1848 Revolutions

The Revolutions of 1848 have been described as the “greatest revolution of the century”1. From its mild beginnings in Palermo, Sicily in January 1848, it did not take long to spread across the rest of Europe (Britain and Russia were the only countries not to experience such revolutions). “In 1848 more states on the European continent were overcome by revolution than ever before and ever since”2. The Revolutions became more radical but after June 1848 these revolutionary events began to overlap with those of counterrevolutionary actions, thus enabling the old regimes to return to power. 1848 was described as “a sunny spring of the peoples abruptly interrupted by the winter of the princes”3.

The Great Mahele was an act proposed in 1848 allowing Hawaiian land to be privately owned, and the rest redistributed. The occurrence of this event not only affected Hawaiians back then, but still to this day impacts them. The King continued to divide land for the government and maka’ainana could get land for active labor. The king also shared his land between himself and 245 more ali’i; his land- “Crown Lands” and ali’i- “Konohiki Lands” (Mahele Notes). The Mahele of 1848 was a land division separated into 4 different categories: land belonged to the king, land belonged to the ali’i or chiefs, land that could be purchased by the foreigners who lived in Hawaii, and land worked by the commoners or maka’ainana. The Mahele was unjustified because

Just about any country that one can name has some history of civil unrest, class issues, rioting in the streets, and outright warfare. These patterns of behavior are common denominators for most civilization in the world. The names, faces, and places may change, but the motivations are generally the same, because of the need for change and the willingness to do whatever is necessary to achieve it. In contrast to the United States, which was in the process of freeing itself from British colonial rule, France was working to free itself from royal absolutism. This period is historically known as the French Revolution. Many scholars do not agree on the chronology of the French Revolution; some scholars suggest that the Revolution took place between 1789 to 1799 while others feel that it did not end until Napoleon lost power in 1815. To better understand the history of the French Revolution it is necessary to discuss the causes, major events, significant figures, and the outcomes associated with these political developments. Without this uprising, that changed the face of the entire country and influenced local political life in many countries in Europe, in all likelihood the France we know today would never have existed.

The Revolutions of 1848 During the year of 1848, a revolutionary tide broke out in Europe.

The Great Mahele of 1848, the great revolution of land in Hawaii, was when King Kamehameha III divided the land into different portions. To be more specific, he split the land into thirds, one belonging to king, another to the ali’i, and the third was to the maka’ainana, or the commoners. This event was a result of the foreigners pushing the Hawaiians to think their way, which is gaining control over land would be better and make the Hawaiians become more responsible citizens. King Kamehameha III was afraid of the foreigners trying to take over by force so he created this revolution as a solution to be able to let the foreigners get what they want, while also helping the Hawaiians get some land, too (Cachola). Although the Mahele intended to satisfy the foreigners while also helping the Hawaiians, it turned out to become unjustified because the maka’ainana lacked knowledge and experience with new laws, the Hawaiians didn’t have money, and the maka’ainana didn’t have food because the konohiki withheld the resources.

Therefore, they strategically persuaded European powers to fight against Austria…Italy provoked Austria into war Cavour then used Garibaldi’s popular appeal to his benefit. “When Garibaldi and Emmanuel rode through Naples to cheering crowds, they symbolically sealed the union of north and south, of monarch and people.” (McKay, 837) Italy was now unified.

Europe underwent a wave of revolutions during the 19th century. This series of political upheavals was known as the Revolutions of 1848. The Revolutions of 1848 were a series of republican revolts against European monarchies. The revolutions began in Italy, in January 1848, and eventually spread to the rest of Europe. The Revolutions of 1848 were significant because they were the most widespread and violent political movements of Europe in the 19th century. Ultimately, the ideas of conservatism, liberalism, and nationalism impacted the Revolutions of 1848.

3. In the mid-nineteenth century, Italy wasn’t unified. Italy was made up of independent states that nationalist wanted unified, but failed. Mazzini was “the most important nationalist leader in Europe and brought new fervor to the cause” (690). Mazzini desperately wanted Italy to be united and it finally was and became the Italian Republic. In 1860, the country shaped boot became a nation-state. After the war with Austria, “the forces of romantic republican nationalism compelled Cavour to pursue the complete unification of northern and southern Italy” (691).

In Hawaii, changes were going by fast as the population of the foreigners increasing and land being in demand, so because of this, the Great Mahele of 1848 occurred also known as the Great Land Division. King Kamehameha III originally divided the land between three groups, kings, ali’i, and the makaainana. This happened because King Kamehameha III didn't want the foreigners to take the land by force (Borreca). The land later on was divided into even more groups and the foreigners were interested in the land. They would take advantage by starting currency in Hawaii, and because of this, most of the Hawaiians had a hard time or struggled to survive (Cachola). The Great Mahele of 1848 was unjustified because the land was taken away by foreigners,

The date is December 20, 1851. Recent commotion has caused the uprising for women’s rights. As most of you are aware, the rights of women are very limited in the colonies. The colonies think that that the ideal woman is submissive; her job is to be a meek, obedient, loving wife who is totally subservient to the men around her. However, I am in full support of the movement that things must change. Women are created by the same God that men were, thus there rights shall be the same. We are a new nation, the tyranny of King George shall no longer set the standards by how we run our economy. Broad social and economic changes including the opening of the market and a decline in birthrate have opened job positions for women to work. The first amendment

Over the course of history different revolutions have come and gone, bringing along promises of social, economic, and political change. However, the price of change isn 't always smooth and effortless. Revolution doesn 't bring change at the blink of an eye, it takes time for the achievements of a revolution to come to full fruition. It is almost inevitable that a revolution will have its failures along the way, but these failures don 't overshadow the success of a revolution. It is not until the common good is met that a revolution is deemed successful. When I talk about the common good, I mean that which benefits society as a whole rather than an individual or a minority. The waves of revolution and presidents in Mexico from 1910 to 1946 aimed at achieving the common good, and some presidents succeeded more than others. This can be anything from social services such as free health care and education, to freedom of speech and free elections. When it comes to quantifying the success of a revolution, one must keep in mind the larger scope, not whether a revolution brings immediate change but rather change felt down the road. The most important outcome of a revolution is identifying whether or not it brings forth change. Did the waves of revolution bring change to Mexico or was this change just a mere illusion?

They gained little attention and may have fizzled out but for the Catholic Church, they had been annoyed at the privileges given to protestants and wanted an end to the revolutionary committee. Tension had been rising slowly among the leaders of the revolution, they had started radicalism and now it had grown stronger and threatened even their own position. So in a quest to oversee this they went into talks with Louis xvi, when nothing could be gained from this, Louis felt it was time to flea and with his anti-revolutionary army he was going to gain back his power just as it had been taken from him. Louis failed miserably and was caught, this arose tension in Europe as the end to a monarchy in one country could spell disaster in other countries raising ideas. Louis was however restored to the throne under the revolutionaries' terms, however this threat from Europe would not go away and war with France was imminent. Revolutionary ideology would have to be dealt with. European monarchs did not want their stature threatened.

The Italian and German revolutions reacted similarly to the failed revolutions in 1848. This reaction caused both revolutions to take analogous paths and have similar results. The revolutions after 1848 gained more structure and shape and took more conservative paths to revolution. Revolutions by their nature are looking to cause radical change whereas conservatism looks to preserve the past. These “conservative revolutions” differed however with their “ideals” and their foreign policy.

A people that are repressed and have a strong national identity are prone to violent and unpredictable revolutions and uprisings. We see examples of that precept in the French Revolution and the tumultuous republics that followed in the aftermath of Emperor Napoleon.

However, it was not just the power of Austria and it’s army which contributed to the failures of the revolutions, but the revolutionaries also contributed to their own downfall. Despite wanting change in Italy, there were numerous divisions between the revolutionaries such as the liberals and nationalists having different aims and incompetence in the face of Austria. Such divisions not only affected morale but had physical impacts such as in the battle of Custoza where the Papal States and Naples withdrew their troops in favour of their own interests.