35 REVIEW OF COMPARATIVE LAW VOLUME XXXIII YEAR 2018 THE YEAR 1848 IN FRANCE. A FEW REMARKS AT THE 170TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SECOND FRENCH REPUBLIC IN 1848 PART I Marcin Konarski * ABSTRACT Tis article is a synthetic analysis of the events of the Spring of Nations in France, which preceded the adoption of the Constitution of the Second French Republic on 4 November 1848. Te author presents the main causes of the re- volutionary events, the course of these events until 1848 as well as the most im- portant legal reforms of political and social nature undertaken during that period. Key words: Spring of Nations, 1848, Provisional Government, socialism, social reforms, right to work, abolition of slavery, abolition of death penalty, universal voting rights I Te year 2018 marks the 170th anniversary of the adoption of the ninth 1 Basic Law in the history of French constitutionalism, which was * Doctor of legal sciences – Assistant Professor at the Department of Administration, Faculty of Social Sciences and Administration, Warsaw Management University. 1 In chronological order, the Basic Laws preceding the Constitution of 1848 were: the Constitution of 3 September 1791, the Constitution of 24 June 1793 (the so-called Jacobinical Constitution) Constitution of 22 August 1795, (so-called Directorial Consti- tution or 5 fructidor of year III), Constitution of 13 December 1799 (the so-called Con- sular Constitution or the Constitution of 22 frimaire VIII), the Constitution of 18 May 1804 (28 foreal XII), the Constitutional Charter of 4 June 1814, the Additional Act to