Why didn't the revolutions of 1848 spread to Britain?
The revolutions across much of Europe in 1848 were driven by three decades of building pressure for the political rights of national communities. This united a cross-class coalition of many different radicals, who were spurred into action by the general upheaval of an economic crisis. Unaccountable autocratic governments were their targets – especially those, like the Habsburgs, who ruled a complex mix of nationalities while remaining alien to most of them.
However, Britain had forged a different path across these decades. Its national identity was securely