[New-York Daily Tribune, No. 3297, November 12, 1851] 

On the 24th of February, 1848, Louis Philippe was driven out of 
Paris and the French Republic was proclaimed. On the 13th of 
March following, the people of Vienna broke the power of Prince 
Metternich and made him flee shamefully out of the country. On 
the 18th of March the people of Berlin rose in arms, and, after an 
obstinate struggle of eighteen hours, had the satisfaction of seeing 
the King* surrender himself over to their hands. Simultaneous 
outbreaks of a more or less violent nature, but all with the same 

* Frederick William IV.— Ed. 

success, occurred in the capitals of the smaller States of Germany. 
The German people, if they had not accomplished their first 
revolution, were at least fairly launched into the revolutionary 
career. 

As to the incidents of these various insurrections, we cannot 
enter here into the details of them: what we have to explain is 
their character, and the position which the different classes of the 
population took up with regard to them. 

The revolution of Vienna may be said to have been made by an 
almost unanimous population. The bourgeoisie, with the exception 
of the bankers and stockjobbers, the petty trading class, the 
working people, one and all, arose at once against a government 
detested by all, a government so universally hated, that the small 
minority of nobles and money-lords which had supported it, made 
itself invisible on the very first attack. The middle classes had been 
kept in such a degree of political ignorance by Metternich, that to 
them the news from Paris about the reign of Anarchy, Socialism 
and Terror, and about impending struggles between the class of 
capitalists and the class of laborers, proved quite unintelligible. 
They, in their political innocence, either could attach no meaning 
to these news, or they believed them to be fiendish inventions of 
Metternich, to frighten them into obedience. They, besides, had 
never seen working men act as a class, or stand up for their own 
distinct class interests. They had, from their past experience, no 
idea of the possibility of any differences springing up between 
classes that now were so heartily united in upsetting a government 
hated by all. They saw the working people agree with themselves 
upon all points: a constitution, trial by jury, liberty of the press, 
&c. Thus, they were, in March, 1848, at least, heart and soul with 
the movement, and the movement, on the other hand, at once 
constituted them the (at least in theory) predominant class of the 
State. 

But it is the fate of all revolutions that this union of different 
classes, which in some degree is always the necessary condition of 
any revolution, cannot subsist long. No sooner is the victory 
gained against the common enemy, than the victors become 
divided among themselves into different camps and turn their 
weapons against each other. It is this rapid and _ passionate 
development of class antagonism which, in old and complicated 
social organisms, makes a revolution such a powerful agent of 
social and political progress; it is this incessantly quick upshooting 
of new parties succeeding each other in power which, during those 
violent commotions, makes a nation pass in five years over more 

Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Germany 33 

ground than it would have done in a century under ordinary 
circumstances. 

The revolution, in Vienna, made the middle class the theoreti- 
cally predominant class; that is to say, the concessions wrung from 
the Government were such as, once carried out practically and 
adhered to for a time, would inevitably have secured the 
supremacy of the middle class. But, practically, the supremacy of 
that class was far from being established. It is true that by the 
establishment of a National Guard, which gave arms to the 
bourgeoisie, and petty tradesmen, that class obtained both force 
and importance; it is true, that by the installation of a “Committee 
of Safety,” a sort of revolutionary, irresponsible government, in 
which the bourgeoisie predominated, it was placed at the head of 
power. But at the same time, the working classes were partially 
armed too; they and the students had borne the brunt of the 
fight, as far as fight there had been; and the students, about 4,000 
strong, well armed and far better disciplined than the National 
Guard, formed the nucleus, the real strength of the revolutionary 
force, and were noways willing to act as a mere instrument in the 
hands of the Committee of Safety. Though they recognized it and 
even were its most enthusiastic supporters, they yet formed a sort 
of independent and rather turbulent body,” deliberating for 
themselves in the “Aula,” keeping an intermediate position 
between the bourgeoisie and the working classes, preventing, by 
constant agitation, things to settle down to the old everyday 
tranquillity, and very often forcing their resolutions upon the 
Committee of Safety. The working men, on the other hand, 
almost entirely thrown out of employment, had to be employed in 
public works at the expense of the State, and the money for this 
purpose had of course to be taken out of the purse of the 
tax-payers or out of the chest of the city of Vienna. All this could 
not but become very unpleasant to the tradesmen of Vienna. The 
manufactures of the city, calculated for the consumption of the 
rich and aristocratic courts of a large country, were as a matter of 
course entirely stopped by the revolution, by the flight of the 
aristocracy and court; trade was at a standstill, and the continuous 
agitation and excitement kept up by the students and working 
people was certainly not the means to “restore confidence,” as the 
phrase went. Thus, a certain coolness very soon sprung up 
between the middle classes on the one side, and the turbulent 
students and working people on the other; and if, for a long time, 
this coolness was not ripened into open hostility, it was because the 
Ministry, and particularly the Court, in their impatience to restore 

the old order of things, constantly justified the suspicions and the 
turbulent activity of the more revolutionary parties, and constantly 
made arise, even before the eyes of the middle classes, the spectre 
of old Metternichian despotism. Thus on the 15th of May, and 
again on the 26th, there were fresh risings of all classes in 
Vienna,* on account of the Government having tried to attack or 
to undermine some of the newly conquered liberties, and on each 
occasion, the alliance between the National Guard or armed 
middle class, the students, and the working men, was again 
cemented for a time. 

As to the other classes of the population, the aristocracy and the 
money-lords had disappeared, and the peasantry were busily 
engaged everywhere in the removing, down to the very last vestiges, 
of feudalism. Thanks to the war in Italy,”? and the occupation 
which Vienna and Hungary gave to the Court, they were left at 
full liberty, and succeeded in their work of liberation, in Austria, 
better than in any other part of Germany. The Austrian Diet very 
shortly after had only to confirm the steps already practically 
taken by the peasantry, and whatever else the Government of 
Prince Schwarzenberg may be enabled to restore, it will never have 
the power of re-establishing the feudal servitude of the peasantry. 
And if Austria at the present moment is again comparatively 
tranquil, and even strong, it is principally because the great 
majority of the people, the peasants, have been real gainers by the 
revolution, and because whatever else has been attacked by the 
restored Government, these palpable, substantial advantages, 
conquered by the peasantry, are as yet untouched. 

London, October, 1851