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131-593: The Frankfurt National Assembly (German: Frankfurter Nationalversammlung ) was the first freely elected parliament for all German states , including the German-populated areas of the Austrian Empire , elected on 1 May 1848 (see German federal election, 1848 ). The session was held from 18 May 1848 to 30 May 1849 in the Paulskirche at Frankfurt am Main . Its existence was both part of and

262-538: A barrier to contain the emergence of Italian and German nation-states as well, in addition to containing France. But this reactionary balance of power, aimed at blocking German and Italian nationalism on the continent, was precarious. After Napoleon's final defeat in 1815, the surviving member states of the defunct Holy Roman Empire joined to form the German Confederation ( Deutscher Bund ) – a rather loose organization, especially because

393-558: A constitutional assembly. After bloody street fights ( Barrikadenaufstand ) in Prussia, a Prussian National Assembly was also convened, with the task of preparing a constitution for that kingdom. The Pre-Parliament ( Vorparlament ) was in session at the St. Paul's Church, Frankfurt am Main ( Paulskirche ) in Frankfurt from 31 March to 3 April, chaired by Carl Joseph Anton Mittermaier . With

524-603: A fast-growing industrialized urban economic system. In previous centuries, the shortage of land meant that not everyone could marry, and marriages took place after age 25. The high birthrate was offset by a very high rate of infant mortality , plus periodic epidemics and harvest failures. After 1815, increased agricultural productivity meant a larger food supply, and a decline in famines, epidemics, and malnutrition. This allowed couples to marry earlier, and have more children. Arranged marriages became uncommon as young people were now allowed to choose their own marriage partners, subject to

655-629: A nation-state. However, the Confederation was not a 'loose' tie between the German states, as it was impossible to leave the Confederation, and as Confederation law stood above the law of the aligned states. The constitutional weakness of the Confederation lay in the principle of unanimity in the Diet and the limits of the Confederation's scope: it was essentially a military alliance to defend Germany against external attacks and internal riots. Ironically,

786-449: A necessary prerequisite for the development of political majorities. These Fraktionen were perceived as clubs and thus usually named after the location of their meetings; generally, they were quite unstable. According to their stances, especially on the constitution, the powers of parliament, and central government as opposed to individual states, they are broadly divided into three basic camps: The largest groupings in numerical terms were

917-541: A political dimension to the army. In addition, the Diet oversaw the construction and maintenance of several German Federal Fortresses and collected funds annually from the member states for this purpose. Projections of army strength were published in 1835, but the work of forming the Army Corps did not commence until 1840 as a consequence of the Rhine Crisis . Money for the fortresses were determined by an act of

1048-529: A result of the Napoleonic Wars . The Confederation had only one organ, the Bundesversammlung , or Federal Convention (also Federal Assembly or Confederate Diet). The Convention consisted of the representatives of the member states. The most important issues had to be decided on unanimously. The Convention was presided over by the representative of Austria. This was a formality, however, as

1179-509: A result, perhaps success in the overall assembly. Since the national assembly had not been initiated by the German Confederation, it was lacking not only major constitutional bodies, such as a head of state and a government, but also legal legitimation . A modification of the Bundesakte , the constitution of the German Confederation could have brought about such legitimation, but was practically impossible to achieve, as it would have required

1310-598: A second treaty, the Final Act of the Ministerial Conference to Complete and Consolidate the Organization of the German Confederation . This treaty was not concluded and signed by the parties until 15 May 1820. States joined the German Confederation by becoming parties to the second treaty. The states designated for inclusion in the Confederation were: In 1839, as compensation for the loss of part of

1441-482: A total of 799 deputies, while Thomas Nipperdey reckoned a high figure of 830. In the middle, Wolfram Siemann counted 812 deputies and Christian Jansen 809, which are the most popular figures. The discrepancy may be due to the chaotic conditions of the elections, where disputes over constituencies and the conduct of the elections caused the late sitting of some deputies. Adjustments to the Demarkationslinie in

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1572-690: A true state. Its territory comprised the parts of the German Confederation north of the river Main , plus Prussia's eastern territories and the Duchy of Schleswig , but excluded Austria and the other southern German states. Prussia's influence was widened by the Franco-Prussian War resulting in the proclamation of the German Empire at Versailles on 18 January 1871, which united the North German Federation with

1703-406: A veto by the parents. The upper and middle classes began to practice birth control , and a little later so too did the peasants. The population in 1800 was heavily rural, with only 8% of the people living in communities of 5,000 to 100,000 and another 2% living in cities of more than 100,000. In a heavily agrarian society, land ownership played a central role. Germany's nobles, especially those in

1834-501: A village court which handled minor offenses. Inside the family, the patriarch made all the decisions and tried to arrange advantageous marriages for his children. Much of the villages' communal life centered around church services and holy days. In Prussia, the peasants drew lots to choose conscripts required by the army. The noblemen handled external relationships and politics for the villages under their control, and were not typically involved in daily activities or decisions. After 1815,

1965-623: The Zollverein . In 1834, the Prussian regime sought to stimulate wider trade advantages and industrialism by decree – a logical continuation of the program of Stein and Hardenberg less than two decades earlier. Historians have seen three Prussian goals: as a political tool to eliminate Austrian influence in Germany; as a way to improve the economies; and to strengthen Germany against potential French aggression while reducing

2096-641: The Austrian Empire in 1866. The dispute over which had the inherent right to rule German lands ended in favour of Prussia, leading to the creation of the North German Confederation under Prussian leadership in 1867, to which the eastern portions of the Kingdom of Prussia were added. A number of South German states remained independent until they joined the North German Confederation, which was renamed and proclaimed as

2227-732: The Confederation of the Rhine in July 1806, joining sixteen of France's allies among the German states (including Bavaria and Württemberg ). After the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt of October 1806 in the War of the Fourth Coalition , various other German states, including Saxony and Westphalia, also joined the Confederation. Only Austria, Prussia, Danish Holstein , Swedish Pomerania , and

2358-541: The Confederation of the Rhine , but this collapsed after his defeats in 1812 to 1815. The German Confederation had roughly the same boundaries as the Empire at the time of the French Revolution (less what is now Belgium ). It also kept intact most of Confederation's reconstituted member states and their boundaries. The member states , drastically reduced to 39 from more than 300 (see Kleinstaaterei ) under

2489-456: The Elbe , accompanied by only three farmers. Craftsmen like Robert Blum or Wilhelm Wolff were associated almost exclusively with the radical democratic Left, as they knew the social problems of the underprivileged classes from personal observations. A few of them, e.g. Wolff already saw themselves as explicit socialists . A further striking aspect is the large number of well-known writers among

2620-610: The Fortresses of the German Confederation ( Bundesfestungen ) at Mainz , Ulm , and Rastatt , while the Kingdom of Bavaria developed the fortress at Germersheim . Patriotic feelings of the public were effectively captured in the poem Die Wacht am Rhein ( Watch on the Rhine ) by Max Schneckenburger , and in songs such as "Der Deutsche Rhein" and the " Lied der Deutschen ", the national anthem of Germany since 1922. The mid-1840s saw an increased frequency of internal crises. This

2751-429: The French Revolution , where freedom of the individual and nation was asserted against privilege and custom. Representing a great variety of types and theories, they were largely a response to the disintegration of previous cultural patterns, coupled with new patterns of production, specifically the rise of industrial capitalism. However, the defeat of Napoleon enabled conservative and reactionary regimes such as those of

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2882-674: The Grand Duchy of Posen created new constituencies and new deputies as late as February 1849 (see below). Finally, the passage of the Austrian Constitution in March 1849 convinced a few Czech deputies who had boycotted the National Assembly to appear, if only in moral opposition. For these reasons, the total number of deputies may never be settled. The social makeup of the deputies was very homogeneous throughout

3013-683: The Göttingen Seven ), and politicians such as Welcker and Itzstein who had been champions of constitutional rights for two decades. Among the professors, besides lawyers, experts in German Studies and historians were especially common, because under the sway of restoration politics, academic meetings in such disciplines, e.g. the Germanisten-Tage of 1846 and 1847, were often the only occasions where national themes could be discussed freely. Apart from those mentioned above,

3144-579: The Habsburg monarchy in Austria, and the conservative notables of the small princely states and city-states in Germany. Meanwhile, demands for change from below had been fomenting due to the influence of the French Revolution. Throughout the German Confederation, Austrian influence was paramount, drawing the ire of the nationalist movements. Metternich considered nationalism, especially

3275-562: The Holy Roman Empire , were recognized as fully sovereign. The members pledged themselves to mutual defense, and joint maintenance of the fortresses at Mainz , the city of Luxembourg , Rastatt , Ulm , and Landau . The only organ of the Confederation was the Federal Assembly (officially Bundesversammlung , often called Bundestag ), which consisted of the delegates of the states' governments. There

3406-642: The King of the United Kingdom (until 1837) as King of Hanover were members of the German Confederation. Each of them had a vote in the Federal Assembly. At its foundation in 1815, four member states were ruled by foreign monarchs, as the King of Denmark was Duke of both Holstein and Saxe-Lauenburg. The four free cities of Bremen , Frankfurt , Hamburg , and Lübeck shared one vote in

3537-426: The Kingdom of Prussia were the largest and by far the most powerful members of the Confederation. Large parts of both countries were not included in the Confederation, because they had not been part of the former Holy Roman Empire, nor were the greater parts of their armed forces incorporated in the federal army. Austria and Prussia each had one vote in the Federal Assembly. Six other major states had one vote each in

3668-464: The Kingdom of Prussia , the Austrian Empire , and Tsarist Russia to survive, laying the groundwork for the Congress of Vienna and the alliance that strove to oppose radical demands for change ushered in by the French Revolution . With Austria 's position on the continent now intact and ostensibly secure under its reactionary premier Klemens von Metternich , the Habsburg empire would serve as

3799-529: The University of Berlin , founded in 1810, became the world's leading university. Von Ranke , for example, professionalized history and set the world standard for historiography. By the 1830s, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology had emerged with world class science, led by Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) in natural science and Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) in mathematics. Young intellectuals often turned to politics, but their support for

3930-587: The crown of the Holy Roman Empire and dissolved the Empire. This was the result of the Napoleonic Wars and of direct military pressure from Napoléon Bonaparte . After the victory of Prussia , the United Kingdom , Imperial Russia , and other states over Napoléon in 1815, the Congress of Vienna created the German Confederation ( Deutscher Bund ). The Austrian Empire dominated this system of loosely connected, independent states, but

4061-511: The province of Luxemburg to Belgium, the Duchy of Limburg was created and became a member of the German Confederation (held by the Netherlands jointly with Luxembourg) until the dissolution of 1866. In 1867 the duchy was declared to be an "integral part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands". The cities of Maastricht and Venlo were not included in the Confederation. The Austrian Empire and

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4192-506: The status quo . At the same time, the bourgeois opposition had increased its networking activities and began coordinating its activities in the individual chamber parliaments more and more confidently. Thus, at the Heppenheim Conference on 10 October 1847, eighteen liberal members from a variety of German states met to discuss common motions for a German nation-state. In Prussia, King Frederick William IV finally approved

4323-567: The " German Empire " in 1871, as the unified Germany (aside from Austria) with the Prussian king as emperor (Kaiser) after the victory over French Emperor Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Most historians have judged the Confederation to have been weak and ineffective, as well as an obstacle to the creation of a German nation-state. This weakness was part of its design, as the European Great Powers , including Prussia and especially Austria, did not want it to become

4454-718: The Assembly, but rarely deployed ambassadors itself. During the revolution of 1848/49 the Federal Assembly was inactive. It transferred its powers to the Provisorische Zentralgewalt , the revolutionary German Central Government of the Frankfurt National Assembly . After crushing the revolution and illegally disbanding the National Assembly, the Prussian King failed to create a German nation state by himself. The Federal Assembly

4585-801: The Austrian Parliament in Vienna. Therefore, Archduke John drove to Frankfurt where he was sworn in as Regent on the morning of 12 July 1848 in the Paulskirche, and then crossed over to the Thurn and Taxis Palace to deliver a speech to the Confederate Diet, which then declared the end of its work and delegated its responsibilities to the Regent. Archduke John returned to Vienna on 17 July to finish his tasks there. The practical tasks of

4716-670: The Casino, the Württemberger Hof, and beginning in 1849 the combined left, appearing as the Centralmärzverein ("Central March Club"). In his memoirs, the deputy Robert von Mohl wrote about the formation and functioning of the Clubs: that originally there were four different clubs, based on the basic political orientations [...] Regarding the most important major questions, for example about Austria's participation and

4847-564: The Confederate Diet in that year. By 1846, Luxemburg still had not formed its own contingent, and Prussia was rebuffed for offering to supply 1,450 men to garrison the Luxemburg fortress that should have been supplied by Waldeck and the two Lippes. In that same year, it was decided that a common symbol for the Federal Army should be the old Imperial two-headed eagle, but without crown, scepter, or sword, as any of those devices encroached on

4978-573: The Confederation did not have a head of state, since it was not a state. The Confederation, on the one hand, was a strong alliance between its member states because federal law was superior to state law (the decisions of the Federal Convention were binding for the member states). Additionally, the Confederation had been established for eternity and was impossible to dissolve (legally), with no member states being able to leave it and no new member being able to join without universal consent in

5109-606: The Confederation into a unified German federal state with a liberal constitution (usually called the Frankfurt Constitution in English). The Federal Convention was dissolved on 12 July 1848, but was re-established in 1850 after the revolution was crushed by Austria, Prussia, and other states. The Confederation was finally dissolved after the victory of the Kingdom of Prussia in the Seven Weeks' War over

5240-707: The East called Junkers , dominated not only the localities, but also the Prussian court , and especially the Prussian army . Increasingly after 1815, a centralized Prussian government based in Berlin took over the powers of the nobles, which in terms of control over the peasantry had been almost absolute. They retained control of the judicial system on their estates until 1848, as well as control of hunting and game laws. They paid no land tax until 1861 and kept their police authority until 1872, and controlled church affairs into

5371-620: The Federal Assembly. The 23 remaining states (at its formation in 1815) shared five votes in the Federal Assembly: There were therefore 17 votes in the Federal Assembly. The rules of the Confederation provided for three different types of military interventions: Other military conflicts were foreign to the confederation ( bundesfremd ). An example is Austria's oppression of the uprising in Northern Italy in 1848 and 1849, as these Austrian territories lay outside of

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5502-536: The Federal Assembly: the Kingdom of Bavaria , the Kingdom of Saxony , the Kingdom of Württemberg , the Electorate of Hesse , the Grand Duchy of Baden , and the Grand Duchy of Hesse . Three foreign monarchs ruled member states: the King of Denmark as Duke of Holstein and Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg ; the King of the Netherlands as Grand Duke of Luxembourg and (from 1839) Duke of Limburg ; and

5633-673: The Federal Convention. On the other hand, the Confederation was weakened by its very structure and member states, partly because the most important decisions in the Federal Convention required unanimity and the purpose of the Confederation was limited to only security matters. On top of that, the functioning of the Confederation depended on the cooperation of the two most populous member states, Austria and Prussia which in reality were often in opposition . The German revolutions of 1848–1849 , motivated by liberal, democratic, socialist, and nationalist sentiments, attempted to transform

5764-630: The French-occupied Principality of Erfurt stayed outside the Confederation of the Rhine. The War of the Sixth Coalition from 1812 to winter 1814 saw the defeat of Napoleon and the liberation of Germany. In June 1814, the famous German patriot Heinrich vom Stein created the Central Managing Authority for Germany ( Zentralverwaltungsbehörde ) in Frankfurt to replace the defunct Confederation of

5895-423: The German Confederation. Though the pre-parliament had decided on 13 May 1848 for the opening of the National Assembly, the date was pushed to 18 May so that deputies from Prussia's outer provinces, which had only recently joined the Confederation, could arrive in time. By this calculation, the number of Prussian deputies to parliament was increased. According to the pre-parliament's rules for elections, one deputy

6026-465: The National Assembly but rejected doing so on 29 April 1848. Therefore, Robert Mohl worked out his draft with two other deputies. The draft was completed on 10 May and adopted as regulation at the first sitting of the Parliament on 18 May. A commission was set up to draft the definitive rules of procedure on 29 May, which was adopted following a short debate. Six sections with 49 paragraphs regulated

6157-566: The Paulskirche parliament voted, with 450 votes against 100, for the so-called Provisional Central Power ( Provisorische Zentralgewalt ). The next day, 29 June, the Parliament cast votes for candidates to be the Reichsverweser or Regent of the Empire, a temporary head of state . In the final tally, Archduke John of Austria gained 436 votes, Heinrich von Gagern received 52 votes, John Adam von Itzstein got 32 votes, and Archduke Stephen, Palatine of Hungary only 1 vote. The office of Regent

6288-403: The Paulskirche to hold the first session of the German national assembly, under its chairman (by seniority) Friedrich Lang . Heinrich von Gagern , one of the best-known liberals throughout Germany, was elected president of the parliament. (See this List of deputies that attended the opening of the parliament.) The evangelical community of Frankfurt provided St. Paul's Church ( Paulskirche ) to

6419-539: The Pre-Parliament, which in turn became the home of the National Assembly. The altar was removed and a lectern was put in place for the presidium and the speaker, while the church organ was hidden by the large painting Germania . On either side of the gallery was the library. Despite its large capacity, which allowed the sitting of 600 deputies and a gallery for 2,000 spectators, there were some disadvantages. St. Paul's Church had extremely narrow corridors between

6550-806: The Protestant cantons. Austrian Chancellor Klemens von Metternich had pondered military intervention and later regretted not doing so, blaming the resulting waves of revolution on the Swiss. Three months later, revolutionary workers and students in France deposed the Citizen King Louis-Philippe I in the February Revolution ; their action resulted in the declaration of the Second Republic . In many European states,

6681-433: The Provisional Central Power were performed by a cabinet, consisting of a college of ministers under the leadership of a prime minister ( Ministerpräsident ). At the same time, the Provisional Central Power undertook to create a government apparatus, made up of specialized ministries and special envoys, employing, for financial reasons, mainly deputies of the assembly. The goal was to have a functional administration in place at

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6812-432: The Provisional Central Power, the Regent, and his government were expected to be subservient to their whims. Theoretically, the transfer of the Confederate Diet's authority to the Regent on 12 July gave him legitimate, binding power independent of the National Assembly. The Diet's rules regarding unanimous decision-making and a liberum veto had been a source of weakness when divided among 39 members. But, when concentrated in

6943-412: The Rhine. However, plenipotentiaries gathered at the Congress of Vienna were determined to create a weaker union of German states than that envisaged by Stein. The German Confederation was created by the 9th Act of the Congress of Vienna on 8 June 1815 after being alluded to in Article 6 of the 1814 Treaty of Paris , ending the War of the Sixth Coalition. The Confederation was formally created by

7074-404: The Second Schleswig War (or Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg in German). As Schleswig and Denmark were not member states, this war was foreign to the Confederation. The Confederation took no part in this war. A federal intervention confronted for example the raid of the revolutionaries in Baden in April 1848. In June 1866, the Federal Convention decided to takes measures against Prussia. This decision

7205-413: The War Department and had been employed by the Confederate Diet in the same capacity. The Ministry of Commerce employed 25 staff, including the section in charge of the German Fleet, which was only separated as an independent Naval ministry in May 1849. The diplomatic section employed mostly freelance personnel who held portfolios for state governments. As the National Assembly had initiated the creation of

7336-442: The War of 1866 proved its ineffectiveness, as it was unable to combine the federal troops in order to fight the Prussian secession. The War of the Third Coalition lasted from about 1803 to 1806. Following defeat at the Battle of Austerlitz by the French under Napoleon in December 1805, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II abdicated, and the Empire was dissolved on 6 August 1806. The resulting Treaty of Pressburg established

7467-897: The academic Ernst Moritz Arndt , Johann Gustav Droysen , Carl Jaup , Friedrich Theodor Vischer , Bruno Hildebrand and Georg Waitz are especially notable. Because of this composition, the National Assembly was later often dismissively dubbed the Professorenparlament ("Professors' parliament") and ridiculed with verses such as "Dreimal 100 Advokaten – Vaterland, du bist verraten; dreimal 100 Professoren – Vaterland, du bist verloren!" "Three times 100 lawyers – Fatherland, you are betrayed; three times 100 professors – Fatherland, you are doomed". 149 deputies were self-employed bourgeois professionals, such as lawyers, doctors, journalists or clergymen, including well-known politicians such as Alexander von Soiron , Johann Jacoby , Karl Mathy , Johann Gustav Heckscher , Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler and Wilhelm Murschel . The economically active middle class

7598-423: The armed forces of a state. For example, Prussia's army consisted of nine Army Corps but contributed only three to the German Federal Army. The strength of the mobilized German Federal Army was projected to total 303,484 men in 1835 and 391,634 men in 1860, with the individual states providing the following figures: Between 1806 and 1815, Napoleon organized the German states, aside from Prussia and Austria, into

7729-404: The assembly of a United Diet promised by his father in the decree of 22 May 1815. This body was commanded to debate and vote only on taxes and loans. However, as soon as it opened in April 1847, its members began discussions of press freedoms, voting, and human rights, the power to introduce legislation and foreign policy. After eleven weeks, the United Diet rejected a loan request. The King closed

7860-436: The attackers. The attack was organized by students, most of them members of the Burschenschaft , Gustav Körner and Gustav Bunsen ( de:Gustav Bunsen ), a teacher, and others. After the failed attack, at least eight of those involved, Gustav Körner, George Bunsen , Gustav Bunsen, Henry Abend , Theodore Engleman , Georg Neuhoff , Ferdinand Lindheimer , and Adolph Berchelman fled to Belleville, Illinois . Gustav Körner

7991-453: The average daily attendance to between 400 and 450 members. For important ballots, up to 540 deputies might attend to cast their vote. In April 1849, there were on average 436 deputies each sitting before the Austrian deputies were recalled (see below). Because of resignations and replacements, the total number of deputies who served between 18 May 1848 and 17 June 1849 has never been determined satisfactorily. Historian Jörg-Detlef Kühne counted

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8122-413: The banner of social revolution", and seen as a precursor to the coming Spring of Nations . At the same time, the suppression of the Free City of Cracow in the midst of the uprising aroused the emotions of nationalists in Germany as much as in Poland . In Switzerland , the Sonderbund War of November 1847 saw the swift defeat of the conservative Catholic cantons and victory for the radical left-wing in

8253-422: The confederation's borders. During the existence of the Confederation, there was only one federal war: the war against Denmark beginning with the Schleswig-Holstein uprising in 1848 (the First Schleswig War ). The conflict became a federal war when the Bundestag demanded from Denmark to withdraw its troops from Schleswig (April 12) and recognized the revolutionary of Schleswig-Holstein (April 22). The confederation

8384-438: The definition used would have pushed this up to 90%, whereas the laws were much more restrictive in Saxony, Baden, and Hanover . The boycott in Austria's Czech majority areas and complications in Tiengen (Baden), (where the leader of the Heckerzug rebellion, Freidrich Hecker, in exile in Switzerland, was elected in two rounds) caused disruptions. On 18 May 1848, 379 deputies assembled in the Kaisersaal and walked solemnly to

8515-402: The demonstration for civic rights and national unity at the 1832 Hambach Festival , and the abortive attempt at an armed rising in the 1833 Frankfurter Wachensturm , the pressure on representatives of constitutional or democratic ideas was raised through measures such as censorship and bans on public assemblies. The 1840s began with the Rhine Crisis , a primarily diplomatic scandal caused by

8646-436: The deputies developed the Frankfurt Constitution. While the opening session had generally been quite chaotic, with the deputies seated haphazardly, independent of their political affiliations, ordered parliamentary procedures developed quickly. Soon, deputies started assembling in Klubs (clubs), which served as discussion groups for kindred spirits and led to the development of Fraktionen ( Parliamentary groups or factions),

8777-411: The deputies soon arranged themselves according to their political affiliations, from left and right. By formal change or simple use, the Rules of Procedure could be modified. Political factions largely determined the speakers in a debate. A name roll call had to take place if at least fifty deputies demanded it; Speaker Friedrich Bassermann wanted to allow this only when needed because of uncertainty over

8908-412: The deputies, including Anastasius Grün , Johann Ludwig Uhland , Heinrich Laube and Victor Scheffel . In his opening speech on 19 May 1848, Gagern defined the main tasks of the national assembly as the creation of a "constitution for Germany" and the achievement of German unification. This was followed by a total of 230 sessions, supported by 26 committees and five commissions, in the course of which

9039-448: The diet in disgust and refused to say when it would be reopened. However, the people's enthusiasm for the United Diet was undeniable, and it was clear that a new political age was dawning. Many of the most eloquent members of the United Diet would play important roles in the future Frankfurt Parliament. Between 1846 and 1848, broader European developments aggravated this tension. The Peasant Uprising in Galicia in February and March 1846

9170-407: The early 20th century. To help the nobility avoid indebtedness, Berlin set up a credit institution to provide capital loans in 1809, and extended the loan network to peasants in 1849. When the German Empire was established in 1871, the nobility controlled the army and the Navy, the bureaucracy, and the royal court; they generally set governmental policies. Peasants continued to center their lives in

9301-403: The economic independence of smaller states. Frankfurter Wachensturm About 50 students attacked the soldiers and policemen of the Frankfurt Police offices Hauptwache and Konstablerwache to try to gain control over the treasury of the German Confederation to start a revolution in all German states. However, because the plot had been betrayed to the police, it was easy to overcome

9432-809: The election of emperors, the usual club-based divisions could be abandoned temporarily to create larger overall groups, such as the United Left, the Greater Germans in Hotel Schröder, the Imperials in Hotel Weidenbusch. These party meetings were indeed an important part of political life in Frankfurt, significant for positive, but also for negative, results. A club offered a get-together with politically kindred spirits, some of whom became true friends, comparably rapid decisions, and, as

9563-450: The electoral test, the board and staff of the assembly, quorum (set at 200 deputies), the formation of committees, order of debate, and inputs and petitions. Among other things, the rules of procedure provided that the meetings were public but could be confidential under certain conditions. In the 15 committees, the subjects of negotiation were pre-deliberated. It was settled on how applications were to be handled (twenty votes were needed for

9694-425: The failed Revolution of 1848 forced many into exile. The population of the German Confederation (excluding Austria) grew 60% from 1815 to 1865, from 21,000,000 to 34,000,000. The era saw the demographic transition take place in Germany. It was a transition from high birth rates and high death rates to low birth and death rates as the country developed from a pre-industrial to a modernized agriculture and supported

9825-704: The flames of the revolutionary mood. The revolution on German soil began in Baden, with the occupation of the Ständehaus at Karlsruhe . This was followed in April by the Heckerzug (named after its leader, Friedrich Hecker ), the first of three revolutionary risings in the Grand Duchy. Within a few days and weeks, the revolts spread to the other German states . The central demands of the German opposition(s) were

9956-552: The forces of the old order against those inspired by the French Revolution and the Rights of Man. The breakdown of the competition was, roughly, the emerging capitalist bourgeoisie and petit-bourgeoisie (engaged mostly in commerce, trade, and industry), and the growing (and increasingly radicalized) industrial working class ; and the other side associated with landowning aristocracy or military aristocracy (the Junker s ) in Prussia,

10087-468: The forces unleashed by the French Revolution were seemingly under control after the Vienna Congress, the conflict between conservative forces and liberal nationalists was only deferred at best. The era until the failed 1848 revolution, in which these tensions built up, is commonly referred to as Vormärz ("pre-March"), in reference to the outbreak of riots in March 1848. This conflict pitted

10218-556: The form of the nationalistic and liberal democratic college fraternities known as the Burschenschaften . The Wartburg Festival in 1817 celebrated Martin Luther as a proto-German nationalist, linking Lutheranism to German nationalism, and helping arouse religious sentiments for the cause of German nationhood. The festival culminated in the burning of several books and other items that symbolized reactionary attitudes. One item

10349-482: The former President of the National Assembly were poor. German Confederation The German Confederation ( German : Deutscher Bund [ˌdɔʏtʃɐ ˈbʊnt] ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe . It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire , which had been dissolved in 1806 as

10480-423: The foundation for Prussia's future military might by professionalizing the military and decreeing universal military conscription . In order to industrialize Prussia, working within the framework provided by the old aristocratic institutions, land reforms were enacted to break the monopoly of the Junker s on land ownership, thereby also abolishing, among other things, the feudal practice of serfdom . Although

10611-479: The four remaining free cities ( Hamburg , Lübeck , Bremen and Frankfurt ) held direct elections. Most states chose an indirect procedure, usually involving a first round, voting to constitute an Electoral college which chose the actual deputies in a second round. There also were different arrangements regarding the right to vote, as the Frankfurt guidelines only stipulated that voters should be independent ( selbständig ) adult males. The definition of independence

10742-598: The future of Germany. Yet, as the National Assembly dragged out its work on the Constitution, the role of the Provisional Central Power changed. Soon, its purpose was to shore up the diminishing legitimacy of the whole project in the eyes of the people and the princes. Heinrich Gagern's appointment as Prime Minister in December was to serve that purpose, even though relations between the Regent and

10873-504: The granting of basic and civic rights regardless of property requirements, the appointment of liberal governments in the individual states and most importantly the creation of a German nation-state, with a pan-German constitution and a popular assembly. On 5 March 1848, opposition politicians and state deputies met at the Heidelberg Assembly to discuss these issues. They resolved to form a pre-parliament ( Vorparlament ), which

11004-491: The hands of one man, it could make him supreme if he chose to be so. However, the Regent was a man of advanced age who was convinced, like most of his contemporaries, that his office would be of short duration and his role should be strictly an honor. Therefore, the personalities of the Prime Ministers during the life of the Provisional Central Power clearly defined the government during their tenures. Carl zu Leiningen

11135-470: The individual princes recalled the existing conservative governments and replaced them with more liberal committees, the so-called "March Governments" ( Märzregierungen ). On 10 March 1848, the Bundestag of the German Confederation appointed a "Committee of Seventeen" ( Siebzehnerausschuss ) to prepare a draft constitution; on 20 March, the Bundestag urged the states of the confederation to call elections for

11266-422: The individual sovereignty of the states. King Frederick William IV of Prussia was among those who derided the "disarmed imperial eagle" as a national symbol. The German Federal Army was divided into ten Army Corps (later expanded to include a Reserve Corps). However, the Army Corps were not exclusive to the German Confederation but composed from the national armies of the member states, and did not include all of

11397-558: The introduction of civic rights in some German states in the early 19th century. Furthermore, some German states had adopted constitutions after the foundation of the German Confederacy. Between 1819 and 1830, the Carlsbad Decrees and other instances of Restoration politics limited such developments. The unrest that resulted from the 1830 French July Revolution led to a temporary reversal of that trend, but after

11528-609: The liberal press, and seriously restricted academic freedom . German artists and intellectuals, heavily influenced by the French Revolution, turned to Romanticism . At the universities, high-powered professors developed international reputations, especially in the humanities led by history and philology, which brought a new historical perspective to the study of political history, theology, philosophy, language, and literature. With Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) in philosophy, Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834) in theology and Leopold von Ranke (1795–1886) in history,

11659-527: The main demands of the liberal and nationalist movements of the Vormärz and provided a foundation of basic rights , both of which stood in opposition to Metternich 's system of Restoration . The parliament also proposed a constitutional monarchy headed by a hereditary emperor ( Kaiser ). The Prussian king Frederick William IV refused to accept the office of " Emperor of the Germans " when it

11790-482: The maternal half-brother of Queen Victoria of Great Britain. Ministers of the Interior, Justice, War, and Foreign Affairs were appointed on the same day, while Ministers for Finance and Trade were appointed on 5 August. At the end of August 1848, there were a total of 26 persons employed in the administration of the provisional government. By 15 February 1849, the number had increased to 105. Some 35 of them worked in

11921-486: The nationalist youth movement, the most pressing danger: German nationalism might not only repudiate Austrian dominance of the Confederation, but also stimulate nationalist sentiment within the Austrian Empire itself. In a multi-national polyglot state in which Slavs and Magyars outnumbered the Germans, the prospects of Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Polish, Serb, or Croatian sentiment along with middle class liberalism

12052-608: The need for administrative, economic, and social reforms to improve the efficiency of the bureaucracy and encourage practical merit-based education. Inspired by the Napoleonic organization of German and Italian principalities, the Prussian Reform Movement led by Karl August von Hardenberg and Count Stein was conservative, enacted to preserve aristocratic privilege while modernizing institutions. Outside Prussia, industrialization progressed slowly, and

12183-456: The plenary presentation) and that the agenda was fixed by the President at the end of the previous session. Deputies spoke in the order in which they answered but with a change from opponents and supporters of the bill. Speaking time was unlimited. Twenty deputies together could request the conclusion of a debate, at which the decision was then in plenary. There were no seating arrangements, but

12314-472: The princes of the Confederation had nominated him Regent before the Parliament had done so. The implication was that the Regent should receive his power from the princes rather than the revolutionaries, but the practical effect of this power was yet to be seen. The Archduke received the delegation on 5 July 1848 and accepted the position, stating, however, that he could not undertake full responsibility in Frankfurt until he had finished his current work of opening

12445-552: The reform-oriented states, such as Baden , the development of a lively scene of Vereine ( clubs or voluntary associations ) provided an organizational framework for democratic, or popular, opposition. Especially in Southwest Germany, censorship could not effectively suppress the press. At such rallies as the Offenburg Popular Assembly of September 1847, radical democrat was called to overthrow

12576-523: The resistance against Restoration policies increased and led to revolutionary unrest. In several parts of the Austrian Empire , namely in Hungary , Bohemia , Romania , and throughout Italy, in particular in Sicily , Rome , and Northern Italy , there were bloody revolts, replete with calls for local or regional autonomy and even for national independence. Friedrich Daniel Bassermann , a liberal deputy in

12707-475: The result of the "March Revolution" within the states of the German Confederation . After long and controversial debates, the assembly produced the so-called Frankfurt Constitution ( Paulskirchenverfassung or St. Paul's Church Constitution, officially the Verfassung des Deutschen Reiches ) which proclaimed a German Empire based on the principles of parliamentary democracy . This constitution fulfilled

12838-465: The rows of seats in the central hall, and there were no rooms for consultation by the committees. The gallery attendees quickly became famous for their noise during the debates, which the more eloquent deputies learned to abuse to gain applause for themselves or raucous blame upon their enemies. The Committee of Fifty that emerged from the Pre-parliament could have drafted Rules of Procedure for

12969-424: The second chamber of the parliament of Baden, helped to trigger the final impulse for the election of a pan-German assembly (or parliament). On 12 February 1848, referring to his own motion ( Motion Bassermann ) in 1844 and a comparable one by Carl Theodor Welcker in 1831, he called for a representation, elected by the people, in the Confederate Diet. Two weeks later, news of the successful revolution in France fanned

13100-422: The session, set the agenda, and led the meeting. The overall board also included eight secretaries, who were jointly elected by a relative majority for the entire term. A panel of twelve stenographers wrote down all discussions in every session and withdrew in the evening to compare notes. They were assisted by 13 clerks. Final copies of the daily sessions were printed for the public two or three days later, though by

13231-816: The session. The parliament mostly represented the educated bourgeoisie. 95% of deputies had the abitur , more than three-quarters had been to university, half of which had studied jurisprudence . A considerable number of deputies were members of a Corps or a Burschenschaft . In terms of profession, upper-level civil servants formed the majority: this group included a total of 436 deputies, including 49 university lecturers or professors, 110 judges or prosecutors, and 115 high administrative clerks and district administrators ( Landräte ). Due to their oppositional views, many of them had already conflicted with their princes for several years, including professors such as Jacob Grimm , Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann , Georg Gottfried Gervinus and Wilhelm Eduard Albrecht (all counted among

13362-595: The southern German states. All the constituent states of the former German Confederation became part of the Kaiserreich in 1871, except Austria, Luxembourg , the Duchy of Limburg , and Liechtenstein . The late 18th century was a period of political, economic, intellectual, and cultural reforms, the Enlightenment (represented by figures such as Locke , Rousseau , Voltaire , and Adam Smith ), but also involving early Romanticism , and climaxing with

13493-611: The support of the moderate liberals, and against the opposition of the radical democrats, it decided to cooperate with the German Confederate Diet ( Bundestag ), to form a national constitutional assembly which would write a new constitution. For the transitional period until the actual formation of that assembly, the Vorparlament formed the Committee of Fifty ( Fünfzigerausschuss ), as a representation to face

13624-564: The system failed to account for the rising influence of Prussia. After the so-called "Wars of Liberation" ( Befreiungskriege , the German term for the German part of the War of the Sixth Coalition ), many contemporaries had expected a nation-state solution and thus considered the subdivision of Germany as unsatisfactory. Apart from this nationalist component, calls for civic rights influenced political discourse. The Napoleonic Code Civil had led to

13755-609: The threat from the French prime minister Adolphe Thiers to invade Germany in a dispute between Paris and the four other Great Powers (including Austria and Prussia) over the Middle East. The threat alarmed the German Confederate Diet ( Bundesversammlung ), which was made up of representatives of the individual princes, and the only institution representing the whole German Confederation. The Diet voted to extend

13886-618: The time of the Rump Parliament , printings were up to ten days late. Furthermore, the staff consisted of messengers and servants. The Pre-Parliament had set the ratio of one deputy to the National Assembly per 50,000 inhabitants of the German Confederation, totaling 649 deputies. However, Czech-majority constituencies in Bohemia and Moravia boycotted the election, reducing the total to 585. As many deputies held multiple assignments in state parliaments or government offices, this reduced

14017-480: The time of the Constitution's passage. Whatever form the final government of united Germany was to take would be defined by the Constitution, and necessary changes to the Provisional Central Power would be made accordingly. Significantly, the terms of the Regent's service explicitly forbade him or his ministers from interfering in the formulation of the Constitution. On 15 July 1848, the Regent appointed his first government under prime minister Prince Carl zu Leiningen ,

14148-651: The two great rivals, the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia , each feared domination by the other. In Prussia the Hohenzollern rulers forged a centralized state. By the time of the Napoleonic Wars, Prussia, grounded in the virtues of its established military aristocracy (the Junkers ) and stratified by rigid hierarchical lines, had been surpassed militarily and economically by France. After 1807, Prussia's defeats by Napoleonic France highlighted

14279-473: The unanimous support of all 38 signatory states. Partially for this reason, influential European powers, including France and Russia, declined to recognize the Parliament. While the left demanded to solve this situation by creating a revolutionary parliamentary government, the center and right acted to create a monarchy. On 24 June 1848, Heinrich von Gagern argued for a regency and provisional central government to carry out parliamentary decisions. On 28 June 1848,

14410-413: The urban population grew rapidly, due primarily to the influx of young people from the rural areas. Berlin grew from 172,000 people in 1800 to 826,000 in 1870; Hamburg grew from 130,000 to 290,000; Munich from 40,000 to 269,000; Breslau (now Wrocław ) from 60,000 to 208,000; Dresden from 60,000 to 177,000; Königsberg (now Kaliningrad ) from 55,000 to 112,000. Offsetting this growth, there

14541-463: The village, where they were members of a corporate body and helped manage community resources and monitor community life. In the East, they were serfs who were bound prominently to parcels of land. In most of Germany, farming was handled by tenant farmers who paid rents and obligatory services to the landlord, who was typically a nobleman. Peasant leaders supervised the fields and ditches and grazing rights, maintained public order and morals, and supported

14672-543: The vote, but opponents saw in the roll call a means of documenting how the deputies voted. Finally, to save time, on 17 October 1848 voting cards were introduced (white "yes", blue "no") as a means of true documentation. By the Rules of Procedure, an absolute majority of deputies present elected the President and the two Vice-Presidents of the National Assembly. A new election of officers was held every four weeks, as Robert von Mohl had suggested. The President maintained order in

14803-480: Was a book by August von Kotzebue . In 1819, Kotzebue was accused of spying for Russia, and then murdered by a theological student, Karl Ludwig Sand , who was executed for the crime. Sand belonged to a militant nationalist faction of the Burschenschaften . Metternich used the murder as a pretext to issue the Carlsbad Decrees of 1819, which dissolved the Burschenschaften , cracked down on

14934-508: Was a revolt against serfdom , directed against manorial property and social oppression . Rioting Galician peasants killed some 1,000 noblemen and destroyed about 500 manors. Despite its failure, the uprising was seen by some scholars, including Karl Marx , as a "deeply democratic movement that aimed at land reform and other pressing social questions." The uprising was praised by Marx and Friedrich Engels for being "the first in Europe to plant

15065-468: Was certainly horrifying to the monarchist landed aristocracy. Figures like August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben , Ludwig Uhland , Georg Herwegh , Heinrich Heine , Georg Büchner , Ludwig Börne , and Bettina von Arnim rose in the Vormärz era. Father Friedrich Jahn 's gymnastic associations exposed middle class German youth to nationalist and democratic ideas, which took

15196-522: Was declared "irresponsible", meaning the Regent could not govern except through his ministers, who were responsible to the Parliament. The Parliament then dispatched a deputation to the Archduke to present the honor bestowed upon him. However, the Confederate Diet ( Bundesversammlung ) sent their own letter, which the Archduke received prior to the parliamentary deputation, informing him that

15327-479: Was extensive emigration, especially to the United States. Emigration totaled 480,000 in the 1840s, 1,200,000 in the 1850s, and 780,000 in the 1860s. Despite its name and intention, the German Confederation was not entirely populated by Germans; many people of other ethnic groups lived within its borders: Further efforts to improve the confederation began in 1834 with the establishment of a customs union ,

15458-437: Was handled differently from state to state and was frequently the subject of vociferous protests. Usually, it was interpreted to exclude the recipients of any poverty-related support, but in some areas, it also barred any person who did not have a household of their own, including apprentices living at their masters' homes. Even with restrictions, however, it is estimated that about 85% of the male population could vote. In Prussia,

15589-526: Was held back because of political disunity, conflicts of interest between the nobility and merchants, and the continued existence of the guild system, which discouraged competition and innovation. While this kept the middle class at bay, affording the old order a measure of stability not seen in France, Prussia's vulnerability to Napoleon's military proved to many among the old order that a fragile, divided, and traditionalist Germany would be easy prey for its cohesive and industrializing neighbor. The reforms laid

15720-636: Was later Lieutenant Governor of Illinois . Gustav Bunsen died serving Sam Houston in Texas, George Bunsen became superintendent of schools in St. Clair County, Illinois , and Lindheimer eventually settled in New Braunfels, Texas and started the New Braunfelser Zeitung. He is most known for his discoveries of plant specimens, thus giving him the name “Father of Texas Botany”. This group of 1830s revolutionaries , thus called in German

15851-648: Was no head of state, but the Austrian delegate presided over the Assembly (according to the Bundesakte). Austria did not have extra powers, but consequently the Austrian delegate was called Präsidialgesandther and Austria the Präsidialmacht (presiding power). The Assembly met in Frankfurt. The Confederation was enabled to accept and deploy ambassadors. It allowed ambassadors of the European powers to

15982-665: Was offered to him on the grounds that such a constitution and such an offer were an abridgment of the rights of the princes of the individual German states. In the 20th century, however, major elements of the Frankfurt constitution became models for the Weimar Constitution of 1919 and the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany of 1949. In 1806, the Emperor Francis II had relinquished

16113-677: Was partially the result of large-scale political developments, such as the escalation of the Schleswig-Holstein Question and the erection of the Bundesfestungen . Additionally, a series of bad harvests in parts of Germany, notably the southwest, led to widely spread famine-related unrest in 1845 and 1846. The changes caused by the beginnings of industrialization exacerbated social and economic tensions considerably, especially in Saxony and Silesia . Meanwhile in

16244-419: Was represented by only about 60 deputies, including many publishers, including Bassermann and Georg Friedrich Kolb , but also businessmen, industrialists and bankers, such as Hermann Henrich Meier , Ernst Merck , Hermann von Beckerath , Gustav Mevissen and Carl Mez . Tradesmen and representatives of agriculture were very poorly represented – the latter were mostly represented by big landowners from east of

16375-633: Was revived in 1850 on Austrian initiative, but only fully reinstalled in the Summer of 1851. Rivalry between Prussia and Austria grew more and more, especially after 1859. The Confederation was dissolved in 1866 after the Austro-Prussian War , and was succeeded in 1866 by the Prussian-dominated North German Confederation . Unlike the German Confederation, the North German Confederation was in fact

16506-420: Was staunchly anti-Prussian and essentially anti-prince. His family had been mediatized along with hundreds of other nobles in the Napoleonic period, and he expected the remaining princes of Germany to set aside their crowns as well. Anton von Schmerling held contempt for many of the institutions he had dutifully served, such as the Confederate Diet, and considered the National Assembly and his administration to be

16637-438: Was supposed to collectively defend the German Confederation from external enemies, primarily France. Successive laws passed by the Confederate Diet set the form and function of the army, as well as contribution limits of the member states. The Diet had the power to declare war and was responsible for appointing a supreme commander of the army and commanders of the individual army corps. This made mobilization extremely slow and added

16768-404: Was technically not a federal execution for a lack of time to observe the actual procedure. Prussia had violated, according to the majority of the convention, federal law by sending its troops to Holstein. The decision led to the war in summer 1866 that ended with the dissolution of the confederation ( known as Seven Weeks War or by other names ). The German Federal Army ( Deutsches Bundesheer )

16899-405: Was to be seated for every 50,000 inhabitants within the Confederation, totaling some 649 jurisdictions (see this list of deputies at the opening of the parliament or list of all deputies on German Misplaced Pages ). The actual elections to the National Assembly depended on the laws of the individual states, which varied considerably. Württemberg, Holstein , the Electorate of Hesse (Hesse-Kassel) and

17030-449: Was to prepare the elections for a national constitutional assembly. They also elected a "Committee of Seven" ( Siebenerausschuss ), which proceeded to invite 500 individuals to Frankfurt. This development was accompanied and supported since early March by protest rallies and risings in many German states, including Baden, the Kingdom of Bavaria , the Kingdom of Saxony , the Kingdom of Württemberg , Austria and Prussia. Under such pressure,

17161-499: Was transformed into the German Empire of 1848 . Prussia was de facto the most important member state conducting the war for Germany. There are several examples for federal executions and especially federal interventions. In 1863, the Confederation ordered a federal execution against the duke of Holstein (the Danish king). Federal troops occupied Holstein which was a member state. After this, Austria and Prussia declared war on Denmark,

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