Conclusions

Abstract

The processes of political response within a changing social environment were extremely complex. Diverse communities, and social and cultural groups developed what they assumed to be appropriate political styles. From the historian’s point of view it would be a gross over-simplification to read the history of 1848 in terms simply of class conflict, although this was rarely absent. Thus in the early stages of the various revolutions while members of the middle classes demanded political representation, workers and peasants sought, above all else, economic security. Subsequently many members of all of these groups came to desire a return to ‘normal’ in the hope that order would restore prosperity. This strengthened the capacity for reaction of established elites. At the same time other members of these groups continued to oppose political reaction until the costs of resistance became too high. Nationalism, although far less intense than it would become, was another sentiment cutting across social divisions.