Democrats’ attempts to ride the tiger of popular insurrection only pushed moderate liberals further in the direction of counter-revolution. Memories of the Reign of Terror exercised by Robespierre in 1793–4 were simply too strong. The revolutionaries were also undermined by the failure of the peasantry in most parts of Europe to lend their support to them. In many countries, most notably France, serfdom had long since been abolished or, as in Prussia and Austria, watered down by attrition until only its last vestiges remained. The peasants did not harbour the overwhelming sense of grievance
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