The Frankfurt Parliament is the name of the German National Assembly founded
during the Revolutions of 1848 that tried to unite
Germany in a democratic way. Meeting in the city of Frankfurt am Main, the assembly was attended
by 586 deputies.
The members of the Frankfurt Parliament convened in the St. Paul's Church,
Frankfurt on May 18, 1848, when
the Prussian king, Friedrich Wilhelm
IV, influenced by the 1848 revolutions, gave support to a National Assembly to discuss German unification.
The Frankfurt Parliament convened in Frankfurt's Paulskirche. Note the image of
Germania hanging over all.
Deliberations
Frankfurt Parliament, 1848–49, national assembly convened at Frankfurt on May 18, 1848, as a result of the liberal revolution
that swept the German states early in 1848. The parliament was called by a preliminary assembly of German liberals in March 1848,
and its members were elected by direct manhood suffrage. They represented the entire political spectrum and included the foremost
German figures of the time. The president of the parliament was Heinrich von Gagern. Sessions started in July when civil rights
were discussed. An agreement about civil rights was reached in October and promulgated in December. These civil rights would form
the main foundation of many democratic constitutions in the individual German states. [Infoplease.com http://www.bartleby.com/65/fr/FrankfurP.html]
Factions
After the discussion about civil rights the Assembly factionalized along liberal-versus-conservative lines, as well as between
monarchists and republicans.
- On the far right side appeared the conservative federalists, who advocated a federal state with huge
powers for the monarchs.
- Not as far to the right were the constitutional federalists, who advocated a federal state with the monarch submitting
to constitutions.
- On the moderate left side appeared the parliamentary unitarists, who
advocated a centralized state with a monarchy responsible to parliament.
- On the far left, appeared the republican unitarists, who advocated a centralized republic.
The existence of so many factions, of course, made the work far more difficult.
Obstruction
Work was obstructed by war with Denmark over Schleswig-Holstein and Prussia sent troops to aid the duchies, but an armistice
had to be accepted. The parliament went back to work after this, but conflict between the traditionally separate states
(specifically Austria and Prussia) continued to hamper the deliberations. Finally the deputies adopted a constitution with a
parliamentary government and heredity emperor, but it excluded Austria [Columbia Encyclopedia, “Frankfurt Parliament,” 6th ed,
accessed at: http://209.10.134.179/65/fr/FrankfurP.html, accessed on August 9, 2007] (Klenideustchland) [BBC, “Growth of German
Nationalism,” accessed at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/bitesize/higher/history/nationalism/consc3_rev.shtml, accessed on August 9,
2007.].
Schleswig-Holstein
At the same time as the events in Frankfurt, a Danish constitutional convention had assembled in Copenhagen, and the question
of extending the draft constitution to Schleswig quickly arose, since Schleswig's population was mostly Danish and felt
threatened by the prospect of becoming a small minority in a new Germany. The new king, FredrickVII, who succeeded Christian
VIII, was not unsympathetic to such a policy but was afraid of its possible consequences.
From 1773 the kings of Denmark held both duchies—Schleswig as full sovereigns, Holstein as princes of the Holy Roman Empire;
both duchies were in personal union with, but not part of, Denmark. The German Confederation guaranteed a constitution for
Holstein. Because of the growing national consciousness of the predominantly German population in the two duchies, any change in
their status that would tie them more closely to Denmark was a potentially explosive issue. [Schleswig-Holstein. The Columbia
Encyclopedia, 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001–04. Retrieved August 9th, 2007 from http://www.bartleby.com/65/sc/SchleswgH.html.]
This crisis led to a German revolt in both Schleswig and Holstein, prompting the Frankfurt Parliament to approve the
intervention of Prussia to protect its member state Holstein. Frederick, declared the complete union of Schleswig with Denmark in
18484. On April 9, 1848 the Prussian government authorized its army to intervene in Schleswig as well5. British intervention led
to an armistice in August 1848 the German-Danish fighting, without the consent of the Frankfurt Parliament, thus underlining a
major serious weakness; it controlled no military forces of its own, in 1849 the war was resumed. After inconclusive fighting,
peace was made in 1850 between Prussia (which had been commissioned by the Confederation to conduct the war) and Denmark. [Bjørn,
Claus (1999). 1848. Borgerkrig og revolution. Copenhagen: Gyldendal, p. 123. (Danish)]
Revolts
In September 1848, revolts occurred in Frankfurt and Chemnitz and the parliament supported their suppression by the German
states. [James, Leighton, “Revolutions and Revolutionaries,” accessed at: http://www.swan.ac.uk/history/teaching/teaching%20resources/Revolutions/Revsof1848.htm, accessed on August 9,
2007.]
Deliberations about a constitution
In October 1847 deliberations about a constitution started and a National Assembly was set up in Frankfurt in April 1848. In
May, the assembly consisted of 380 elected representatives of the German states, set about drafting a democratic
constitution.[O’Kane, Rosemary H. T. Paths to Democracy: Revolution and Totalitarianism. New York: Routeledge. 2004. pgs 96-98.]
The basic rights, approved and incorporated in March; included the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of
religion.
The Frankfurt Parliament completed the first reading of the new constitution in January 1849. The Frankfurt constitution
(March 27) established a federal system with state governments represented in a parliamentary upper house. [The Encyclopedia of
World History: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, 6th ed., edited by Peter N. Stearns. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.Retrieved
August 10th, 2007 from http://www.bartleby.com/67/1098.html.]
The constitution was meant to be a synthesis of tradition (empire, monarchy, federal state) and progress (universal suffrage,
house of representatives).
Failure
Kaiserdeputation: Friedrich Wilhelm IV. is offered the title of German Emperor and refuses it
After the completion of the constitution the deputies presented the crown of Little Germany to Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of
Prussia. He refused what he called a crown "from the gutter" and caused the Prussian and Austrian deputies to leave the
parliament, which was then doomed to be disbanded.
After the members of parliament were driven out of Frankfurt, the most radical members (those who wanted to establish a
republic) fled to Stuttgart. With little or no support from the Great European powers, many of the large German states such as
Hanover, Prussia, Bavaria rejecting the Assembly’s military authority and with no military support of its own,[Ozment, Steven. A
Mighty Fortress. 2004. NY: Harper.] the rump parliament was dissolved by the Württemberg military.
Conclusion
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The Frankfurt Parliament was the first attempt to create a unified Germany. It was given the room to operate but the parliament
was weak as it had no legal power (which was in the hands of the German Confederation). Furthermore the public's strong support
of the monarchy, coupled with the monarchy’s resistance to relinquish power, prevented a permanent backing of the revolutionary
forces. The wealthy and noble people sided with the political leadership and the aristocracy. The conflict between the interests
of the rich people, and those of the lower classes was too wide to be bridged by a compromise agreement. The revolutionaries also
lacked uniformity in terms of demands. The military and bureaucrats remained loyal to the leading classes while the assembly did
not have its own military troops. Instead of representing the entire public, most of the appointees to the parliament were of the
middle class intellectuals. [Ozment, Steven. A Mighty Fortress. 2004. NY: Harper.] They needed so much time to finish the
constitution that when they were ready the monarchy had fortified already. The revolutions on which the parliament was founded
were crushed. The refusal of Friedrich Wilhelm IV to accept the "crown from the gutter" (Germany) gave Prussia and Austria an
excuse to withdraw their deputies, thus crushing the last hazard of revolution. The great winners were the conservatives.
Presidents of the National Assembly
- Friedrich Lang [Alterspräsident] (18 May 1848 - 19 May 1848)
- Heinrich von Gagern (19 May 1848 - 16 December 1848)
- Eduard Simson (18 December 1848 - 11 May 1849)
- Jacob Ludwig Theodor Reh (12 May 1849 - 30 May 1849)
- Friedrich Wilhelm Löwe (6 June 1849 - 18 June 1849)
See also
Further reading
- Frankfurt Parliament by Frank Eyck, 1969 ISBN 0-312-30345-9
- A Year of Revolutions: Fanny Lewald's Recollections of 1848 translated, edited, and annotated by Hanna Ballin Lewis,
1997. ISBN 1-57181-099-4
- Carr, William. A History of Germany, 1815-1945. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1969.
- O’Kane, Rosemary H. T. Paths to Democracy: Revolution and Totalitarianism. New York: Routeledge. 2004. pgs 96-98.
- Sperberg, Jonathan. Rhineland Radicals. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991.
- Ozment, Steven. A Mighty Fortress. 2004. NY: Harper
References
1 Infoplease.com http://www.bartleby.com/65/fr/FrankfurP.html
2 Columbia Encyclopedia, “Frankfurt Parliament,” 6th ed, accessed at: http://209.10.134.179/65/fr/FrankfurP.html, accessed on August 9, 2007.
3 BBC, “Growth of German Nationalism,” accessed at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/bitesize/higher/history/nationalism/consc3_rev.shtml, accessed on August 9,
2007.
4 Schleswig-Holstein. The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001–04. Retrieved August 9th,
2007 from http://www.bartleby.com/65/sc/SchleswgH.html.
5 Bjørn, Claus (1999). 1848. Borgerkrig og revolution. Copenhagen: Gyldendal, p. 123. (Danish)
6 James, Leighton, “Revolutions and Revolutionaries,” accessed at: http://www.swan.ac.uk/history/teaching/teaching%20resources/Revolutions/Revsof1848.htm, accessed on August 9,
2007.
7 O’Kane, Rosemary H. T. Paths to Democracy: Revolution and Totalitarianism. New York: Routeledge. 2004. pgs 96-98.
8 The Encyclopedia of World History: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, 6th ed., edited by Peter N. Stearns. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 2001.Retrieved August 10th, 2007 from http://www.bartleby.com/67/1098.html.
9 Ozment, Steven. A Mighty Fortress. 2004. NY: Harper
External links
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