Philippe and the fall of the throne of the barricades, and the
proclamation of a republic, had kindled from one end to the
other of Europe the enthusiasm of the republican party. The
conflagration rapidly extended itself. The Rhenish provinces
of Prussia, whose near neighbourhood and former connexion with
France made them more peculiarly combustible, broke out with a
cry for the most extensive reforms; that is to say, for
representative institutions, the passion for which had spread
over the whole of Germany. ... The reform fever which had
attacked the Rhenish provinces quickly spread to the rest of
the body politic. The urban populace--a class in all countries
rarely incited to agitation--took the lead. They were headed
by the students. Breslau, Königsberg, and Berlin, were in
violent commotion. In the month of March, a great open air
meeting was held at Berlin: it ended in a riot. The troops
were called out to act against the mob. For near a week,
Berlin was in a state of chronic disturbance. The troops acted
with great firmness. The mob gathered together, but did not
show much fight; but they were dispersed with difficulty, and
continued to offer a passive resistance to the soldiers. On
the 15th, ten persons were said to have been killed, and over
100 wounded. At the same time, similar scenes were, being
enacted at Breslau and Königsberg, where several persons lost
their lives. A deputation from the Rhenish provinces arrived
at Berlin on the 18th, bearing a petition from Cologne to the
king for reform. He promised to grant it. ... Finding he could
not keep the movement in check, he resolved to put himself at
the head of it. It was probably the only course open to him,
if he would preserve his crown. ...
{1534}
The king must have previously had the questions which were
agitating Germany under careful consideration; for he at once
published a proclamation embodying the whole of them: the
unity of Germany, by forming it into a federal state, with a
federal representation; representative institutions for the
separate states; a general military system for all Germany,
under one federal banner; a German fleet; a tribunal for
settling disputes between the states, and a right for all
Germans to settle and trade in any part of Germany they
thought fit; the whole of Germany formed into one customs
union, and included in the Zollverein; one system of money,
weights, and measures; and the freedom of the press. These
were the subjects touched upon. ... The popularity of the
proclamation with the mob-leaders was unbounded, and the mob
shouted. Every line of it contained their own ideas,
vigorously expressed. Their delight was proportionate to their
astonishment. A crowd got together at the palace to express
their gratitude; the king came out of a window, and was loudly
cheered. Two regiments of dragoons unluckily mistook the
cheering for an attack, and began pushing them back by forcing
their horses forward. ... Unfortunately, as the conflict (if
conflict it could be called, which was only a bout of which
could push hardest) was going forward, two musket-shots were
fired by a regiment of infantry. It appears that the muskets
went off accidentally. No one was injured by them. It is not
clear they were not blank cartridges; but the people took
fright. They imagined that there was a design to slaughter
them. At once they rushed to arms; barricades were thrown up
in every street. ... Sharpshooters placed themselves in the
windows and behind the barricades, and opened a fire on the
soldiery. These, exasperated by what they thought an unfair
species of fighting, were by no means unwilling for the fray.
... The troops carried barricade after barricade, and gave no
quarter even to the unresisting. As they took the houses, they
slaughtered all the sharpshooters they found in them, not very
accurately discriminating those engaged in hostilities from
those who were not. Horrible cruelties were committed on both
sides. ... The flight raged for fifteen hours. Either the king
lost his head when it began, or the troops, having their blood
up, would not stop. ... The firing began at two o'clock on the
18th of March, and the authorities succeeded in withdrawing
the troops and stopping it the next morning at five o'clock,
they having been during that time successful at all points.
... The king put out a manifesto at seven o'clock, declaring
that the whole business arose from an unlucky misunderstanding
between the troops and the people, as it unquestionably did,
and the people appear to have been aware of the fact and
ashamed of themselves. ... A general amnesty was proclaimed
for all parties concerned, and orders were given to form at
once a burgher guard to supply the place of the military, who
were to be withdrawn. A new ministry was appointed, of a
liberal character. ... The troops were marched out of the
town, and were cheered by the people. ... It is estimated
that, of the populace, about 200 were killed: 187 received a
public funeral. No accurate account of the wounded can be
obtained. ... Of the troops, according to the official
returns, there fell 3 officers and 17 non-commissioned
officers and privates; of wounded there were 14 officers, 14
non-commissioned officers, and 225 privates, and 1 surgeon.
... The king's object was to divert popular enthusiasm into
another channel; he therefore assumed the lead in the
regeneration of Germany. On the 21st he issued a proclamation,
enlarging on these views, and rode through the streets with
the proscribed German tricolor on his helmet, and was
vociferously cheered as he passed along. Prussia was not the
first of the German states where the old order of things was
overturned. During the whole of the month of March, Germany
underwent the process of revolution. ... On the 3d of March
... the new order of things ... began at Wurtemberg. The Duke
of Hesse-Darmstadt abdicated. In Bavaria, things took a more
practical turn. The people insisted on the dismissal of the
king's mistress, Lola Montez: she was sent away, but, trusting
to the king's dotage, she came back, police or no police--was
received by the king--he created her Countess of Lansfeldt.
This was a climax to which the people were not prepared to
submit. ... The king was compelled to expel her, to annul her
patent of naturalization, and resume the grant he had made of
property in her favour. This was more than he could stand, and
he shortly after abdicated in favour of his heir. In Saxony
the king gave way, after his troops had refused to act, and
the freedom of the press was established, and other popular
demands granted. In Vienna, the old system of Metternich was
abolished, after a revolution which was little more than a
street row. The king of Hanover refused to move, but was
eventually induced to receive Stube as one of his ministers,
who had been previously in prison for his opinions. However,
he was firmer than most of his brother monarchs, and his
country suffered less than the rest of Germany in
consequence."
_E. S. Cayley,
The European Revolutions of 1848,
volume 2: Germany, chapter 2._
ALSO IN:
_C. E. Maurice,
The Revolutionary Movement of 1848-9,
chapter 7._
GERMANY: A. D. 1848 (March-September).
Election and meeting of the National Assembly at Frankfort.
Resignation of the Diet.
Election of Archduke John to be Administrator of Germany.
Powerlessness of the new government.
Troubles rising from the Schleswig-Holstein question.
Outbreak at Frankfort.
The setting in of Reaction.
"In south-western Germany the liberal party set itself at the
head of the movement. ... The Heidelberg assembly of March
5th, consisting of the former opposition leaders in the
various Chambers, issued a call to the German nation, and
chose a commission of seven men, who were to make propositions
with regard to a permanent parliament and to summon a
preliminary parliament at Frankfort. This preliminary
parliament assembled in St. Paul's church, March 31st. ... The
majority, consisting of constitutional monarchists, resolved
that an assembly chosen by direct vote of the people ...
should meet in the month of May, with full and sovereign power
to frame a constitution for all Germany. ... These measures
did not satisfy the radical party, whose leaders were Hecker
and Struve. As their proposition to set up a sovereign
assembly, and republicanize Germany, was rejected, they left
Frankfort, and held in the highlands of Baden popular meetings
at which they demanded the proclamation of the republic.
{1535}
A Hesse-Darmstadt corps under Frederic von Gagern ... was sent
to disperse them. An engagement took place at Kandern, in
which Gagern was shot, but Hecker and his followers were put
to flight. ... The disturbances in Odenwald, and in the Main
and Tauber districts, once the home of the peasant war, were
of a different description. There the country people rose
against the landed proprietors, destroyed the archives, with
the odious tithe and rental books, and demolished a few
castles. The Diet, which in the meantime continued its
illusory existence, thought to extricate itself from the
present difficulties by a few concessions. It ... invited the
governments to send confidential delegates to undertake, along
with its members, a revision of the constitution of the
confederation. ... These confidential delegates, among them
the poet Uhland, from Würtemberg, began their work on the 30th
of March. The elections for the National Assembly stirred to
their innermost fibres the German people, dreaming of the
restoration of their former greatness. May 18th about 320
delegates assembled in the Imperial Hall, in the Römer (the
Rathhaus), at Frankfort. ... Never has a political assembly
contained a greater number of intellectual and scholarly
men--men of character and capable of self-sacrifice; but it
certainly was not the forte of these numerous professors and
jurists to conduct practical politics. The moderate party was
decidedly in the majority. ... It was decided ... that a
provisional central executive should be created in the place
of the Diet, and created, not by the National Assembly in
concert with the princes, but by the National Assembly alone.
June 27th, following out the bold conception of its president,
the assembly decided to appoint an irresponsible
administrator, with a responsible ministry; and June 29th,
Archduke John of Austria was chosen Administrator of Germany
by 436 votes out of 546. He made his entry into Frankfort July
11th, and entered upon his office on the following day. The
hour of the Diet had struck, apparently for the last time. It
resigned its authority into the hands of the Administrator,
and, after an existence of 32 years, left the stage unmourned.
Archduke John was a popular prince, who found more pleasure in
the mountain air of Tyrol and Styria than in the perfumed
atmosphere of the Vienna court. But, as a novice 66 years of
age, he was not equal to the task of governing, and as a
thorough Austrian he lacked a heart for all Germany. The main
question for him and for the National Assembly was, what force
they could apply in case the individual governments refused
obedience to the decrees issued in the name of the National
Assembly. This was the Achilles's heel of the German
revolution. ... Orders were issued by the federal minister of
war that all the troops of the Confederation should swear
allegiance to the federal administrator on the 6th of August;
but Prussia and Austria, with the exception of the Vienna
garrison, paid no attention to these orders; Ernest Augustus,
in Hanover, successfully set his hard head against them, and
only the lesser states obeyed. ... There certainly was no
other way out of the difficulty than by the formation of a
parliamentary army. ... Instead of meeting these dangers
resolutely, and in a common-sense way, the Assembly left
matters to go as they would, outside of Frankfort. One
humiliation was submitted to after another, while the
Assembly, busying itself for months with a theoretical
question, as if it were a juristic faculty, entered into a
detailed consideration of the fundamental rights of the German
people. The Schleswig-Holstein question, which had just
entered upon a new phase of its existence, was the first
matter of any importance to manifest the disagreement between
the central administration and the separate governments; and
it opened, as well, a dangerous gulf in the Assembly itself.
The question at issue was one of succession [see SCANDINAVIAN
STATES (DENMARK): A. D. 1848-1862]. ... The Estates of the
duchies [Schleswig and Holstein] established a provisional
government, applied at Frankfort for the admission of
Schleswig into the German confederation, and besought armed
assistance both there and at Berlin. The preliminary
parliament [this having occurred in April, before the meeting
of the National Assembly] approved the application of
Schleswig for admission, and commissioned Prussia, in
conjunction with the 10th army corps of the Confederation, to
occupy Schleswig and Holstein. On the 21st of April, 1848,
General Wrangel crossed the Eider as commander of the forces
of the Confederation; and on the 23d, in conjunction with the
Schleswig-Holstein troops, he drove the Danes out of the
Danewerk. On the following day the Danes were defeated at
Oeversee by the 10th army corps, and all Schleswig-Holstein
was free. Wrangel entered Jutland and imposed a war tax of
3,000,000 thalers (about $2,250,000). He meant to occupy this
province until the Danes--who, owing to the inexcusable
smallness of the Prussian navy, were in a position unhindered
to injure the commerce of the Baltic--had indemnified Prussia
for her losses; but Prussia, touched to the quick by the
destruction of her commerce, and intimidated by the
threatening attitude of Russia, Sweden, and England, recalled
her troops, and concluded an armistice at Malmö, in Sweden, on
the 26th of August. All measures of the provisional government
were pronounced invalid; a common government for the duchies
was to be appointed, one half by Denmark, and the other by the
German confederation; the Schleswig troops were to be
separated from those of Holstein; and the war was not to be
renewed before the 1st of April, 1849--i. e., not in the
winter, a time unfavorable for the Danes. This treaty was
unquestionably no masterpiece on the part of the Prussians.
All the advantage was on the side of the conquered Danes. ...
It was not merely the radicals who urged, if not the final
rejection, at least a provisional cessation of the armistice,
and the countermanding of the order to retreat. ... A bill to
that effect, demanded by the honor of Germany, had scarcely
been passed by the majority, on the 5th of September, when the
moderate party reflected that such action, involving a breach
with Prussia, must lead to civil war and revolution, and call
into play the wildest passions of the already excited people.
In consequence of this the previous vote was rescinded, and
the armistice of Malmö accepted by the Assembly, after the
most excited debates, September 16th. This gave the radicals a
welcome opportunity to appeal to the fists of the lower
classes, and imitate the June outbreak of the social democrats
in Paris. ...
{1536}
A collision ensued [September 18]; barricades were erected,
but were carried by the troops without much bloodshed. ...
General Auerswald and Prince Lichnowsky, riding on horseback
near the city, were followed by a mob. They took refuge in a
gardener's house on the Bornheimer-heide, but were dragged out
and murdered with the most disgraceful atrocities. Thereupon
the city was declared in a state of siege, all societies were
forbidden, and strong measures were taken for the maintenance
of order. The March revolution had passed its season, and
reaction was again beginning to bloom. ... Reaction drew
moderate men to its side, and then used them as
stepping-stones to immoderation."
_W. Müller,
Political History of Recent Times,
section 17._
ALSO IN:
_Sir A. Alison,
History of Europe, 1815-1852,
chapter 53._
GERMANY: A. D. 1848-1849.
Revolutionary risings in Austria and Hungary.
Bombardment of Vienna.
The war in Hungary.
Abdication of the Emperor Ferdinand.
Accession of Francis Joseph.
See AUSTRIA: A. D. 1848-1849.
GERMANY: A. D. 1848-1850.
The Prussian National Assembly, and its dissolution.
The work and the failure of the National Assembly of
Frankfort.
Refusal of the imperial crown by the King of Prussia.
End of the movement for Germanic unity.
"The elections for the new Prussian Constituent Assembly, as
well as for the Frankfort Parliament, were to take place (May
1). The Prussian National Assembly was to meet May 22. The
Prussian people, under the new election law, if left to
themselves, would have quietly chosen a body of competent
representatives; but the revolutionary party thought nothing
could be done without the ax and the musket. ... The people of
Berlin, from March to October, were ... really in the hands of
the mob. ... The newly-elected Prussian National Assembly was
opened by the king, May 21. ... One of the first resolutions
proceeded from Behrend of the Extreme Left. 'The Assembly
recognizes the revolution, and declares that the combatants
who fought at the barricades, on March 18 and 19, merit the
thanks of the country.' ... The motion was rejected. On
issuing from the building into the street, after the sitting,
the members who had voted against it, were received by the mob
with threats and insults. ... In the evening of the same day,
in consequence of the rejection of the Behrend resolution, the
arsenal was attacked by a large body of laborers. The
burgher-guard were not prepared, and made a feeble defense.
There was a great riot. The building was stormed and partially
plundered. ... The sketch of a constitution proposed by the
king was now laid before the Assembly. It provided two
Chambers--a House of Lords, and a House of Commons. The last
to be elected by the democratic electoral law; the first to
consist of all the princes of the royal house in their own
right, and, in addition, 60 members from the wealthiest of the
kingdom to be selected by the king, their office hereditary.
This constitution was immediately rejected. On the rejection
of the constitution the ministry Camphausen resigned. ... The
Assembly, elected exclusively to frame a constitution, instead
of performing its duty ... attempted to legislate, with
despotic power, on subjects over which it had no jurisdiction.
As the drama drew nearer its close, the Assembly became more
open in its intention to overthrow the monarchy. On October 12
discussions began upon a resolution to strike from the king's
title the words, 'By the grace of God,' and to abolish all
titles of nobility and distinctions of rank. The Assembly
building, during the sitting, was generally surrounded by
threatening crowds. ... Of course, during this period business
was suspended, and want, beggary, and drunkenness, as well as
lawless disorder, increased. ... The writer was one day alone
in the diplomatic box, following an excited debate. A speaker
in the tribune was urging the overthrow of the monarchy, when
suddenly the entire Assembly was struck mute with
stupefaction. The Prince of Prussia, the late Emperor William
I., supposed to be in England, in terror for his life,
appeared at the door, accompanied by two officers, all three
in full uniform, and marched directly up to the tribune. The
Assembly could not have been more astounded had old Barbarossa
himself, with his seven-hundred-years-long beard, marched into
the hall out of his mountain cave. ... After a slight delay,
the President, Mr. von Grabow, accorded the tribune to the
prince. He ascended and made a short address, which was
listened to, with breathless attention, by every individual
present. He spoke with the assurance of an heir to a throne
which was not in the slightest danger of being abolished; but
he spoke with the modesty and good sense of a prince who
frankly accepted the vast transformation which the government
had undergone, and who intended honestly to endeavor to carry
out the will of the whole nation. ... This was one of many
occasions on which the honesty and superiority of the prince's
character made itself felt even by his enemies. ... Berlin was
now thoroughly tired of street tumults and the horn of the
burgher-guard. ... The Prussian troops which had been engaged
in the Schleswig-Holstein war, were now placed under General
Wrangel. ... He proceeded without delay to encircle the city
with the 25,000 troops. At the same time, a cabinet order of
the king (September 21) named a new ministry. ... At this
moment, the revolution over all Europe was nearly exhausted.
Cavaignac had put down the June insurrection. The Prussian
flag waved above the flag of Germany. The Frankfort Parliament
was rapidly dying out. ... On November 2, Count Brandenburg
stated to the Assembly that the king had requested him to form
a new ministry. ... On the same day, Count Brandenburg, with
his colleagues, appeared in the hall of the Prussian National
Assembly, and announced his desire to read a message from his
Majesty the King. ... 'As the debates are no longer free in
Berlin, the Assembly is hereby adjourned to November 27. It
will then meet, and thereafter hold its meetings, not in
Berlin, but in Brandenburg' (fifty miles from Berlin). After
reading the message, Count Brandenburg, his colleagues, and
all the members of the Right retired. ... The Assembly ...
adjourned, and met again in the evening. ... On November 10,
the Assembly met again. Their debates were interrupted by
General Wrangel, who had entered Berlin by the Brandenburg
gate, at the head of 25,000 troops. ... An officer from
General Wrangel entered the hall and politely announced that
he had received orders to disperse the Assembly. The members
submitted, and left the hall. ...
{1537}
An order was now issued dissolving the burgher-guard. On the
12th, Berlin was declared in a state of siege. ... During the
state of siege, the Assembly met again under the presidency of
Mr. von Unruh. A body of troops entered the hall, and
commanded the persons present to leave it. President von Unruh
declared he could not consistently obey the order. There was,
he said, no power higher than the Assembly. The soldiers did
not fire on him, or cut him down with their sabers; but
good-naturedly lifted his chair with him in it, and gently
deposited both in the street. ... On November 27, Count
Brandenburg went to Brandenburg to open the Assembly; but he
could not find any. It had split into two parts. ... There was
no longer a quorum. Thus the Prussian National Assembly
disappeared. On December 5; appeared a royal decree,
dissolving the National Assembly. ... Then appeared a
provisional octroyirte electoral law, for the election of two
Chambers. ... The new Chambers met February 26, 1849. ...
Prussia had thus closed the revolution of 1848, as far as she
was concerned. Bismarck was elected member of the Second
Chamber." Meantime, in the Frankfort Parliament, "the great
question, Austria's position with regard to the new Germany,
came up in the early part of November, 1848. Among many
propositions, we mention three: I. Austria should abandon her
German provinces. ... II. Austria should remain as a separate
whole, with all her provinces. ... III. The Austrian plan. All
the German States, and all the Austrian provinces (German and
non-German), should be united into one gigantic empire ...
with Austria at the head. ... Meanwhile, the debates went on
upon the questions: What shall be the form, and who shall be
the chief of what may be called the Prussian-Germany? Among
the various propositions (all rejected) were the following: 1.
A Directory, consisting of Austria, Prussia, Bavaria,
Würtemberg, and Saxony. II. The King of Prussia and Emperor of
Austria to alternate in succession every six years, as
Emperor. III. A chief magistracy, to which every German
citizen might aspire. IV. Revival of the old Bundestag, with
certain improvements. On January 23, 1849, the resolution that
one of the reigning German princes should be elected, with the
title of Emperor of Germany, was adopted (258 against 211). As
it was plain the throne could be offered to no one but
Prussia, this was a breach between the Parliament and Austria.
... The first reading of the constitution was completed,
February 3, 1849. The middle and smaller German States
declared themselves ready to accept it, but the kingdoms
remained silent. ... The real question before the Parliament
was, whether Prussia or Austria should be leader of Germany.
... On March 27, the hereditability passed by a majority of
four. On March 28, the constitution, with the democratic
electoral law, universal suffrage, the ballot, and the
suspensive veto, was voted and accepted. ... President Simson
then called the name of each member to vote upon the question
of the Emperor. There were 290 votes for Frederic William IV.
... A deputation, consisting of 30 of the most distinguished
members, was immediately sent to Berlin to communicate to the
king his election as Emperor. ... To the offer of the crown,
his Majesty replied he 'could not accept without the consent
of all the governments, and without having more carefully
examined the constitution.' ... Austria instantly rejected the
constitution, protested against the authority of the
Parliament, and recalled all her representatives from
Frankfort. The King of Würtemberg accepted; but rejected the
House of Hohenzollern as head of the Empire. Bavaria, Hanover,
Saxony, rejected; 28 of the smaller German States accepted. In
these were included the free-cities Hamburg, Bremen, Lubeck.
... On April 28, Prussia addressed a circular note to the
governments, inviting them to send representatives to Berlin,
for the purpose of framing a new constitution. The note added:
In case of any attempt to force the Frankfort constitution
upon the country, Prussia was ready to render to the
governments all necessary assistance. ... On May 3, an
insurrection broke out in Saxony. ... On May 6, Prussian
troops appeared, called by the Saxon government, and attacked
the barricades. The battle lasted three days. ... The
insurgents abandoned the city. Dresden was declared in a state
of siege. ... The King of Prussia now recalled [from the
Frankfort Parliament] all the Prussian representatives. ... By
the gradual disappearance of most of the moderate members ...
the Parliament, now a mere revolutionary committee, dwindled
down to about 100 members. A resolution, proposed by Carl
Vogt, was passed to transfer the sittings to Stuttgart. ... On
June 6, the Rump Parliament in Stuttgart elected a central
government of its own. ... The Assembly was then dispersed.
... The German revolutions commenced and ended in the Grand
Duchy of Baden. ... By a mutiny in the regular army, it
intrenched itself in the first-class fortress, Rastadt. There
were, in all, three attempts at revolution in Baden [and one
in the Palatinate]. ... A large number of the leaders were
tried and shot. ... It was for taking part in this
insurrection that Gottfried Kinkel was sentenced to
imprisonment for life in the fortress of Spandau. Carl Schurz
aided him in escaping."
_T. S. Fay,
The Three Germanys,
chapters 25-26 (volume 2)._
ALSO IN:
_C. A. Fyffe,
History of Modern Europe,
volume 3, chapter 2._
_H. von Sybel,
The Founding of the German Empire,
books 2-5 (volumes 1-2)._
See, also, CONSTITUTION OF PRUSSIA.
GERMANY: A. D. 1848-1862.
Opening of the Schleswig-Holstein question.
War with Denmark.
See SCANDINAVIAN STATES (DENMARK): A. D. 1848-1862.
GERMANY: A. D. 1853-1875.
Commercial treaties with Austria and France.
Progress towards free trade.
See TARIFF LEGISLATION (GERMANY): A. D. 1853-1892.
GERMANY: A. D. 1861-1866.
Advent of King William I. and Prince Bismarck in Prussia.
Reopening of the Schleswig-Holstein question.
Conquest of the duchies by Prussia and Austria.
Consequent quarrel and war.