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Central America

In 1823, Central America broke away from Mexico, and the United Provinces of Central America was established. The union was later dissolved, and Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Costa Rica became independent republics.

The German States

Rioting in Berlin in 1848 forced the Prussian king Frederick William IV to promise a new constitution. At the same time, delegates from the German states gathered at the Frankfurt Assembly to discuss plans to unite the German states into a single, democratic state. The delegates selected Frederick William IV to be emperor of the united German nation, but he rejected the plan and dissolved the assembly.

Spanish South America

Wars for independence were also launched in Spanish South America under the leadership of revolutionaries such as Simón Bolívar, José de San Martín, and Francisco de Miranda. Between 1810 to 1816, the areas of present-day Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay achieved their independence from Spain. By 1825, the entirety of Spanish South America had gained its independence. Creole republics were established in the region.

Haiti

An independence movement in the Caribbean transformed the French colony of Saint Domingue into the independent nation of Haiti. St. Domingue had been established as a slave colony. By 1789, the number of enslaved persons living there exceeded half a million. The ruling white landowners passed several laws that restricted the rights of the slaves. Consequently, frequent conflicts arose between the two groups. Many slaves ran away. They then made raids against the sugar and coffee plantations. Vincent Oge, a wealthy, free black businessman, insisted on the right to vote in 1791. When he was denied this basic right, he rebelled. He was quickly captured and executed. His brutal death set off a series of riots. A number of plantations were burned, and their owners killed. One leader emerged in the fight against the French, Toussaint L'Ouverture. He managed to gain control of St. Domingue in 1797. Shortly after, when the British tried to seize the island as part of their war with France, L'Ouverture defeated them. After he declared himself governor, Napoleon Bonaparte sent troops to the island. L'Ouverture was promised his freedom if he surrendered to the French, which he did in 1802. Instead, the French had him arrested and he spent the rest of his life in a French prison. A third man, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, took a stand against the French and won the colony's independence in 1804. The name of the new country became Haiti. The new government had to pay the plantation owners a great deal of money to cover their land losses.

End of the Monarchy

Before writing its constitution, the National Assembly passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen in August 1789. The first draft of the declaration was written by Marquis de Lafayette and is modeled on the American Declaration of Independence. The document, which Louis XVI refused to sign, declared: "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights"; Natural rights include "liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression"; Freedom of speech, press, and religion; People are entitled to the rights of self-government; Every man has the right to hold public office; Taxes should be levied according to the ability to pay. In June 1791, the National Assembly released its constitution to the public. The constitution limited the powers of the monarchy and called for an elected legislative assembly. The king would only be allowed to delay legislation, not veto it. The legislative assembly elected under the new constitution began on October 1, 1791 and lasted less than a year. Different factions within the assembly disagreed about how the Revolution would move forward. Conservatives believed that the Revolution had gone too far. Others favored moderate reform. Radicals wanted to see the Revolution progress further with the overthrow of the monarchy. The radicals prevailed and created a new elected legislative body called the National Convention. In September 1792, the Convention abolished the monarchy and established a republic, a form of representative government. Louis XVI was put on trial and found guilty of treason. Louis was executed in January 1793 by guillotine.

Brazil

Brazil's transition to independence was peaceful. Brazil was a Portuguese colony in South America. When Napoleon Bonaparte's forces invaded Portugal, the royal family escaped to Brazil. By 1815, Napoleon had been defeated in Europe and the Portuguese monarch could return home. His son, Pedro, stayed in Brazil. The independence movements in Spanish South America had influenced calls for independence in Brazil. In 1822, Pedro declared Brazil's independence. Brazil remained a monarchy until 1889 when a republic was established.

Czarist Russia

During the Age of Revolutions, Russia developed in isolation from the rest of Europe. Although feudalism had disappeared in Europe, Russia maintained its feudal economy. Serfs were not set free until 1861. Efforts toward industrialization were not made until the end of the nineteenth century. Even then, a large urban working class did not develop. In 1900, ninety percent of the population belonged to the peasantry, and most were illiterate. The Russian Empire covered a sixth of the world's land surface and was comprised of a multi-ethnic population that included Slavic peoples, non-Slavic Europeans, and Turkic Muslims. Russian rulers accepted Eastern Orthodox Christianity and took the title of czar. The czars were autocratic rulers, meaning they had complete authority; there were no political parties or local governments. To eliminate opposition to their rule, czars relied on strict censorship and a secret police force, and passports were required to travel around the country. In 1825, a group of former army officers led an anti-czarist revolt known as the Decembrist Revolt. The army officers had been strongly influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution while fighting against Napoleon Bonaparte's forces. The officers wanted to end Russia's autocratic rule and establish a constitutional monarchy. Czar Nicholas I, of the Romanov dynasty, put down the uprising and worked to eliminate the spread of revolutionary ideas from Western Europe. Suspected dissenters were exiled to Siberia.

Revolutions in France

Following Napoleon Bonaparte's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, the European monarchs gathered together in Vienna, Austria, in 1815, to confirm the restoration of the French monarchy with Louis XVIII as king. The European monarchs did not want to see any new outbreaks of revolution. However, the revolutionary spirit unleashed by the French Revolution could not be contained. Once again, France took the lead. In 1824, Louis XVIII died and his brother, Charles X, took the throne. Charles adopted an absolutist regime, meaning he held unlimited power. In 1830 Charles suspended the legislature, censored the press, and limited suffrage. In response, the French people took to the streets and were able to gain control of Paris. In what is known as the July Revolution, Charles fled to England and Louis Philippe, the cousin of Charles, became king of France. The French people had high hopes for Louis Philippe. He flew the flag of the French Revolution and had served in the army during the years of the first French Republic. But Louis did not want to broaden voting rights (during this time, only one man in thirty was eligible to vote), and many accused his government of being corrupt. At the same time, an economic depression and food shortages were affecting France as well as the rest of Europe. Such conditions led to a street protest in February 1848. The protest forced Louis to abdicate. After a shaky start, the Constituent Assembly wrote a new constitution and called for a republic to be established. An election was held to select the president of the new republic. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon's nephew, won the election in December 1848. Like his uncle, Louis Napoleon declared himself emperor and seized control of France, ending the republic.

Prelude to Revolution

In the late 1700s, discontent swept through France like a fire. The government was in a deep financial crisis. The lavish spending of the royal court, the Seven Years' War, and the aid given to help finance the American Revolution had left the government in debt. To pay for these expenses, the French government had borrowed vast amounts of money and owed a huge sum in interest. France's taxation system could not generate enough money to alleviate the financial crisis so in May 1789, Louis XVI was forced to call a meeting of the Estates General to address the tax system. The Estates General was an assembly comprised of delegates representing the three estates. Each estate was asked to bring cahiers de doléances, or a list of grievances, with them to the meeting in Versailles. The cahiers revealed much discontent with the old social order. But before anything could be decided, the issue of voting was brought up. In the past, each estate was granted one vote and the First and Second estates had always outvoted the third. But this time, the Third Estate demanded voting by individual head. When this was rejected by the monarch, the Third Estate declared themselves to be the true representatives of the French people and organized themselves into a National Assembly. The National Assembly invited members of the other estates to join them in writing a constitution.Rumor quickly spread that Louis XVI would dissolve the National Assembly. Royal troops had been brought to Paris and Versailles where the representatives were meeting. This caused the people of Paris to riot on July 14, 1789, resulting in the storming and capture of the Bastille, the hated royal political prison, which was later destroyed. Peasants in the provinces followed the lead of the Parisians and stormed the chateaus of their landlords. When Louis XVI was told about the events, he asked, "Is it a revolt"? A noble responded, "No. It is a revolution."

Mexico

Like the other colonies in Latin America, Mexico had a diverse society comprised of people from different cultures and backgrounds. Mexico was a colony of Spain and had a racial hierarchy. At the top were peninsulares, those living in Mexico that had been born in Spain. Peninsulares made up the smallest segment of the population. But as the privileged class, the peninsulares held the highest positions in the colonial administration and the Catholic Church. After the peninsulares, Creoles held the next position in the hierarchy. Creoles were persons of European descent who were born in the Americas. Creoles did not receive high positions in the government or church and, as a result, there was much tension between the Creoles and peninsulares. Below the Creoles, were the people of mixed races, Africans, and the native population, or indios. Mestizos were people of mixed European and indigenous descent. Mulattoes were those of mixed African and European descent. This hierarchy was not fixed, however. Mestizos, mulattoes, and indios who were wealthy could claim Creole status and receive the social benefits associated with it. Later on, the colonial government required that these people purchase Creole status. Members of the Catholic Church and the military also had their own special privileges. The Church and the military each had their own court system and did not have to pay taxes. Within Mexico's diverse society, opposition to the Spanish crown started to build, and many Mexicans supported the idea of independence. In 1808, the French military officer Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Spain, forcing the Spanish monarch to abdicate. Napoleon gave the Spanish crown to his brother Joseph. Mexico's colonial population saw this development in Europe as their opportunity to rise up against the Spanish. On September 16, 1810, a Creole parish priest named Miguel Hidalgo in the town of Dolores issued his "Grito de Dolores" calling for Mexico's independence as well as racial and social equality. Father Hidalgo received much support from the peasantry, and an insurgency against the Spanish began. However, the rebels under Hidalgo's leadership were defeated. Hidalgo himself fled to the north but was captured by the Royalist army. He was executed on July 31, 1811. After Hidalgo's death, the leadership of the insurgency passed to José María Morelos, a mestizo priest. Morelos had fought alongside Hidalgo. Morelos was a good military commander, but his forces were also defeated by the Royalist army. Morelos was captured and executed in 1815. After that, Vicente Guerrero became the leader of the rebels. The insurgency continued until 1821, when a Creole Royalist general named Agustín Iturbide switched allegiances and made a pact with Guerrero to join forces to ensure Mexico's independence. Iturbide's "Plan de Iguala" set up certain guarantees: Mexico would become an independent nation with a constitutional monarchy; the crown would be offered to a European monarch; the Catholic Church would retain its privileges, and Catholicism would be preserved as the state religion; and Creoles would be given the same rights and privileges as peninsulares. On September 28, 1821, Mexico declared its independence from Spain. Iturbide became the provisional leader, but he desired greater power and declared himself emperor in 1822. Iturbide was overthrown the following year. In 1824, a constitution was written, and the first Mexican Republic was established. The republic would last until 1833. This time period is marked by much instability as conservatives sought to preserve colonial institutions and radical liberals pushed to abolish the privileges of the military and the Catholic Church.

The Springtime of Peoples

News of the events in France spread quickly and sparked revolts and revolutions all across Europe. This wave of revolutions is known as the Springtime of Peoples. Although the revolution in France strongly influenced these revolts, discontent across Europe had been building up for years. Revolutionaries sought representative assemblies, constitutions, freedom of the press, and extended suffrage. Let's take a closer look at the revolutions that occurred in the Austrian Empire, Germany, and Italy during this time.

The Crimean War

Nicholas's son, Alexander II, became czar in 1855 in the middle of a conflict known as the Crimean War between Russia and the allied forces of Great Britain, France, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire. The war broke out when France and Russia each claimed to be the nation who protected Christian interests in the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman ruler waffled between the two nations, claiming first one and then the other as the rightful protector. The British got involved because they were concerned about the Russians taking over the region of the Black Sea. The Sardinians entered the war in the hopes that their assistance would win support from Britain and France for the idea of a united Italy. The allied forces defeated the Russians in 1856. The defeat revealed Russia's weaknesses and inefficient military.After Russia's humiliating loss in the Crimean War, many Russians demanded change. Alexander II enacted several reforms but after he was assassinated in 1881, his son Alexander III returned to autocratic rule. Alexander III began a program of Russification targeted toward the empire's non-Russian population. The Russian language was emphasized as well as adherence to the Russian Orthodox Church. Muslims and Jews were persecuted for their beliefs, and a rebellion broke out in Poland in opposition to the czar's program. Alexander III also began a program of economic development and with it, Russia finally began to industrialize. Former serfs provided the labor force needed during the years of industrialization. Pig iron and coal output increased. Railroads, financed by foreign loans, were constructed and linked mines to the urban factories. The Trans-Siberian Railway covered a distance of five thousand miles from Eastern Europe to the Pacific.

Old Regime France

On the eve of the French Revolution, France was the wealthiest and most powerful nation in Europe. She was the center of the arts and sciences and French culture was imitated across the Western world. France had an absolute monarchy, meaning the king, Louis XVI, held unlimited power. Louis lived in a luxurious palace at Versailles, which became a symbol of the extravagance of the royal court. The French population was divided into three classes, known as estates. The clergy comprised the First Estate and the nobility comprised the Second Estate. The middle class and peasantry, the vast majority of the population, belonged to the Third Estate. Although the clergy and nobility owned the most land, their privileged status allowed them to be exempt from taxes.

The Austrian Empire

The Austrian Empire was a multi-ethnic empire comprised of Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary. Austria's Prince Clemens von Metternich was the chief minister of the Habsburg monarchy. When revolts broke out in Vienna, the Austrian capital, Metternich was forced to resign, and he fled the city in disguise. At the same time, the Hungarians revolted and demanded to be separated from the empire. The Czechs also demanded their own state in Bohemia. However, within a year, the Austrian army was able to regain control of the empire and the revolts in Hungary and Bohemia were suppressed.

The Reign of Terror

The Convention was threatened by those who opposed the Revolution. As a result of the counterrevolution, the Convention established the Committee of Public Safety to eliminate dissenters. A lawyer and politician named Maximilien Robespierre became the leader of the committee. From 1793 to 1794, hundreds of thousands of presumed opponents were jailed and about eighteen thousand people were executed for various "crimes" against the government. For these reasons, this time period is called the Reign of Terror. Before long, the Convention turned against the committee. Robespierre and other radicals were executed by guillotine. The French people did not want to see the continuation of the radical government either. So a new constitution was written, and a five-man executive body—called the Directory—was established.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The Directory held power from 1795 to 1799 but it was weak and could not bring stability to France. With the help of a military officer named Napoleon Bonaparte, the Directory was overthrown and a three-man Consulate was established. Napoleon was named first consul for life in 1802 and he declared himself emperor of France in 1804. Napoleon immediately launched military conquests across Europe. In time, Napoleon created an empire that included Spain, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, and much of Germany, Poland, Croatia, and Slovenia. In these areas, Napoleon established republics. Each had its own constitution, an elected legislature, and a declaration of rights. Napoleon also introduced a new law code, the Napoleonic Code, in 1804. The code reflected many of the ideas of the French Revolution including equality before the law and religious freedom. However, under the Napoleonic Code, women were not granted the rights of citizenship and male heads of household were given complete authority over their wives and children. The law code also ended the practice of primogeniture in which all family property is inherited by the eldest son. The law code stated that family inheritances were to be divided among all children. European monarchs feared that the idea of representative government in Europe would spread. So in 1814, Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, and Russia invaded France. The invasion forced Napoleon to step down from power, and he was exiled to an island in the Mediterranean called Elba. Louis XVIII, the brother of Louis XVI, was named king of France. But with popular support, Napoleon returned one year later to lead the French against the European forces. Napoleon's final defeat came in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo. He was exiled again and died in 1821. Following Napoleon's defeat, the European monarchs gathered together to confirm the restoration of the French monarchy. The old French boundaries were put back into place, and Napoleon's republics were dissolved.

The 1905 Revolution

While industrialization was transforming the Russian economy, the autocracy continued to face opposition. In 1905, a peaceful protest against the regime turned violent when guards at the czar's palace in St. Petersburg opened fire on the protesters. Hundreds were killed. The massacre became known as Bloody Sunday. Strikes and demonstrations across Russia followed. Czar Nicolas II, son of Alexander III, was forced to make changes. An elected legislature called the Duma was formed. No law could go into effect without its approval. The formation of political parties was also allowed. With the formation of the Duma, the Russian people were a step closer toward popular representation in government. However, the Duma held little power. The czar had the authority to veto its acts and dissolve it. In fact, the First Duma was dissolved after seventy-three days. Political opposition to the czar continued, but it would take another revolution in 1917 to finally bring an end to czarist Russia.