In the first months of 1848, a tidal wave of revolution shook the political establishment of Europe to its foundations Events began with an uprising in Sicily in January, and by the end of the year the entire continent had been affected to some degree, including the overthrow of leaders in France, Austria, Italy and Germany

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Music: William Tell Overture by Gioachino Rossini, courtesy of musopen.org

Picture: Revolutionaries in Berlin in March 1848, waving the revolutionary flags

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King Charles X of France is overthrown and replaced by his cousin Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans. 

Meanwhile a 10 month long insurrection in Poland is crushed by the Russians. In the retribution which followed, eighty-thousand Poles are dragged off in chains to Siberia. 

The year 1830 also witnessed the formal independence of Greece from the Ottoman Empire after a war which had begun nine years before.

And the Industrial Revolution gathers steam across western Europe

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Music from Feliox Mendelssohn, Italian Symphony, courtesy of musopen.org

Picture - Eugène_Delacroix (Liberty Leading the People)

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The Congress of Vienna 1814 at the end of the long Napoleonic Wars led to a period of relative peace on the continent of Europe. A network of institutions was established known as the ‘Concert of Europe’ where differences could be thrashed out before leading to war.

After the French Revolution, the basis of sovereignty shifted from individuals and families as leaders to nations and states. Throughout Europe a generation of individuals from the educated elite took the lead in developing movements of national liberation and liberal reform. But for more than thirty years the leaders of the Great Powers of the continent successfully managed to suppress these movements and clamped down on any signs of internal unrest or revolution

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Music: Frederich Chopin - Polonaise in A Flat Major; Franz Schubert's Symphony no.5

Picture: Congress of Vienna watercolour etching by August Friedrich Andreas

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The French army invades Russia. The Russians retreat deep into their own territory then confront the French at the inconclusive Battle of Borodino of September 1812. Napoleon leads his men into Moscow but is forced to abandon the city and return westwards in the middle of winter, resulting in devastating losses. The anti-French coalition regain the initiative at the huge Battle of the Nations and finally at the Battle of Waterloo.

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Music composed by Beethoven; Moonlight Sonata and Symphony No.6 in F major. Courtesy of musopen.org

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Napoleon leads the French into Egypt but is defeated at the Battle of the Nile by the British. Afterwards the Russians and Austrians push back against the French in Italy, but then suffer a reverse at the Battle of Marengo. Marengo turned out arguably to be the most important victory of Napoleon’s career. Had he lost the battle, he would have lost the war and probably the consulship. Instead his narrow win secured his job and won him Italy.

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Music from Mozart - March in D major; Violin Concerto no. 3 in G major, II. Adagio, courtesy of www.musopen.org

Picture - Jacques-Louis David - Napoleon Crossing the Alps

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The French invade Belgium in 1794 and the Netherlands in 1795. The coalition against them starts to fall apart as individual members came to terms. Russia, Prussia and Austria are distracted by their partitioning of Poland, which is wiped off the map.

Next the French invade Austria and Italy, the Italian campaign led by a promising young commander Napoleon Bonaparte.

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Music from Mozart (Symphony no. 40 'Prague'), courtesy of www.musopen.org

Picture - Louis-François, Baron Lejeune - The Battle of Lodi 1796

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A French military victory at Valmy in 1792 and the execution of Louis XVI in January 1793 focused the growing concern across Europe about the radical new regime in Paris. The true revolutionary nature of events in France was dawning on everyone, including the possibility of the export of the revolutionary principles. In France, there was further political turmoil in 1793 with the coming to power of Maximilien Robespierre, who embarked on a fully fledged reign of Terror

Music - Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A major, I. Allegro

Picture - Battle of Jemmapes, by Raymond Desvarraux

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The French king from 1774, Louis XVI, was poorly equipped for the role of national leader at a difficult time. His tragedy was that he had good intentions and a strong sense of responsibility. But he was shy and awkward and lacked the required political skills and charisma. Decades of failure for the French in foreign and domestic affairs, resulted in a profound crisis of legitimacy for the monarchy, resulting in the famous revolution of 1789

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Music from Hector Berlioz (Symphonie Fantastique), courtesy of www.musopen.org

Picture - Jean-Pierre Houël - The storming of the Bastille, July 14, 1789

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