Editing 1840s (section)

=== Western Europe ===

==== Germany ====
* [[May 18]], [[1848]] – The first German National Assembly ([[Frankfurt Parliament|Nationalversammlung]]) opens in [[Frankfurt]], Germany.
* March – The [[Frankfurt Parliament]] completes its drafting of a liberal constitution and elects [[Frederick William IV]] emperor of the new German national state.
* [[April 2]], [[1849]] – [[Revolutions of 1848 in the German states]] end in failure.
* [[May 3]], [[1849]] – The [[May Uprising in Dresden]], last of the [[Revolutions of 1848 in the German states]], begins.

==== Switzerland ====
* [[November 3]] – [[November 29|29]], [[1847]] – [[Sonderbund War]], a civil war in Switzerland in which General [[Guillaume-Henri Dufour]]'s federal army defeats the ''Sonderbund'' (an alliance of seven [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[Cantons of Switzerland|cantons]]) with a total of only 86 deaths.
[[File:Gedenkblatt 1874.jpg|thumb|[[September 12]]: The [[Swiss Confederation]] reconstitutes itself as a [[federal republic]].]]
* [[September 12]], [[1848]] – One of the successes of the [[Revolutions of 1848]], the [[Swiss Federal Constitution]], patterned on the [[US Constitution]], enters into force, creating a [[federal republic]] and one of the first modern [[Democracy|democratic]] states in Europe.

==== The Netherlands ====
* [[October 7]], [[1840]] – [[William II of the Netherlands|Willem II]] becomes King of the [[Netherlands]].
* [[November 3]], [[1848]] – A greatly revised [[Netherlands|Dutch]] [[constitution]] is proclaimed.

==== France ====
* [[March 1]], [[1840]] – [[Adolphe Thiers]] becomes prime minister of [[France]].
* [[September 30]], [[1840]] – The frigate [[French ship Belle Poule (1834)|''Belle-Poule'']] arrives in Cherbourg, bringing back the remains of [[Napoleon]] from [[Saint Helena]] to [[France]]. He is buried in the [[Invalides]].
[[File:Repatriación de las cenizas de Napoleón a bordo de la Belle Poule, por Eugène Isabey.jpg|thumb|right|The frigate Belle-Poule brings back the remains of Napoleon to France.]]
* [[December 15]], [[1840]] – The corpse of [[Napoleon]] is placed in the [[Hotel des Invalides]] in [[Paris]].
* [[February 23]], [[1848]] – [[François Guizot]], [[Prime Minister of France]], resigns. 52 people from the Paris mob are killed by soldiers guarding public buildings.
* [[February 24]], [[1848]] – [[Louis Philippe]], King of the French, abdicates in favour of his grandson, [[Philippe, comte de Paris]], and flees to England after days of revolution in Paris. The [[French Second Republic]] is later proclaimed by [[Alphonse de Lamartine]] in the name of the provisional government elected by the Chamber under the pressure of the mob.
* [[May 15]], [[1848]] – [[Radicalism (historical)|Radicals]] invade the French [[Chamber of Deputies (France)|Chamber of Deputies]].
* [[June 22]], [[1848]] – The French government dissolves the national workshops in Paris, giving the workers the choice of joining the army or going to workshops in the provinces.
* [[August 28]], [[1848]] – Mathieu Luis becomes the first black member to join the French [[Parliament]] as a representative of [[Guadeloupe]].
* [[November 4]], [[1848]] – France ratifies a new constitution. The Second Republic of France is set up, ending the state of temporary government lasting since the Revolution of 1848.
* [[December 10]], [[1848]] – [[Prince]] [[Napoleon III|Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte]] is elected first [[president (government title)|president]] of the [[French Second Republic]].
* [[December 20]], [[1848]] – [[President (government title)|President]] [[Napoleon III|Bonaparte]] takes his [[Oath of Office]] in front of the [[French National Assembly]].
* [[January 1]], [[1849]] – [[France]] issues [[Ceres series (France)|Ceres]], the nation's first [[postage stamp]].