Central March Association

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The Central March Association ( CMV ) was an umbrella organization of all democratically oriented political associations during the revolution of 1848/49 and is considered the first modern party in Germany. The organization tried for the first time to create an organization at the national level that linked parliamentary factions and extra-parliamentary associations.

prehistory

The first considerations for founding a central organization went back to the first Democrats' Congress in Frankfurt (June 14-17, 1848). 234 delegates from 89 associations and 66 cities took part. Among them were representatives of the Silesian Rustikalvereine , a rural mass organization with at times 200,000 members. Julius Fröbel was chairman , other well-known personalities were the philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach , the leading German Catholic Johannes Ronge , the Cologne socialist Andreas Gottschalk , as well as Ferdinand Freiligrath and Ludwig Bamberger . The congress decided to found a central committee based in Berlin. This actually became the first modern party headquarters in Germany. Full-time functionaries were employed, financed by contributions from associations and individuals.

Nonetheless, the nationwide organization remained rather rudimentary; the real trigger was the counter-revolution in Berlin, in particular the declaration of the state of siege, the relocation of the Prussian National Assembly and the associated suppression of political activity by General Friedrich von Wrangel on November 12, 1848.

Organization and activity

Call of the Central March Association on May 6, 1849

The focus shifted back to Frankfurt. In response to this, the Central March Association was founded on November 21 by members of the Donnersberg , Deutscher Hof and parts of Westendhall parliamentary groups in the German National Assembly in Frankfurt . Almost 40% of the MPs were behind him. The declared aim was to protect the “March achievements” - hence the name “Central March Association”. It was a loose umbrella organization that supplied its member associations with manifestos and circulars, distributed press releases, encouraged popular assemblies and organized demonstrations.

Political discussions included the imposed Prussian constitution, actions to proclaim basic rights and, above all, the imperial constitution campaign to implement the imperial constitution of March 28, 1849.

The local associations behind the MPs formed the basis. The liberal constitutional associations did not usually join the new association. On the other hand, the Silesian “Rustikalvereine”, the Saxon “Vaterlandvereine” and the Württemberg “Volksvereine” were strongly represented. After all, there were branch associations in 85% of all Prussian cities with more than 9,000 inhabitants. The following included not only the urban population, but also extended far into rural areas , especially in Silesia . The association quickly developed into the strongest mass association during the revolutionary period. By March 1849 around 950 associations with a total of around half a million members had been established.

In the cities in particular, the local Central March associations were often supported by workers', gymnasts, singers or rifle clubs, so that the democratic left had an organizational foundation that was significantly broader than that of the other political camps.

Imperial constitution campaign

The Central March Association played an important role during the imperial constitution campaign in May 1849. On May 6, the organization, chaired by Froebel, held a meeting at which they went so far as to prepare for the revolutionary struggle. The soldiers were urged to be loyal to the constitution and the citizens were called upon to set up defense associations. The participants did not have a new revolution in mind, but saw themselves as "executors of the Reich execution against the princes who were breaking the constitution."

As a result of this appeal, new republican-motivated uprisings arose from May 1849, which were supported in particular by the Central March Association. For example in the Kingdom of Saxony ( Dresden May Uprising ), in the then Bavarian Palatinate ( Palatinate Uprising ), in the Prussian provinces of Westphalia ( Iserlohn Uprising of 1849 ) and Rhineland ( Prümer Zeughaussturm and Elberfeld Uprising in May 1849) and especially in the Grand Duchy of Baden ( see Baden Revolution ). The last surrender of the Baden revolutionaries in the Rastatt fortress on July 23, 1849 meant both the end of the revolution and the Central March Association.

swell

  • Report on the Frankfurt a. M. March 6th and 7th May held the March Association Congress. In: The balance . No. 40, May 10, 1849, pp. 175-176 ( digitized version ).

literature

  • Dieter Langewiesche : The beginnings of the German parties. Party, parliamentary group and association in the revolution of 1848/49. In: History and Society . Vol. 4, H. 3, 1978, pp. 324-361, especially pp. 354ff.
  • Wolfram Siemann : The German Revolution of 1848/49. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt 1985, ISBN 3-518-11266-X , pp. 101f.
  • Rolf Weber: Central March Association (CMV) 1848–1849. In: Dieter Fricke et al. (Ed.): Lexicon for the history of parties. Vol. 1. Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1983, DNB 850223156 , pp. 403-412.
  • Hans-Ulrich Wehler : German history of society. Vol. 2: From the reform era to the industrial and political "German double revolution" 1815-1845 / 49. 2nd Edition. Beck, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-406-32262-X , pp. 713, 727, 754.
  • Michael Wettengel: The Central March Association and the emergence of the German party system during the revolution of 1848/49. In: Yearbook on Liberalism Research . Vol. 3, 1991, pp. 34-81.

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