A set of
revolutions took place in the
Austrian Empire from March 1848 to November 1849. Much of the revolutionary activity had a
nationalist character: the Empire, ruled from
Vienna, included ethnic
Germans,
Hungarians,
Slovenes,
Poles,
Czechs,
Slovaks,
Ruthenians (
Ukrainians),
Romanians,
Croats,
Venetians (
Italians) and
Serbs; all of whom attempted in the course of the revolution to either achieve
autonomy,
independence, or even over other nationalities. The nationalist picture was further complicated by the
simultaneous events in the German states, which moved toward greater German national unity.