Provisional central power
The provisional central power was the government of the brief German Empire in 1848/1849 . The Frankfurt National Assembly created on 28 June 1848 the central government law , the provisional constitutional order. Central power ended on December 20, 1849, and its powers were taken over by a Federal Central Commission of Austria and Prussia.
The central authority consisted of an imperial administrator , Archduke Johann of Austria as a substitute monarch, and the imperial ministers appointed by the imperial administrator. This was the first all-German government; it was not legally, but de facto dependent on the confidence of a majority in the National Assembly.
After an initial period, several ministries were set up with a total of over a hundred employees, including the War Ministry, which continued the German Federal Military Commission. Above all the smaller, but less the larger, individual states followed the instructions of the central authority, which had only limited means to achieve its goals.
Designations
There is a confusing abundance of terminology for central power and its elements in the sources and in the literature. It is central authority (Contemporary: Central force ) rather a technical term ; He refers with central on the one hand to a federal or imperial level compared to a state level, on the other hand with power to a governmental power, an executive power. The adjective provisional (preliminary) faded more and more into the background over the course of the months. In English, for example, the term is rendered with Central Power or Central (German) Government or Federal Government .
According to the Reich law on the introduction of a provisional central authority for Germany of June 28, 1848, the central authority consisted of the Reich administrator and the ministers appointed by the Reich administrator. A steward is a deputy, especially the one who fills the position of monarch when a country temporarily lacks a monarch. Another word for it would be regent . As with a monarchy, the term government or imperial government can refer to imperial administrators and ministers or just to the ministers.
The ministers were usually referred to as Reichsminister , their authority was called the Ministry . According to the customs of the time, the Ministry or Reich Ministry is also the name for all ministers as a whole. Hence the expression Gesamt-Reichsministerium (GRM) for the ministers as a collective body. The ministers were also named after their meetings, as the Council of Ministers .
In the names there is the element Reich- , the National Assembly also began to call itself the Reich Assembly . This empire means a German empire which, depending on the view, was the renamed German Confederation or took its place.
occurrence
Establishment of central authority and imperial administrator
When the revolution broke out, the Bundestag tried in March and April 1848 with several resolutions to come to terms with the revolutionaries while keeping the reins of action. On May 3, he decided to set up an all-German government (federal executive). Because of the resistance of the states, but also of the liberal politicians, who did not want to be presented with a fait accompli, it never came to that. In the National Assembly itself, the later name appeared in the fleet decision of June 14th. At that time, the National Assembly determined that the Bundestag should raise six million thalers from the individual states and that a "provisional central authority that had yet to be formed" should decide how the money should be used.
The long debates about such a central authority continued to be dealt with by an institution composed of several people, a board of directors. Numerous questions arose about the composition, tasks and powers of this government. The President of the National Assembly Heinrich von Gagern finally ended the debate on June 24th with his speech on the “bold grip”: The National Assembly should, out of its own power, quickly appoint an individual, a Reich Administrator, without consulting the individual states. This symbolizes the unity of the nation better than a directory.
Within a few days a corresponding Reich law was passed, the Central Power Act (June 28), and a Reich Administrator was elected (June 29). For Archduke Johann von Österreich spoke among other things that he could be acceptable as a member of a ruling ducal house of the right and because of his alleged popular character of the left. Johann accepted the election on July 4th. On July 15, he appointed the first three ministers.
Attitude of the individual states
In the early summer of 1848 the old powers in the individual states, the monarchs and their followers, did not feel strong enough to prevent centralized power. So they hurried to approve the election of the Reich Administrator. On July 12, 1848, the Bundestag even transferred its powers to the Reichsverweser and ceased its previous activities. The individual states supposedly wanted to support the Reichsverweser in his task.
In 1849 the importance of this decision became apparent. When, in May, the National Assembly and the Reich Ministry, and then the Prussian government, asked the Reich Administrator to resign, Johann could not only refer to his election but also to the resolution of the Bundestag.
Structure and way of working
Imperial administrator
The only German imperial administrator was Johann von Österreich , an uncle of the Austrian emperor. As a benevolent ruler, he had promoted economy and culture in Styria and married a middle-class woman. To many in the National Assembly it appeared suitable, or at least tolerable; until May 1849 he hardly interfered in the actions of the Reich ministers. He appointed those candidates as ministers who had been proposed to him by the National Assembly or the majority parliamentary groups.
In May 1849, however, there was a break between the National Assembly and the Reich Ministers on the one hand and the Reich Administrator on the other. As an Austrian, Johann could not speak well of the Frankfurt constitution , which was de facto tailored to a small Germany without Austria. On the evening of the proclamation of the constitution, March 28th, he had already had his letter of resignation drawn up. He allowed the ministers to persuade him to stay, so that there should not be a power vacuum.
But since Johann did not want to do anything for the constitution or its implementation, the ministers now pushed for Johann to resign. But the latter stayed and appointed cabinets that lacked the confidence of the National Assembly. After the illegal end of the National Assembly in May, Johann also rejected Prussia's request to hand over the powers to the central authority. He could only find a solution in which Austria was also involved. So he finally transferred his powers on December 20, 1849 to the Federal Central Commission formed by Prussia and Austria .
Ministers and Ministries
The central authority had relatively little to administer. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was responsible for the Reich diplomacy with the Reich embassies and the War Ministry for the Reich fortresses and the naval department for the Reich Fleet, including the Maritime Inspectorate in Bremerhaven. At least nine hundred men belonged to the fleet at the end of 1849. However, there were only two permanent Reich embassies, and otherwise, for example, the Minister of the Interior had no police authorities, the Minister of Finance had no tax offices, and the Minister of Justice had no prisons.
The salaries of the Reich Ministers and Undersecretaries of State were set by the National Assembly. Due to the debates about the armistice and its consequences, this did not take place until the end of December 1848. The Finance Committee made a proposal that deliberately did not take into account the situation in the individual states, because then one would have had to spend significantly more. It was believed that cabinet members would gain satisfaction from the honor and effectiveness of their position. It was not discussed what the ministers who had been in office for almost six months lived on if they were not wealthy. The National Assembly followed the proposal and so a minister received a thousand guilders a month and an undersecretary half as much. At that time, the monthly remuneration of the President of the National Assembly was two thousand guilders, while the official apartment of the imperial administrator was about 1,500 guilders a month.
Other offices
An undersecretary of state was assigned to a minister; there were no, one or a maximum of two undersecretaries per ministry. Since most of the ministries had little to do, the Undersecretaries were not absolutely necessary for administrative reasons. Rather, it was about creating posts to involve more men of different political or geographic origins. The Undersecretaries of State made it possible not to appoint more ministers.
A Reich Commissioner was subordinate to the Minister of the Interior and was supposed to perform a specific task in a certain individual state, for example mediating with a state or implementing a decision by the central authority or the national assembly. As in other cases for the central authority, the possibilities of the Reich Commissioner depended on whether the individual state wanted to follow his instructions at all.
The imperial ambassadors, the ambassadors of the German Reich , also had similar difficulties in asserting themselves . You were subordinate to the Foreign Minister. It was not possible to replace the embassies of the (larger) individual states with a diplomatic service of the central power. Only a few countries recognized central power at all, especially smaller countries in Europe and the USA. Moreover, most of the imperial envoys were only on duty temporarily and did not set up an embassy in the strict sense of the word.
Council of Ministers and Council of Ministers
Because of the decree of homage and other experiences, the imperial administrator wanted to be kept better informed. To this end, he wrote to the Reich Minister President Karl zu Leiningen on August 16, 1848 that from now on the Reich Ministers would have to meet en conseil (for consultation) twice a week in the house of the Reich Administrator, in the mornings on Wednesday and Saturday. In addition, he should be given a written report on matters that require his signature.
However, there was an internal agreement that the ministers would confer with the Undersecretaries in the Council of Ministers and make decisions there. So there was hardly any actual negotiation in the Ministerial Council of Ministers with the Reich Administrator. If the Reich Administrator refused, the matter was usually discussed again in the Council of Ministers. Then she went back to the Ministerial Council, and even if the Reichsverweser disagreed on the matter, he ultimately gave his approval.
Cabinet meetings have been held regularly since August 19, 1848. They were almost daily and could last for hours. In the first few sessions there wasn't even a secretary. The entire Reich Ministry received a plethora of inquiries and reports from the National Assembly. Together with the almost daily meetings of the National Assembly and the parliamentary group meetings that took place until late in the evening, there was a great workload, the consequences of which Justice Minister Robert von Mohl described as aging ahead of time .
Since a decision in the National Assembly on July 28, 1848, it has become more difficult to make an inquiry to the entire Reich Ministry. It first had to be submitted in writing to the President of the National Assembly and then needed the support of the majority. Then the responsible Reich Minister determined when to respond. Only when the majority requested this on application did parliament finally discuss it immediately.
Seat
The new Reich Ministry had to "start from scratch to the same extent from scratch, like hardly ever in any other country," said Ralf Heikaus. The Thurn and Taxis'sche Palais or "Federal Palace" in the Eschenheimer Gasse had already been cleared by the Bundestag largely as the middle of July settled the central power there, and that "with rather revolutionary violence" as Mohl later recalled. The individual line ministries were provisionally allocated certain of the vacant rooms. There was only a few pieces of furniture from the Bundestag, but almost no furnishings or equipment such as office equipment. Only the War Ministry was able to take over the well-established chancellery of the former military commission at the Bundestag.
staff
While work material could sometimes only be procured with a long delay, the ministers hired experienced or young, inexperienced employees on the go without being able to give them permanent employment or pay. At the end of August 1848 Otto von Camphausen (brother of the former Prussian Prime Minister Ludolf Camphausen ) reported in a private letter: “When it was recently told in my presence that the Justice Minister Mohl himself had to post the letters, I calmly asked the question, why he had an undersecretary of state ... "
At that time, however, the administrative structures of the ministries were already functioning reasonably well. In the course of the weeks it was easier to find new employees, through relationships and referrals, and because the prospect of fairly good salaries was possible. Those involved had vigorously overcome the desolate conditions in the Federal Palace. According to the Frankfurt files with job applications, there could be no shortage of applicants, at least in the beginning, according to historian Thomas Stockinger.
At the end of August there were a total of 26 people in the administration of the Reich government, namely
- for the Reichsministerpräsident a ministerial secretary (who also acted as recorder of the cabinet meetings) as well as a chancellery secretary and a chancellery list;
- a ministerial secretary, two registrars and an editor in the Foreign Ministry;
- In the Ministry of the Interior, two ministerial secretaries (one of them also the office director), a ministerial registrar and archivist, an expedition director, three registry lists and a registrar assistant;
- in the Ministry of Justice a first and second secretary (the latter is also a registry office);
- in the Ministry of Commerce, a ministerial councilor, a ministerial secretary and registrar, a secretary for customs and trade affairs, as well as a registrar and a volunteer;
- in the Ministry of War an officer in the central office of the Ministry, an orderly officer, an adjutant to the minister and a registry list;
- in the Ministry of Finance two employees of the Reich Treasury, a secretary and a registry office.
By February 15, 1849, the number increased from 26 people to 105. Most of them, more than 35, worked in the War Ministry, which also administered the imperial fortresses of Rastatt and Ulm, followed by the Trade Ministry with 25 employees, which had also been there since November 1848 the naval department (it was only spun off into an independent naval ministry in May 1849. )
For comparison: the Federal Chancellery of the Bundestag included the Federal Chancellery director, a treasurer, a controller, a registrar, three registry lists, two clerks and a cashier. In 1850 there were a registrar, an inspector, an expeditionary secretary, five registrars and six pedals; a Federal Chancellery director was not appointed again until 1856, until then the position was held by the director of the Austrian presidential chancellery. In Prussia, in 1848, a total of 52 people worked for the Ministry of the Interior, excluding servants; the respective Prussian ministries employed four to five times as many people as the corresponding Reich ministries.
Many positions in the Reich Service were filled by civil servants who had received leave from their regional authorities for this; for example, the expedition director in the Ministry of the Interior, Joseph Rausek, had previously worked for the land law in Prague. Problems could arise if the vacation was not or reluctantly refused or the state governments tried to exert influence on politics in Frankfurt through “their” officials in the central authority.
Finances
The central power did not start completely from scratch, because the Bundestag had a predecessor. In the German Confederation, the individual states paid a share of the finances through a levy, as it was laid down in the federal register. Finance Minister Beckerath found in August:
- 75,159 fl. 1 / 2x in the matriculation cash register. Just recently, two allocations had made most of this.
- 16,872 fl.50x in the office cashier.
- 2,881,516 fl 38 1 / 2x in earmarked funds for the construction and maintenance of federal fortresses.
For comparison: Prussia spent around 165 million guilders annually.
On October 23, 1848, Beckerath submitted a partial budget for the months of September to December, which was to remain the only one that the National Assembly has ever adopted. The planned expenditure was just under 10.5 million guilders, mainly for building up the imperial fleet (5.3), work on the imperial fortresses (3) and catering for the imperial troops (1.75). The central government was not allowed to levy taxes itself, due to a lack of apparatus, the levies were almost the only source of income, in addition there were smaller amounts from donations by the population for the fleet. However, the individual states did not pay their contributions very quickly or at all. For example, the central government partially covered salaries from the money for the fortresses.
Cabinets
In the central power there were essentially two government teams, one parliamentary, which was dependent on the confidence of the National Assembly, and then a non-parliamentary one, which the imperial administrator had set up at his own discretion. The first government team was initially under the influence of Anton von Schmerling , a confidante of the Reich Administrator , even though Karl zu Leiningen was Prime Minister for over a month . Heinrich von Gagern became Prime Minister in December 1848 and remained so until May, almost until the end of the National Assembly. During this time there was a lot of personal continuity in all changes; War Minister Eduard von Peucker was part of this government team from beginning to end.
The second government team was set up by the Reichsverweser in May 1849, they carried on the business until December, when the Reichsverweser transferred the powers of the central authority to the Federal Central Commission . First Grävell was Reich Minister President for a few days, then Wittgenstein for over six months, making him the longest-serving official.
Leiningen and Schmerling cabinets July – December 1848
Reichsverweser Johann left the formation of the government primarily to the Austrian Anton von Schmerling , whom he appointed together with two other ministers on July 15, 1848. In the absence of the Reich Administrator, there was an unsuccessful decree of homage and a further search for ministers, all of whom had a suitable and respected personality as prime minister. Even with an empire diplomacy began. Shortly after the appointment of Prime Minister Karl zu Leiningen on August 5, the cabinet was immediately rearranged and expanded to include members of the Left Center in the National Assembly.
The Leiningen cabinet fell on September 6 over the Malmö armistice . Since the opposition in the National Assembly could not put together an alternative government, the Reichsverweser left the ministers in their offices and renewed their appointment on September 17th. The Reich Minister-President resigned voluntarily and the Foreign Minister resigned under pressure from his colleagues, and so Interior Minister Schmerling took over the Foreign Ministry and headed the Council of Ministers, even if he did not officially become Prime Minister.
Cabinet Gagern December 1848 to May 1849
In autumn 1848 it became clear that Austria was not ready to participate in the emerging German federal state. That worsened the position of the Austrian Schmerling, whom the right-wing liberal casino fraction withdrew their trust. In mid-December Schmerling resigned and the Reichsverweser appointed Heinrich von Gagern as his successor, reluctantly, since Gagern's small German program excluded Austria and was based on Prussia. The rest of the government team remained almost unchanged. This was the first actual parliamentary government formation in Germany at the federal level.
Gagern himself was close to the casino faction, but had not officially joined it as he was President of the National Assembly. At the time when the question of Greater German / Little German was being discussed, Gagern's cabinet relied on the hereditary imperial group in the National Assembly. He succeeded in organizing parliamentary majorities for his constitutional program in March 1849. The majorities were sometimes tight, and after a provisional defeat in the vote, the cabinet was only in office on March 21st. The result was the Frankfurt constitution of March 28, 1849. Despite negotiations with the individual states, the Prussian king and the middle states (such as Bavaria and Hanover) did not recognize it.
Graevell and Wittgenstein cabinets May – December 1849
Gagern only wanted to use legal means to campaign for an imperial constitution , but imperial administrator Johann even went too far. However, Johann now refused to resign, even though it was difficult to prevent him from resigning on March 28th. Instead, on May 10, Gagern had to give up the office of Prime Minister for good.
Johann appointed the Greater German conservative Maximilian Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Graevell as his successor . A vote of no confidence on May 17th was passed with only twelve votes against. After just a few days the chairmanship changed to War Minister August Ludwig zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg , who had been Prime Minister since May 21. The rest of the cabinet members stayed the same.
End and aftermath
On May 18, 1849, the Prussian Prime Minister informed the Reichsverweser that he no longer attached any validity to his actions and that the Prussian legation and the Prussian troops in Schleswig-Holstein were no longer subordinate to him. But Reichsverweser Johann invoked the law of June 28, 1848 and rejected the unreasonable demands of Prussia on May 24. Because his office had only a legal, but no real basis, the Reichsverweser suggested that Austria and Prussia take over his powers together in a federal central commission in Frankfurt.
Because of its union policy, Prussia required Austria to recognize the right of individual states to found a narrower federal state. Austria, in turn, insisted that Prussia first recognize the imperial administration, as long as there was no new central body. An Austrian and a Prussian representative signed the contract on September 30, 1849 in Vienna for the interim exercise of the powers of the imperial administrator. They transferred the powers to a federal central commission to which two Austrians and two Prussians belonged. “The preservation of the German Confederation” was named as the goal. Prussia hoped to be able to establish a federal state without Austria, which would then form a federation with Austria. During the transition, the interim , according to the treaty, the individual states should be able to freely agree on a German constitution. The contract gave the Federal Central Commission time until May 1, 1850.
Archduke Johann declared on October 6th that he wanted to resign from the imperial administration and leave his rights to Austria and Prussia. On December 20, he dismissed the Reich Ministry and handed over his powers to the Federal Central Commission.
rating
After examining the working conditions, Ralf Heikaus judges:
“Not least against the background of [the] external conditions with which the Reich Ministry initially had to deal, the organizational work performed by those in charge of the government deserves all the more unreserved recognition than the majority of the personalities belonging to the Reich Cabinet from home Neither from their training nor from their previous professional or other activities could hardly draw on any significant government and / or administrative experience. In spite of such supposedly disadvantageous circumstances, immediately after taking office [...] they proceeded with the greatest care in the task of building an effective government apparatus. "
What Helmut Jacobi mentions most strikingly about the central power is the change in its importance. In reality it became apparent that the fate of Germany was still determined by the newly consolidated individual states, not by the central authority. "It could not steer the development independently in a certain direction", but got caught in the fighting between the great powers and the parliamentary groups in the National Assembly. The “change from an instrument of the people to an instrument of the government” reflects the historical development of that time to which the central authority was subject.
See also
literature
- Ralf Heikaus: The first months of the provisional central authority for Germany (July to December 1848). Dissertation Frankfurt am Main, Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main [a. a.] 1997.
- Helmut Jacobi: The last months of the provisional central authority for Germany (March-December 1849) . Diss. Frankfurt a. M. 1956.
- Thomas Stockinger: Ministries out of nowhere: The establishment of the provisional central authority 1848. In: Yearbook of the Hambach Society 2013, pp. 59–84.
Web links
- Edition project on the files of the central authority , KU Eichstätt
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. 130, fn. 290.
- ↑ Thomas Stockinger: Ministries out of nowhere: The establishment of the provisional central authority 1848. In: Yearbook of the Hambach Society 2013, pp. 59–84, here pp. 70/71.
- ^ 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, pp. 109/110.
- ↑ Thomas Stockinger: Ministries out of nowhere: The establishment of the provisional central authority 1848. In: Yearbook of the Hambach Society 2013, pp. 59–84, here p. 71.
- ^ 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. 123.
- ^ 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. 124.
- ^ 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, pp. 107/108.
- ^ 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. 108, footnote 247.
- ^ 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. 106.
- ^ 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, pp. 106/107.
- ^ 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. 108/109, p. 112.
- ↑ Thomas Stockinger: Ministries out of nowhere: The establishment of the provisional central authority 1848. In: Yearbook of the Hambach Society 2013, pp. 59–84, here p. 67.
- ^ 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. 113.
- ↑ Hans J. Schenk: Approaches to an administration of the German Confederation . In: Kurt GA Jeserich (ed.): German administrative history . Volume 2: From the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss to the dissolution of the German Confederation. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1983, pp. 155–165, here p. 164.
- ↑ Thomas Stockinger: Ministries out of nowhere: The establishment of the provisional central authority 1848. In: Yearbook of the Hambach Society 2013, pp. 59–84, here p. 66.
- ↑ Thomas Stockinger: Ministries out of nowhere: The establishment of the provisional central authority 1848. In: Yearbook of the Hambach Society 2013, pp. 59–84, here pp. 66/67.
- ↑ Thomas Stockinger: Ministries out of nowhere: The establishment of the provisional central authority 1848. In: Yearbook of the Hambach Society 2013, pp. 59–84, here p. 64.
- ↑ Thomas Stockinger: Ministries out of nowhere: The establishment of the provisional central authority 1848. In: Yearbook of the Hambach Society 2013, pp. 59–84, here p. 65.
- ^ Frank Möller: Heinrich von Gagern. A biography . Habilitation thesis, University of Jena 2004, p. 343.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume II: The struggle for unity and freedom 1830 to 1850 . Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [u. a.] 1988, p. 631.
- ^ 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 [u. a.] 1988, p. 883.
- ^ 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 [u. a.] 1988, pp. 883/884.
- ^ 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 [u. a.] 1988, p. 884.
- ^ 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, pp. 110/111.
- ^ Helmut Jacobi: The last months of the provisional central authority for Germany (March-December 1849) . Diss. Frankfurt a. M., o. O. 1956, p. 186.
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