Emperor of the Germans
Emperor of the Germans was the title of head of the Reich of the German federal state that was to be established in the Frankfurt constitution of 1849 . The model for the word formation was the titles Emperor of the French and King of the Belgians , which refer to the people of the state instead of the state territory . At that time the Kaiser would have replaced the Reichsverweser , the provisional head of state of the emerging German Empire .
The emperor was envisaged in the constitution as an organ of imperial power; with imperial power was meant what is now called the federal level. The emperor appointed and enacted the Reich ministers.
The Frankfurt National Assembly elected the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. As emperor. However, the king rejected the crown in April 1849 and has since fought against the National Assembly, for example by forbidding the Prussians to continue to be members of parliament.
background
The title of emperor should tie in with the dignity of the Roman-German emperors, which had been laid down in 1806 . Since the high Middle Ages , these had also been referred to as the German King , King of the Germans and King in Germania . In 1806 the last official renounced the crown. The German Confederation of 1815 had no head, only the Bundestag as the highest body.
The Frankfurt National Assembly met since May 18, 1848. It quickly put in place a provisional constitution and government. Negotiations on the final constitution dragged on, however. One reason was the question of whether Austria should be part of the emerging empire. At the latest Austria's new constitution from the beginning of March 1849 took the wind out of the sails of the Greater Germans . The other reason was the uncertainty as to whether the Prussian king would accept the imperial crown from Frankfurt. He had given vague information about this.
In general, the members of the National Assembly disagreed for a long time as to which head of state the empire should receive: a kind of president, a group of people or a hereditary emperor. The hereditary imperial deputies, led by the right-wing liberal Heinrich von Gagern , saw the election of the Prussian king as the only realistic option for reasons of power alone.
Choice and reaction
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On March 27, 1849, the members of the National Assembly made two important fundamental decisions. One of them concerned the hereditary empire , which was accepted by a few votes majority. Gagern had achieved this result thanks to a collaboration with a democratic group that enforced universal male suffrage . Austria's harsh attitude towards the National Assembly had also contributed to this. Many disappointed MPs had not taken part in the vote, so that the actual support for the hereditary emperor was even lower.
After the basic decisions, the way was clear to vote on the proposed constitution. On March 28, not only was the constitution adopted, but Friedrich Wilhelm IV was also elected emperor. In the latter vote, the opponents abstained so as not to rob the constitution of any chance of implementation. But the proponents were also aware that the king would only accept the crown under pressure, perhaps also from his ministers in Prussia.
The National Assembly elected an imperial deputation to meet the king. On April 3, he gave the MPs an answer that contained both a wait and a threat. Friedrich Wilhelm IV pointed out that the opinion of the other German states must be heard. In the weeks that followed, 28 smaller states and, under pressure from the people, the King of Württemberg voted in favor of the constitution. Both Prussian parliamentary chambers and the Prussian cabinet, the latter with reservations, were also in favor of acceptance. But on April 28th, Friedrich Wilhelm IV finally rejected the constitution and the imperial crown.
Much has been said about the king's motives. It was indisputably displeasing to be appointed emperor by a national assembly and not by the other princes. However, the largest states in Germany, namely Bavaria, Hanover, and Saxony, had rejected the constitution. The additional rule only over the smaller states was not attractive enough for the Prussian king to accept the liberal constitution and the restrictions it would have placed on his exercise of power.
consequences
King Friedrich Wilhelm IV decided, illegally, to take away the Prussians' mandate in the National Assembly. Other states did the same. For its part, the National Assembly decided, contrary to the constitution, to convene an election day for the future Reichstag (August 12). But she shrank from calling for a real uprising. The remaining MPs, who mainly belonged to the left, fled to Stuttgart and decided that the next higher head of state (i.e. the King of Württemberg) should take over the crown. During this time, revolutionaries in the Palatinate and Saxony temporarily gave power to campaign for the constitution. With Prussia's help, such uprisings were put down.
From May 1849 the Prussian king tried to unite Germany himself. His attempt, the Erfurt Union , also failed, this time due to resistance from Austria, Bavaria and other states. In this union, Friedrich Wilhelm IV would have been the head of state with the title of Union Executive. It was not until half a generation later, in July 1867, that the North German Confederation united at least the states of North Germany as a federal state. The then Prussian king became the holder of the Federal Presidium. On January 1, 1871 , he was also given the title of German Emperor . This designation avoided the question of whether the emperor was an emperor of the Germans or of Germany, and it was reminiscent of the imperial title "Roman Emperor".
Imperial offices in comparison
The 1849 Kaiser of the Germans would have been an elected but hereditary monarch. After the first election, the following monarch would have come into office by succession, the eldest son according to the constitution. The constitution also called the emperor inviolable, according to the ideas of the constitutional monarchy . The emperor had to take an oath on the constitution.
The Kaiser appointed and dismissed the Reich Ministers without the participation of the Reichstag. All his actions had to be countersigned by a minister. The constitution therefore did not provide for a parliamentary system of government. Ernst Rudolf Huber suspects, however, that the Reichstag would have had enough opportunities to ultimately get its way.
Like the houses of the Reichstag, the emperor had the right to initiate legislation . The emperor was able to lodge a suspensive (suspensive) veto against laws of the Reichstag. Its approval was required for a constitutional amendment.
Overall, the constitution of 1849 describes the office of the emperor in much more detail than the Bismarckian constitutions of 1867/1871. Therefore, in Bismarck's time, one had to fall back on the provisions of the Prussian constitution, such as regulating the succession to the throne. In the German constitution neither the inviolability of the monarch nor a constitutional oath were mentioned. However, the successors of the first emperor Wilhelm I actually took an unsolicited oath on the constitution.
In the Bismarckian constitutions, it was also the emperor who appointed the minister responsible . However, this was only a single person who had the title of Chancellor . The emperor could neither propose laws nor dissolve the Reichstag ; such rights were reserved for the Federal Council . In this respect, the emperor had to share certain rights with the representation of the member states, similar to the constitutional order of the Erfurt Union .
See also
supporting documents
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume II: The struggle for unity and freedom 1830 to 1850 . 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [et al.] 1988, pp. 626-628.
- ^ David E. Barclay: Frederick William IV and the Prussian Monarchy, 1840-1861 . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1995, p. 194.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume II: The struggle for unity and freedom 1830 to 1850 . 3rd edition, Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [ua] 1988, p. 828/829.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume II: The struggle for unity and freedom 1830 to 1850 . 3rd edition, Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [ua] 1988, p. 841.