18th May 1848, Berlin, Prussia. 

Jean was nibbling on a piece of bread, in vain hope that it would hold off hunger for longer. In the other hand, he was holding onto a straw bag. A metallic thing was peeking out. He was not too clear on what was happening in the palace square. A lot of people were gathered, and their murmurs were of mixed information.

Some people, typically with only a few patches on their wool jacket and more full faces, discussed among themselves. King Wilhelm had listened and was willing to loosen the press censorship and pass a constitution, so they came to celebrate.

But then other people would go through and loudly proclaim "If they shall reject the demonstration, they shall receive the revolution". Amid the masses, it was hard to tell who was unsatisfied with the changes and who didn't get the message.

Jean was fairly sure some people just wanted to enjoy a spectacle. 

It reached midday, and the crowd grew more unruly. Dragoons were grouping on the square. 

King Wilhelm the Fourth stepped out. 

Jean saw King Wilhelm IV, Jean saw fat, Jean saw extravagance, the fat belly, the puffed up cheeks, the make up. So absorbed was he in his anger; King Wilhelm's declaration of Germany, the meaning behind red, gold and black, and the cheers of the people around him, all of it fell on deaf ears. 

Instead, Jean opened his straw sack, and spent the next few minutes setting it up. When he returned his attention, the crowd was ectastic. Screams were stacked on screams, people mixed with people, and the whole square was more a canopy of sound and colour than anything distinguishable. A glint under the sun—the glint of a sabre—in the hand of a few dragoons set Jean in panic.

Did no one see? The brandished weapon? 

He needed to warn everyone. 

Quickly he unveiled his fusil dreyse, and shot at the ground. 

The crowd came to a still.

No, you fools, run!

He reloaded, shot again. 

If the canopy was bad, the following eruption was worse. Chaos and tumult; people of all classes reacted twoways. Some ran and created impromptu barricades. Others fought the dragoons head on. They fought back; the shouts of their superior was still muffled by the sheer amount of screaming.

A piece of bread rolled in front of Jean. He picked it up and took a bite.

It was so easy to start a revolution. 

*The actual shooter is unknown. 

King Wilhelm at that time made a surprising amount of concessions. When he came out, he loudly proclaimed his want for a Germany (the nation didn't exist at that time, and has been surpressed by the aristocrats & royality of that time as it's used in the same vein as a more liberal nation). After the shooting he sent a lot of mixed messages, however. On one hand, he tried to clear up the misunderstanding. On the other hand, he didn't recall the troops. It's one of the bloodiest revolutions in Germany. 

The military retreated after a few days, and King Wilhelm willingly humiliated himself by taking his "hat" off before the dead that died in the barricade fight. Ultimately, King Wilhelm escaped to London like many others of his class. 

It's interesting to note that overall most of the liberal revolution happened "from the top" and not "from the bottom". It resulted in a constitutional monarchy, where citizens had political sway, but less than royality and aristocracy. 

It's hard to say if the shooting was actually helpful for the revolution or not.