When History Runs Backwards— We’re Living Through A MAGA Counter-Revolution

Make Autocracy Great Again? The Reaction Will Be Televised— & Monetized

You know about the revolutions of 1848 if you studied history. It sounds ancient but it was just 100 years before I was born. Remember the Arab Spring (2010-12)? It was named after the series of 1848 democratic revolutions that swept across Europe and was referred to as “springtime of the people.” Thegoal was to rid themselves of the corrupt old monarchies starting in Italy and eventually sweeping through more than 50 countries but particularly effecting France, the Italian states, the German states, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Poland and Denmark.

Amy Irvine wrote that “this revolutionary wave occurred without any kind of central international coordination. No single cause or theory can explain why they transpired; the sentiments that fuelled this year of tumultuous change were instead sparked by a confluence of various social, economic and political factors, including widespread dissatisfaction with autocratic regimes, economic hardships, demands for political reforms and desires for national unification and independence… Many European countries were governed by autocratic monarchies or regimes that limited civil liberties and political participation. Citizens had grown increasingly frustrated by their lack of representation, and of oppressive governance and censorship, leading to a widespread demand for democracy over monarchy.”

But there was also “a series of poor harvests since 1839, economic recessions, and industrialization-related changes had meant decreased investment in agriculture, leading to widespread poverty, unemployment, rising food prices and shortages. The working class and urban populations faced dire living conditions, contributing to social unrest and anger at how neglectful their country’s monarch could be. Ideas of liberalism, nationalism, and socialism were gaining traction across Europe. Calls for individual rights, constitutional reforms, national identity, and social equality spread through intellectual circles, influencing people to demand political change and other liberties such as freedom of the press… Social disparities between the aristocracy and the lower classes fuelled discontent.Urban populations had risen sharply, and the long working hours and inability to buy food or pay rent for the slums the working-class and urban poor lived in prompted them to seek better working conditions, fair wages, and representation in the face of industrialization’s impact on labour. Meanwhile the middle-classes feared the new urban arrivals, concerned that the cheaper, mass-produced goods facilitated by industrialization now replaced traditional skilled artisan products. Indeed many of the revolutions’ leaders were middle-class workers, who felt misunderstood and disconnected from their rulers and their comparatively lavish lives.”

Irvine noted that “although the uprisings didn’t result in lasting and widespread changes at the time, they did plant the seeds for future movements advocating for democracy, national unity, and social reforms in Europe… The February Revolution in France led to the establishment of the French Second Republic, and Denmark also experienced an end to its 200 year old monarchy. In Italy, 1848 marked a series of uprisings against Austrian and other foreign rule, as well as efforts for national unification under figures like Giuseppe Garibaldi and Giuseppe Mazzini. Similarly, the German states witnessed widespread protests, demands for constitutional reforms, and aspirations for a unified Germany, culminating in the Frankfurt Parliament’s attempts to create a German national assembly. The Habsburg Empire faced intense unrest, particularly in Hungary, where demands for autonomy and reforms led to clashes with the Austrian monarchy. The Hungarian Revolution, led by figures like Lajos Kossuth, sought political freedoms and autonomy within the empire. However, serfdom was put to an end in Austria and Hungary. Elsewhere in Europe, similar movements for liberal reforms and national independence emerged. In Poland, an uprising against Russian rule aimed at regaining independence, although it was eventually suppressed. Revolts and demands for change also occurred in regions like the Czech lands, Romania, and the Balkans... By the end of 1848 and into 1849, many of the revolutions had been quelled, and conservative forces regained control across Europe…Nonetheless, the events of 1848 had a lasting impact, serving as catalysts for future movements advocating for liberal reforms, national unification, and democratic governance. 1848 marked a significant turning point in European history, highlighting aspirations for change and setting the stage for subsequent revolutions and political transformations in the years to come.”

Do you notice any parallels with the post-Trump America of today? Since Trump clawed his way back to power in 2024, the country has been moving through its own version of 1848— but perhaps in reverse. Where 1848 saw revolts against autocracy, we are now witnessing a slow-motion reactionary coup toward it. This isn’t just about one man or one party; it’s about a system that’s actively hardening itself against democracy and public will, even as social and economic conditions continue to deteriorate for most Americans.

Like the monarchs of Europe, today's elites are cocooned in a culture of impunity and wealth, increasingly insulated from the everyday hardships of the people they rule. The social contract is fraying. Workers struggle under gig-economy precarity and skyrocketing living costs while billionaires buy up media empires, bankroll far-right ideologues and treat politics as an asset class. It’s not unlike the old aristocracies that governed from palaces while bread riots erupted in the streets. And much like 1848, the political and cultural center is being hollowed out— not just by fringe ideologues, but by a broader erosion of trust in institutions that once acted (or pretended to act) in the public interest.

In 1848, cultural identity played a major role in mobilizing resistance— language, religion and national pride were rallying cries. In our moment, culture is once again the battleground, but with a different kind of intensity. Trumpism has weaponized grievance politics into an identity cult. Reactionaries invoke “real America” against a multicultural, urban, pluralistic reality they fear and resent. It's less about policy than about domination— of women, of immigrants, of queer people, of people of color. The right’s fixation on “wokeness,” “critical race theory,” and “gender ideology” mirrors the 19th-century backlash to cosmopolitan liberalism, when reactionary clerics and monarchs warned that revolution meant the destruction of family, church, and tradition. It’s all the same playbook… demonize the Other, deny rights, centralize power.

But something else is happening, too. Just like 1848, when the urban poor and the rising middle classes— albeit momentarily— found common cause against their rulers, we are seeing new coalitions forming today… between the climate movement and labor unions, between student protesters and progressive faith groups, between digital activists and real-world organizers. These coalitions are imperfect and fractured, but they are driven by the same sense of betrayal and urgency that animated the revolutions of the 19th century. They feel the ground shifting beneath them and are desperate to create something new before it collapses entirely.

In the short term, the reactionary counteroffensive— like the one that crushed so many 1848 uprisings— may seem unstoppable. Courts are stacked, districts are gerrymandered, protest is criminalized and the MAGA propaganda machine is more sophisticated and better funded than ever. But if history is a guide, this is not the end of the story. What followed the failed revolutions of 1848 wasn’t permanent repression; it was a long and uneven march toward the very ideals those revolts articulated: democracy, equality, national self-determination, and social reform.

We don’t know if today’s American spring has already passed or if it’s just beginning. But like in 1848, it’s clear that the old order cannot hold forever, not with this level of inequality, disaffection, and ecological crisis. What matters now is whether we can imagine a future that moves beyond both monarchy and MAGA, something bolder, freer and fairer than the brittle systems now holding on by their fingernails.