The opposition of the Frankfurt parliament had many strengths as the parliament did not have an army of its own whereas Prussia had a very strong military army, they had never been defeated. If the Frankfurt parliament had created an army it would have consisted of peasants, middle class Germans etc. This army would have not been able to take on Prussia. Additionally, the real power in Germany still rested in the hands of the individual states – this made it harder for the Frankfurt parliament to create a German constitution which would agree with the whole of Germany.
When the Frankfurt Parliament opened debates on the new German constitution there were many divisions within the Parliament itself between the radical left, the liberal centre and the right. The left wing deputies supported a republican form of government including the overthrow of princes and a democratic form of government. Contrastingly, the right defends the rights of the princes and wished to restrict the role which a national parliament would play in the future Germany. Finally, the majority, moderate liberals, wanted a compromise between the rights of existing rulers and the rights of people. The process of the new German constitution was very time consuming leading to liberals believing that change was not brought by popular protest as the parliament took so long.
There were many conservative forces which meant that the Frankfurt parliament didn’t have everyone’s support. Many princes were not overthrown because they made tactical retreats by offering concessions. However, the princes had not abandoned their beliefs in divine right and absolute monarchy. After Friedrich Wilhelm had withdrawn to a safe distance from Berlin, he was surrounded by a group of conservative advisers who urged him to crush the revolution by force. The news from Vienna of the crushing of the revolution by Windischgratz encouraged the King to act.
Although the conservative forces had a big impact on the new German constitution the support of the masses was also divided and this led to riots and peasant risings that had no aims. This meant that there was a lack of support that was needed in order for the revolution to occur. These peasants needed a leader to control them, but this was another key reason why the revolutions of 1848 were a failure, they were causing disturbances in the countryside by refusing to perform feudal services and attacking castles.
The group of people that caused unrest within towns were called ‘Handwerkers’. They provided the majority of manufactured goods, and were annoyed that machinery was taking over their jobs, and their trades were in decline.
The middle class people were a group that could have led the masses but failed to do so. They were not representative and did not have the same ideas as the peasants. They were more interested in looking after their own economic priorities, and wanted to keep the princes ideas of order.
The revolutions came just after a period of economic crisis. There were failures in cereal and potato harvests throughout Europe in 1845 and 1846. There were poor communications, and an inadequate response by the government. Everything suffered including craft and industrial production, causing increased levels on unemployment.
It has been thought by some that the parliament at Frankfurt weren’t experienced enough to handle a revolution as they wasted time on discussions instead of taking action. They followed the 19th century ideas of reasoned debate and agreed resolutions. Their naivety was exposed in their belief that they could convince the princes to merge and co-operate.
The leaders of the era were unpopular. Freidrich Wilhelm IV was indecisive and inconsistent and in April of the following year he refused the crown from the Frankfurt depututation. He changed his mind to suit the people who surrounded him at the time, as he was urged by advisors.
However, the revolutions cannot be classed as a total failure as although there were no immediate successes there were outcomes that in the long term would benefit Germany. There were many other factors that influenced the failure of the 1848 revolutions although the Frankfurt parliament impacted the failure the greatest amount. The Parliament was unable to take decisive action and so missed the opportunity of filling the power vacuum that had occurred in the second half of 1848 Germany. This meant that the rulers of the German states were able to re-establish their authority and thereafter had no need to support the Frankfurt Parliament.
by
rubsss (student)
