Democratic Movement (Germany)
The democratic movement in the area of the German Confederation developed from liberalism in Vormärz . The movement at this time is sometimes referred to as pre-March or bourgeois radicalism. For a long time, the boundaries vis-à-vis liberalism and partly also vis-à-vis the emerging labor movement remained blurred.
The democratic movement experienced its climax during the revolution of 1848/49 . After that, their structures were smashed by response policies in most states. The Democrats in the Southwest could best hold up or recover. The People's Democratic Party was founded there in the 1860s . In Prussia the Democrats were absorbed by the Progress Party . With a focus on Saxony, there were also lines of tradition relating to the social democratic labor movement .
precursor
Only weak lines of tradition connected the democratic movement with Jacobinism and the German Jacobins from the time of the French Revolution , as it had emerged in Germany, for example in the Mainz Republic . Rather, the democrats developed out of liberalism. Although there were clear differences in the pre-March period, there were still close relationships between the two political currents. Until 1848, the following were often not tied to either side. They also shared their opposition to the restoration policy of the governments. Even the authorities saw in the Democrats in the Vormärz mostly only the radical part of a comprehensive "party of the movement."
Ideological forerunners of the Democrats were found shortly after the Wars of Liberation and at the beginning of the Restoration era, especially among representatives of the nation-state movement. These included: Ernst Moritz Arndt , Joseph Görres , Friedrich Ludwig Jahn or the more politically radical parts of the fraternities .
Beginning in the 1830s
The actual beginnings of the democratic movement lay in the 1830s. During this time the first organizational approaches began. The forerunners also included the Polish associations in support of the insurgents of the Polish November uprising . The negotiations of the Bavarian state parliament in 1831 had led to disappointments on the left of the liberals against the moderate majority of the liberals. The Left accused them of too strong tactics and too great a willingness to compromise. Convinced that parliamentary activity would hardly permit fundamental changes under the conditions of restoration policy, the left increasingly focused on the extra-parliamentary area. In particular, members from the Bavarian Palatinate founded the Press and Fatherland Association in 1832 after a banquet in honor of the member Friedrich Schüler . Numerous local associations from different states of the German Confederation joined this in a short time. The focus was on those countries in which there were violent social and political conflicts. In addition to the Palatinate, these were Hesse, Hanover, Braunschweig and Saxony. The aim was the rebirth of Germany and the organization of Europe “in a democratic sense and in accordance with the law.” Most of the leading representatives relied on a unified German republican state.
However, there were some significant differences in the path to be taken. Georg August Wirth and Philipp Jakob Siebenpfeiffer primarily addressed the educated upper class and focused on a change in consciousness to which political reality would adapt over time. Schoolchildren and his supporters relied on direct action and primarily addressed simple sections of the population. In fact, in the press and fatherland associations v. a. Craftsmen and other petty bourgeois livelihoods represented. However, members of the educated middle class set the tone. Before it was banned, the Press and Fatherland Association was able to organize the Hambach Festival in 1832 . In this context, the part Frankfurter Wachensturm of 1833. Also, the Hessian Messenger of Georg Buchner was associated with the revolutionary movement in the early 1830s. The German Confederation responded to this challenge by intensifying its repression.
Pre-march
development
The movement received new impulses from about 1835 onwards. These came from the left-wing Hegelians , the politically oriented writers and among them in particular from the poets as well as from radical popular politicians. Authors such as Ferdinand Freiligrath and Georg Herwegh were among the writers close to radicalism .
In the 1830s, numerous associations were set up, particularly during the emigration to Switzerland and France. These were important as a communication network for the emerging democratic movement. The later union of the outlaws in Paris, for example, developed from a country team union of craftsmen, through a structure of the Press and Fatherland Association, to a conspiratorial secret society. This increasingly represented early socialist views. The “literary comptoir” operated by Julius Fröbel in Switzerland published 100 titles between 1840 and 1845 in the spirit of pre-March radicalism.
The main organ of the left-Hegelian-oriented radicalism were the Halle yearbooks published by Arnold Ruge since 1838. From this emerged the German yearbooks and finally the Franco-German yearbooks. A circle of radical intellectuals gathered around them, among them Bruno Bauer and Karl Marx . Others like Julius Froebel were close to him. The short-lived Rheinische Zeitung, strongly influenced by Karl Marx, also belonged to the context of the intellectual radicalism that emerged from the left-Hegelian circles .
One of the leading politicians of a populist democratic movement in Germany was Robert Blum , who had been the organizer of the Democrats in Saxony since 1840. Then there are Gustav Struve and Friedrich Hecker . Under the leadership of the latter two, the democratic movement began to develop as an independent political force in Baden from 1847. Lorenz Brentano was also of importance in the southwest . In Breslau they included August Heinrich Simon , in Bonn Gottfried Kinkel , in Berlin Adolf Glasbrenner or Friedrich Wilhelm Held , in Königsberg Johann Jacoby .
There were many connections between the Democrats and the religious opposition movements of the Friends of Light and the German Catholics .
Program
On September 12, 1847 there was a people's assembly in Offenburg . The “Offenburg Program” was the first time that a program was decided upon, as it became customary for parties afterwards. A short time later, the Liberals followed suit with the “ Heppenheimer Program ”.
There was still a lot in common. But there were also significant differences. So the Democrats demanded general conscription instead of the previous standing (professional) armies. Instead of the census suffrage advocated by the Liberals, the Democrats sought universal and equal suffrage. In addition to the constitutional goals, there were also sociopolitical goals. With the aim of social reform, the Democrats demanded the creation of equal educational opportunities for all, a progressive income tax and even a compensation for the "misunderstanding between capital and labor."
However, the objectives of constitutional law were of central importance. The Democrats proceeded from the principle of popular sovereignty . In doing so, they radically questioned the monarchical principle and divine right. In a future nation-state , the will of the people and the will of the state should become one. The Democrats saw the monarchy as outdated and advocated a republican form of government. In contrast, the liberals mostly backed the constitutional monarchy. According to the Democrats, the focus should be on parliament as the embodiment of popular sovereignty. It should make the laws and control the government. Instead of the two-chamber parliaments that were predominant at the time, a unicameral parliament was to be established. On the basis of parliamentary majorities, a government responsible for the people's representation should be formed. The democrats demanded a unified German state, while the liberals did not want to abolish the individual German states.
While the Liberals thought more historically and evolutionarily, the Democrats were more theoretical and revolutionary. The emphasis on equality was of great importance, also in contrast to liberalism. Similar to large parts of early liberalism, the Democrats hoped for a society of small, independent livelihoods. The right of ownership was basically not called into question. However, they saw large differences in ownership as a threat to political equality. While the liberals focused more on educated citizens and property owners as appointed representatives of the people, the democrats also saw craftsmen, traders or small farmers as the basis of the political people.
While the Liberals attributed social differences in property and education to talent and achievement, the Democrats saw them as a consequence of the social balance of power. The Democrats did not seek to completely abolish social inequality, but it should be limited by a fairer tax policy or better access to education. In the pre-March period, the radicals relied less on revolutionary developments and were against compromises. They were ready for conflict and partly also for revolution. The Democrats were directed not only against the political system, but also against the constitutional liberals. In these one saw the "halves", while the radicals saw themselves as the "whole".
Political basis
Based on the program outlined, the Democrats actually succeeded in gaining mass support during the revolution of 1848. This included farmers in some of those areas where there were still remnants of feudal dependence, such as Baden or Silesia . Small traders, craftsmen and small manufacturers, but also members from non-privileged educational professions, such as lawyers, elementary school teachers or journalists, were often among the supporters of the Democrats. Since there was hardly any workers' movement, the workers were also among the supporters of the democrats during the revolution, especially if they had emerged from the craftsmen. When an independent workers 'organization emerged during the revolution with the workers ' brotherhood, most of its members also belonged to the democratic associations.
Revolution of 1848/49
Start of the revolution
At the beginning of the revolution of 1848, democrats and liberals often acted together. Thus both the liberal Karl Mathy and the radical Friedrich Hecker appeared at the great people's assembly on February 27, 1848 in Mannheim . It was convened by Gustav Struve . The assembly decided on a program that was clearly democratic. It was no longer about changing individual laws, but questioning the overall balance of power. It was similar in other cities. This resulted in the March demands . The movement in Vienna was particularly radically influenced . Almost everywhere the state power finally had to back down from the pressure of the revolutionary movement. She tried with the moderately liberal March governments to ease the pressure.
Leading opposition politicians met on March 5, 1848 in Heidelberg . The contrast between Democrats and Liberals was clearly expressed. Hecker and Struve advocated a republic and the right of a national assembly to decide on the future constitution alone. Liberals like Heinrich von Gagern relied on the constitutional monarchy and wanted at least to keep an agreement of the constitution with the states open. The contrasts clashed again in the pre-parliament . Gustav Struve demanded in his motion of March 31st "Abolition of the hereditary monarchy (unity) and replacement of the same by freely elected parliaments headed by freely elected presidents, all united in the federal constitution based on the model of the North American Free States." the request also the other catalog of demands of the Democrats together. The Liberals managed to soften an ultimatum to the Federal Assembly into a mere declaration. Thereupon the radicals around Hecker left the meeting for a while. The moderate democrats around Robert Blum stayed. In the election of the Fifties Committee , no radicals were elected, while the moderate Democrats were represented alongside the Liberals.
The radicals relied on an extra-parliamentary advance of the revolution. On April 12, 1848, Hecker called a provisional government in Constance . Supported by 6,000 men, he moved to Freiburg. The Hecker move was ended by government troops on April 20, 1848. Moderate Democrats saw the action as discrediting the democratic movement as a whole.
Organizational development
The Democrats built a dense network of organizations during the revolution of 1848. Numerous popular associations, democratic associations or fatherland associations in Saxony emerged. The first merger took place on March 19, 1848 in Offenburg . The associations united there stood unreservedly on the ground of the March demands, committed themselves to the national assemblies in Frankfurt , Berlin and Vienna. They called for a monarchy or a republic that was severely restricted by law.
A first democratic congress took place between June 14 and 17, 1848 in Frankfurt. 234 delegates from 89 associations took part. The chairman of the meeting was Julius Froebel. Other participants included Ludwig Feuerbach , Johannes Ronge , Andreas Gottschalk , Ferdinand Freiligrath and Ludwig Bamberger . A central committee was elected to coordinate the association. 250 clubs from Prussia alone and 100 clubs from Saxony were affiliated. A second congress took place in Berlin between October 26 and 31, 1848. 234 delegates and 260 clubs were represented.
After the start of the counter-revolution in Berlin on November 12, 1848, the Central March Association was founded on the same day as the umbrella organization for all democratic associations by members of the Frankfurt National Assembly. Within a very short time it developed into the largest mass movement during the revolutionary period. In March 1849, the association comprised 950 clubs with more than half a million members. In addition to democratic associations in the narrower sense, the Silesian rustic associations, the Saxon fatherland associations and the Württemberg people's associations were also included. The Central March Association was also associated with supporters from the field of workers', rifle, singing and gymnastics clubs.
Democrats in Parliaments
Prussian National Assembly
Democrats and left-wing liberals were strongly represented in the Prussian National Assembly. Johann Jacoby , Benedikt Waldeck and others were leading politicians there. The assertiveness of the Left became evident when they succeeded for the revision of the draft constitution presented by the Government, the Charte Waldeck to obtain a majority. It also succeeded in enforcing resolutions to abolish the nobility, titles and decorations and the formula of the divine right of the monarch.
Frankfurt National Assembly
Fraction formation
The initiative in the Frankfurt National Assembly to legalize the parliamentary groups came from the Democrats, especially from Arnold Ruge. Since then, these associations have formed a core part of parliamentary life in Germany.
In the assembly, the German Court was the most important faction on the left. It was led by Robert Blum until his shooting in Vienna on November 9th, 1848. In its program, the German Court acknowledged the sovereignty of the National Assembly, called for a parliamentary form of government and was oriented towards the central government. In September 1848, a group split off from the Deutsche Hof and joined forces with some members of the Württemberger Hof , representing the left wing of liberalism, to form the Westendhall faction . This broke up at the beginning of 1849 because of the contrast between small and large German. In October 1848 the small fraction of the Nuremberg court split off from the German court .
The most important split from the Deutsches Hof took place soon after it was founded. The determined and revolutionary left gathered in the Donnersberg faction . Their models were Hecker and Struve, both of whom did not belong to parliament. At times the parliamentary group considered continuing the revolution from outside, but soon gave up. It tried by all means, for example with the help of obstruction, to prevent compromises in the imperial constitution. Members of their ranks were involved in the September uprising in Frankfurt in 1848 and in the Baden-Palatinate uprising in May 1849. It was the Donnersberg parliamentary group that especially maintained the connection with the extra-parliamentary democratic organization.
Parliamentary positions
The first conflicts between liberals and democrats arose over the creation of the provisional central authority . While the left advocated an executive committee responsible for parliament, out of the power of parliament, the right wanted to set up a directorate by agreement with the individual states. The transfer of government to the Prussian king was also proposed. Heinrich von Gagern in particular, as a compromise, pushed through a central power set up solely by the National Assembly, but with an imperial administrator as the monarchical head. After all, a third of the left voted for Archduke Johann's election . Other leftists voted for Gagern.
In terms of content, the contrast between liberals and democrats came to a head in the constitutional debate of the Frankfurt National Assembly in the buzzwords constitutional monarchy or republic. But even the majority of the Democrats, after the victory in March 1848, did not want revolutionary possibly violent, but an evolution on a peaceful path. They sought a way between reaction and revolution in a somewhat different way than the liberals. Representatives of social revolutionary goals were restricted to small splinter groups. There were of course uncompromising Republicans among the influential Democrats. But after weighing up the balance of power, the majority ultimately tended to find a compromise similar to today's parliamentary monarchies. Rudolf Virchow spoke of a “democratic kingship” - a republic with hereditary instead of elected presidents, “ie a king without characteristics.” Such a state based on the principle of popular sovereignty would also have the duty to take social reform measures with the aim of reducing social inequality . Social democracy developed as a new term. Ultimately, the social reforms also had the goal of preventing a violent overthrow of the social order. After all, the majority of the Democrats in parliament opted for nonviolent but vigorous reformism.
As a result of this generally realistic and moderate stance on closer inspection, compromises between liberals and democrats could come about in the constitutional debate. For example, the democrats accepted the Prussian hereditary empire, while the liberals recognized the democratic right to vote. However, the compromise came too late to have any real political impact. Rather, the agreement was soon overshadowed by the conflict between small and large Germans . With the failure of the emperor's deputation , the constitution of the National Assembly had in fact already failed.
On May 22, 1848, the Cologne politician Franz Raveaux raised the question in the National Assembly whether the mandate of the Frankfurt National Assembly was compatible with the mandate of the Prussian National Assembly - without this having to be discussed in a committee . The wording read: “The National Assembly should speak out in favor of those members from Prussia who are at the same time for the National Assembly in Frankfurt a. M. and had been elected for the Prussian Reichstag, is free to accept both elections ”. A previously issued order by the Prussian government rejected this compatibility. With the application, the question of the legislative decision-making power of the Paulskirche constitution was raised in the first few days of negotiations of the National Assembly : Was the National Assembly allowed to contest or even revoke decisions of the governments of the individual states? The aim of the application was to edit the provisions on constitutions in the individual countries and thus bring them into line with the principles discussed in Frankfurt. According to this, the decisive decisions should be reserved for the Paulskirche and should not be able to be thwarted by national parliaments. As a result, a compromise was reached, according to which the constitutional legislation of the National Assembly should take precedence over the decisions of the individual states, but did not necessarily have to override them.
Most of the democrats joined forces with the Paris court in early 1849 to form a Greater German coalition. As a result, most of the Democrats, especially in their strongholds in southwest Germany, were big-minded. Part of the left had allowed itself to be won over to the small German solution by assuring general and equal suffrage. This is where the roots of the later Progress Party lay.
The end of the revolution
In Prussia, the violent counter-revolution and the abolition of the National Assembly put an end to left-wing decisions. Attempts, however, to proceed with a tax refusal campaign failed. The majority of the liberals welcomed the constitution imposed by the king. In the elections for the new second chamber, however, the Democrats did well. In May 1849, the three-tier suffrage was introduced, which severely weakened the Democrats and left-wing liberals.
By mid-April 1849, numerous German states had recognized the imperial constitution , but not Prussia and Austria. Against this background, the Reich constitution campaign developed . It was not about a second revolution, but about the implementation of the Frankfurt resolutions. The democratic associations and in particular the Central March Association played a central role. Riots broke out again in many places. These included the Elberfelder and Iserlohn uprisings . In Saxony, Dresden was the center of the dispute. In the Palatinate, the republic was proclaimed in the Palatinate uprising . All of these movements were quickly put down by the military. The situation in Baden was most dangerous as the second Baden revolution . There the movement followed up on the uprisings at the beginning of the revolution and combined with a mutiny by the soldiers. A provisional government under Lorenz Brentano was formed, which could rely on a majority of Democrats and Republicans in the new constituent assembly. But this movement too was severely crushed by the Prussian troops.
Unlike many moderates and right-wingers, the left-wing MPs stayed in Frankfurt and in the Stuttgart rump parliament even after the de facto failure of the constitution . Therefore they had the majority for a time and were able to enforce resolutions in their favor. However, this ended with the demolition of the rump parliament by Württemberg troops in June 1849.
After the revolution
The Democrats were particularly affected by the political persecution of the Reaction Time. This severely weakened this political direction. The traditions of the democratic movement continued to have an effect in other political contexts in different ways.
Prussia
In Prussia, the Democrats did not stand for elections to the Prussian House of Representatives for about ten years in protest against the three-class suffrage . Only at the beginning of the new era from 1858 did the Democrats initially take part again in the elections. Most of the elected left joined the Vincke faction . The Progress Party eventually emerged from its left wing, but its program contained only parts of democratic ideas.
Southwest Germany
While there was initially a left-wing liberal party in Prussia, the Progressive Party, which also included the Democrats, liberalism in Württemberg split quite early. The Left rallied as the Democratic People's Party under the significant influence of Karl Mayer . The party was republican, but without wanting to overthrow the monarchy. It was federalist and open to social reforms. Since 1866 the party had a permanent organization with local associations, a statute and a coordinating central committee. By 1869 the party was able to expand as the German People's Party to all of southern Germany.
Social democratic labor movement
The Association of German Workers' Associations and the Saxon People's Party were partly in the tradition of the Democrats . From these, the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany emerged with supporters of the ADAV . This combined traditions of the old bourgeois radicalism with Marxist ideas and was a forerunner of today's SPD.
See also
literature
- Helmut Bleiber, Rolf Dlubek , Walter Schmidt (ed.): Democracy and the workers' movement in the German revolution of 1848/49. Contributions to the colloquium on the 150th anniversary of the revolution of 1848/49 on 6/7. June 1998 in Berlin. trafo verlag, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89626-226-2 ( Society - History - Present 22), ( table of contents and excerpt from the foreword online ).
- Manfred Botzenhart : Reform, Restoration, Crisis. Germany 1789–1847. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1985, ISBN 3-518-11252-X ( Edition Suhrkamp 1252 = NF 252, New Historical Library ).
- Hellmut G. Haasis : Traces of the Defeated. Volume 2: From the surveys against absolutism to the republican irregulars in 1848/49. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1984, ISBN 3-499-16281-4 ( rororo 6281).
- Hellmut G. Haasis: Dawn of the Republic. The German Democrats on the left bank of the Rhine 1789–1849. Ullstein-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main et al. 1984, ISBN 3-548-35199-9 ( Ullstein 35199 Ullstein materials ).
- Wolfgang Hardtwig : Pre-March. The monarchical state and the bourgeoisie. Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-423-04502-7 ( German history of the latest time from the 19th century to the present 2), ( dtv 4502).
- Thomas Nipperdey : German History 1800–1866. Citizen world and strong state. CH Beck, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-406-44038-X .
- Walter Tormin : History of the German parties since 1848. 2nd revised edition. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart et al. 1967 ( past and present ).
- Hans-Ulrich Wehler : German history of society. Volume 2: From the reform era to the industrial and political "German double revolution". 1815-1848 / 49. Beck, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-406-32262-X .
- Hans-Ulrich Wehler: German history of society. Volume 3: From the “German Double Revolution” to the beginning of the First World War. 1849-1914 . Beck, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-406-32490-8 .
Web links
- The German Jacobins on the left bank of the Rhine - From the Republic of Mainz to the first democratic constitution ; Introduction by Hellmut G. Haasis on the origins of the democratic movement on the left bank of the Rhine in the German-speaking area during the time of the French Revolution and its effects until 1848.
- www.demokratiegeschichte.eu : Website of the Institute for Historical Regional Studies at the University of Mainz on various aspects and stations of the democratic movement in the German-speaking area up to the March Revolution.
- Udo Leuschner : On the history of German liberalism , Chapter 1: “Whole” and “Half” - German liberalism from the French Revolution to the March ; Chapter 2: The open division of the German liberals in the revolution of 1848/49 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hardtwig, Vormärz, p. 150.
- ↑ Botzenhart, Reform, Restoration, Crisis, pp. 120f.
- ↑ Botzenhart, Reform, Restoration, Crisis, pp. 121–125.
- ^ Nipperdey, Bürgerwelt und starker Staat, p. 390.
- ↑ Botzenhart, Reform, Restoration, Crisis, p. 137 f.
- ^ Nipperdey, Bürgerwelt und starker Staat, p. 390.
- ^ Nipperdey, Bürgerwelt und Starker Staat, p. 389 f.
- ↑ Hardtwig, Vormärz, p. 151.
- ↑ Hardtwig, Vormärz, pp. 151–153.
- ^ Nipperdey, Bürgerertum und starker Staat, pp. 388f.
- ↑ Hardtwig, Vormärz, p. 153.
- ^ Nipperdey, Bürgerertum und starker Staat, pp. 596f.
- ^ Motion by Gustav von Struves in the Frankfurt pre-parliament (March 31, 1848)
- ^ Nipperdey, Bürgerertum und starker Staat, p. 606.
- ^ Nipperdey, Bürgerertum und starker Staat, p. 608.
- ↑ Wehler, Deutsche Gesellschaftgeschichte Vol. 2, p. 726f.
- ↑ Wehler, Deutsche Gesellschaftgeschichte Vol. 2, p. 727.
- ↑ Wehler, Deutsche Gesellschaftgeschichte Vol. 2, p. 752.
- ↑ Tormin, History of the Parties, p. 37f.
- ↑ Tormin, History of the Parties, p. 38f.
- ^ Nipperdey, Bürgerertum und starker Staat, pp. 613f.
- ↑ Quotation from Wehler, Deutsche Gesellschaftgeschichte Vol. 2, p. 749.
- ^ Wehler, Deutsche Gesellschaftgeschichte, Vol. 2, pp. 748f.
- ^ Wehler, German history of society, vol. 2 pp. 750f.
- ^ Franz Wigard, Stenographic Report on the Negotiations of the German Constituent National Assembly in Frankfurt am Main, 1848 , Volume 1, p. 44
- ↑ Theodor Mommsen, Die Unwollte Revolution , 1998, pp. 180 ff.
- ↑ Tormin, History of the Parties, p. 37.
- ↑ Wehler, Deutsche Gesellschaftgeschichte Vol. 2, p. 753.
- ↑ Wehler, Deutsche Gesellschaftgeschichte Vol. 2, pp. 753–755.
- ↑ Tormin, History of the Parties, p. 37f.
- ↑ Tormin, History of the Parties, pp. 47–52.
- ↑ Tormin, History of the Parties, p. 56.
- ^ Wehler, Deutsche Gesellschaftgeschichte, Vol. 3, p. 348.