Teacher | Student
Originally produced in: Deutschland
Also available in: en

Contents

  1. A painting: Street Battle in the Rue Soufflot, painting by Horace Vernet, 1848 Lithograph: Street Battle by the Alexanderplatz in Berlin, 1848. [PNG and JPG Images]
  2. A leaflet: Demands of the People of Baden, 1847 Alexis de Tocqueville, Recollections, 1850. [Text]
  3. A map: “Geographical and Chronological Course of the Revolutions”. Excerpt from: H.-G. Haupt/ D. Langewiesche, Die Revolution in Europe. [Text and JPG Image]

Curricular level

Grade 8 Gymnasium/ Realschule: the Concept of Nation and Wars of Liberation, the Congress of Vienna: the Realignment of Europe and the German Confederation, Restoration, the Liberal and National Movement, the Revolution of 1848/49 in the Context of the Occurrences in Bavaria. Deutschland

Grade 8 Hauptschule: National Unity. Deutschland

  • 1848: “Bottom-Up” Attempt at Unity.
  • 1871: “Top-Down” Attempt at Unity – The German Empire.

Abstract

In the year 1848, upheavals against the prevailing political system or against the established social conditions were not a national, but a European phenomenon, which affected numerous countries and dynasties of Europe. Beginning with the February revolution in France, upheavals also took place in the states of the German Confederation, in the Habsburg Empire and in Poland. Nonetheless, there were different causes for each revolution, so that one cannot speak of one European revolution of 1848.

In France, it was the civic-democratic February revolution that ended the rule of the “Citizen King”, Louis Philippe. It was caused, first and foremost, by the restriction of civic rights by means of the census suffrage and the social plight of workers, which led to an uprising and, finally, to the proclamation of the French Second Republic.

In the German states, the restoration and the surveillance system of Metternich could not, in the long run, suppress the wishes for freedom of opinion, more rights to political participation and the abolition of Kleinstaaterei, which had become overwhelming. Economic crises, unemployment and famine caused by crop failures in the years 1845-1847 contributed to the growing discontent.

Conceptual Objectives

  • The students are to know how to classify the events of the years 1848/49 chronologically, geographically and according to their historical context..
  • The students are to know the causes, events and effects of the revolutions, particularly those in France and the German states.
  • The students are to be able to identify the European dimension of the Revolution and discern it from the national causes.

Methodological Objectives and Skills

  • Analyzing, interpreting and comparing pictures.
  • Analyzing, interpreting and comparing historical sources.
  • Recognizing of relationships between social, political and technical (with respect to media and communication) aspects of the revolutions.

Suggestion of Activities

Introduction with a provocative thesis: only in 1848, did the Germans want to fight for the political rights the French had already gained in 1789.

Picture analysis: The students are to compare the pictures with one another and name the differences and similarities, which are to be written down on the blackboard. Then, without a direct guidance of the teacher, the students are to draw conclusions on the situation in Paris and Berlin by themselves.

Comparison of texts: Here, the students are to realize the difference between the political and the social causes of the respective scripture. In order to elaborate on the topic, the students should be divided in two groups (the Germans and the French), who discuss their demands and the reasons for these.

Map: Additionaly, pamphlets can be used, on the basis of which the chronological order of events in the countries and the dispersal of information at the time can be reconstructed.

Suggestion of Evaluation

In order to evaluate the knowledge of the students, one should be guided by central questions aligned with the teaching aims:

  • Do the students know what the particular causes of uprisings in respective countries were?
  • Can the chronological parallels be distinguished from the specific reasons in each case (political, social, national)?
  • Are the students conscious that the rights demanded and fought for are essential to the political systems of Western democracies at the present time?