Feudal powers still strong af rn, but fuck it, we ball

Explanation: For much of the 19th century, Europe was still largely dominated by feudal or semi-feudal polities with an iron grip on power, without much in the way of lending the populace the ability to organize or express their grievances. In addition, communications technology was still fairly primitive, and literacy rates were still not fantastic.

Despite this, the still-fairly-new ideals of the Enlightenment and socialism would lead educated revolutionaries to try their hand at overthrowing the established powers-that-be, over and over again. They need to be lucky every time - we only need to be lucky once!

Interestingly enough, this environment deeply influenced the famous socialist theorist Karl Marx, who was a participant in the (failed) Revolutions of ’48. Seeing the repression able to be levied by the powers-that-be, Marx became convinced that more than just revolutionary spirit was needed - material conditions needed to be right for a revolution as well, and much of his writing is oriented around explaining what conditions are needed for revolutionary success, and what structures of extant society they relate to.

Explanation: For much of the 19th century, Europe was still largely dominated by feudal or semi-feudal polities with an iron grip on power, without much in the way of lending the populace the ability to organize or express their grievances. In addition, communications technology was still fairly primitive, and literacy rates were still not fantastic.

Despite this, the still-fairly-new ideals of the Enlightenment and socialism would lead educated revolutionaries to try their hand at overthrowing the established powers-that-be, over and over again. They need to be lucky every time - we only need to be lucky once!

Interestingly enough, this environment deeply influenced the famous socialist theorist Karl Marx, who was a participant in the (failed) Revolutions of ’48. Seeing the repression able to be levied by the powers-that-be, Marx became convinced that more than just revolutionary spirit was needed - material conditions needed to be right for a revolution as well, and much of his writing is oriented around explaining what conditions are needed for revolutionary success, and what structures of extant society they relate to.