1848: Year of Revolutions
Some argue that the revolutions of 1848 did not have a lasting impact historically.  Still, they did show that the days of absolutism were numbered; moreover, they demonstrated how the uprising of a disenfranchised working class could secure change and reform through demonstration and, in some cases, violence.
I.	Causes
A.	Long-term:
-Population put pressure on food supply
-decline in living standards
-high unemployment
-demand for universal suffrage
B.	Short-term:
-poor harvests (e.g., potato blight)
-increase in food prices
II.	Outcomes
A.	Revolution in France followed by revolutions across Europe 
B.	Abolition of serfdom in Austrian empire
III.	People
A.	Revolutionaries
1.	Giuseppe Mazzini, leader of Italian republican radicals
2.	Louis Blanc, one of the French leaders of working class
3.	Karl Marx, leader of German communists
B.	Counter-Revolutionaries:  absolute monarchs, conservatives, capitalists
IV.	Basic Facts
A.	Location(s): 
major cities in France, Italian States, German Confederation, and Austrian Empire
B.	Date(s):
King Louis Philippe abdicates in February (end of July Monarchy)
V.	Events in France
A.	Riots in Paris
B.	King abdicates (end of monarchy)
C.	Second republic created
D.  Class violence in the streets of Paris during June Days
E.  Napoleon's nephew elected president