Erfurt Union
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The Erfurt Union Erfurter Union | |
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1849–1850 | |
Proposed reichskriegsflagge of the Erfurt Union. | |
History | |
• Established | 1849 |
• Disestablished | 1850 |
The Erfurt Union (
Conception of the Union
In the
A year before the convention of the Erfurt Union Parliament, on May 26, 1849, the Alliance of the Three Kings was concluded between Prussia, Saxony and Hanover, the latter two of which explicitly made the reservation of departure unless all other principalities with the exception of Austria joined. From this treaty sprung the Prussian policy of fusion, and thence the ambition of the Erfurt Union, which in its constitution abandoned the universal and equal male franchise of the Frankfurt Assembly in favour of the Prussian three-class franchise,[3] which gave almost all men the right to vote but weighted the votes to favour the wealthy.[4] The constitution itself, however, was only to come into effect after revision and ratification by an elected Reichstag, as well as approval by the participating governments. 150 former liberal deputies to the German national assembly had acceded to the draft at a meeting in Gotha on June 25, 1849, and by the end of August 1849, almost all (twenty-eight) principalities had recognised the Reich constitution and joined the union, due in varying degrees to Prussian pressure.
Inceptive problems
Despite this, elections to the Erfurt parliament, held in January 1850, received very little popular support, or even recognition. Democrats universally boycotted the election, and with electoral participation below 50%, Saxony and Hanover exercised their reservation to leave the Alliance of Three Kings. No government in the end agreed to the constitution, and even though the document was readily accepted by the Gotha Party (incidentally narrowly defeated in the elections), it never took effect. The Erfurt parliament never materialised.
Meanwhile, Austria, having overcome its difficulties – the fall of
In Prussia itself, a congress of princes held in Berlin in May 1850 explicitly decided against the merits of introducing a constitution at the point in time. Following the Prussian king's (and his ministers') weakening volition for German unification, Radowitz's influence declined. Prussia's union policy was further weakened by Austrian urges for the restoration of the Federal Assembly in Frankfurt in September the same year.
Autumn crisis of 1850
The Prussia–Austria conflict worsened by autumn that year, as disagreements over the question of
On November 29, 1850, the Punctation of Olmütz was concluded between Austria and Prussia with Russian participation. The treaty, seen by many as a humbling capitulation on Prussia's part to the Viennese Hofburg, saw Prussia submitting to the Confederation, reversing tack to demobilise, agreeing to partake in the intervention of the German Diet in Hesse and Holstein and renouncing any resumption of her union policy, and hence abandoning the Erfurt Union.
References
- ^ Blackbourn, David (1997) The Long Nineteenth Century: A History of Germany, 1780-1918, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Gunter Mai, [2000] Die Erfurter Union und das Erfurter Unionsparlament 1850. Köln: Böhlau
- ^ "Erfurter Unionsparlament". Orte der Demokratiegeschichte (in German). Retrieved 23 January 2024.
- ^ Peter, Jelena (1 February 2000). "Das Preußische Dreiklassenwahlrecht" [The Prussian Three-Class Franchise]. Deutsches Historisches Museum (in German). Retrieved 23 January 2024.