New era

New era is the name given to government policy in the Kingdom of Prussia between autumn 1858 and spring 1862. It followed the era of reaction under Friedrich Wilhelm IV . The New Era is and was "treated rather marginally in research", although it was "one of the most interesting phases in recent Prussian-German history".

Beginnings

The new era began with the reign of Wilhelm on October 7, 1858, who became King of Prussia as Wilhelm I in 1861. Following the reactionary policies of his brother, the new regent tried to initiate reforms. Corruption in the economy and official bigotry opposed King Wilhelm. The change of course was documented both in “the formation of a liberal-conservative (ministry)” and in a large number of political programs that “were drafted in the run-up to the election for the House of Representatives in November 1858.” This election was “scheduled so hastily that the The chosen date could hardly have been less favorable in terms of time for the new government. ”Because on October 30, it was announced that“ the primary elections will take place on November 12, the parliamentary elections on November 23. ”After the appointment of Karl Anton von Hohenzollern- The Prince Regent appointed seven new ministers Sigmaringen as Prime Minister on November 6th: Eduard Flottwell as Minister of the Interior (interim since October 7th), Rudolf von Auerswald as Minister without portfolio, Alexander von Schleinitz as Foreign Minister, Eduard von Bonin as Minister of War, Robert von Patow as Finance Minister, Erdmann von Pückler as Minister of Agriculture and Moritz August von Bethmann-Hollweg as Minister of Education. He only took over Trade Minister August von der Heydt and Justice Minister Ludwig Simons from the previous government. The new conservative-liberal government was able to rely on a large majority in the newly elected House of Representatives. Only 30 percent of the MPs elected in 1855 were re-elected in 1858. However, reform projects were blocked by the deputies from the Junker nobility in the manor house . It was not until 1861 that the crown was able to have the land tax exemption for the landed aristocrats lifted by appointing numerous new members.

New elections in December 1861 and May 1862

Wilhelm declared on the one hand that he wanted to respect the existing Prussian constitution, on the other hand he opposed an essential say of the state parliament. At the same time, the bourgeois-liberal movement was undecided as to the extent to which parliamentarism based on the English model was desirable. The fact that the army reform “did not come into being via legislation with the participation of the state parliament was at the core of the army conflict. This conflict, together with a number of stuck and failed reform projects of the New Era, contributed to the fact that many liberals felt disappointed, radicalized and reformed ”. The founding of the Progressive Party in the summer of 1861 began here. The conservatives, on the other hand, supported the crown in particular in its plan to reject the state parliament's participation in military matters. In order to achieve a conservative majority in the manor house, Wilhelm set up new elections. The conservatives received 29.5 percent of the seats and the power of the old liberals was severely restricted to 40 percent. However, since a stable majority was not achieved, the king dissolved the state parliament a second time. The new election brought no change.

The End

The end of the New Era was seen with the dissolution of the newly elected Prussian House of Representatives and the appointment of Prince Adolf zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen as “interim” Prime Minister, both on March 11, 1862. On March 17 of the year, the old liberal ministers of the New Era became , Auerswald, Patow, Schwerin, Bernuth and Pückler, and the heads of four specialist ministries were conservatively occupied: Heinrich Friedrich von Itzenplitz became Minister of Agriculture, Heinrich von Mühler Minister of Education, Leopold zur Lippe-Biesterfeld-Weißenfeld Minister of Justice and Gustav von Jagow Minister of the Interior. The liberal August von der Heydt , who kept the trade ministry on an interim basis, became finance minister and thus de facto the leading figure in the government, but also supported by monarchist-minded conservatives such as war minister Albrecht von Roon . The change of minister actually took place on March 18, but was dated March 18, 1848 to March 17 because of the association with the Berlin barricade fight. Von der Heydt left the cabinet in September 1862 after Otto von Bismarck had been appointed Prime Minister.

literature

Wolfgang Jäger: Course book history: From antiquity to the present. Cornelsen Verlag, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-464-64303-4 , p. 319 f.

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ preussenchronik.de
^ Rainer Paetau: The ruling old liberals and the "expansion" of the Prussian constitution in the New Era (1858-1862) . In: Bärbel Holtz, Hartwin Spenkuch (Hrsg.): Prussia's way into political modernity . Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-05-003580-3 , p. 169.
^ Golo Mann: German history of the 19th and 20th centuries . Frankfurt am Main 1958, pp. 293-295.
^ Rainer Paetau: The protocols of the Prussian State Ministry 1817–1934 / 38 . Vol. 5th ed. By the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences under the direction of Jürgen Kocka and Wolfgang Neugebauer. Olms-Weidmann, Hildesheim / Zurich / New York 2001, ISBN 3-487-11002-4 , p. 3 (introduction).
^ Günther Grünthal: The elections for the Prussian House of Representatives from 1858 . In the S. (Author), Frank-Lothar Kroll a. a. (Ed.): Constitution and Constitutional Change . Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-428-11140-0 , p. 189.
↑ Cf. Rainer Paetau: The Protocols of the Prussian State Ministry 1817–1934 / 38 . Vol. 5th ed. By the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences under the direction of Jürgen Kocka and Wolfgang Neugebauer. Olms-Weidmann, Hildesheim / Zurich / New York 2001, ISBN 3-487-11002-4 , p. 421 f.
↑ Cf. Günther Grünthal: The elections for the Prussian House of Representatives of 1858 . In the S. (Author), Frank-Lothar Kroll a. a. (Ed.): Constitution and Constitutional Change . Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-428-11140-0 , pp. 205 f.
↑ Golo Mann, p. 307.
^ Rainer Paetau: The protocols of the Prussian State Ministry 1817–1934 / 38 . Vol. 5th ed. By the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences under the direction of Jürgen Kocka and Wolfgang Neugebauer. Olms-Weidmann, Hildesheim / Zurich / New York 2001, ISBN 3-487-11002-4 , p. 12 (introduction).
^ Rainer Paetau: The ruling old liberals and the "expansion" of the Prussian constitution in the New Era (1858-1862) . In: Bärbel Holtz, Hartwin Spenkuch (Hrsg.): Prussia's way into political modernity . Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-05-003580-3 , p. 180.
Rainer Paetau: The protocols of the Prussian State Ministry 1817–1934 / 38 . Vol. 5th ed. By the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences under the direction of Jürgen Kocka and Wolfgang Neugebauer. Olms-Weidmann, Hildesheim / Zurich / New York 2001, ISBN 3-487-11002-4 , p. 421.

[1] reussenchronik.de

[2] Rainer Paetau: The ruling old liberals and the "expansion" of the Prussian constitution in the New Era (1858-1862) . In: Bärbel Holtz, Hartwin Spenkuch (Hrsg.): Prussia's way into political modernity . Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-05-003580-3 , p. 169.

[3] Golo Mann: German history of the 19th and 20th centuries . Frankfurt am Main 1958, pp. 293-295.

[4] Rainer Paetau: The protocols of the Prussian State Ministry 1817–1934 / 38 . Vol. 5th ed. By the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences under the direction of Jürgen Kocka and Wolfgang Neugebauer. Olms-Weidmann, Hildesheim / Zurich / New York 2001, ISBN 3-487-11002-4 , p. 3 (introduction).

[5] Günther Grünthal: The elections for the Prussian House of Representatives from 1858 . In the S. (Author), Frank-Lothar Kroll a. a. (Ed.): Constitution and Constitutional Change . Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-428-11140-0 , p. 189.

[6] Cf. Rainer Paetau: The Protocols of the Prussian State Ministry 1817–1934 / 38 . Vol. 5th ed. By the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences under the direction of Jürgen Kocka and Wolfgang Neugebauer. Olms-Weidmann, Hildesheim / Zurich / New York 2001, ISBN 3-487-11002-4 , p. 421 f.

[7] Cf. Günther Grünthal: The elections for the Prussian House of Representatives of 1858 . In the S. (Author), Frank-Lothar Kroll a. a. (Ed.): Constitution and Constitutional Change . Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-428-11140-0 , pp. 205 f.

[8] Golo Mann, p. 307.

[9] Rainer Paetau: The protocols of the Prussian State Ministry 1817–1934 / 38 . Vol. 5th ed. By the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences under the direction of Jürgen Kocka and Wolfgang Neugebauer. Olms-Weidmann, Hildesheim / Zurich / New York 2001, ISBN 3-487-11002-4 , p. 12 (introduction).

[10] Rainer Paetau: The ruling old liberals and the "expansion" of the Prussian constitution in the New Era (1858-1862) . In: Bärbel Holtz, Hartwin Spenkuch (Hrsg.): Prussia's way into political modernity . Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-05-003580-3 , p. 180.
Rainer Paetau: The protocols of the Prussian State Ministry 1817–1934 / 38 . Vol. 5th ed. By the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences under the direction of Jürgen Kocka and Wolfgang Neugebauer. Olms-Weidmann, Hildesheim / Zurich / New York 2001, ISBN 3-487-11002-4 , p. 421.