What were the consequences of the 1848-49 revolutions?
v Initial responses of the German states to the 1848–49 revolutions
§ Princely rulers worried about the alliances and feelings made
short term concessions
§ Worried if they stood up to it they would be overthrown
§ Wanted with their armed forces until the time was right to act
§ Baden briefly in the hands of revolutionaries
§ June 1849 Grand Duke asked Prussia to restore order
v Weaknesses of the revolutions
§ Royal power could come back in power due to the divsions
amongst the people
§ Liberals – moderate constitutional reform
§ Radicals – more far reaching and extreme political changes
§ Working class – improvements in their working and living
conditions
§ Liberals were unwilling to continue their support for protests
which might develop into a radical social revolution.
§ failure of the revolutions was the recovery of the Austrian
monarchy.
§ soon recovered after march 1848 with support from Prussia
v Friedrich Wilhelm IV and Prussia
§ Friedrich Wilhelm was inconsistent during the revolutionary
year.
§ After riots in berlin, March 1848 he appeared in colour adopted
by the nationalist movement and declared Prussia merged with
Germany
§ In the immediate aftermath of the revolution, Friedrich
Wilhelm allowed the election of an assembly,
§ Purpose to draw up a constitution for Prussia.
§ He then changed his mind and dissolved the assembly.
, § In December 1848, he announced a more restrictive political
settlement of his own.
§ The new constitution, came in February 1850, established a
two-chamber parliament but enabled the king to retain the
essentials of power in his own hands.
§ In an emergency, for example, he could collect taxes without
parliamentary approval.
§ Ministers would be responsible to him, and he reserved the
right to change the constitution.
§ The voting system for the Prussian lower house of parliament,
the Landtag, was designed to favour conservative interests.
§ It was to be elected by a complex ‘three-tier suffrage’, based
on the taxes paid by different classes.
§ The upper house, Herrenhaus, was appointed by the king. This
guaranteed the continuing political dominance of the Junkers.
v The Frankfurt Parliament
§ Consequence of the revolution – election of national
parliament – met in Frankfurt May 1848 - June 1849
§ Each state choose own voting system to choose representatives
§ Parliament not a true representation of the german people
§ It was all-male and most of the members were well-off
professionals. I
§ described as ‘the professors parliament’.
§ Jacob Grimm and three others of the ‘Göttingen Seven’ were
among those elected.
§ Its first president was Heinrich von Gagern, a lawyer who had
been a member of the Burschenschaften at university.
§ The parliament’s members were mostly liberal in politics,
§ The parliament wanted a strong central government, with
more authority over the German states.
§ In June 1848, the parliament set up a ‘Provisional Central
Power’ under a liberal Austrian prince, the Archduke Johann,
which was to govern until a permanent constitution had been
agreed.
v Initial responses of the German states to the 1848–49 revolutions
§ Princely rulers worried about the alliances and feelings made
short term concessions
§ Worried if they stood up to it they would be overthrown
§ Wanted with their armed forces until the time was right to act
§ Baden briefly in the hands of revolutionaries
§ June 1849 Grand Duke asked Prussia to restore order
v Weaknesses of the revolutions
§ Royal power could come back in power due to the divsions
amongst the people
§ Liberals – moderate constitutional reform
§ Radicals – more far reaching and extreme political changes
§ Working class – improvements in their working and living
conditions
§ Liberals were unwilling to continue their support for protests
which might develop into a radical social revolution.
§ failure of the revolutions was the recovery of the Austrian
monarchy.
§ soon recovered after march 1848 with support from Prussia
v Friedrich Wilhelm IV and Prussia
§ Friedrich Wilhelm was inconsistent during the revolutionary
year.
§ After riots in berlin, March 1848 he appeared in colour adopted
by the nationalist movement and declared Prussia merged with
Germany
§ In the immediate aftermath of the revolution, Friedrich
Wilhelm allowed the election of an assembly,
§ Purpose to draw up a constitution for Prussia.
§ He then changed his mind and dissolved the assembly.
, § In December 1848, he announced a more restrictive political
settlement of his own.
§ The new constitution, came in February 1850, established a
two-chamber parliament but enabled the king to retain the
essentials of power in his own hands.
§ In an emergency, for example, he could collect taxes without
parliamentary approval.
§ Ministers would be responsible to him, and he reserved the
right to change the constitution.
§ The voting system for the Prussian lower house of parliament,
the Landtag, was designed to favour conservative interests.
§ It was to be elected by a complex ‘three-tier suffrage’, based
on the taxes paid by different classes.
§ The upper house, Herrenhaus, was appointed by the king. This
guaranteed the continuing political dominance of the Junkers.
v The Frankfurt Parliament
§ Consequence of the revolution – election of national
parliament – met in Frankfurt May 1848 - June 1849
§ Each state choose own voting system to choose representatives
§ Parliament not a true representation of the german people
§ It was all-male and most of the members were well-off
professionals. I
§ described as ‘the professors parliament’.
§ Jacob Grimm and three others of the ‘Göttingen Seven’ were
among those elected.
§ Its first president was Heinrich von Gagern, a lawyer who had
been a member of the Burschenschaften at university.
§ The parliament’s members were mostly liberal in politics,
§ The parliament wanted a strong central government, with
more authority over the German states.
§ In June 1848, the parliament set up a ‘Provisional Central
Power’ under a liberal Austrian prince, the Archduke Johann,
which was to govern until a permanent constitution had been
agreed.
