The revolution of 1848 in Germany also went down in history as the March revolution. The revolutionary events that began in March 1848 continued almost until the end of the summer of 1849. It was one of the largest national and bourgeois-democratic uprisings in Central Europe.
Reasons for the revolution
The revolution of 1848 in Germany primarily arose due to the fact that the question of unification of the country arose sharply. Many wanted to eliminate the princes who tried to intervene in the government, as well as the feudal forces, which sought to play a large role in the economic life of the German state. Eliminating these obstacles, one could count on the development of capitalist relations in the future.
The idea of unification of Germany at that time was very popular among the liberal bourgeoisie. The reasons, course, results of the 1848 revolution in Germany are described in detail in this article. One of the main events of these years was the creation of an all-German parliament, which, in particular, abolished censorship. The lack of parliament, unity and freedom was the key reason for the 1848 revolution in Germany.
At the beginning of the revolution
The impetus for the start of the German revolution was largely the events that took place in France in the same year. When in the German states it became known about the February revolutionary uprisings in the neighboring state, the unrest immediately began in Württemberg, Baden, Hesse-Darstadt, Bavaria, Saxony and several other not so large territories.
The townspeople began to gather in large numbers, to petition the local chambers and monarchs, demanding freedom of speech and press, the introduction of a jury trial, as well as the convening of a pan-German parliament. In fact, the revolution of 1848-1849 in Germany began with this.
The monarchs did not oppose much and immediately half-heartedly and I went on foot to give in. Conservative governments that have been in power for many years have been dismissed. In their place came new leaders, who soon became representatives of the March government. First of all, it included the leaders of liberal movements.
Parliamentary elections
One of the main demands of the protesters was the holding of elections to the German parliament. A group of German liberals began active preparations for them on March 5. By the end of the month, the Pre-Parliament was assembled; it began to sit in the St. Paul's Church, located in Frankfurt. Almost all of its members were unanimous in their ideas. They stood for free elections, most of the German principalities had already agreed to this.
In parallel, folk gatherings begin to be held regularly in Berlin. If we talk briefly about the 1848 revolution in Germany, then it is necessary to mention the events of March 13. When at the Brandenburg Gate in Tiergarten for the first time a crowd of people entered into an open confrontation with soldiers.
On March 15 and 16, unrest only intensified. In these days there were killed and wounded, the first victims of the revolution of 1848-1849 in Germany. After this, the Prussian king Frederick William IV was simply forced to make certain concessions. His important steps in order to calm the crowd was the announcement of the abolition of censorship and the convening of a united Landtag.
Shaky world
The tension in society at that time was at its limit, unrest began from any, even the smallest spark. The crowd was ready to rebel for almost any reason.
So after the publication of the decrees of the Prussian king in front of his palace, many citizens gathered who greeted their ruler. But due to some misunderstanding, which occurred for a reason unknown to the end, a detachment of dragoons, who held their sabers naked, suddenly crashed into the thick of the crowd.
This immediately provoked a battle that lasted almost all night. Its active participants were workers from various factories and a large number of students. Among the fighting, many noticed even women and adolescents. After that, it was already impossible to prevent the 1848 revolution in Germany; the flywheel was launched.
Only by the morning of the next day did the masses manage to push back the government troops. Then the king announced an amnesty for all political criminals and ordered the army to leave Berlin to calm the masses. Frederick had to speak a lot, in his speeches he regularly argued that for the German nation, the events around them mark the beginning of a new and glorious history. He was an ardent supporter of a constitutional sovereign who would stand at the head of German society and rule the country. The society itself, in his opinion, should become one and free.
Internal disagreement
At this time, the future of the 1848 revolution in Germany was in jeopardy due to disagreements that arose among the revolutionaries themselves. More than ten thousand inhabitants of Berlin, who themselves took part in the battle on March 18, just 9 days after its end, submit a petition to the king, demanding the return of the withdrawn troops. This was a response to the meeting of workers that took place the day before. It stated requirements for the creation of a ministry of labor, a regulated working day.
During the events of March 18, 1848, 270 people became victims of the clash. They entered the history of Germany as the so-called March fallen. After the riots ended, they were buried in a festive atmosphere at the Cemetery of the March Fallen, which was specially laid down for this occasion in the city of Kreuzberg.
Parliament begins
The German parliament opened its first session on May 18. The deputies had to decide which tasks of the 1848 revolution in Germany must be solved first. The parliament was called "professorial", since almost half of the parliamentarians had university degrees in it, almost 100 out of 586 deputies were professors.
Most deputies were united in political factions. The largest of them were right-wing centrists, liberal conservatives, left-wing centrists, liberal democrats, and extreme left-wing democrats. At parliamentary meetings, Archduke John was officially proclaimed administrator of the state. He was assisted in this by the popular liberal leader and politician Heinrich von Gagern. Immediately after this, the deputies began to create a modern constitution, which was to unite all of Germany. This was the primary task of the German parliament.
From the very beginning, deputies faced a large number of seemingly insoluble problems. These were regionalism, support for local issues over the Pan-Germanic, as well as the Austro-Prussian conflicts that took place. Archduke Johann the Baptist of Austria was elected interim head of state. This was one of the first results of the 1848 revolution in Germany. Thus, an attempt was made to create a strong, albeit temporary, executive branch.
But we must admit that the attempt was unsuccessful. Most German principalities refused to recognize the new government. An immediate reaction to the apparent weakness of the parliament followed. Almost every day, the German parliament was losing its political weight in the eyes of those around it. This was especially pronounced when Prussia decided to support its political intentions on the Schleswig-Holstein issue, without even trying to obtain prior consent from the German parliament. A similar situation arose when Austria decided to suppress the uprising that broke out in Vienna with the support of military force.
Constitutional debate
Despite these problems, parliament nevertheless proceeded to resolve an extremely important issue - it began to discuss the constitution. Before adopting this vital document, several issues had to be addressed. First, decide whether to include part of Austria in the structure of the future united Germany, which many considered German. In this case, it would have been necessary at the constitutional level to permanently separate these territories from the Habsburg empire, which was significantly reduced. Supporters of the so-called Great Germanic Way of German Unification supported this idea. An alternative was the exclusion of Austria and the granting of a leading role for Prussia in key issues. Supporters of this position were for the small-German way of unification. This problem was solved when the State Chancellor of the Austrian Empire, by decree, approved a centralized constitution for the entire empire, which was in his possession. This forced the deputies to abandon the dreams of "Great Germany", had to come to terms with more moderate options.
Secondly, the constitution was supposed to approve the form of power that will be in Germany. Among the options were an elected or hereditary monarchy or an absolute republic.
Finally, thirdly, the deputy needed to understand whether there was a need for Germany to become a federation of several independent states that, being in the union, would retain some independence or should it become a centralized power.
The discussions on these undoubtedly important issues were long and fierce, but at some point it became apparent that events were beginning to outpace political debate. Perhaps the turning point came on the day when the German parliamentarian Robert Blum went with his political colleagues to Vienna to find out in detail what led to the suppression of the popular uprising that arose with the help of the military. Arriving in Vienna, Blum himself appeared on the street among the protesters, he was an active participant in street fights, he was arrested and executed on November 9 for resistance to government troops. So, Austria violated his immunity as a people's representative from the Frankfurt Parliament.
By the end of the year, the achievements of the March revolution began to decline. At the same time, discussions continued in parliament, when in many principalities all spring successes were leveled. The deputies in disputes among themselves were so carried away that they lost touch with ordinary people, people.
An important result of the 1848 revolution in Germany was the proclamation of equality before the law for all citizens. This provision was enshrined in December in the "Fundamental Law for the German People".
Events of 1849
Speaking about the reasons and results of the 1848 revolution in Germany, it should be noted that it continued the following year. Only by the end of May was the draft constitution ready, which was finally approved by the majority of parliamentarians.
The deputies concluded that Germany should become a constitutional monarchy, while the title of head of state became hereditary, it had to be transferred from one king of Prussia to another. He was also called the "Emperor of the Germans." More than half of the deputies supported these proposals, to be more precise, 290 people. Another 248 deputies abstained from voting.
Thus, the result of the 1848 revolution in Germany was that the country turned into a constitutional monarchy with an inherited throne. The constitution in this form was supported by 29 small states, but the largest and most influential territories were opposed. It was Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, Prussia and Austria. At the same time, the emperor’s crown was offered to the Prussian king Frederick William IV. But he flatly refused it, saying that he did not want and would not accept the symbols of power from the hands of revolutionaries. And also he did not agree to the rigid framework and conditions in which he refused after the adoption of this constitution as head of state.
New popular uprisings
Immediately after this, new popular uprisings arise throughout Germany. Especially large-scale performances are organized in Baden and Saxony. The uprisings had to be crushed, calling for help from the Prussian government troops.
After that, the German parliament has become much thinner; since May 30, a decision has been made to postpone its meetings to Stuttgart. For several days he sits in this city, being practically under siege. June 18 deputies finally dispersed with the help of the military.
The results of the revolution
Germany after the revolution of 1848 became a completely different country. This was finally planned to be fixed at the national assembly of Prussia, which was held in Berlin on May 22. But practically nobody was given anything to say on it.
William IV said that he had decided to postpone the meeting of the chambers, sending them this time to Brandenburg. The most courageous and brave of the deputies made an attempt to disobey this decree, trying to even gather in different buildings of Berlin, but each time they were dispersed by the military.
The finale of the revolution took place on December 5, when the people elected gathered in Brandenburg to start a mass protest against the government’s dishonest actions. After all, the king actually ordered the dissolution of the parliament, then he himself approved the constitution and the property law, which was based on the property qualification.