Chapter IV: , VII (94)

When Napoleon (Oct. 7) marched northwards from Dresden, he had
left St. Cyr in that city with 30,000 men, opposed only by a
newly-raised Russian corps under Tolstoi, which St. Cyr, by a
sudden attack, routed with the loss of 3,000 men and 10 guns.
But no sooner was the battle of Leipsic decided, than Dresden
was again blockaded by 50.000 men under Klenau and Tolstoi;
and St. Cyr, who was encumbered with a vast number of sick and
wounded, and was almost without provisions, was obliged, after
a fruitless sortie on the 6th November, to surrender on the
11th, on condition of being sent with his troops to France.
The capitulation, however, was disallowed by Schwartzenberg,
and the whole were made prisoners of war--a proceeding which
the French, not without some justice, declaim against as a
gross breach of faith--and thus no less than 32 generals,
1,795 officers, and 33,000 rank and file, with 240 pieces of
cannon, fell into the power of the Allies. The fall of Dresden
was soon followed by that of the other fortresses on the
Vistula and the Oder. Stettin, with 8,000 men and 350 guns,
surrendered on the 21st November; and Torgau, which contained
the military hospitals and reserve parks of artillery left by
the grand army on its retreat from the Elbe, yielded at
discretion to Tauenzein (December 26), after a siege of two
months. But such was the dreadful state of the garrison, from
the ravages of typhus fever, that the Allies dared not enter
this great pest-house till the 10th January; and the terrible
epidemic which issued, from its walls made the circuit, during
the four following years, of every country in Europe. Dantzic,
with its motley garrison of 35,000 men, had been blockaded
ever since the Moscow retreat; but the blockading corps, which
was not of greater strength, could not confine the French
within the walls; and Rapp made several sorties in force
during the spring and summer, by which he procured abundance
of provisions. It was not till after the termination of the
armistice of Pleswitz that the siege was commenced in form;
and after sustaining a severe bombardment, Rapp, deprived of
all hope by the battle of Leipsic, capitulated (November 29)
with his garrison, now reduced by the sword, sickness, and
desertion, to 16,000 men. Zamosc, with 3,000 men, surrendered
on the 22d December, and Modlin, with 1,200, on the 25th; and
at the close of the year, France retained beyond the Rhine
only Hamburg, Magdeburg, and Wittenberg, on the Elbe; Custrin
and Glogau on the Oder; and the citadels of Erfurth and
Würtzburg, which held out after the capitulation of the
towns."

_Epitome of Alison's History of Europe,
sections 737-742
(chapter 82, volume 17, in complete work)._

"The princes of the Confederation of the Rhine, with the
exception of the captive King of Saxony, and one or two minor
princes, deserted Napoleon, and entered into treaties with the
Allies."

_T. H. Dyer,
History of Modern Europe,
volume 4, page 538._

ALSO IN:
M. Bourrienne,
Private Memoirs of Napoleon,
volume 4, chapter 16.

The Year of Liberation: Journal of the Defence of Hamburgh.

_J. Philippart,
Campaign in Germany and France, 1813,
volume 1, pages 230-278._

GERMANY: A. D. 1814.
The Allies in France and in possession of Paris.
Fall of Napoleon.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1814 (JANUARY-MARCH),
and (MARCH-APRIL).

{1531}

GERMANY: A. D. 1814 (May).
Readjustment of French boundaries by the Treaty of Paris.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1814 (APRIL-JUNE).

GERMANY: A. D. 1814-1815.
The Congress of Vienna.
Its territorial and political readjustments.

See VIENNA, THE CONGRESS OF.

GERMANY: A. D. 1814-1820.
Reconstruction of Germany.
The Germanic Confederation and its constitution.

"Germany was now utterly disintegrated. The Holy Roman Empire
had ceased to exist; the Confederation of the Rhine had
followed it; and from the Black Forest to the Russian frontier
there was nothing but angry ambitions, vengeances, and fears.
If there was ever to be peace again in all these wide regions,
it was clearly necessary to create something new. What was to
be created was a far more difficult question; but already, on
the 30th of May 1814, the powers had come to some sort of
understanding, if not with regard to the means to be pursued,
at least with regard to the end to be attained. In the Treaty
of Paris we find these words: 'Les états de l'Allemagne seront
indépendants et unis par un lien fédératif.' But how was this to
be effected? There were some who wished the Holy Roman Empire
to be restored. ... Of course neither Prussia, Bavaria, nor
Wurtemberg, could look kindly upon a plan so obviously
unfavourable to them; but not even Austria really wished it,
and indeed it had few powerful friends. Then there was a
project of a North and South Germany, with the Maine for
boundary; but this was very much the reverse of acceptable to
the minor princes, who had no idea of being grouped like so
many satellites, some around Austria and some around Prussia.
Next came a plan of reconstruction by circles, the effect of
which would have been to have thrown all the power of Germany
into the hands of a few of the larger states. To this all the
smaller independent states were bitterly opposed, and it broke
down, although supported by the great authority of Stein, as
well as by Gagern. If Germany had been in a later phase of
political development, public opinion would perhaps have
forced the sovereigns to consent to the formation of a really
united Fatherland with a powerful executive and a national
parliament--but the time for that had not arrived. What was
the opposition of a few hundred clear-sighted men with their
few thousand followers, that it should prevail over the
masters of so many legions? What these potentates cared most
about were their sovereign rights, and the dream of German
unity was very readily sacrificed to the determination of each
of them to be, as far as he possibly could, absolute master in
his own dominions. Therefore it was that it soon became
evident that the results of the deliberation on the future of
Germany would be, not a federative state, but a confederation
of states--a Staaten-Bund, not a Bundes-Staat. There is no
doubt, however, that much mischief might have been avoided if
all the stronger powers had worked conscientiously together to
give this Staaten-Bund as national a character as possible.
... Prussia was really honestly desirous to effect something
of this kind, and Stein, Hardenberg, William von Humboldt,
Count Münster, and other statesmen, laboured hard to bring it
about. Austria, on the other hand, aided by Bavaria,
Wurtemberg, and Baden, did all she could to oppose such
projects. Things would perhaps have been settled better than
they ultimately were, if the return of Napoleon from Elba had
not frightened all Europe from its propriety, and turned the
attention of the sovereigns towards warlike preparations. ...
The document by which the Germanic Confederation is created is
of so much importance that we may say a word about the various
stages through which it passed. First, then, it appears as a
paper drawn up by Stein in March 1814, and submitted to
Hardenberg, Count Münster, and the Emperor Alexander. Next, in
the month of September, it took the form of an official plan,
handed by Hardenberg to Metternich, and consisting of
forty-one articles. This plan contemplated the creation of a
confederation which should have the character rather of a
Bundes-Staat than of a Staaten-Bund; but it went to pieces in
consequence of the difficulties which we have noticed above,
and out of it, and of ten other official proposals, twelve
articles were sublimated by the rival chemistry of Hardenberg
and Metternich. Upon these twelve articles the representatives
of Austria, Prussia, Hanover, and Wurtemberg, deliberated.
Their sittings were cut short partly by the ominous appearance
which was presented in the autumn of 1814 by the Saxon and Polish
questions, and partly by the difficulties from the side of
Bavaria and Wurtemberg, which we have already noticed. The
spring brought a project of the Austrian statesman Wessenberg,
who proposed a Staaten-Bund rather than a Bundes-Staat; and
out of this and a new Prussian project drawn up by W. von
Humboldt, grew the last sketch, which was submitted on the 23d
of May 1815 to the general conference of the plenipotentiaries
of all Germany. They made short work of it at the last, and
the Federal-Act (Bundes-Acte) bears date June 8th, 1815. This
is the document which is incorporated in the principal act of
the Congress of Vienna, and placed under the guarantee of
eight European powers, including France and England.
Wurtemberg, Baden, and Hesse-Homburg, did not form part of the
Confederation for some little time--the latter not till 1817;
but after they were added to the powers at first consenting,
the number of the sovereign states in the Confederation was
altogether thirty-nine. ... The following are the chief
stipulations of the Federal Act. The object of the
Confederation is the external and internal security of
Germany, and the independence and inviolability of the
confederate states. A diète fédérative (Bundes-Versammlung) is
to be created, and its attributions are sketched. The Diet is,
as soon as possible, to draw up the fundamental laws of the
Confederation. No state is to make war with another on any
pretence. All federal territories are mutually guaranteed.
There is to be in each state a 'Landständische
Verfassung'--'il y aura des assemblées d'états dans tous les
pays de la Confedération.' Art. 14 reserves many rights to the
mediatised princes. Equal civil and political rights are
guaranteed to all Christians in all German States, and
stipulations are made in favour of the Jews. The Diet did not
actually assemble before the 5th of November 1816. Its first
measures, and, above all, its first words, were not unpopular.
The Holy Allies, however, pressed with each succeeding month
more heavily upon Germany, and got at last the control of the
Confederation entirely into their hands.
{1532}
The chief epochs in this sad history were the Congress of
Carlsbad, 1819--the resolutions of which against the freedom
of the press were pronounced by Gentz to be a victory more
glorious than Leipzig; the ministerial conferences which
immediately succeeded it at Vienna; and the adoption by the
Diet of the Final Act (Sehluss Acte) of the Confederation on
the 8th of June 1820. The following are the chief stipulations
of the Final Act:--The Confederation is indissoluble. No new
member can be admitted without the unanimous consent of all
the states, and no federal territory can be ceded to a foreign
power without their permission. The regulations for the
conduct of business by the Diet are amplified and more
carefully defined. All quarrels between members of the
Confederation are to be stopped before recourse is had to
violence. The Diet may interfere to keep order in a state
where the government of that state is notoriously incapable of
doing so. Federal execution is provided for in case any
government resists the authority of the Diet. Other articles
declare the right of the Confederation to make war and peace
as a body, to guard the rights of each separate state from
injury, to take into consideration the differences between its
members and foreign nations, to mediate between them, to
maintain the neutrality of its territory, to make war when a
state belonging to the Confederation is attacked in its
non-federal territory if the attack seems likely to endanger
Germany."

_M. E. G. Duff,
Studies in European Politics,
chapter 5._

ALSO IN:
_J. R. Seeley,
Life and Times of Stein,
part 8 (volume 3)._

_E. Hertslet,
The Map of Europe by Treaty,
volume 1, number 26
(Text of Federative Constitution)._

See, also, VIENNA: CONGRESS OF.

GERMANY: A. D. 1815.
Napoleon's return from Elba.
The Quadruple Alliance.
The Waterloo campaign and its results.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1814-1815.

GERMANY: A. D. 1815.
Final Overthrow of Napoleon.
The Allies again in Paris.
Second treaty with France.
Restitutions and indemnities.
French frontier of 1790 re-established.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1815 (JUNE),
(JULY-NOVEMBER).

GERMANY: A. D. 1815.
The Holy Alliance.

See HOLY ALLIANCE.

GERMANY: A. D. 1817-1820.
The Burschenschaft.
Assassination of Kotzebue.
The Karlsbad Conference.

"In 1817, the students of several Universities assembled at
the Wartburg in order to celebrate the tercentenary of the
Reformation. In the evening, a small number of them, the
majority having already left, were carried away by
enthusiastic zeal, and, in imitation of Luther, burnt a number
of writings recently published against German freedom,
together with other emblems of what was considered hateful in
the institutions of some of the German States. These youthful
excesses were viewed by the Governments as symptoms of grave
peril. At the same time, a large number of students united to
form one great German Burschenschaft [association of
students], whose aim was the cultivation of a love of country,
a love of freedom, and the moral sense. Thereupon increased
anxiety on the part of the Governments, followed by vexatious
police interference. Matters grew worse in consequence of the
rash act of a fanatical student, named Sand. It became known
that the Russian Government was using all its powerful
influence to have liberal ideas suppressed in Germany, and
that the play-wright Kotzebue had secretly sent to Russia
slanderous and libellous reports on German patriots. Sand
travelled to Mannheim and thrust a dagger into Kotzebue's
heart. The consequences were most disastrous to the cause of
freedom in Germany. The distrust of the Governments reached
its height: it was held that this bloody deed must needs be
the result of a wide-spread conspiracy: the authorities
suspected demagogues everywhere. Ministers, of course at the
instigation of Metternich, met at Karlsbad, and determined on
repressive measures. These were afterwards adopted by the
Federal Diet at Frankfort, which henceforth became an
instrument in the hands of the Emperor Francis and his
Minister for guiding the internal policy of the German States.
Accordingly, the cession of state-constitutions was opposed,
and prosecutions were instituted throughout Germany against
all who identified themselves with the popular movement; many
young men were thrown into prison; gymnastic and other
societies were arbitrarily suppressed; a rigid censorship of
the press was established, and the freedom of the Universities
restrained; various professors, among them Arndt, whose songs had
helped to fire the enthusiasm of the Freiheitskämpfer--the
soldiers of Freedom--in the recent war, were deprived of their
offices; the Burschenschaft was dissolved, and the wearing of
their colours, the future colours of the German Empire, black,
red, and gold, was forbidden. ... The Universities continued
to uphold the national idea; the Burschenschaft soon secretly
revived as a private association, and as early as 1820 there
again existed at most German Universities, Burschenschaften,
which, though their aims were not sharply defined, bore a
political colouring and placed the demand for German Unity in
the foreground."

_G. Krause,
The Growth of German Unity,
chapter 8._

GERMANY: A. D. 1819-1847.
Arbitrary rulers and discontented subjects.
The ferment before revolution.
Formation of the Zollverein.

"The history of Germany during the thirty years of peace which
followed [the Congress of Carlsbad] is marked by very few
events of importance. It was a season of gradual reaction on
the part of the rulers; and of increasing impatience and
enmity on the part of the people. Instead of becoming loving
families, as the Holy Alliance designed, the States (except
some of the little principalities) were divided into two
hostile classes. There was material growth everywhere; the
wounds left by war and foreign occupation were gradually
healed; there was order, security for all who abstained from
politics, and a comfortable repose for such as were
indifferent to the future. But it was a sad and disheartening
period for the men who were able to see clearly how Germany,
with all the elements of a freer and stronger life existing in
her people, was falling behind the political development of
other countries. The three days' Revolution of 1830, which
placed Louis Philippe on the throne of France, was followed by
popular uprisings in some parts of Germany. Prussia and
Austria were too strong, and their people too well held in
check, to be affected; but in Brunswick the despotic Duke,
Karl, was deposed, Saxony and Hesse-Cassel were obliged to
accept co-rulers (out of their reigning families) and the
English Duke, Ernest Augustus, was made viceroy of Hannover.
{1533}
These four States also adopted a constitutional form of
government. The German Diet, as a matter of course, used what
power it possessed to counteract these movements, but its
influence was limited by its own laws of action. The hopes and
aspirations of the people were kept alive, in spite of the
system of repression, and some of the smaller States took
advantage of their independence to introduce various measures
of reform. As industry, commerce and travel increased, the
existence of so many boundaries, with their custom-houses,
taxes and other hindrances, became an unendurable burden.
Bavaria and Würtemberg formed a customs union in 1828, Prussia
followed, and by 1836 all of Germany except Austria was united
in the Zollverein (Tariff Union) [see TARIFF LEGISLATION
(GERMANY): A. D. 1833], which was not only a great material
advantage, but helped to inculcate the idea of a closer
political union. On the other hand, however, the monarchical
reaction against liberal government was stronger than ever.
Ernest Augustus of Hannover arbitrarily overthrew the
constitution he had accepted, and Ludwig I. of Bavaria,
renouncing all his former professions, made his land a very
nest of absolutism and Jesuitism. In Prussia, such men as
Stein, Gneisenau, and Wilhelm von Humboldt had long lost their
influence, while others of less personal renown, but of
similar political sentiments, were subjected to contemptible
forms of persecution. In March, 1835, Francis II. of Austria
died, and was succeeded by his son, Ferdinand I., a man of
such weak intellect that he was in some respects idiotic. On
the 7th of June, 1840, Frederick William III. of Prussia died,
and was also succeeded by his son, Frederick William IV., a
man of great wit and intelligence, who had made himself
popular as Crown-prince, and whose accession the people hailed
with joy, in the enthusiastic belief that better days were
coming. The two dead monarchs, each of whom had reigned 43
years, left behind them a better memory among their people
than they actually deserved. They were both weak, unstable and
narrow-minded; had they not been controlled by others, they
would have ruined Germany; but they were alike of excellent
personal character, amiable, and very kindly disposed towards
their subjects so long as the latter were perfectly obedient
and reverential. There was no change in the condition of
Austria, for Metternich remained the real ruler, as before. In
Prussia a few unimportant concessions were made, an amnesty
for political offences was declared, Alexander von Humboldt
became the king's chosen associate, and much was done for
science and art; but in their main hope of a liberal
reorganization of the government, the people were bitterly
deceived. Frederick William IV. took no steps towards the
adoption of a Constitution; he made the censorship and the
supervision of the police more severe; he interfered in the
most arbitrary and bigoted manner in the system of religious
instruction in the schools; and all his acts showed that his
policy was to strengthen his throne by the support of the
nobility and the civil service, without regard to the just
claims of the people. Thus, in spite of the external quiet and
order, the political atmosphere gradually became more sultry
and disturbed. ... There were signs of impatience in all
quarters; various local outbreaks occurred, and the aspects
were so threatening that in February, 1847, Frederick William
IV. endeavored to silence the growing opposition by ordering
the formation of a Legislative Assembly. But the provinces
were represented, not the people, and the measure only
emboldened the latter to clamor for a direct representation.
Thereupon, the king closed the Assembly, after a short
session, and the attempt was probably productive of more harm
than good. In most of the other German States, the situation
was very similar; everywhere there were elements of
opposition, all the more violent and dangerous, because they
had been kept down with a strong hand for so many years."

_B. Taylor,
History of Germany,
chapter 37._

ALSO IN:
_C. A. Fyffe,
History of Modern Europe,
volume 2, chapters 5 and 7._

See, also, AUSTRIA: A. D.1815-1835.

GERMANY: A. D. 1820-1822.
The Congresses of Troppau, Laybach and Verona.

See VERONA, THE CONGRESS OF.

GERMANY: A. D. 1835-1846.
Death of the Emperor Francis I. of Austria.
Accession of Ferdinand I.
Extinction of the Polish republic of Cracow.
Its annexation to Austria.

See AUSTRIA: A. D. 1815-1846.

GERMANY: A. D. 1839-1840.
The Turko-Egyptian question and its settlement.
Quadruple Alliance.

See TURKS: A. D. 1831-1840.

GERMANY: A. D. 1848 (March).
Revolutionary outbreaks.
The King of Prussia heads a national movement.
Mistaken battle of soldiers and citizens at Berlin.

"The French revolution of February, the flight of Louis
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.