My
final project is a study of the way that Germany's failed revolution of 1848 was affected
by the revolutions in America, France, Haiti and Italy that came before it.
Specifically, the German revolution is intriguing because it failed-- and the government
that followed, some feel, set a precedent of reform from above that existed in Germany
until the end of the Second World War. 
The precedent of reform from above is important because it
distinguishes Germany from most of the other first world nations today. Thus, from
1848 through the Second World War, the idea of a unique German identity was cultivated by
German philosophers, authors and the general populace.
The revolutions of 1848 were chiefly
characterized by violence and uncertainty of a singular objective.
This rejection of a liberal government put Germany at odds with the other major
players in international politics of the time. Underlying animosity between Germany
and the democratic states would fuel tensions that would erupt in the Franco Prussian war,
as well as the two world wars in the first half of the twentieth century.
