The Revolution of 1848

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The Revolution of 1848

• Precursors (why it happened)
• The revolution
• The end result
• How it affected modern Germany

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PRECURSORS

• In October 14,1806 Napoleon defeated the Prussian
  army at Jena and Auerstedt. During the following
  year Frederick William III, the king of Prussia,
  accepted Napoleons harsh conditions and the
  French satellite governments were installed.
  German states except Prussia took over French
  institutions and legal norms adapted to fit their
  own traditions.

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Precursors

• The subjects of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony-Gotha,
  or, say, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen might feel
  somehow German, yet many identified themselves
  more broadly with a cosmopolitan bourgeoisie or
  more narrowly in terms of loyalty to their
  particular ruling house. When terms such as
  nation, fatherland, or patriotism cropped
  up, they could refer equally well to some vaguely
  defined Germany, to the specific political unit
  in which one lived, or to both at once.

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Precursors

• Prussia, which was least affected by French
  influence, carried out reforms which consisted of
  officials, soldiers, and jurists who saw
  themselves as representatives of the country as a
  whole. The old army was replaced by free citizens
  whose advancement through ranks depended on
  achievements rather than noble birth. So when
  King Frederick William III issued a call to arms
  on March 17, 1813 mass enthusiasm fed by a flood
  of nationalistic and anti-French propaganda
  spread and was regarded as truly a peoples war.
• After Prussian victory volunteers expected the
  promise of restoration and return, but all the
  followed was a loose alliance of 39 states and
  cities who had to handle matters at home as they
  saw fit. Citizens began loudly demanding
  fulfillment of the promises for greater liberty,
  anchored in new constitutions, that their
  goverments had made in desperate times.

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Precursors

• Germans demanded their promise by riots and
  revolt, but after an assassination of a writer,
  August von Kotzebue the German chief ministers of
  the states agreed on a policy of ruthless
  suppression of all revolutionary and
  liberationist movements which brought a halt the
  development of new constitutions. What this
  policy really did is bring an era of peace and
  reaction that lasted two decades.

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Precursors

• This Biedermeier period as it was called was
  intensely musical and architecture was booming.
  Nobody dared to say anything due to persecution,
  until 1930 when university students and liberal
  bourgeoisie rioted in several german states. The
  outcome for the liberals was constitutions to be
  drawn up and allowing representative assemblies.
  Two years later at an All-German festival the
  rioting continued by almost the whole German
  population.

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Precursors

• This time Germanys population had swelled and
  their was not enough food and work for many
  people. Everything that had been built for 20
  years and the sight of Germany as a national
  state had come falling down. There was no
  Germany, only states who governed themselves.

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Precursors

• So in 1848 when poor harvests resulted in famine
  and migration to cities to be followed by a
  collapse of prices for consumer goods. As
  spontaneous hunger revolts broke out all over
  Germany and governments sent in troops to
  suppress them, the liberal constitutional
  opposition began speaking out more insistently
  than ever. The liberals wanted a strong central
  government that would have a parliament, others
  wanted Germany to be a single unified nation and
  there was no way the government of the states in
  the German Confederation could counter these
  protests.

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The Revolution of 1848

• The revolution started out in Baden, Wurttemburg,
  and Hessen with the demands of resignation of the
  existing powers. There was fighting in the
  streets in virtually every German territorial
  capital. The demands of the liberals and
  radicals were freedom of press and assembly, and
  the rights to from political parties and bear
  arms. Then came the March demands, which
  demanded a German national parliament be called.
  To be followed by the March governments, which
  were liberal leaders trying to transform the
  demands into reality.

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The Revolution or 1848

• Vienna, Austria, was the scene of some of the
  most intense fighting during the revolutions of
  1848 in Europe. The emperor fled and Prince
  Metternich was forced to resign as foreign
  minister.

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The Revolution of 1848

• Everything now hung on what would happen in the
  two dominant powers of the German Confederation.
  In Vienna, within just a few days the moderate
  liberal faction was swept aside by an upsurge of
  radical democratic sentiment. Metternich fled to
  England, and the court took refuge in Innsbruck,
  while ethnic minorities throughout the
  multinational empire mounted their own patriotic
  rebellions. Within a few weeks Austria, on whose
  might Metternichs system of restoration had
  rested, became incapable of concerted action. In
  Prussia, it appeared at first as if Frederick
  William IV had succeeded in steering developments
  in the direction he wished and placing himself at
  the head of a drive for unification. But in fact
  the king hesitated too long, and his concessions
  came too late, so that on March 18 open revolt
  broke out in Berlin as well. He was able to
  placate the populace only by withdrawing his
  troops and promising to call Prussian assembly to
  draw up a constitution for Prussia.

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• The immediate outcome was that 585 elected
  representatives were chosen to draft and adopt a
  constitution that would guarantee basic freedoms
  and to elect a national government. These
  representatives were Germanys elite, which
  consisted of poets, historians, catholic priests,
  as well as leaders from the liberal political
  groups. But the attempts of these delegates to
  decide what regions would be a part of the new
  Germany failed. (great Germany and small Germany)

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