Why was the period of 1848 …

i. Events of February 1848 in France had brought about the abdication of the monarch and a republic based on universal male suffrage had been proclaimed.
ii. Germany, Italy, Poland, the Austro-Hungarian Empire – men and women of the liberal middle classes combined their demands for constitutionalism with national unification. 
iii. They took advantage of the growing popular unrest to push their demands for the creation of a nation-state on parliamentary principles – a constitution, freedom of the press and freedom of association. 
iv. In the German regions a large number of political associations whose members were  middle-class professionals, businessmen and prosperous artisans came together in the city of Frankfurt and decided to vote for an all-German National Assembly.
v. The middle classes who resisted the demands of workers and artisans and consequently lost their support. In the end troops were called in and the assembly was forced to disband. 
vi. The issue of extending political rights to women was a controversial one within the liberal movement, in which large numbers of women had participated actively over the years.
vii. Women had formed their own political associations, founded newspapers and taken part in political meetings and demonstration. Any five points to be explained.