Chapter 31

On the morning of the eventful 22d of February, the Parisian populace congregated by thousands near the Madeleine and the Rue Royale, shouting "Vive la reforme; a bas les ministres!" and singing the "Marseillaise." No troops made their appearance; but encounters occurred at several points between the mob and the municipal guards. Still the day passed over without serious hostilities. On the next day, the National Guards of Paris were called out. Their cry, as they marched through the different quarters of the city, was "Vive la reforme!" This emboldened the leaders of the revolutionists. The members of the secret societies flew to arms; and in the skirmishes which followed between the populace and the regular troops, the National Guard everywhere interfered in favor of the former. Thus confronted, officers and soldiers hesitated to commit a general assault upon their fellow citizens. They allowed themselves to be reduced to inaction. The insurrection thus triumphed almost without actual strife.

[Sidenote: Fall of Guizot's Ministry]

[Sidenote: Barricades erected]

[Sidenote: Thiers' manifesto]

[Sidenote: The last stroke]

[Sidenote: Louis Philippe succumbs]

The King at length became acquainted with the true situation. In the afternoon of the 23d, Guizot tendered his resignation, which was promptly accepted, and published as an act of satisfaction on the part of the King to the demands of the people. Count Mole was charged with the formation of a new Ministry. It was now generally expected that tranquillity would be at once restored. But late at night the detachment of troops posted at the Office of Foreign Affairs was attacked by a band of rioters. The commanding officer ordered them to fire, and several persons in the crowd were shot down. Their dead bodies were paraded through the city. This spectacle raised the indignation of the multitude to the highest pitch. Fresh barricades were erected in all the most populous quarters of the city, and the soldiers, stupefied and panic-struck, renounced all further opposition to the revolt. The King now named Marshal Bugeaud to the supreme command of the whole military force at Paris. Mole having declined the task of constructing a Ministry, the King summoned Thiers to the head of affairs. This statesman, in conjunction with Odillon-Barrot, immediately issued a proclamation announcing their appointment as Ministers, and stating that orders had been given to the troops to withdraw and abandon the contest. This gave the last blow to the monarchy of Louis Philippe. Marshal Bugeaud resigned his command. The soldiers quitted their ranks, giving up arms and ammunition to the insurgents. The National Guard openly joined the masses of the people and marched with them upon the Tuileries. The catastrophe was now inevitable. Louis Philippe, feeling that all was lost, signed an act of abdication in favor of his grandson the Comte de Paris, and withdrew to St. Cloud.

[Sidenote: Mob invades the Chamber]

An attempt was made to obtain the recognition of the Duchess of Orleans as regent, and thus to preserve the throne to the heir of Louis Philippe, according to the terms of his abdication. The Duchess went to the Chamber of Deputies, holding by the hand her sons the Comte de Paris and the Duc de Chartres. They took their seats in front of the tribune. More than one member spoke earnestly in favor of the regency. In the midst of the debate the Chamber was invaded by a tumultuous throng of armed men. One of them was Arnold Boecklin, the Swiss artist, who subsequently rose to highest rank among the painters of the Nineteenth Century. Marie, a violent Republican, ascending the tribune, announced that the first duty of the Legislature was to appoint a strong provisional government capable of re-establishing public confidence and order. Cremieux, Ledru-Rollin and Lamartine in turn insisted on a new government and constitution to be sanctioned by the sovereign people. The proposition was hailed with tumultuous acclamations. The Duchess of Orleans and her children retired precipitately.

[Sidenote: Provisional Government formed]

[Sidenote: Fulsome promises]

[Sidenote: Proclamation of French Republic]

The Republicans remained masters of the field. A provisional government was forthwith nominated. It included the poet Lamartine, Ledru-Rollin, Garnier-Pages and Arago. While the mob was searching the Hotel de Ville these men conferred in a small out-of-the-way chamber behind locked doors. Louis Blanc, the great socialistic writer, and one Albert, a locksmith, were added to the provisional government. Every half hour Lamartine had to confront some new crowd of rioters preferring fresh claims. The confusion lasted several days. Throughout this time more barricades were thrown up, until the government gained a breathing space by a promise to distribute one million francs among the laboring men. Louis Blanc and Ledru-Rollin signed another decree whereby they pledged the government to furnish every Frenchman with work. With the help of National Guardsmen, and an organized body of students, Caussidiere, the new police prefect, succeeded at last in keeping the mob out of the Hotel de Ville and the Palais Bourbon. On February 27, the Republic was formally proclaimed from the Place de la Bastille. The barricades were levelled and the crowds that had surged through the streets of Paris gradually dispersed. Throughout France the Republic was accepted without serious opposition.

[Sidenote: Flight of royal family]

For a while it was feared that Louis Philippe's sons in Algiers, the Duke d'Aumale and Prince de Joinville, who commanded the French army and navy, disposing of more than a hundred thousand men, might make a stroke on their father's behalf. This hope of the Royalists was doomed to disappointment. Both princes resigned their command, to be succeeded by General Cavignac, who took charge of the forces in the name of the French Republic. The other members of the dynasty accomplished their escape from France amid many curious adventures. After leaving Paris the party separated so as to avoid suspicion. Louis Philippe and the Queen with a few attendants fled to Honfleur, where they lay for nearly a week in concealment. At length the packet steamer "Express" was placed at their disposal by the British Government. On March 4, Louis Philippe, having assumed the name of William Smith, landed at Newhaven in Sussex. With the Queen he proceeded to Claremont, a country-seat belonging to his son-in-law, King Leopold of Belgium. The Duke of Montpensier with the Duchess of Nemours fled to Belgium, as did the Duchess of Orleans.

[Sidenote: English Chartists encouraged]

[Sidenote: Inflammatory speeches]

[Sidenote: London ready for revolution]

[Sidenote: Rioters discouraged]

The French Revolution gave quickening impulse to the Chartist movement in England. Feargus O'Connor had been returned at the General Election of 1847 as member for Nottingham. He threw himself into a renewal of the agitation with all the strength and vigor of a madman. A National Convention was summoned, and it was determined that another monster petition should be carried to the House of Commons, to be followed by a procession of half a million persons. The idea got abroad that a revolution might break out in London on the presentation of the petition. Ernest Jones had exclaimed on Kensington Common, "Never fear the vile men of the law; the police, the troops, sympathize with you. Down with the Ministry! Dissolve the Parliament! The Charter, and no surrender!" At the National Convention, Vernon declared: "If a few hundreds do fall on each side, they will only be the casualties in a mighty movement." On April 10 a great demonstration was to be held on Kensington Common. In anticipation, special constables to the number of 170,000 were sworn in to keep the peace; troops were quartered in the houses of the main thoroughfares; two thousand stands of arms were supplied to the officials of the General Post-Office; the Custom House, Bank, Exchange, and other public buildings were similarly equipped; the Admiralty was garrisoned by a body of marines, and the Tower guns were mounted. On the eventful morning, London assumed a military guise such as it had never worn before. Traffic was suspended along the streets for fear that the vehicles should be employed, as in France, in the construction of barricades. Finally a proclamation was issued warning people against collecting for disorderly purposes. The military arrangements were in the hands of the Duke of Wellington. Owing to these thorough precautions the threatened mass meeting collapsed. The procession was never held. The whole affair was covered with ridicule. The "monster petition" was found to contain not six million signatures as was alleged, but only 1,975,469, and many of these proved to be fictitious, whole sheets being found to be in the same handwriting, and containing such names as Victoria Rex, Prince Albert, Punch, and so forth.

[Sidenote: Collapse of Chartism]

[Sidenote: End of Feargus O'Connor]

In the words of a contemporary, "Chartism had received its death-blow. O'Brien, Vincent, and others endeavored to revive it, but in vain. Its members fell off in disappointment and allied themselves with reformers of greater moderation, and Feargus O'Connor, who for ten years had madly spent his force and energy in carrying forward the movement, gave it up in despair. Everything he had touched had proved a failure. From being an object of terror, Chartism had become an object of ridicule. O'Connor took the matter so much to heart that he soon became an inmate of a lunatic asylum, and never recovered his reason."

[Sidenote: Progress of Italian Revolution]

[Sidenote: Austrians driven northward]

[Sidenote: Radetzky seeks refuge]

All Italy now, from the southern shores of Sicily to the Alps, was in a blaze of insurrection. Venice, Piedmont and Lombardy were in arms. Charles Albert, the King of Sardinia, put himself at the head of the movement in northern Italy. From all parts of Italy volunteers crowded to his banners. In defiance of the Pope's orders a compact body of these volunteers marched from Rome. Radetzky, the Austrian commander, a veteran of all the Austrian wars since the outbreak of the French Revolution, had long prepared for this struggle by formidable fortifications at Verona. When Milan revolted and the Austrian Vice-Governor, O'Donnell, was captured, Radetzky evacuated the city at the approach of Charles Albert's army from Piedmont. His outlying garrison was cut off by the Italians. Preferring the loss of Milan to a possible annihilation of the army, Radetzky fell back upon Verona. On the banks of the Adige, about twenty-five miles east of the Mincio, he rapidly concentrated all available forces, while the Italians threw up intrenchments on the Mincio. There, with the armies of Piedmont and Lombardy in front of him and the revolutionary forces of Venice behind him, Radetzky stubbornly held his ground. Nothing remained to Austria on Italian ground but Verona and the neighboring fortresses on the Adige and Mincio.

[Sidenote: Kossuth's appeal]

[Sidenote: Magyar Constitution proclaimed]

[Sidenote: Stocks fall in Vienna]

The Austrian Empire itself, by this time, was shaken to its foundations. When the news of the February Revolution in Paris reached Austria the Magyar Diet was in session in Hungary. The success of the revolutionists in France inflamed the Liberal leaders in Hungary. Casting aside all reserve, Kossuth declared in the Diet: "From the charnel house of the Viennese system a poison-laden atmosphere steals over us. It would paralyze our nerves and pin us down when we might soar. The future of Hungary can never be secured while Austria maintains a system of government in direct antagonism to every constitutional principle. Our task is to found a happier future on the brotherhood of all the races in Austria. For a union enforced by bayonets and police spies let us substitute the enduring bond of a free constitution!" On March 3, the Hungarian Lower House triumphantly passed a resolution to that effect. The cry for a liberal constitution was instantly taken up in the other dominions of Austria. It so happened that the Provincial Estates of Lower Austria were to meet about this time. It was planned that an address embodying demands similar to those of Hungary should be forwarded to the Emperor by this assembly. The political agitation in Vienna became feverish. The students indulged in noisy demonstrations. Rumors of the impending repudiation of the paper currency and of State bankruptcy made matters worse. A sharp decline in stocks showed Metternich that a public catastrophe was near at hand.

[Sidenote: Viennese Diet stormed]

[Sidenote: Fighting in the street]

[Sidenote: Imperial palace invaded]

[Sidenote: Downfall of Metternich]

On March 13, the Provincial Diet met. Dense crowds surged about the Diet Hall. The students marched around in procession. Street orators harangued the crowds. The tumult was at its height when a slip of paper was let down from one of the windows of the hall, stating that the Diet was inclining to half measures. An announcement to this effect was received with a roar of fury. The mob overran the guards and burst into the Diet Hall. All debate was stopped, and the leading members of the Estates were forced to head a deputation to the Emperor's palace to exact a hearing. All the approaches to the palace were choked with people. Street fighting had already begun. Detachments of soldiers were hurried to the palace and to the Diet Hall. From the roof and windows of the Diet Hall missiles were hurled upon the soldiery. The interior of the Hall was demolished. The soldiers now fired a volley and cleared the Hall with their bayonets. Blood flowed freely and many were killed. The sound of the shots was received by the crowds around the palace with howls of rage. The whole city was in an uproar. Barricades were thrown up and the gunsmith shops were sacked. At the palace, where the Emperor himself remained invisible, Metternich and his assembled Council received the deputation in state. The Council urged the aged Prime Minister to grant the demanded concession. At length he withdrew into an adjoining chamber to draft an order annulling the censorship of the press. While he was thus engaged the cry was raised, "Down with Metternich!" The deputies in the Council Chamber peremptorily demanded his dismissal. When the old statesman returned he found himself abandoned even by his colleagues. Metternich realized that the end had come. He made a brief farewell speech, marked by all the dignity and self-possession of his greatest days, and left the Council Chamber to announce his resignation to the Emperor.

[Sidenote: Quiet restored]

[Sidenote: Hungarian demands]

[Sidenote: Kossuth in Vienna]

[Sidenote: Demonstrations of enthusiasm]

The news of Metternich's downfall was received with deafening cheers. His personality was so closely identified with all that was most hateful in Austrian politics that the mere announcement of his resignation sufficed to quell the popular tumult. On the night of March 14, Metternich contrived to escape from Vienna unobserved, and fled across the frontier. On the same day a National Guard was established in Vienna, and was supplied with arms taken from the government arsenal. The Viennese outbreak gave irresistible force to the national movement in Hungary. Now the Chamber of Magnates, which had hitherto opposed the demands of the Lower House, adopted the same by a unanimous vote. On March 15, a deputation was despatched to Vienna to demand from the Emperor not only a liberal constitution, but a separate Ministry, absolute freedom of the press, trial by jury, equality of religion, and a free public-school system. The Hungarians, with Kossuth in the lead, were received in triumph in Vienna. They paraded through the streets, and were greeted by Emperor Ferdinand in person. He consented to everything and issued an imperial rescript, promising a liberal constitution to the rest of Austria as well. The light-hearted Viennese indulged in indescribable jubilations. On March 18, the Emperor drove through the city. Somebody put a revolutionary banner into his hands. The black, red and gold ensign of united Germany was hoisted over the tower of St. Stephen. In an intoxication of joy the people took the horses from the imperial carriage and drew it triumphantly through the streets. The regular troops around the imperial palace were superseded by the new National Guards.

[Sidenote: Germany in a ferment]

[Sidenote: Prussian Assembly convoked]

[Sidenote: King of Prussia cowed]

[Sidenote: Revolt in Berlin]

[Sidenote: Prince William's part]

[Sidenote: King of Prussia submissive]

[Sidenote: Royal promises]

[Sidenote: Rising of Schleswig-Holstein]

[Sidenote: Reverse at Bau]

By this time the same storm of revolution was sweeping over Germany. Popular demonstrations occurred at Mannheim, Cassel, Breslau, Koenigsberg and along the Rhine region in Cologne, Duesseldorf and Aix-la-Chapelle. A popular convention at Heidelberg, on March 5, had resolved upon a national assembly to be held at Frankfort-on-the-Main by the end of March. Elections for this assembly were being held throughout Germany. The long-desired union of Germany was at last to be accomplished. On March 14, King Frederick William of Prussia convoked the Prussian Assembly for April 27, to deliberate upon Prussia's part in the proposed German union. Then came the news of the events in Vienna. Crowds gathered in the streets excitedly discussing the events of the day. Attempts on the part of the police to disperse them led to threatening encounters. Under the stress of alarming bulletins from Vienna, the King issued a rescript on March 18, in which he not only convoked the Prussian Assembly for the earlier date of April 2, but himself proposed such reforms as constitutional government, liberty of speech, liberty of the press, and the reconstitution of the Germanic Federation as a national union of states--a realization in brief of all the most ardent ideals of the German Liberals. Now the popular agitators proposed a monster demonstration to thank the King for his concessions. Shortly after noon, on March 18, the processions converged upon the palace. Immense crowds filled the streets. The appearance of the King upon the balcony was greeted with cheers. King Frederick William tried to speak but could not make himself heard. The troops set out to clear the palace grounds. Angry shouts arose for the withdrawal of the soldiery. In the confusion two shots were fired. A panic ensued: "We are betrayed," cried the leaders, and called the people to arms. The troops of the garrison charged into the rioters. Barricades were thrown up, and here and there church bells rang the tocsin. From three in the afternoon until early the next morning, fighting continued in the streets. The entire garrison of Berlin was called out and with the help of the bright moonlight succeeded in clearing one street after another. Prince William, the future German Emperor, gained unenviable notoriety by his zeal. At two in the morning the King gave orders to stop firing. He issued a proclamation: "To my dear people of Berlin," the mild tone of which only betrayed his weakness. On the following day all the troops were withdrawn and ordered out of the city. Prince William likewise left Berlin in deep chagrin and departed for England. His palace had to be protected from the fury of the people by placards pronouncing it the property of the nation. Once more the rioters appeared before the royal palace with the bodies of some of their slain. The King convoked a new Ministry and consented to substitute armed citizens and students for his royal guards. A general amnesty was proclaimed. On March 21, the King agreed to adopt "the sacred colors of the German Empire" for those of Prussia. After the manner of the weak Emperor of Austria, he rode through the streets of Berlin wearing a tricolor sash. Not satisfied with this, the revolutionists, on March 22, paraded before the palace with the open biers of 187 men that had been killed during the riots. Standing on his balcony with bared head, King Frederick William reviewed the ghastly procession. In a manifesto published at the close of the day he declared: "Germany is in ferment within and exposed from without to danger from more than one side. Deliverance from this danger can come only from the most intimate union of the German princes and people under a single leadership. I take this leadership upon me for the hour of peril. I have to-day assumed the old German colors, and placed myself and my people under the venerable banner of the German Empire. Prussia is henceforth merged into Germany." Thus Frederick William, by word and acts, which he afterward described as a comedy, directly encouraged the imperial aspirations of liberal Germany. The passage of his address in which he spoke of external dangers threatening Germany came true sooner than was expected. King Christian VIII. of Denmark had died early in the year. The fear of revolution at Copenhagen drove his son Frederick VII., the last of the Oldenburg line, to prick the war bubble blown by his father. On March 22, he called the leaders of the Eider-Dane party--the party which regarded the Eider as the boundary of the Danish dominions, thus converting Schleswig into a Danish province--to take the reins of government. The people of Schleswig and Holstein protested. The King was checkmated at Kiel by the appointment of a provisional government. The troops joined the people, and the insurrection spread over the whole province. The struggle then began. Volunteers from all parts of Germany rushed to the northern frontier. The German Bundestag admitted a representative of the threatened Duchies, and intrusted Prussia with their defence. An attempt was made to organize a German fleet. General Wrangel was placed in command of the Prussian forces despatched toward Denmark. Before he could arrive, the untrained volunteer army of Schleswig-Holsteiners suffered defeat at Bau. A corps of students from the University of Kiel was all but annihilated.

[Sidenote: Russia stems revolution]

An attempted rising of the Poles, in the Prussian province of Posen and at Cracow, was quickly suppressed. As soon as the news of the revolution in Paris reached Russia, the absolute ruler of that vast empire mobilized his armies, "so that, if circumstances should demand it, the tide of Anarchy could be dammed." After the abortive revolt at Cracow, Czar Nicholas issued an imperial manifesto, closing with a quotation from Isaiah: "Listen, ye heathen, and submit, for with us is God." When the spirit of revolt spread to Moldavia and Wallachia, Emperor Nicholas without further ado despatched a Russian army corps across the Pruth. The Sultan of Turkey was prevailed upon to do the same. Russian and Turkish troops occupied Jassy and Bucharest during the summer.

[Sidenote: Frankfort Vor-Parlament]

[Sidenote: Revolution in Baden]

[Sidenote: General Gagern shot]

[Sidenote: Flight of rebels]