A Survey?

The past week our class was busy working on mini surveys for the class to take.  Each group had a specific topic or event and surveys were created for them through an app called Survey Monkey.  Our main goal was to answer the essential question: Were the revolutions of 1830 and 1848 really failures as many historians have concluded?  My topic was the Frankfurt Assembly in 1848.  We were given general information about the even and also multiple primary sources.  While we read the introduction summary, we kept note of the country, date, goals, opponents, outcomes and whether it was a success or failure.  For every primary source, we gathered evidence and also labeled whether they were related to goals, opponents, or outcomes.  We also highlighted significant quotes and included sourcing information.  Everyone in the class took the surveys and we analyzed the scores that we received. 

Survey Results 

(To view our survey, click here)

The Frankfurt assembly was a group of middle class men who wanted to create a constitutional monarchy in Germany.  The people demanded for national unity and liberal reforms.  During the year of 1848 men debated endlessly on such topics as whether the new Germany should be a republic or a monarchy, and whether or not to include Austria in a united German state.  The assembly presented their offer to King of Prussia, Fredrick William IV.  The King rejected the offer though because the offer came from common people and not from the German princes.  B.S. Berendsohn of Hamburg claimed that, “the king made it perfectly clear that he had no intention of allowing his God-given rule to be diminished by a piece of paper, namely a constitution."  The middle class men revolted and rallied, but they were dissolved under the threat from the Prussian military.  Many people were killed, went to prison, and thousands fled their homeland and immigrated to other countries like the United States where there was promise of a democratic government and economic opportunity. 

Overall, most of the revolutions ended in a partial or complete failure; none of them were successful.  The Decembrist revolution in 1825 was a complete failure because Czar Nicholas I moved too quickly to crush the rebel soldiers and he ended up fired his on his own people.  The 1830 revolutions of France wasn’t a complete failure.  In fact, it was almost a success.  They ended up with the “citizen king” who, at least in the beginning fought for the people.  The King’s policies favored the citizens.  In Hungary 1948, when many Budapest rebels fought for an independent government, they were squashed.  People were imprisoned, executed, or forced into exile.  Not all of the revolutions were a failure, but a lot were.  I think even though many of them failed, they inspired hope for the future.