Baden Constituent Assembly of 1849

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Baden Constituent Assembly of 1849 (also known as the “Constituent State Assembly”) was the elected representative body during the Baden May Revolution of 1849 . The election took place on June 3, 1849 and activities were limited to the short period from June 10 to June 30, 1849.

prehistory

On April 3, 1849, the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV received the so-called Imperial Deputation of the Frankfurt National Assembly and rejected the Imperial Crown proposed to him. The liberals , who wanted a united Germany with a constitutional monarchy , had failed. The more radical forces started the imperial constitution campaign . The aim of this campaign was the recognition of the Paulskirche constitution drawn up by the first all-German and democratically elected parliament, the Frankfurt National Assembly .

In Baden, the imperial constitution campaign was particularly supported by the popular associations . On behalf of the provisional state committee, Amand Goegg had invited the representatives of the Baden Volksvereine to a meeting in Offenburg on May 12, 1849 , to discuss the next steps, and on May 13 a people's assembly was to take place in Offenburg. On May 11, there was a mutiny by Baden troops in the Rastatt fortress .

The delegates of the People's clubs rejected on May 12 demanded by the Republicans proclamation of a Republic , but agreed to choose a so-called "definitive National Committee" on the following day, which declare themselves permanently and thus form an alternative government should. On May 13th, the regional committee was elected by the delegates and confirmed by the people's assembly. On May 14, the state committee elected an executive commission of the state committee chaired by Lorenz Brentano . After the people's assembly, the state committee went to Rastatt , where it believed it was safer. Grand Duke Leopold and the Hoffmann government fled Karlsruhe on the night of May 13-14 and left the country. At the invitation of the Karlsruhe municipal council, the state committee moved into Karlsruhe on May 14th - Brentano had meanwhile broken off his vacation in Baden-Baden and had come to the state committee in Rastatt on May 14th.

history

The vote

The state committee of the Baden people's associations had already resolved on May 15 to dissolve both chambers of the Baden assembly of estates and to elect a constituent assembly and passed a law on this on May 17. The election took place on June 3rd.

All men over the age of 21 were entitled to vote (so far only around 70% of men had the right to vote in the elections for the Baden State Assembly , whereby the voting weight was still dependent on wealth). The election was direct (for the Estates meeting it was indirect, i.e. the primary voters did not vote the MPs, but electors) and secret (for the Estates meeting there was an open vote). "... for the first time in Germany a parliament was elected according to general, equal, direct and secret (male) suffrage."

Voting took place in the 20 electoral districts that had already been formed for the election to the Frankfurt National Assembly , with 4 members to be elected in each district, i.e. H. 80 in total. Each voter had four votes and the four people who received the most votes were elected in a constituency (simple majority vote).

Since 6 MPs were elected in two constituencies, there were initially only 74 MPs. Another 4 MPs were elected in by-elections.

There is no data on voter turnout, but there are tendentious statements in the literature, e.g. B. The turnout was low and there were doubts about the regularity of the election. Since there was no electoral roll and there has never been an election with the same voting rights, it is only possible to determine the electorate through approximate estimates. The proportion of men over the age of 21 in the total population (i.e. the eligible population) is estimated to be around 25% of the total population in 1849.

The MPs

→ List of members of the Baden Constituent Assembly from 1849

Constituencies

The electoral districts each had about 70,000 to 75,000 inhabitants and are described below using the associated offices. The preference for economically stronger cities and areas set out in the election regulations for the 2nd Chamber of the Baden Assembly of Estates was corrected with this division in favor of the principle of equal elections (equal weight of each vote).

Candidates and parties

There was no official list of candidates and there were no official ballots. In principle, every citizen of Baden could vote any other citizen, whereby this citizen did not have to be resident in the electoral district. Parties in the current sense did not yet exist, but political groupings that also called themselves “parties” did. The “democratic party” was represented by the people's associations, which differed from the “constitutional party”, which consisted of the supporters of the liberal majority in the 2nd chamber of the Baden Estates Assembly and which the government under Johann Baptist Bekk had supported.

In addition to these “parties”, the newspapers played a major role in shaping opinion before the election, and some papers also published their own election proposals.

The composition of the assembly

The assembly was dominated by the representatives of the popular associations, with the moderate forces around Brentano having the upper hand. There was a high proportion of lawyers among the MPs (including 15 lawyers, as well as judges and law students).

Parliamentary work

Karlsruhe Estates Building
Basler Hof in Freiburg

The assembly met for the first time on June 10, 1849 in Karlsruhe , with Pastor Georg Friedrich Schlatter von Mühlbach opening the meeting as age president .

For the first public working session on June 11th, 46 out of 74 elected MPs will meet in Karlsruhe. They first checked the election results and found them to be correct. Carl Damm was elected President in absentia and Werner and Achaz Stehlin were elected as Vice-Presidents .

In the short period from June 10 to 30, 1849, there were a total of 14 public working sessions and four secret sessions in addition to the preparatory and the opening session. The meetings were held in Karlsruhe (in the Ständehaus ), only the last two took place in Freiburg (in what was then the court building, the Basler Hof ) after the meeting had fled from the approaching Prussian troops.

Due to the military threat, the assembly had to deal primarily with supplying the army with soldiers and material and financial issues in general. The original purpose - the drafting of a constitution - took a back seat. The election of a constitutional committee was decided on June 13th, but only the motion for the “Law on the Powers of the Government elected on June 13th with dictatorial power” is known about its activities.

On June 13th, the assembly elected a Provisional Government of Baden with dictatorial power .

Session overview

meeting date place subjects
preliminary advisory June 10th; 11 clock Karlsruhe Schlatter becomes old-age president; Secretaries Mördes, Volk, Steinmetz, Stay
opening June 10th; 4 p.m. Karlsruhe Celebrations; Opening address by Lorenz Brentano
1. public June 11th; 9 clock Karlsruhe Constitution of the assembly; Election test; Reports from Interior Minister Brentano and Finance Minister Amand Goegg
2. public June 11th; 5.15 p.m. Karlsruhe Opening by Schlatter; Election of the president (Damm) and his deputies (Werner, Stehelin), as well as the secretaries (Rotteck, Pellisier, Wolff, Mördes); in the absence of Damm Werner takes the chair
1. Secret session June 11th; 8 p.m. Karlsruhe Equipment of the people's armed forces and supplies in the Rastatt fortress
3. public June 12, 9 a.m. Karlsruhe Suitability for military service; Supply of troops; Dissolution of the gendarmerie corps; Goegg report on the financial situation
2. Secret session June 12; in the afternoon Karlsruhe there is no longer a protocol; the contract with Ludwik Mierosławski was dealt with
4. public June 13, 9 a.m. Karlsruhe Chairman Werner; at Brentano's request, the election of a constitutional committee is decided
5. public June 13, 6 p.m. Karlsruhe Chairman Werner; Election of dictators
6. public June 14, 8:30 a.m. Karlsruhe Chairman Werner; Progressive Income Tax Act
7. public 15th June Karlsruhe Chair dam; Law on the Powers of Dictators and Special Powers for Brentano
8. public June 16, 8:30 a.m. Karlsruhe Chairman Stehelin; Advice on municipal regulations
9. public 18th of June; 10.30 a.m. Karlsruhe Chairman Stehelin;
2. Secret session 18th of June Karlsruhe
10. public June 19; 9 clock Karlsruhe Chair pine;
11. public June 22 Karlsruhe Chair dam
12. public 23rd June; 10.30 a.m. Karlsruhe Chair dam;
3. Secret session 23rd June Karlsruhe
13. public June 28th; 17 o'clock Freiburg Brentano resigns; Report on the course of the war; Issue of treasury bills
4. Secret session June 29th Freiburg Appointment of Kiefer for the escaped Brentano, perseverance slogan
14. public June 30th; 5.30 p.m. Freiburg Chair dam; Kiefer did not accept his appointment as dictator; Goegg report on the military situation; Decision on the issue of paper money.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ s. Bauer p. 26
  2. ↑ s. Häusser p. 516
  3. ↑ s. Häusser pp. 517-518
  4. ↑ Bekk Cabinet - December 19, 1846 to March 7, 1848
  5. ↑ s. Bauer p. 66; here is a table with a comprehensive analysis of the professional composition
  6. ↑ Neue Freiburger Zeitung No. 138 of June 12, 1849, p. 712 online at the Freiburg University Library
  7. ↑ s. Struve p. 230
  8. ↑ He chaired the meetings of June 12th, 13th and 14th and resigned this office after he was appointed Minister of War
  9. ↑ Neue Freiburger Zeitung No. 139 of June 13, 1849, p. 717 online at the Freiburg University Library
  10. ↑ s. Bauer p. 71
  11. ↑ Neue Freiburger Zeitung No. 136 of June 9, 1849, p. Online at the Freiburg University Library
  12. ↑ Neue Freiburger Zeitung No. 138 of June 12, 1849, p. 712 online at the Freiburg University Library
  13. ↑ Neue Freiburger Zeitung No. 139 of June 13, 1849, p. 717 online at the Freiburg University Library
  14. ↑ Neue Freiburger Zeitung No. 140 of June 14, 1849, p. 721 online at the Freiburg University Library
  15. ↑ s. Bauer pp. 95-98
  16. ↑ Neue Freiburger Zeitung No. 141 of June 15, 1849, p. 725 online at the Freiburg University Library and continued in the Neue Freiburger Zeitung No. 142 of June 16, 1849, pp. 729-730 [1]
  17. ↑ Neue Freiburger Zeitung No. 142 of June 16, 1849, pp. 730–731 [2]
  18. ↑ Neue Freiburger Zeitung No. 142 of June 17, 1849, p. 735 online at the Freiburg University Library
  19. ↑ Neue Freiburger Zeitung No. 144 of June 19, 1849, p. 739 online at the Freiburg University Library
  20. ↑ Neue Freiburger Zeitung No. 145 of June 20, 1849, p. 743 online at the Freiburg University Library ; Continued in Neue Freiburger Zeitung No. 146 of June 21, 1849, p. 747 online at the Freiburg University Library
  21. ↑ Neue Freiburger Zeitung No. 146 of June 21, 1849, p. 747 online at the Freiburg University Library
  22. ↑ Agenda in: Neue Freiburger Zeitung No. 148 of June 23, 1849, p. 756 online at the Freiburg University Library
  23. ↑ Neue Freiburger Zeitung No. 150 of June 26, 1849, p. 763 online at the Freiburg University Library
  24. ↑ Neue Freiburger Zeitung No. 153 of June 29, 1849, p. 774 online at the Freiburg University Library
  25. ↑ Neue Freiburger Zeitung No. 155 of July 1, 1849, p. 781 online at the Freiburg University Library