When frederick william iv succeeded to the throne in 1840 he:
a. sent an army to crush a revolt of textile weavers in silesia.
b. sent an army to invade poland.
c. ruled with assistance from elected legislatures.
d. supported constitutionalism.
e. allowed his authority to be questioned by his subjects.

sent an army to crush a revolt of textile weavers in Silesia.

Explanation:

At the beginning of 1844, the social situation in Silesia, in Prussia, had worsened. Increased unemployment, and English products, favored by rapid industrialization and the lifting of the blockade imposed by Napoleon Bonaparte.

Thus many cheap fabrics arrived, causing unemployment and the decline in the payment of the wages of the Silesian weavers, who could not compete with the mechanical spinners of England.

The Silesian weavers worked mostly in the fabric factories, and extended the day in their homes, receiving a miserable salary for the work of the whole family.

On June 4, 1844, the police arrested a weaver who sang this hymn under the window of a manufacturer. The response was immediate and in the afternoon a mutinous crowd ransacked the homes of the industrialists and destroyed the accounting books in the town of Peterswaldau. The next day 3,000 weavers went to the town of Reichenbach continuing the revolt and facing the army that, despite firing at the crowd and causing 11 dead, could not contain the fury of the weavers who managed to expel the soldiers from the town with stones and sticks.

The government sent June 3 to 3 infantry companies and an artillery battery that crushed the rebellion. Survivors sought refuge in the mountains and neighboring forests, and many were convicted.

the real answer is b