The 1848 Revolutions The Frankfurt Parliament

The Vorparlament Was created in March 1848 after the declaration of Heidelberg which called for representatives from every German state to meet. Over 500 representatives from almost all states of the Confederation met in the Pauluskirche in Frankfurt. After five days of debate the representatives decided on how to elect a parliament to create a constitution for a united Germany.

What was the Frankfurt Parliament? The parliament was elected in elections organised by the Vorparlement peacefully and successfully. There was a member for every for every 50,000 inhabitants; in total there were 596 members elected by 75-90% of men. All this took little over a month to achieve by which time the parliament was convened and ready to begin work.

How and Why did the Parliament come into Operation? It came into operation to draw up a national constitution which would be acceptable to all Germans. It was a nominated successor to the old Diet of the Confederation. The Parliament was not very representative of the population as a whole, because suffrage was based on ownership of property and indirect voting systems were often used.

Who were the Members? The Parliament had a total of 596 members most of whom were middle class teachers, professors, lawyers and government officials. However there were also a few landowners, four craftsmen and one peasant. Over 80% of the members held university degrees, mostly in law.

How much Power did they Have? The Parliament was intended to be a strong centralise power for the new “Germany”. In reality in lacked true power, it was unable to collect taxes, had no financial power and lacked a strong army. A Prussian general was appointed minister of war but only agreed to accept if the Prussian army remained independent and he would not be asked to act against the Prussian king. He made attempts to forge an alliance with Austria and Bavaria if “exceptional circumstances” made a National German army necessary. Unfortunately he failed and without a loyal army the parliament was unable to enforce any decisions or exercise it’s power.

What were it’s limitations? The parliament was not in touch with the views of the working class as it was comprised mostly of well educated middle-class men, this led to German artisans establishing their own assemblies. Eventually many German workers began to lose faith in the Frankfurt parliament Another limitation of the parliament was that without the discipline imposed by a government it effectively became a “talking shop” unable to reach decisions.

Why did it fail? The parliament offered the crown of a united Germany to King Fredrick William of Prussia but he rejected this offer because he believed it would ruin relations with other countries. After this Prussia and Austria withdrew their delegates from the parliament and it slowly disintegrated. The parliament was thrown out of Frankfurt and moved to Stuttgart where it was in turn dispersed Württemberg troops.