Karl Marlo, Guild Socialism, and the Revolutions of 1848

The notion that the German liberals of 1848 failed because they were mere men of ideas and hence incapable of managing the grim realities of power politics has become dogma. We tend to accept this interpretation unthinkingly, I suspect, because it fits so well our modern anti-idealist bias in favor of the “practical realist” in politics – one, that is to say, who is adept at maneuvering safely among existing forces without attempting to add the force of ideals and hope. In his recent and excellent book, however, Mr. Theodore S. Hamerow has shown that the liberals of 1848 failed not because they were impractical but because they were too practical. Indeed, so single-mindedly did the liberals push their own practical political and economic interest, Mr. Hamerow informs us, that they cut off their ties with those classes – the peasants and workers – whose violence had made the revolutions successful

Economics · German · Interpretation (philosophy · Law and economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Power (physics · Socialism · Sociology · Suspect · Economic Theory and Institutions · Law · Philosophy · Political Economy and Marxism · Political Theory and Influence

• Restoration, Revolution, Reaction

  Theodore S Hamerow, Enno E Kraehe•The American Historical Review•1959

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