absolute power. Despite so many people demanding change across Europe, the divide between middle-class liberals and radical workers is ultimately what led to their downfall. The weaknesses in the foundations of the revolution allowed elites and monarchs to exploit and capitalize on divisions within the revolutions to solidify their authority.

In the long term, the legacy of 1848 was actually profound. Serfdom was abolished across much of central Europe, permanently altering rural society. Constitutionalism, though suppressed, became harder to ignore and reemerged later in more durable forms. Nationalism, tested and failed in 1848, would later shape the unification of Germany and Italy in the following decades. Perhaps most importantly, the revolutions revealed both the possibilities and limits of popular uprising in an industrializing Europe. While not immediately successful, the revolutions of 1848 set the stage for the modernization reforms that would gradually capture the continent over the next century. The executive producer

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