The missing subject

Question

In Europe, harsh reaction followed the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutions_of_1848, during which ten countries had experienced brief or long-term social upheaval as groups carried out nationalist uprisings.

<Soruce: "First International and the Paris Commune" of "Anarchism" in WIKIPEDIA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism>

I think the subject "Europe" is missing before "had experienced."
So, I'd like to know why this is possible.
Thank you in advance for your help.

Fivejedjon · Accepted Answer

park sang joon think the subject "Europe" is missing before "had experienced."

The subject of 'had experienced' is 'ten countries'.

Deadrat · Answer

The subject of "had experienced" is "ten countries." The fact that these are ten European countries is understood from following the antecedent to "which," the object of the preposition "during." That antecedent is "revolutions" in the independent clause, which is the object of "followed" in that same clause. We know where the following was done because the introductory prepositional phrase tells us -- "In Europe."

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, fivejedjon and deadrat, for your very helpful answer.

I thought "which" was a relative adjective modifying "ten countries."

Deadrat · Answer

In Europe, harsh reaction followed the revolutions of 1848 , during which ten countries had experienced brief or long-term social upheaval as groups carried out nationalist uprisings.

This is an easy error to make, given the word sequence. They key is to figure out whether the relative pronoun has an antecedent, a noun or pronoun that precedes it and to which it refers. In this case, ask yourself "During which event?" The answer is clearly the revolutions of 1848.

Things are different in the sentence "Which ten countries experienced social upheaval in 1848?" In this case "which" is the first word: there's nothing earlier to refer to. Here "which" modifies ten countries, asking for a specification of them.

The missing subject

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In Europe, harsh reaction followed the revolutions of 1848 , during which ten countries had experienced brief or long-term social upheaval as groups carried out nationalist uprisings.

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