The Frankfurt Parliament

The Vorparlament

• Following the Declaration of Heidelberg, invitations for a potential ‘assembly of German men’ were sent out. Then on 31 March 1848, 574 men, representing almost all of the states belonging to the Confederation met in St Paul’s Church (Pauluskirche) in Frankfurt. This assembly was known as the Vorlaparlament.

• The aim of this ‘preparatory parliament’ was to reach an agreement on how to elect a national Parliament that would design a constitution for a united Germany.

• It was decided that the Parliament would meet in Frankfurt, hence the name, should consist of one representative per 50,000 inhabitants. And finally should be elected by citizens, who were of age and ‘economically independent’.

How and why did the Frankfurt Parliament come into operation?

• The Frankfurt Parliament came into operation, as a result of the Vorparlament, to design a constitution for a united Germany. As it developed it it became moderate and liberal, it also intended to place a constitutional monarch at the head of this united Germany.

• It came into operation through elections in all 39 states. It was left to individual states to decide who was an ‘economically independent’ citizen. Many decided on a residence qualification and some on ownership of property. Most states excluded servants, farm labourers and anyone receiving poor relief. It was also assumed that women could not vote.

• Around 75-90% of people of men on average were able to vote in each state. The majority of these elections were indirect, the electorate only elected ‘electors’ who were granted the authority to select representatives.

• The Parliament first met in May 1948.

Who were the members?

• The Parliament did represent the population as a whole. In the main, most elected were prominent figures in the local community. Of the 596 eventual members, the majority were middle class.

• Amongst the number were teachers, professors, lawyers and government officials. This resulted in it being probably the best-educated German Parliament ever, due to the fact over 80% of its members held university degrees.

• Amongst its members were also a few landowners, four craftsmen, and one peasant.

• Only a small number of its members were radical, revolutionary or republican. Reactionary conservatives were also scarcely represented.

How much power did it have?

• The Frankfurt Parliament filled a opening created by widespread revolution in 1848: Austria was concentrating on putting a stop to widespread revolution throughout its empire and Prussia was in a state of confusion and disarray after events in March 1848. The Parliament also had the advantage of being nominated by the crumbling Diet of the Confederation as its legal successor.

• By May 1848, the Frankfurt Parliament proclaimed its authority over the states, their parliaments and princes. All that remained was to draw up a constitution and to organise a government. It was generally accepted that the right course of action was to agree to a constitution and then establish a government accordingly. However it became impossible to find a majority who favoured any one procedure for carrying this out . The Parliament inevitably became a ‘talking shop’ in which not much was agreed whatsoever.

• Due to this lack of agreement, a provisional government was formed to rule whilst debates in the Parliament ensued. This was called the central Provisional Central Power. But due to, unsurprisingly, little or no agreement on the ways its powers were to be carried it was largely ineffectual.

• The Provisional Central Power was controlled by a ‘Regent of the Empire’ who was elected by the Parliament. A number of ministers were appointed by him. But due to not being given any staff, offices or money, and the hazy definition of their duties, they could very little at all.

• The Frankfurt Parliament did have a large amount of power in its possession, however the mass lack of agreement and poor backing of the Provisional Central Power resulted in it being wasted.

What were its limitations?

• There were many problems within the Parliament. One of these being the territorial extent of ‘Germany’. The current borders of the Confederation did not align to a logical definition of Germany and members of the Parliament were split on what should be included. Some craved a Grossdeutschland (Greater Germany) that would include German-speaking provinces of Austria. Others wanted a Kleindeutschland (Little Germany) that excluded Austria but included the whole of Prussia.

• From its beginning the Frankfurt Parliament had no real strength. It was unable to collect taxation, and therefore had no financial power. It also had no army. The only army capable of acting as a national one at the time was that of Prussia. The Parliament had appointed a Prussian general Minister of War, but he only accepted on the condition that he wouldn’t be expected to act in ways contrary to the wishes of his King. Without an army loyal to its wishes, the power of the Parliament could not be forcefully implemented.

• The Parliament also lacked popular support. This was mainly due to not being in tune with the views of the majority of the working class. Artisans had established their own assemblies in 1848, and the Artisan Congress had put forward an industrial code. This regulated hours of work and rates of pay and also attempted to retain restrictive practices of the old guild system. This was rejected by the Parliament, losing it faith invested in it by many workers.

• The Parliament was also largely divided. The radical minority conflicted with the liberal members, and there was also a small conservative group. The large multitude of opinions held by these groups meant it was practically impossible to reach a decision on almost anything.

• The choice of leader also disadvantaged the Frankfurt Parliament. Heinrich Gagern was sincere and well meaning, but did not have the required force of character to dominate the assembly.

• The absorption of Schlesweig-Holstein by Denmark further illustrated the Parliaments weakness. Due to not having an army the Parliament had to resort to Prussia to defend German interests. However for varying reasons Prussia withdrew from Schlesweig-Holstein, this was seen as a betrayal of the German national cause but the Parliament could do nothing about it.

Why did it fail?

• In March 1849 a Constitution for a German Empire was agreed. One main term was there was to be an Emperor, who had considerable power. In the same month the Parliament half-heartedly voted to elect the Prussian King Frederick William as Emperor, however he refused on the grounds that this role was not the Frankfurt Parliaments to offer.

• Rulers of Bavaria, Saxony and Hanover rejected the German Constitution. Many members of the Parliament gave up and went home, some made a last attempt to sort things out by calling for the election of a new German Parliament called the Reichstag , but the moment had passed, and people weren’t interested. The Parliament was then driven out of Frankfurt by the city government. The members attempted to relocate to Stuttgart in Wurttemberg. There it was disbanded by the King’s soldiers in June.

• There were many reasons for the failure of the Frankfurt Parliament. There was no real possibility of creating a United Germany in 1848-9. If the members had acted decisively rather than disagreeing and wasting time , they would most likely have been disbanded far earlier than they were. Parliament was also dependent on the willing co-operation of individual states and without that backing, it lacked the power to enforce its decrees.

• Attitude of Austria and Prussia crucial to its downfall, due to their power status in Europe post-1815 . Austria desired to dominate Germany, by keeping it weak and divided, and therefore had no wish to see it united. Prussia had opportunities to dominant German affairs, but didn’t act, mainly due to the attitude of the King of Prussia. He was unwilling to see Prussia merged into a United Germany , at least in the way the Frankfurt Parliament envisaged.

• The authority of the Parliament was never truly accepted by the majority of individual states. Many rulers backed it, but mainly due to the believe that not supporting it would stir up even more opposition. When rulers had re-established authority, their support waned. A united Germany appeared attractive, but in practice they did not want to see their powers capped by liberal constitutions and a strong central authority.

• Finally, the regained control of territories by the Austrian Emperor, Franz Joseph, practically ended any chance of the Frankfurt Parliament succeeding due to their complete opposition of revolutionary change. With an effective Austrian opposition, no ruler of a German state wanted to be seen to be leading the way in creating a united Germany. The might of the Austrian Empire would just be too much to contend with.