Würzburg Conferences
The Würzburg Conferences (also: Würzburg Coalition ) were an attempt by several medium-sized German states to pursue a common policy in the German Confederation . The aim was a federal reform . The first conference took place in 1859, the fourth in 1864. In the absence of unity in Third Germany , the German states except Austria and Prussia, the results were very limited.
During this time, however, important positions of the great powers were clarified. While Austria supported the middle states in their independence, Prussia came closer to the plan of the German National Association to establish a small German federal state. The turn of the medium-sized states towards Austria led to the Frankfurt Fürstentag in 1863.
First conference 1859
The first conference in Würzburg , from November 24th to 27th, 1859, was convened by the Saxon Foreign Minister. Friedrich von Beust tried to maintain the federal principle of the federal government and yet to upgrade the executive power.
The representatives from Bavaria , Württemberg , Saxony , Kurhessen , the Grand Duchy of Hesse , Mecklenburg-Schwerin , Mecklenburg-Strelitz , Nassau , Saxony-Altenburg , Saxony-Meiningen and other small states came. But Hanover , Braunschweig , Oldenburg , Baden , Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Coburg were missing . Beust's demand to take joint action against the German National Association did not find a majority. But the states agreed on proposals for an improved Federal War Constitution , coastal fortifications, the establishment of a federal court, a more uniform legal system in Germany, and uniform weights and measures.
As early as December 17, they filed a motion in the Bundestag to have the committee advised by a federal court on possible standardizations in criminal and civil law. On January 5, 1860, the Bundestag approved. Austria supported the resolutions of the Würzburg Conference, but made the reservation that the federal constitution should not be changed and that the rights of the individual states should not be impaired. This made the actual support questionable. But Bavaria also wanted to continue to act as independently as possible in the federal government.
The Würzburg proposals silted up in Bundestag committees in 1860. In addition, Austria wavered between cooperation with the medium-sized states and one with Prussia, for example in the (second) Teplitz punctuation of July 1860: In it, Austria promised to agree with Prussia before Bundestag resolutions, while Prussia promised Austria in the event of attacks would assist in Veneto . Prussia also wanted to use the middle states for itself, namely at the Princely Congress of Baden-Baden in June 1860: With the help of the assembled German kings, grand dukes and several dukes, Prussia demonstrated German unity towards Napoleon III. who was targeting German territory.
Second conference 1860
At a second conference, from July 20 to August 5, 1860, the Würzburg coalition concentrated on reforming the Federal War Constitution. Above all, it was about the rules for the appointment of a federal general. The armed forces would not have become more powerful as a result. Austria and Prussia delayed the project until April 1861.
From January to April 1861 Austria and Prussia negotiated a defense agreement at the Berlin conferences. It was about the possible reactions to a French or Italian attack. While Austria was only thinking of the joint defense of Austrian and Prussian territory, Prussia sought military supremacy in Germany north of the Main . Furthermore, Prussia demanded, among other things, that Austria no longer support the Würzburg coalition. Vienna declined the offer.
Third conference 1861
The Würzburg states learned from Austria what threat Prussia posed to them. However, they also doubted the value of Austrian guarantees. However, at another conference in Würzburg on May 22, 1861, they made no progress in their deliberations on the Federal War Constitution.
On October 15, 1861, the Saxon Foreign Minister, Beust, proposed a reform of the German Confederation to the medium-sized states: A reformed federal assembly should meet alternately in northern and southern Germany. To this end, there would have been an assembly of representatives elected by the state parliaments. The executive power would have been exercised jointly by the Austrian Emperor, the King of Prussia and another prince. The reactions lacked enthusiasm. Bavaria, for example, was upset because it wanted to be automatically represented in executive power.
In the meantime, Prussia's policy again approached the demands of the National Association. In December 1861, the Prussian Foreign Minister Albrecht von Bernstorff proposed a small German union similar to the Erfurt Union , with a double union . On the other hand, cooperation between Austria and the Würzburg states developed again. Only Kurhessen, Braunschweig and Mecklenburg did not dare to offer resistance to Prussia. In the corresponding protocol of January 22, 1862, it was agreed to strictly reject the exclusion of Austria from Germany in the event of a federal reform. The same applied to the hegemony of a member state or the division of military and foreign federal powers.
In public one could hear a polarization between the small German national association and the large German reform association . The Catholic wanted as well as the Greater German necessarily keep Austria in the German Confederation, during the convention of representatives in Frankfurt called for a freely elected National Parliament - if need be to the exclusion of Austria.
Conference 1864
During the German-Danish War (1863/1864) Austria and Prussia worked together again. In the complicated question of the Danish-Schleswig-Holstein succession, they recognized the Danish king as the legitimate duke of the Elbe duchies. This gave them the opportunity to have the Elbe Duchies transferred from Denmark after the victory . (This is what finally happened with the Peace of Vienna of October 1864.)
Some middle states, however, supported the claims of Friedrich von Augustenburg to the succession. They preferred a new, medium-sized member state in Germany to the expansion of Prussian or Austrian power. On February 18 and 19, 1864, they met again in Würzburg to agree on how to proceed on the Schleswig-Holstein question . However, they did not achieve a majority in the Bundestag because there was no support from Hanover and Electoral Hesse. They only achieved partial success insofar as the power of attorney which the Danish king had given for the federal vote of Holstein was declared invalid.
outlook
During the time of the actual Würzburg Conferences, from 1859 to 1862, a dichotomy was already emerging in Germany. Austria and most of the larger states assured each other that they would fend off drastic federal reform plans by Prussia. Nevertheless, Austria and Prussia continued to work together selectively, as was shown in the Schleswig-Holstein question from 1863–1865.
The division into two parts, however, led to the Frankfurt Fürstentag in 1863 (which was boycotted by Prussia) and to the constellation in the summer of 1866: In the federal resolution of June 14, 1866 , Austria and the Central States decided to mobilize the armed forces against Prussia. After the victory in the German War , Prussia was able to expand its dominance in northern Germany through annexations and the North German Confederation .
See also
supporting documents
- ↑ Jürgen Angelow: The German Confederation . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2003, pp. 135/136.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the realm. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1988, p. 401.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the realm. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1988, pp. 401/402.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the realm. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1988, pp. 402-404.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the realm. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1988, pp. 405/406.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the realm. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1988, pp. 406/407.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the realm. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1988, pp. 407/408.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the realm. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1988, pp. 409/410.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the realm. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1988, pp. 410-412.
- ↑ Jürgen Angelow: The German Confederation . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2003, p. 137.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the realm. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1988, p. 475.