Charter Waldeck
The Waldeck Charte was the draft of a liberal constitution for the Kingdom of Prussia submitted in July 1848 in the course of the March Revolution , named after the then chairman of the Prussian National Assembly Benedikt Waldeck (1802-1870).
This draft constitution saw & a. the granting of fundamental rights ( freedom of expression , freedom of assembly , the right to arms , etc.), the introduction of a people's armed forces and a restriction of the king's right of veto against decisions of parliament and universal suffrage for the second chamber of parliament. The transformation of Prussia into a constitutional monarchy in a weakened form took place in December 1848 through a constitution imposed by the king .
Historical context
In the course of the March Revolution of 1848/49 , the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV was initially forced to comply with the demands of the liberal and democratically minded revolutionaries . These had gained the upper hand over the royal troops in March 1848 after barricade and street fighting. In addition to demands for liberal reforms , the revolution , which had already spread in other states of the German Confederation, also aimed at national unification of Germany .
In addition to other concessions by Friedrich Wilhelm IV, the Prussian National Assembly was convened on May 22, 1848, to draw up a Prussian constitution under a liberal auspices. Up to this point in time, two constitutional promises (1810 and 1815) by his predecessor Friedrich Wilhelm III. remained unredeemed regarding a constitution for Prussia; 13 of the Federal Act of the German Confederation of 1815, which stipulated that each member state of the federal government - including Prussia - must have its own constitution (" A state constitution will take place in all federal states . ") .
While the National Assembly was negotiating the constitution, the revolutionary situation in Berlin calmed down again. Under the influence of his court advisors, the king then made a reactionary U- turn and reversed some of his concessions.
When the Waldeck Charte was finally presented in July 1848, this draft constitution was rejected by the King and the Conservative MPs. The Prussian National Assembly was dissolved on December 5, 1848.
In December 1848, Friedrich Wilhelm IV imposed his own constitution, which included some elements of the Waldeck Charter, but retained the power of the king, e.g. B. with a royal emergency ordinance law , left untouched. The equal right to vote proposed in the Waldeck Charter was granted first, but there were already indications of the three-class right to vote , which was finally introduced in 1850. The king's constitution was again partially amended in January 1850 and then remained in force essentially until the November 1918 revolution.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Friedrich Ebel: "Der papierne Wisch": The significance of the March Revolution in 1848 for the Prussian constitutional history (= series of publications of the Legal Society, Berlin . Volume 158 ). de Gruyter, Berlin 1998, ISBN 978-3-11-016332-2 , p. 10 ff . ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed January 12, 2020]).
- ↑ Michael Kotulla: The constitutional constitution of Prussia (1848-1918): A collection of sources with a historical introduction . Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg 2013, ISBN 978-3-642-55453-7 , pp. 7 ff ., Doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-642-55453-7 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed on January 12, 2020]).
- ↑ Werner Frotscher, Bodo Pieroth: Verfassungsgeschichte . 5th, revised edition. CH Beck, Munich 2015, ISBN 978-3-406-68178-3 , Rn 223 ff .