Cabinet Gagern
The Gagern cabinet was an overall Reich Ministry of the provisional central power of the emerging German Empire in 1848/1849. It is considered to be the first government of Germany as a whole to come about in a parliamentary sense. The new Reich Minister President Heinrich von Gagern replaced his predecessor Anton von Schmerling as Foreign Minister. Undersecretary Würth, another Austrian, also left the cabinet with Schmerling. Otherwise the composition of the cabinet did not change.
occurrence
When the tensions between Austria and the Reich Ministry increased in October and November 1848, Schmerling and his Undersecretary of State Würth (the two Austrians in the Council of Ministers) tried to prevent Austria from breaking free. They met with distrust in the parliamentary groups in the National Assembly. According to a widespread opinion, only non-Austrians should represent the Reich Ministry in negotiations with Austria. In this context, too, it would be desirable for Heinrich von Gagern to become Reich Minister- President .
In the casino parliamentary group, Georg Beseler called for Schmerling to resign on the evening of December 14th. The parliamentary group supported the motion with 36 votes to 32. As a result, Schmerling asked the Reich Administrator to be released the next day, which he announced to the Council of Ministers in the presence of Gagern. On December 17, Gagern resigned as President of Parliament and was appointed Prime Minister by the Reich Administrator. With the exception of Würth, the other members of the government remained in office. The reshuffle of the government was caused by the ruling parties, not by external factors or by a collapse of the coalition. "This was the first case in German history of a government (re) formed purely by parliament," said Heikaus.
On December 18, Gagern presented his government program for a closer and wider federation , according to which Austria should only be linked to the rest of Germany through a loose confederation of states. About fifty large Germans then left the casino and went to the Parisian court, so that Gagern lost the majority believed to be certain. With minor changes to the program and after talks with the Left Center, and because no alternative was in sight, Gagern achieved a majority in the National Assembly on January 11, 1849. So he could stay in office.
cabinet
| Office | image | Surname | fraction | Undersecretary of State | fraction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reich Minister President |
 |
Heinrich von Gagern (1799-1880) |
Casino | ||
| Reich Minister of the Interior |
|
Heinrich von Gagern | Friedrich Bassermann | Casino | |
| Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs |
|
Heinrich von Gagern | Maximilian von Gagern | Casino | |
| Reich Minister of War |
 |
Eduard von Peucker (1791–1876) |
|||
| Reich Minister of Justice |
 |
Robert Mohl | Casino Württemberger Hof |
Christian Widenmann | |
| Reich Minister of Finance |
 |
Hermann von Beckerath (1801-1870) |
Casino | Karl Mathy | |
| Reich Minister of Commerce |
 |
Arnold Duckwitz (1802-1881) |
Johannes Fallati | Casino |
See also
literature
- Ralf Heikaus: The first months of the provisional central authority for Germany (July to December 1848). Diss. Frankfurt am Main, Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main a. a., 1997
supporting documents
- ^ Ralf Heikaus: The first months of the provisional central authority for Germany (July to December 1848). Diss. Frankfurt am Main, Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main a. a., 1997, p. 356.
- ^ Frank Möller: Heinrich von Gagern. A biography . Habilitation thesis, University of Jena 2004, p. 303.
- ^ Ralf Heikaus: The first months of the provisional central authority for Germany (July to December 1848) . Diss. Frankfurt am Main, Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main a. a., 1997, p. 391.
- ^ Frank Möller: Heinrich von Gagern. A biography . Habilitation thesis, University of Jena 2004, p. 305, p. 309/310.
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