Study this source. Source A (your primary source for this question) 'I have served the Austrian Empire for nearly forty years, maintaining order and stabili...

Source analysis

Source A is a letter written by Prince Metternich after fleeing Vienna in March 1848. He describes being driven from power by 'the mob' after nearly forty years of service. He identifies the key demands driving the revolutions: 'liberty and constitutions' (liberal political reform) and nationalist tensions, with Hungarians demanding independence, Czechs wanting self-rule, and Italians seeking unification. He warns that granting these demands would destroy the Austrian Empire. The source is a primary account from the man most associated with the conservative European order established at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. His fall from power was itself a defining moment of the 1848 revolutions.

Contextual knowledge

The source correctly identifies two major causes: liberal demands for constitutional government and nationalist demands for self-determination. These were indeed central to the revolutions across Europe. However, Metternich's perspective is heavily biased: he dismisses revolutionaries as a 'mob' and presents himself as a defender of stability, rather than acknowledging that his repressive policies (censorship, secret police, suppression of political activity since 1815) were themselves a cause of revolution. The source completely omits economic causes, which were crucial: the harvest failure of 1847 caused severe food shortages and price rises across Europe, while industrial unemployment deepened urban discontent. Metternich also ignores the role of the growing middle class, which demanded political representation to match its increasing economic importance.

Mark scheme (Levels of Response) [8 marks]

• Level 1 [1-3 marks]: Simple statements. For example, 'The source tells us that people wanted liberty.' No evaluation of what the source reveals or its limitations.
• Level 2 [4-6 marks]: Evaluates content (identifies liberal and nationalist causes) OR limitations (Metternich's bias, omission of economic causes). Addresses one aspect but not both.
• Level 3 [7-8 marks]: Evaluates BOTH what the source reveals (political and nationalist causes from the conservative perspective, the significance of Metternich's own fall) AND its limitations (biased viewpoint that dismisses revolutionaries, omits economic hardship and middle-class demands, presents the old order as purely beneficial). Uses own knowledge of harvest failures, industrial unemployment, and middle-class frustration to demonstrate what the source leaves out.

Exam reminder: When a source comes from a participant in events, their perspective is both a strength (direct witness) and a limitation (personal bias). Metternich's view of the revolutions is revealing precisely because it shows the ruling elite's blindness to economic and social causes.