What were the consequences of Germany Revolution in 1848?

The national unity of Germany also disintegrated consequent to the decisions of the Congress of Vienna of 1815. This big country was divided into several small states. A confederation was also formed consisting of the rulers of each state of Germany as its members.

The king of Austria was made the president of this confederation. The national unity of Germany was dissolved in order to suppress the growing trend towards liberalism and nationalism. The people of Germany were very unhappy with these decisions.

The outlook of the German patriots had completely changed due to the political changes introduced by Napoleon Bonaparte and the great awakening that had taken place in Prussia.

They started agitation against the decisions of the Congress of Vienna just after 1815. These agitations were chiefly led by the teachers and students of the German schools, colleges and universities.

But the patriots of German Provinces could not achieve any success due to the influence of Metternich, a great reactionary of his time.

The news of the fall of Metternich greatly spurred the patriots of Germany. Revolutions broke out all over Germany like a rash against the autocratic rulers of its various provinces.

The liberals and the supporters of the constitutional monarchy demanded liberty of the press, speech and writing. The nationalists focused their aim at the unification of Germany, while the peasantry was restive to throw off the slavery of the fedual lords.

Although the aims of the patriots and the common people did not converge, they united to root out the existing system of government and introduced a change in the political setup of the country.

Prussia was the first state of Germany which saw the revolution breaking out on March 13, 1848. A great wave of enthusiasm and jubilation swept through Berlin, the capital of Prussia.

A huge procession consisting of a large number of republicans, liberals, nationalists, teachers and students marched through the streets, of Berlin, shouting slogans against the autocracy of the king, Frederick William IV. The revolutionaries surrounded the royal palace of the king and attacked it.

The king gave warning to the revolutionaries to disperse, but they did not heed the warning. At last, the king ordered the army to open fire on the mob. About two hundred persons were killed on the spot. This incident highly provoked the people’s anger. The atmosphere of the Prussian capital turned dark and menacing.

The revolutionaries girded up their loins for an armed struggle with the king’s army. The whole city of Berlin was marked by the erection of barricades, great turbulence and some bloodshed.

The King of Prussia became terrified seeing the unlimited fervour of the patriots. He soon accepted the demands of the reactionaries and paid his homage to the martyrs of the revolution.

He also promised to be in the vanguard of the move to achieve unity for Germany. He announced that a liberal constitution would be framed and a National Assembly would be formed on the basis of universal franchise. Thus, the revolutionaries became instrumental in establishing the liberal government in Prussia under Frederick William IV.

Being affected by the successful revolution of Prussia, other states of Germany like Saxony, Hanover, Bavaria raised banner of revolt against the autocracy of their rulers. The rulers of these states soon conceded the demands of the peoples and established constitutional monarchy.

The Parliament of Frankfort

According to the demands of the people of Prussia general elections were held for the National Assembly in the month of March 1848. The members of the National Assembly were elected by universal suffrage. The newly established Parliament was summoned to meet at Frankfort in May 1848.

About 568 members duly elected by the people came to participate in the deliberations of the Parliament. The main aim of the Parliament of Frankfort was to frame a constitution for the unified Germany. C. D. Hazen has discussed in detail the main aim of the Parliament of Frankfort as follows:

“The Frankfort Parliament had been summoned in response to a popular demand for a real German nation, in place of the hollow mockery of the confederation established in 1815 at Vienna. It was expected to draw up a constitution and it was also expected that this constitution would be democratic.

Its aim was to achieve not only German unity but German political freedom, popular government in place of government by absolute monarchs or privileged classes. It was hoped that a great free German state would issue from its deliberations, unity resting upon a large measure of democracy.”

The functioning of the Parliament was very slow as the discussions regarding the fundamental rights of the people were prolonged for several months.

The most important question to be decided was: what should be the form of the new government and who should be its executive head? Should there be an emperor or a president, and if an emperor, should his office be hereditary, or for life, or for a term of years? Should he be the monarch of Prussia or Austria etc.?

At last, the following decisions were taken in the Parliament of Frankfort:

(i) A constitution was to be framed which guaranteed civil liberty to every person of Germany and equality before the law.

(ii) A bicameral legislature was to be formed at the centre.

(iii) It was decided that Austria would not be included in the new confederation of the German nation.

(iv) The head of the German confederation would be the King of Prussia and it would be a hereditary empire.

The decisions of the Frankfort Parliament went against the interests of Austria. The decision which displeased Austria most was the restriction imposed upon her under which she could not be a member of the new confederation of German nation.

Austria was displeased and she announced in very clear terms that she would neither let herself be expelled from the German confederation, nor let her German provinces be separated from the indivisible monarchy.

On March 28,1849, the Parliament offered the crown of the German nation to Frederick William IV, but he declined the offer of Parliament because –

(i) He disliked the idea of receiving a crown from the revolutionary assembly which represented the common people. He would have accepted the crown if it would have come from his equals, the princes of Germany.

(ii) He was not in a position to face the opposition of Austria. As Austria had disapproved of the decisions of the Parliament, the king of Prussia did not want to estrange Austria. He was not ready to pick up a quarrel with Austria. So, he declared in very clear terms, “I do not want to be the seat of revolution.”

(iii) By that time, the revolutions of other countries of Europe had been suppressed by the rulers and their autocracy had been re-established. So, Frederick William IV also resolved on suppressing the liberalism of Germany.

In this way, the two great German powers Austria and Prussia rejected the proceedings of the Frankfort Parliament. Owing to the resolute opposition of Austria and Prussia, the Parliament failed in the end.

Neither of the two powers was willing to make any sacrifice for the common good. Thus, the responsibility for the failure of Germans in achieving a real unity in 1848 and 1849 rests with the rulers of Prussia and Austria.

Suppression of the Revolution in Germany

We have seen that the revolutions which broke out in different parts of the Austrian empire were cruelly suppressed by the king of Austria with military power. Frederick William IV, the King of Prussia, also determined to sweep aside the wave of revolution.

He had already refused the headship of the united Germany offered to him by the Frankfort Parliament. This action of the King of Prussia proved that he was in no way inclined to lose friendship of Austria.

He also followed the policy of the king of Austria and suppressed the revolution in Prussia. He dissolved the liberal constitution. When the revolutionaries tried to rise in revolt, he successfully suppressed them with military power.

The rulers of other provinces also followed in the footsteps of the King of Prussia. In this way, the Revolution of 1848 was quashed in the provinces of Germany.

The National Assembly was dissolved and the old German confederation of 1815 was re-established in 1851. Now Austria became stronger than ever in the federal Diet of the German confederation.