Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire
The Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire were a set of revolutions that took place in the Austrian Empire from March 1848 to November 1849. Much of the revolutionary activity had a nationalist character: the Empire, ruled from Vienna, included ethnic Germans, Hungarians, Poles, Bohemians (Czechs), Ruthenians (Ukrainians), Slovenes, Slovaks, Romanians, Croats, Italians, and Serbs; all of whom attempted in the course of the revolution to either achieve autonomy, independence, or even hegemony over other nationalities. The nationalist picture was further complicated by the simultaneous events in the German states, which moved toward greater German national unity.
Barricades in Prague during the revolutionary events.
Metternich in the 1840s
The Viennese students Academic Legion played a key role in toppling Metternich's government and precipitating his retirement on 13 March 1848.
Photograph of the aged Ferdinand dated circa 1870
The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a multinational European great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, it was the third most populous monarchy in Europe after the Russian Empire and the United Kingdom. Along with Prussia, it was one of the two major powers of the German Confederation. Geographically, it was the third-largest empire in Europe after the Russian Empire and the First French Empire.
Greatest extent of the Austrian Empire (1846–1859)
Karl von Schwarzenberg and the monarchs of Austria, Prussia, and Russia after the Battle of Leipzig, 1813
The Battle of Komárom during the Hungarian Revolution, 1849
Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph with his troops at the Battle of Solferino, 1859