http://www.tomrichey.net In the final segment of my lecture series on the Revolutions of 1848, I discuss why there was no violent revolutionary activity in Britain or Russia and also discuss the legacies of the Revolutions of 1848. In the mid-19th century, the British Parliament showed a modest openness to reform that was un-matched by the governments on the continent. Although the Chartist movement peaked in the 1840s, it never reached the point of threatening the viability of the government. Russia was another story. While the British held off revolution by passing modest reform legislation, Nicholas I of Russia so violently repressed the Decembrist Revolt in 1825 that the climate was not ripe for revolution even twenty years later. Russia would have its revolution in due time. While the Revolutions of 1848 were short-term failures, they heavily influenced the unifications of Germany and Italy. Pragmatists took over these efforts and the so-called "Age of Metternich" yielded to the Age of Bismarck. Realpolitik - not consensus - would be the order of the day for European foreign policy in the late 19th century. This is the last segment of my series on the Revolutions of 1848. Check out the whole thing here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfzs_X6OQBOxoltdJPdcw_vQlZqnDSwTl

• published: 14 Jun 2015
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