High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! "Germany" at the time of the Revolutions of 1848 was a collection of 39 states loosely bound together in the German Confederation. As nationalist sentiment crystallized into resistance to the traditional political structure, repeated calls for freedom, democracy and national unity came to threaten the status quo. The Hambacher Fest of 1832, for instance, reflected growing unrest in the face of heavy taxation and political censorship, and culminated in the origination of the black-red-gold colours (which form today's flag of Germany) as a symbol of the republican movement and of a unity among the people.