Revolution in Mecklenburg (1848)
The revolution in Mecklenburg of 1848 was part of the German Revolution . It gave the two (partial) grand duchies of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz democratic conditions for two years .
background
As everywhere in Germany, the Wars of Liberation awakened political awareness in Mecklenburg . Like the French Revolution , they had shown freedom, equality, and brotherhood . In Mecklenburg-Strelitz, calls were made to abolish inheritance . It is true that the law repealing them was passed in 1821; however, it made it possible for the landlords to dismiss the farmers and farm workers and thus to get rid of the traditional obligation to provide care. In order to protect the homeless families from begging and the farm workers' house, the landlords were obliged to give them at least shelter and marginal work. In the cities, resident rights created similar problems. It required military service, a good reputation, own household and property. The guild privilege of 1823 required a religious examination in addition to reading and writing skills. The handicraft businesses could not hold their own against the factory goods imported from the Kingdom of Prussia . The expulsion of the poor doctor Ernst Raber in Hagenow (1843) and the mayor Christian Friedrich (Wilhelm) Görbitz in Neukalen (1845) upset the country. When hunger arose in 1846/47 , Johann Pogge applied for a reform of the state constitution and the representation of the estates . His proposal met with a great response in both duchies and was supported by Schwerin's magistrate and Carl Pohle . Nevertheless, he was not even admitted to discussion at the state parliament in Sternberg on November 27, 1847. The nobility lost its reputation.
“ Mecklenburg has remained more or less untouched by all the struggles of the present. Its constitution is still the same as it was defeated almost everywhere in Germany by the rulers at the end of the 17th century and in the beginning of the 18th century. The principle of this is that of special interests, to which consideration for the common good of the fatherland is in principle alien. "
procedure
The effects of the French February revolution in 1848 and the revolution of 1848/1849 in the Austrian Empire reached Mecklenburg at the beginning of March 1848. For Julius Wiggers , they encountered “a population that was not well prepared but very receptive”. Since there was no freedom of association or assembly and the population was in no way prepared for political participation , the “revolutionaries” first had to find an organization and formulate common demands. In a flood of petitions to the regents of both (partial) grand duchies, they did not oppose the princes ; rather, they demanded political participation through state representations. Other cities joined the first petitions from Neubrandenburg .
“ Our wishes are certainly not exaggerated; for we want and ask what most of the other German states have had, some for a long time, but also recently received through the generous resolutions of their noble princes; and we must not believe that we can be held less mature and worthy than those for these goods and freedoms. "
Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote:
We Mecklenburgers are only masters and servants,
nothing but the air is common to us,
the duties and rights should be the same,
we should be free citizens!
The refrain became proverbial :
Dat would do anything, but you can't do it,
Dat suffered, the riders didn’t suffer.
Friedrich von Dewitz “didn't make a headache” and saw the matter as a fad. In the hope of the backing of the Crown of Prussia , Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II , regent of the Mecklenburg-Schwerin region , refused Rostock's right of association and the arming of the people . After the riots in Schwerin on March 13, 1848, Friedrich Franz banned further petitions; the events in Vienna and Berlin forced him to make concessions. On March 16, he lifted the censorship . Two days later the ban on petitions was lifted and an extraordinary state parliament was announced for May. Grand Duke Georg , regent of the Mecklenburg-Strelitz region , also relented; but the popular movements were not organized and the liberal bourgeoisie did not participate in power. You didn't need March ministers .
Guestrower Assembly of Deputies
Therefore, on March 23, 1848, the call for a meeting of deputies in Güstrow was issued from Rostock . 173 representatives from 47 cities and towns and from eight Dominia offices accepted the Rostock proposals:
- A purely representative constitution with representation of the entire people without a class structure in a chamber, as well as the full participation of the chamber in legislation, tax permits, state budget, civil list and further the dissolution of the classes
- Abolition of all special political rights
- Equal rights for all religions and denominations
- The domanium, with the exception of the caskets, and the monasteries are said to be state property
- Separation of the administration of justice from the administration
- Abolition of all exceptional places of jurisdiction
- Publicity and orality of court proceedings, as well as jury courts
- Unconditional freedom of the press without the obligation to deposit or obtain a license and without a press law
- Unrestricted right of association
- Transformation of the time farmers into landowners, against fixed services
- Promotion of the division of the larger property
- Abolition of all entails
- General city code and rural community code based on independence
- Freedom of movement and poor care according to larger circles
- General military constitution, reduction of the standing army
- Swearing of the army and civil servants on the constitution
- Improvement of the elementary school system and freedom of teaching
This created an organization of reform associations that encompasses both parts of the country. It was constituted according to the Rostock model and elected the Rostock management to the "Central Committee". The Mecklenburgische Blätter published by Karl Türk became the central organ .
Parliament
The Strelitz district administrator Wilhelm von Oertzen called the Mecklenburg nobility to a meeting on April 14, 1848. Of 280 knights, 145 wanted to forego their special political rights in order to “promote the welfare of the fatherland”. The reform associations were able to attend the extraordinary state parliament on April 26, 1848 in Schwerin. John Brinckman , Fritz Reuter , Ernst Boll and Lothar Türk took part in the deliberations on the electoral law. After three weeks, an agreement was reached on indirect elections based on headcount without a census, ie a state representation determined by electors . The craftsmen in particular were dissatisfied with the result. They had tried in vain to equalize the distribution of seats between town and country; because a rural-dominated Landtag would introduce freedom of trade and freedom of movement , and the subsequent oversupply of foreign goods and craftsmen who had fled the countryside would threaten their existence. The bourgeoisie feared too great a political influence of the workers. In favor of a state representative office, it turned away from the Güstrow representative constitution. Thus, in the summer of 1848, the first independent workers' and craftsmen's associations were established in Schwerin, Wismar and Rostock. This sociological differentiation ended for the time being at the 3rd Güstrow Reform Day on 21/22. July 1848. They asked
“The people and state unity of Germany; equal political entitlement of all citizens regardless of religious creed; Abolition of all feudal and nobility rights; Protection of personal freedom by law; the habeas corpus file; Security of property; Equality of all before the law; Freedom of the press; Publicity of the courts, the state parliaments, the communal negotiations and all negotiations and state institutions which by their nature belong to the public; the right of association; general military strength; Organization of the people's armed forces; free constitution for urban and rural communities; Separation of the churches from the state; Restitution of church power to the congregations; a well-ordered elementary school system and liberation of the school from the tutelage of the church; Ensuring the mental and physical well-being of the working class. We finally want the will of the people to be the highest law of the state. "
The popular sovereignty divided the Democrats from the Liberals . The germ of division and party formation was laid. The moderately liberal officials left the reform associations and founded the first constitutional association on August 31, 1848 in Schwerin. Liberals and conservatives became bitter enemies.
choice
The new electoral law was published on July 15, 1848. Not presented as a draft for public discussion, it met with rejection in the reform associations. The agreement principle in the preamble and the layout of the many electoral districts caused displeasure and doubts. On September 1, 1848, the Rostock Central Committee called all associations to Schwerin and Neustrelitz for September 7 . A noticeably large number of workers and craftsmen followed the call. In Schwerin the deputies were hardly heard by Friedrich Franz. They were more successful in Neustrelitz. 80 deputies brought petitions to Georg with 4,000 signatures; but the Grand Duke did not commit himself. At the same time, a good 1,500 people in Strelitz were waiting for the results of the negotiations. Alarmed by the long absence of the deputation, they went to Neustrelitz Castle with a black, red and gold flag . The Neustrelitz vigilante group was mobilized to protect the palace and the Grand Duke. The unrest subsided when Georg and the city judge Karl Petermann , spokesman for the deputies, promised to meet the demands. The next day, Minister of State Otto von Dewitz was dismissed. He was followed by Count Henning von Bassewitz and other senior officials. The electoral district division was corrected, the election date postponed and the moderate-liberal bourgeoisie appointed to the government. Friedrich Franz had to follow the Strelitz example. He dismissed the ministers of state Carl von Bassewitz-Levetzow and v. Oertzen, called liberal manor owners into the government and had the electoral districts in his (part of) Grand Duchy merged and the election date postponed.
Assembly of Representatives
In the run-up to the elections, the reform associations in the larger cities were victorious; but also in the country the “proletarian element” carried the reform movement. The electors decided on the composition of the Chamber of Deputies on October 3 in Schwerin and on October 9 in Strelitz. The reform associations received almost two thirds of the seats in parliament; 103 came from the cities and 38 from the country. The constitutional did not reach the masses . The Chamber of Deputies was constituted as the first democratically elected parliament in Mecklenburg's state history on Reformation Day in 1848; but it was not a constituent assembly . For the MPs see the list of members of the Mecklenburg Assembly of Representatives .
Even before the constitution, the left reformers from the reform associations did not form a unified front in the sense of the Güstrow Confession. As more moderate reformers left, the left lost the majority. Big factions were the left and the conservatives, the center right. Smaller groups were the right and ultra-conservative camp and the left center. This left wing of the liberal constitutional movement was in all polls that tipped the scales .
Delayed by the two grand dukes and their governments, the parliamentarians failed to create their own organs of power. It was discussed, not acted. The successes of the monarchical-conservative forces in Berlin and Vienna were warning enough. Nevertheless, on January 31, 1849 Moritz Wiggers was not confirmed as President of the Assembly of Representatives. The two centers led the presidium. After the Paulskirchenverfassung had decided it was the end of April 1849 to the first legislative reading of Mecklenburg draft constitution. He based the sovereignty of the people and was guided by the already confirmed constitutions of the duchies of Anhalt-Dessau and Anhalt-Köthen . The fact that the Strelitz Grand Duke openly opposed the Frankfurt resolutions and took the side of Prussia showed that the sovereigns had regained their strength. After Georg, Franz Friedrich also concluded a military convention with Prussia. When the government commissioners of both duchies rejected the draft constitution on June 18, 1849 and feared foreign policy events, the assembly of deputies quickly adopted the Paulskirche constitution as a draft.
The End
It was impossible to work with two governments in one state parliament. If the union between Schwerin and Strelitz was to be preserved, the Strelitz Princely House had to be moved to abdicate. Despite the strong resistance of the Strelitzers to the continuation of the union, the MPs spoke out in favor of maintaining it. On August 11, 1849, Duke Georg broke off negotiations with the Mecklenburg Chamber of Deputies.
There were also problems in Schwerin. Friedrich Franz II solemnly invoked the constitutional constitution agreed with the Assembly of Representatives on August 23; He made the implementation dependent on many conditions. Although Friedrich Wilhelm IV and Georg protested, he managed to get the announcement on October 10, 1849. Since Mecklenburg-Strelitz had terminated its participation in parliament, the state constitution of Mecklenburg was only introduced in Mecklenburg-Schwerin; the Grand Duchy caught up with modern constitutional developments.
At this point the revolution in Germany had already passed its zenith. In Frankfurt the National Assembly only existed pro forma and in southern Germany there were Mecklenburg troops (under Prussian orders) to fight the remnants of the Baden Revolutionary Army under Ludwik Mierosławski . Encouraged by this, a fronde formed in the Mecklenburg nobility against the constitutional law, the abolition of the estates and the dissolution of the Union. She found a strong ally in Grand Duke Georg.
Chamber of Deputies
Following the promulgation of the Basic State Law, the Mecklenburg Assembly of Representatives was dissolved on August 22, 1849 by Friedrich Franz II. It was replaced by the first freely elected Chamber of Deputies; but on April 4, 1850, she was forbidden from any further work by the Schwerin Grand Duke. At the same time, the right-wing liberal government under the constitutional Ludwig von Lützow resigned. The arch-conservative Count Bülow followed on from Prussian pressure . So the young constitution stood before the insignificance after a few months. Moritz Wiggers tried to have the ban on conferences lifted, but failed because of the petty attitude of some MPs and the lack of a quorum . The parliament was dissolved. To soothe the minds, new elections were announced for August 26, 1850.
Failure of the revolution
The knighthood ensured the final failure of the constitution . Her complaint to the provisional central authority of the German Confederation was accepted on December 21, 1849. The interim agreement concluded on September 30th between Prussia and Austria (1849) first established this supreme federal authority, to which the knighthood could turn on the basis of the patent ordinance (1817) . The Commission asked Mecklenburg-Schwerin to comment and declared all subsequent steps to be pointless. This made the introduction of the constitutional law, the abolition of the estates and the union meaningless. The federal commission decided on March 28, 1850 that the Schwerin government had to submit to an arbitration tribunal. The Freienwalder arbitration award was implemented on September 14, 1850 in Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
"... that the constitutional constitution for the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin introduced by the law of October 10, 1849, no less the grand-ducal law passed on the same day concerning the repeal of the state constitution, is not to be regarded as legally valid, but rather in accordance with the motions of the knighthood how this is done by the arbitral tribunal to declare null and void. "
Riots and victims
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On March 11, 1848, the Grand Duke received a Schwerin deputation who presented him with a petition with 1,200 signatures for the implementation of democratic reforms. When the Grand Duke then banned further petitions, there were riots in Schwerin on the evening of March 13 , during which some window panes were broken. Their property concerned citizens formed in the coming days under the supervision and participation of the magistrate a six companies vigilantes . For reinforcement, 100 dragoons of the 1st Grand Ducal Mecklenburg Dragoons Regiment No. 17 stationed in Ludwigslust were relocated to Schwerin. The magistrate forbade “rioting” in the city. The vigilantes patrolled from 6 o'clock in the evening . The inns were not allowed to serve alcohol after 9 a.m. There were no further arguments. In October 1849 - four months after the end of the German Revolution in 1848/49 - the vigilante group was disbanded.
In the sovereign domains , the grand ducal government tried to alleviate the poverty of farm workers by giving additional land to cottagers and residents . The different social structure in the domanium prevented the unity of the rural population for revolutionary protests. It was different on the manors. If the manor owners were not ready for social improvements, there were strikes by the farm workers and also physical disputes. Day laborers stormed Jürgen Heino von Behr-Negendanck's mansion in Torgelow am See on May 21, 1848 and set it on fire. Shaken by this incident, Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II issued a "warning of rioting and acts of violence as a result of the Torgelow incidents" on May 24, 1848. He threatened to take action against the rebels with "military aid". The first measure was the stationing of a military corps of 700 men with four guns in Waren . The military presence provoked further conflicts in the goods area. Called by the local landlords to help against the "revolutionaries", the military took on rebel workers and day laborers in Groß Dratow , Möllenhagen and Kraase on July 31, 1848 . The day laborer Fischer from Möllenhagen was shot dead and 17 other farm workers wounded. A simple memorial stone in Möllenhagen has been a reminder of the events since 1850. There were two further military missions on August 5th at Gut Blücherhof and on September 8th in Malchow (Mecklenburg) . 315 people were charged as a result of these riots . 100 proceedings were discontinued. The remaining defendants were sentenced to fines and prison terms.
Mecklenburg military in Schleswig and Baden
While the situation in Mecklenburg remained relatively calm, fierce fighting broke out between revolutionaries and soldiers in other parts of Germany. On April 2, 1848, the mobilization for use in the Schleswig-Holstein survey took place in Mecklenburg . Accompanied by several vigilante companies, the 1st division of the infantry battalion moved out from Schwerin on April 14th with 4 cannons and 150 men. The next day the guards of the 2nd Rostock Musketeer Battalion with about 1,200 men followed. After the Treaty of Malmö (1848) the troops returned to their barracks.
From May 22 to 24, 1849, Mecklenburg troops fought in the Baden Revolution . After several skirmishes, they returned in September and October.
A total of 47 Mecklenburg soldiers were killed in the Duchy of Schleswig and the Grand Duchy of Baden . A memorial was erected to them on the parade ground in Haselholz . It was unveiled on June 4, 1853. A large stone cube with a helmet trophy bore the inscription next to the 47 names :
The remains of the monument, which was neglected after 1945, were removed as part of the first construction phase for residential construction on the Großer Dreesch from 1971–73.
review
The Mecklenburgers were too inexperienced and too peaceful for a “real” revolution. Parliament did not solve the underlying problems of the population, failed to create its own instruments of power, and got bogged down in constitutional questions. It was not possible to advance the revolution with democratic, parliamentary and legal means alone. Fritz Reuter had already noticed in 1840 :
“What did you do with that? Nicks, gor nicks. Blot in us 'gatherings and unner vir Ogen we had talked about thing', de now up apne Strat are fri uted, of Dütschland's freedom and unity. Äwer taum act ween wi tau swack, taum Schriwen tau stupid, followed by wi de olle dütsche Mod ': we talked blot doräwer. "
It was not until 68 years later, in the November Revolution , that the Mecklenburgers received a democratic constitution again - for 15 years and strictly separated according to the former parts of the state in Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
literature
- Klaus Baudis: Revolution in Mecklenburg. Part 1. Mecklenburg-Magazin 2/1998, p. 7.
- Carl August Endler : The history of the state of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1701-1933). Hamburg 1935.
- Klaus Lüders: History of Democracy and Basic Social Consensus. A biographical search for traces in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Schleswig-Holstein. In: Reno Stutz (Ed.): Democrats and their opponents. North Germans in the revolution of 1848/49. Rostock 2000.
- Hartmut Pogge von Strandmann : Revolution in Mecklenburg. The liberal constitutional movement from Vormärz to the “victory of reaction” in 1850. In: Michael Heinrichs, Klaus Lüders (Red.): Modernization and Freedom. Contributions to the history of democracy in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Stock & Stein, Schwerin 1995. ISBN 3-910179-56-8 . P. 165.
- Julius Wiggers : The Mecklenburg constitutional assembly and the preceding reform movement. A historical account. Rostock 1850.
- Eckhard Oberdörfer: The second Wartburg Festival, the Rostock students and the university reform. In: once and now - yearbook of the association for corps student historical research. Volume 45, 2000, pp. 73-90.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k René König (2001) ( Memento of the original from December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 172 kB)
- ↑ a b c d e Hans Grobbecker: Mecklenburg-Strelitz in the years 1848–1851. Mecklenburg-Strelitz history sheets, vol. 2, 1926.
- ↑ Not to be confused with the German Center Party
- ^ Hermann Brandt: The constitutional law for the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin October 10, 1849 in the light of the Mecklenburg constitutional efforts of the 19th century. In: Michael Heinrichs, Klaus Lüders (Red.): Modernization and freedom. Contributions to the history of democracy in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Schwerin 1995.
- ^ HFW Raabe: Collection of laws for the Mecklenburg-Schwerin'schen Lande. Second episode 1852, no.3735.
