&lt;p&gt;David and Helen talk to historian Chris Clark about the 1848 revolutions and what they teach us about political change. What explains the contagiousness of the revolutionary moment?&amp;nbsp;Is it possible to combine parliamentary reform with street politics?&amp;nbsp;Where does counter-revolution get its power? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;The revolutions of 1848 started with a small civil war in Switzerland in 1847.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;In 1848, there was a cascade of simultaneous uprisings across the continent. There were the spring revolutions; then in the summer, the liberal and conservative wings began to fight each other.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;In the autumn, counter revolutions began in earnest. But the left revived itself, launching revolution 2.0. Finally, in the summer of 1849, the counter revolution largely prevailed.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;These were revolutions about political and social order, but also about national order.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;The Hungarians, for example, declared independence from Vienna and fought not just against the Austrians but against a range of other nationalities.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;What accounts for the simultaneity of these revolutions?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;A continent-wide socio-economic crisis began with an agrarian crisis in 1845. Food became much more expensive at a time when people spent most of their money on food.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The agrarian crisis then triggered a downturn in trade and consumption.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Why wasn’t there a revolution in Britain?&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;One reason is that the country was so efficiently policed.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Another is that Britain was able to export potentially problematic people to the colonies.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The imperial economy also allowed them to outsource price-shock problems.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The forces of counterrevolution were primarily those of monarchism and money.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Europe already had an order, the order of 1815; monarchs wanted to restore it.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Revolutions are spontaneous, but counterrevolutionaries can bide their time strategically.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The liberal great powers didn’t support the revolutions, but the conservative ones supported the counter revolutions.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;You can also read this as the death throes of the counterrevolutionary order. They won’t make common cause again.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The revolutions of 1848 combined radical street politics with legislative politics. The institutional side of the revolution seemed to win.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Constitutions proliferated after 1848.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The tense relationship between the street and representative processes is at the core of what these revolutions were about.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=782P0YcOOOQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Chris’ lecture on the 1848 revolutions for the LRB&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v41/n05/christopher-clark/why-should-we-think-about-the-revolutions-of-1848-now" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;And his LRB essay&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.talkingpoliticspodcast.com/blog/2021/322-why-constitutions-matter" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;From our archives… Why Constitutions Matter with Linda Colley&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00yqvqt" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;In Our Time on the Taiping Rebellion&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://play.acast.com/s/history-of-ideas/marxandengelsonrevolution" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Our History of Ideas series… Marx and Engels on Revolution&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://play.acast.com/s/history-of-ideas/luxemburgonrevolution" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;And Rosa Luxemburg on Revolution&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.talkingpoliticspodcast.com/blog/2019/182-talking-politics-guide-to-european-union-before-the-eu" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;The TP guide to… European Union before the EU&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'&gt; See &lt;a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'&gt;acast.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; for privacy and opt-out information.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Become a member at &lt;a target="_blank" rel="payment" href="https://plus.acast.com/s/talkingpolitics"&gt;https://plus.acast.com/s/talkingpolitics&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

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1848 and All That

TALKING POLITICS