Reichsverweser 1848/1849

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Archduke Johann of Austria as imperial administrator, 1848

Reichsverweser was the title of Head of the Provisional Central Authority , the first all-German government , in 1848/49 . For a transitional period, the imperial administrator , an office that goes back to the imperial vicars in the Holy Roman Empire , was to act as a kind of substitute monarch, the function that the prince was entitled to in a constitutional monarchy . According to the Central Authority Act of June 28, 1848, the Reichsverweser appointed the Reichsministers; Reichsverweser and Reichsminister together formed the central power.

The only imperial administrator of Germany at this time was Archduke Johann of Austria, an uncle of the Austrian emperor. Until the end of the National Assembly (May or June 1849), the ministers appointed by Johann were essentially the representatives of the National Assembly. Only the last two cabinets were minority cabinets without parliamentary support. The Reich administration ended on December 20, 1849, when Johann transferred the powers of central authority to a federal central commission .

Election of the imperial administrator

June 28, 1848 - Archduke Johann is elected as imperial administrator
Archduke Johann of Austria in 1848 on his election as imperial administrator by the Frankfurt parliament (obverse of Karl Radnitzky's medal )
Archduke Johann of Austria in 1848 on his election as imperial administrator (back of the medal)

In Styria , Johann tried to promote the economy and infrastructure through good administration and thereby improve the situation of the population. He had hardly any political or German political ideas going beyond that. However, he was considered popular, not only because of his jovial demeanor among citizens and farmers, but also because of his middle-class wife.

In June 1848, the Frankfurt National Assembly discussed the establishment of an all-German government to which the Bundestag no longer came. For a long time there was talk of a three-person directory that could be formed from the "three uncles", Archduke Johann (uncle of the Austrian Emperor Ferdinand ), Prince Wilhelm the Elder (uncle of the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV.) And Prince Carl (uncle of the Bavarian King Maximilian II). The President of the National Assembly, the right-wing liberal Heinrich von Gagern , finally proposed Archduke Johann as imperial administrator . The National Assembly adopted the corresponding Central Power Act (on June 28, 1848) with 373 votes to 175 and elected Johann (on June 29) with 436 votes with 587 members present.

Reasons for choosing Johann were:

  • A single person as the provisional head of the Reich represented the unity of Germany better than a directory.
  • Austria was the main power in Germany at that time.
  • His membership of the nobility made him believe in the right-wing MPs.
  • Leftists could accept it because of its popularity.

On the day of the election, the Bundestag hurried to congratulate the Reichsverweser, he had already decided in favor of Johann. The Bundestag envoy transferred to him on July 12, 1848 officially launched the powers of the Bundestag. The individual states that stood behind the Bundestag saw themselves forced to do so, as otherwise they would have drawn the indignation of the people. A deputation of the National Assembly in Vienna announced the election to Johann, which he accepted on July 5th.

activity

Johann moves into Frankfurt, July 1848

Parliamentary cabinets until May 1849

From the beginning, the National Assembly had thought of a more representative function with the Reich Administrator, which is why there were few options for action. The real political task of the Reich administrator was to appoint and dismiss the Reich ministers, later he signed the Reich laws according to the Reich law on the promulgation of the Reich laws and the orders of the provisional central authority of September 27, 1848. The latter was essentially a formality. Johann was not involved in the constitutional deliberations. The imperial administrator was already excluded from this by the central law; besides, he had hardly any ideas about the matter.

The first overall Reich Ministry , the Leiningen cabinet , was put together primarily by Anton von Schmerling , an Austrian lawyer who enjoyed Johann's trust. During this time the Reich Ministry issued a tribute , in which the troops of the individual states were to symbolically submit to the Reich Administrator on August 6th. The largest individual states rejected this more or less openly, which already indicated the weakness of the central power and the burgeoning counter-revolution.

After Leiningen's departure, Schmerling took over his function of chairing the Council of Ministers. In December 1848 it became clear that Schmerling no longer had confidence in the right-wing liberal casino faction, as its Germany program aimed at Austria lost ground due to Austria's hostile attitude. Johann then had to appoint Heinrich von Gagern, although the relationship between the two was already very tense.

Imperial Constitution 1849

The " Archduke Johann ", a ship of the imperial fleet named after the imperial administrator

After months of negotiations in the National Assembly, Reich Minister-President Gagern received a majority for his hereditary-imperial- small German program aimed at Prussia, which resulted in the Frankfurt constitution of March 28, 1849. On the same day, in the evening, Johann surprised Reich Justice Minister Robert Mohl with the announcement that he would resign. Mohl summoned other members, including Prime Minister Heinrich von Gagern, who asked him to remain in office. In a further conversation with confidants, Schmerling also advised to continue so as not to harm Austria. Johann then let Gagern know that he would only resign when this was possible without prejudice to public peace.

At that time, the Reich Ministry still said that the Reich Administrator should only resign as soon as the King of Prussia actually took power. The newspapers of the hereditary imperialists who were behind the decision for the Prussian king thought the same. The Greater Germans suspected that the Reich Ministers would be afraid of losing their offices if the Reich Administrator resigned and that they would not be considered in the new Imperial Government. Soon, however, the hereditary imperialists regretted that the Greater German Reich Administrator would remain, as otherwise central power could have been reassigned.

In April 1849, however, the Prussian king rejected the imperial constitution. In May, Gagern and a majority of the MPs demanded energetic action by the Reich Administrator for the Reich constitution, albeit by legal means, but the revolutionary uprising in the Palatinate should be supported and the violent actions of Prussia condemned. Johann did not comply with this and was against the central authority campaigning for the constitution, but nevertheless remained imperial administrator. Instead, Gagern resigned on May 10th.

Johann installed a cabinet under the Greater German conservative Graevell. A motion to regard the appointment as an insult to the National Assembly received a majority of 191 votes on May 14, with only twelve votes against and 44 abstentions. The imperial administrator has already announced that he will continue his office, which he had taken on out of a sense of duty. On May 18, the report of the Thirties Committee , which had been formed after the Prussian rejection, was available. The majority of the committee wanted a Reich Regency consisting of five members of the National Assembly, the minority a Reich Governor, if possible from the ranks of the ruling princes. A majority of the National Assembly voted in favor of the plan with the Reich Governor (126 votes to 116).

Since the end of the National Assembly in May / June 1849

Because of the threat to Frankfurt from enemy troops, one hundred of the remaining MPs moved to Stuttgart. The so-called rump parliament met on June 6th and immediately set up an imperial government . On June 16, Johann's imperial administration declared it unlawful, but the Württemberg government dissolved the rump parliament by force of arms for two days.

As early as May 24, 1849, Prussia declared that the actions of the Reich Ministers were no longer valid. The Prussian troops in Schleswig-Holstein are no longer subordinate to Johann. The latter, however, insisted on continuing to exercise the responsibilities under the Central Power Act. From September to December 1849, he was only concerned with a face-saving succession plan. It served as a mere executive body for the policy of the Austrian Prime Minister Schwarzenberg. After a few days in May, the Wittgenstein cabinet continued the few business of the central power.

Ludwig von Biegeleben , Undersecretary of State in the Reich Foreign Ministry , developed the plan for Johann that Austria and Prussia would jointly take over the powers of central authority in a federal central commission. On September 30th, the two great powers signed a corresponding treaty. Johann joined him on October 6th, resigned on December 20th and dismissed the Reich ministers.

Johann as imperial administrator

In general, Johann never wanted to exceed his powers or position himself beyond the office, which he saw as a question of character. He also did not want to use his popular sympathies to support the implementation of the imperial constitution, as this type of policy appeared to him to be revolutionary. The people were too changeable for him, a factor of uncertainty.

Monument in Frankfurt, next to the Paulskirche

Johann doesn’t seem to have been particularly busy as an imperial administrator. He could plan many walks and excursions and received visitors without choosing them strictly. In the first few months of 1849 he was also bedridden because of diarrhea. In July and August 1849 he was in Bad Gastein to relax.

According to the notes in his diary, Reichsverweser Archduke Johann perceived his ministers with growing suspicion: they were unable to be effective despite differing opinions and were unable to speak to the people. They would also deliberately withhold information from him. (He made an exception for the first two minister-presidents, Leiningen and Schmerling.) However, things went similar to what happened in Vienna before, where he did not know how to build a network and how to position his own unclear interests. Tobias Hirschmüller:

"In contrast to his regional work in Styria, where he was able to interact with citizens and farmers from a position that was hardly contested, the complex and conflict-ridden German politics visibly overwhelmed him."

When Johann visited Frankfurt and the Paulskirche again in 1858 , he made positive comments about the MPs and regretted the failure of the agreement. History will tell what it was.

rating

"The Wanderer at the Crossroads", caricature of the imperial administrator between "Fürstenhausen" and "Volkshausen"

According to Helmut Jacobi, Johann had put up "passive resistance" against Prime Minister Gagern in April and May 1849 because he did not like the small German constitution. But it would be wrong to regard Johann as the main culprit for the failure of the revolution. The central authority was far too weak to have a decisive influence on the course of events, and Gagern would hardly have been able to enforce the imperial constitution with "legal means" alone:

“The Archduke was certainly not a revolutionary, but most of the supporters of this German revolution […] were not real revolutionaries either. They too only toyed with the idea of ​​a second revolution in the spring of 1849; they did not dare to follow this path consistently. "

See also

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Tobias Hirschmüller: "Friend of the People", "Pre-Emperor", "Reichsvermoderer" - Archduke Johann as Reich Administrator of the Provisional Central Authority from 1848/1849. In: Yearbook of the Hambach Society 2013, pp. 27–57, here p. 38.
  2. ^ 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. 625-627, p. 808.
  3. ^ Ralf Heikaus: The first months of the provisional central authority for Germany (July to December 1848) . Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main [a. a.] 1997 (cf. Diss. Univ. Frankfurt am Main), pp. 40/41.
  4. ^ 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. 628.
  5. ↑ Tobias Hirschmüller: "Friend of the People", "Pre-Emperor", "Reichsvermoderer" - Archduke Johann as Reich Administrator of the Provisional Central Authority from 1848/1849. In: Yearbook of the Hambach Society 2013, pp. 27–57, here p. 47.
  6. ↑ Tobias Hirschmüller: "Friend of the People", "Pre-Emperor", "Reichsvermoderer" - Archduke Johann as Reich Administrator of the Provisional Central Authority from 1848/1849. In: Yearbook of the Hambach Society 2013, pp. 27–57, here p. 45.
  7. ^ Ralf Heikaus: The first months of the provisional central authority for Germany (July to December 1848) . Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main [a. a.] 1997, pp. 97-100.
  8. ↑ Helmut Jacobi: The last months of the provisional central authority for Germany (March-December 1849) , 1956 (cf. Diss. Univ. Frankfurt a. M.), p. 31/32.
  9. ↑ Helmut Jacobi: The last months of the provisional central authority for Germany (March-December 1849) , 1956, p. 32/33.
  10. ↑ Manfred Botzenhart : German Parliamentarism in the Revolutionary Period 1848–1850. Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf 1977, p. 699.
  11. ^ Helmut Jacobi: The last months of the provisional central authority for Germany (March-December 1849) , 1956, p. 50.
  12. ↑ Manfred Botzenhart: German Parliamentarism in the Revolutionary Period 1848–1850. Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf 1977, pp. 702/703.
  13. ^ 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. 878-880.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ↑ Tobias Hirschmüller: "Friend of the People", "Pre-Emperor", "Reichsvermoderer" - Archduke Johann as Reich Administrator of the Provisional Central Authority from 1848/1849. In: Yearbook of the Hambach Society 2013, pp. 27–57, here pp. 46/47.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ↑ Tobias Hirschmüller: "Friend of the People", "Pre-Emperor", "Reichsvermoderer" - Archduke Johann as Reich Administrator of the Provisional Central Authority from 1848/1849. In: Yearbook of the Hambach Society 2013, pp. 27–57, here pp. 45/46.
  18. ↑ Tobias Hirschmüller: "Friend of the People", "Pre-Emperor", "Reichsvermoderer" - Archduke Johann as Reich Administrator of the Provisional Central Authority from 1848/1849. In: Yearbook of the Hambach Society 2013, pp. 27–57, here pp. 45/46.
  19. ↑ Tobias Hirschmüller: "Friend of the People", "Pre-Emperor", "Reichsvermoderer" - Archduke Johann as Reich Administrator of the Provisional Central Authority from 1848/1849. In: Yearbook of the Hambach Society 2013, pp. 27–57, here pp. 44/45.
  20. ↑ Tobias Hirschmüller: "Friend of the People", "Pre-Emperor", "Reichsvermoderer" - Archduke Johann as Reich Administrator of the Provisional Central Authority from 1848/1849. In: Yearbook of the Hambach Society 2013, pp. 27–57, here p. 47.
  21. ↑ Helmut Jacobi: The last months of the provisional central authority for Germany (March-December 1849) , 1956, p. 187.