The Revolutions of 1830 and 1848/49

Progress towards constitutional rule was very slow and occurred in three waves. The first wave, in the immediate aftermath of the founding of the German Confederation, brought constitutional rule to the southern states of Baden, Bavaria, Württemberg, a few central German states including Nassau, and several of the smaller Thuringian states. The second wave towards constitutional rule followed in the 1830s, when populations in central German states such as Saxony revolted and pressed their rulers to introduce constitutions. The third wave affected all German states in the revolutions of 1848/49, which led to the introduction of constitutional rule in Germany’s North. And while monarchical forces were able to regain much of the political space lost in the revolution, monarchists were unable to completely roll back liberalization of political life. The suppression of liberalism in the aftermath of the revolution caused a large exodus of German liberals such as Friedrich Hecker, Carl Schurz, and August Willich who found their new home in the United States where they continued their fight for freedom and democracy by joining the Union in the American Civil War.