1848 Wener Pictorial Map of Europe, Revolutions of 1848

This is Franz Werner's rare 1848 pictorial satirical map of Europe, depicting the Springtime of Nations, also known as the Revolutions of 1848, that rocked the continent that year. The map promotes the revolutionary idea of a 'Vereinigten Staaten des Freien Deutschlands' [United States of Free Germany], advocating for a U.S.-style democratic system. The failure of the revolutions led to the emigration of thousands of well-educated but disillusioned middle-class European tradespeople to the United States, which in turn spurred a flowering of American industry and publishing.

A Closer Look

The map depicts Europe from Ireland to the Russian Empire and as far south as North Africa and Syria. Groups of people are depicted throughout, representing the many revolutionary hot spots of 1848. The various kingdoms and aspiring nation-states of Europe are color-shaded for distinction. Some cities, rivers, and other features are illustrated and labeled. However, most of the map is taken up by illustrations of political demonstrations and conflict, from the Young Ireland rebellion, to unrest in the Balkans and Poland, to the Sicilian Revolution in January 1848 (the 'first domino' to fall), which kickstarted the dramatic events of the following months. Longer-term political repression in the Russian Empire, which only increased after 1848, refers to exiles being sent to Siberia, and the 'Russian Freedom Tree' being a gallows instead of the hopeful symbol used by reformers throughout Europe, similar to the American revolutionaries' Tree of Liberty. Reference is also made to the cholera epidemic in Ukraine and Russia (which actually affected the entire continent for several years on either side of the Revolution of 1848).

Other nations look on, either cheering the revolutionaries (the Netherlands, where the king quickly accepted reforms to satisfy liberals), eyeing them warily (Denmark, where the king likewise halted revolutionary momentum by agreeing to a new constitution), or looking on with curiosity (Greece, which had already had a successful national revolution in the 1820s). Though not exactly a serio-comic map, some comic elements are included, such as a group of polar bears in Novaya Zemlya convening a 'People's Assembly to Elect Deputies' similar to those gathered throughout Europe in 1848.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of the map relates to the German lands, the heart of the continental revolutionary movement. A disparate patchwork of principalities, free cities, and kingdoms that succeeded the Holy Roman Empire, the German Confederation was pulled between Prussian and Austrian influence in the years between the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and 1848. The Forty-Eighters, desiring a unified Germany under liberal principles, managed to establish a national assembly in Frankfurt in the spring of 1848, which elected Archduke John (Johann) of Austria as head of state for a new German Empire. Although recognized by France, the Netherlands, and the U.S.A., the new government lost steam as it failed to gain the support of either of the two large German powers, Prussia and Austria. In March 1849, the empire even tried designating King of Prussia Frederick William IV as a constitutional monarch ('King of the Germans'), but he turned them down. Despite holding elections, passing a constitution, and building a unified national military force, without Prussian or Austrian support (and in the face of their active attempts to undermine it), the empire did not last, and the German lands reverted to the preexisting German Confederation. What is particularly interesting here is the phrase 'Vereinigten Staaten des Freien Deutschlands,' [United States of Free Germanys] not the official title of the new government but one suggesting a more radical shift, a republican system akin to the U.S.A. (or indeed later German governments).

The Crises of 1848

The Revolutions of 1848, also known as the Springtime of Nations, were a series of protest movements and uprisings that occurred throughout Continental Europe simultaneously, or nearly so. Though also driven by internal factors in each case, the movements were also unified by a common set of concerns, including a demand for representative government, basic civil rights like freedom of speech and assembly, the reduction of the power of Absolutist monarchs, and, in Eastern Europe, the end of serfdom. The movements even exerted direct influence on each other. Following the 'February Revolution' in France that established the Second Republic, delegations from aspiring movements elsewhere traveled to France and were inspired by its revolution to carry out their own.

Often, subjugated nations within multiethnic empires, such as the Hungarians and Irish (whose population had just been nearly halved by emigration and famine), sought greater autonomy. In contrast, dispersed nations like the Italians and Germans hoped for national unification. In some cities, the working classes also demanded greater rights, which some historians (especially of a Marxist bent) see as the emergence of working-class consciousness, with the Communist Manifesto having been published in February of that fateful year.

Despite remarkable success and momentum at first (in the spring), the coalitions that supported the revolutions had difficulty holding together, leaving them open to conservative/monarchist counter-attacks. Political tussles and armed conflict continued well into the following year, especially in Hungary, where the Russian Tsar Nicholas I sent a massive army (possibly depicted here) to rescue the tottering Austrian Empire in the summer of 1849. Many thousands fled the continent as strict crackdowns followed, seeking to prevent any repeat of the mass demonstrations of 1848.

The Revolutions of 1848 have generally been characterized (to paraphrase British historian A.J.P. Taylor) as a turning point where history failed to turn. However, examined in the long term, the revolutions arguably succeeded, though with much more bloodshed and upheaval than might have been necessary. Having reestablished control, some kingdoms attempted limited reforms to appease their populations (such as the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867), and by the late 19th century, many of the demands of the revolutionaries had been met, including Italian and German unification. But the complete collapse of Europe's large, multiethnic empires only came with World War I (1914 - 1918), when many of the suppressed nations of 1848 reemerged amid a violent and chaotic situation, often leading to horrific results. Echoes of 1848 can even be seen in recent history, such as the Reunification of Germany, the breakup of Yugoslavia, and the continued tensions between Russia and its neighbors in Eastern Europe.

Asylum across the Atlantic

In the aftermath of the failed revolutions, many middle-class Europeans, particularly Germans, found refuge across the Atlantic in the United States. The California Gold Rush provided a simultaneous 'pull' factor, and many of the leading business and political figures of late 19th-century California were German 'Forty-Eighters.' The Forty-Eighters also included a disproportionate share of lithographic printers, who, by the nature of their work, were placed in a precarious position during the political backlash that followed 1848. Many settled in American cities, such as Julius Bien in New York and Louis Prang in Boston, and helped launch a veritable golden age of American printing.

Publication History and Census

This map was prepared by Franz Werner in Vienna. It is undated but most likely was produced in the second half of 1848, given the events depicted, or perhaps mid to late 1849, if the large Russian army perched on the edge of Poland and Wallachia is indeed the army sent by Nicholas I to rescue the Austrians. We have been unable to find any biographical information about Werner, but all of his surviving works deal with the revolutions of 1848, usually depicting battles, demonstrations, or common people defending barricades. His works are sometimes attributed to a colorful contemporary figure, Franz von Werner (1836-1881), who entered the Ottoman civil service and was known as Murad Effendi; however, it seems unlikely that this could be the same person. In any event, this work is very scarce, with the only other known example being held by the Wien Museum.