In May 1848, an elected parliament met at Frankfurt to discuss the unification of Germany. (a) What was the Frankfurt Parliament and what did it aim to achi...

(a) What was the Frankfurt Parliament and what did it aim to achieve? [4 marks]

• The Frankfurt Parliament was a national assembly of elected representatives from all German states that met in St Paul's Church (Paulskirche) in Frankfurt from May 1848.
• It aimed to draft a constitution for a unified German nation-state, replacing the loose German Confederation that had existed since 1815.
• The parliament debated the boundaries, structure and leadership of a future united Germany, including the fundamental question of whether to include Austria (Grossdeutschland) or exclude it (Kleindeutschland).
• It consisted mainly of middle-class professionals, academics, lawyers and civil servants. It has been described as a 'parliament of professors' because of its highly educated but politically inexperienced membership.

(b) Why did the Frankfurt Parliament fail to unite Germany? [6 marks]

• Grossdeutschland vs. Kleindeutschland debate: The parliament was deeply divided over whether a united Germany should include or exclude Austria. Months were spent debating this question, during which the political situation changed and the momentum for revolution was lost.
• No military force: The parliament had no army of its own and depended entirely on the armies of the individual German states, particularly Prussia and Austria. It could propose but could not enforce.
• Crown refused: Frederick William IV of Prussia rejected the offered imperial crown in April 1849, calling it a 'crown of mud' (or 'from the gutter'). He refused to accept authority derived from popular sovereignty rather than from divine right and princely agreement.
• Austrian opposition: Austria opposed the parliament because a unified Germany under Prussian leadership would exclude Austria and end its traditional influence over the German states.
• Conservative recovery: As the revolutionary threat receded, the conservative governments of the larger German states regained confidence, reasserted their authority, and withdrew their representatives and support.
• Limited popular support: The parliament was dominated by the middle classes and failed to win support from the working classes and peasants, whose social and economic concerns were largely ignored in favour of constitutional debates.

(c) How important was the failure of the Frankfurt Parliament for the future of Germany? [10 marks]

Arguments that the failure was highly important:

• End of liberal unification: The failure demonstrated that German unification could not be achieved through democratic parliamentary means. Real power lay with the armies of Prussia and Austria, not with elected representatives.
• Lesson for Bismarck: The failure was directly studied by Otto von Bismarck, who concluded that great questions would be settled not by speeches and majority decisions but by 'blood and iron'. He pursued unification through three wars (against Denmark 1864, Austria 1866, France 1870-71) and diplomatic manipulation.
• Weakened liberal tradition: The failure of liberalism in 1848 weakened the democratic tradition in Germany. The association of liberalism with impotence and failure, and of military power with results, set a precedent for the authoritarian character of the later German Empire.
• Prussian military dominance: The parliament's inability to act without military support confirmed that real authority lay with the Prussian army. This established the principle that the military, not parliament, would be the instrument of national destiny.
• Authoritarian unification: Germany was ultimately unified from above by Prussian military power under Bismarck in 1871, not from below by popular democracy. The resulting German Empire was authoritarian and militaristic, with a weak parliament and a dominant executive.

Arguments that the failure should not be overstated:

• Constitutional legacy: The parliament produced a constitution that, although never implemented, influenced later German constitutional development, including the Weimar Constitution of 1919.
• National consciousness: The experience of representatives from all German states meeting together strengthened national consciousness and kept the idea of unification alive.
• Fundamental rights: The parliament proclaimed a set of fundamental rights (Grundrechte) that were ahead of their time and anticipated modern human rights declarations.
• Kleindeutschland clarified: The debates at Frankfurt clarified the terms of the unification question. The Kleindeutschland solution (Germany without Austria) that the parliament eventually endorsed was the model that Bismarck later implemented.
• Not solely responsible for authoritarianism: German authoritarianism had deep roots in Prussian military tradition, the power of the Junker class, and the weakness of the German middle class. The failure of 1848 was one factor among many.

Conclusion: The failure of the Frankfurt Parliament was highly significant for Germany's future development. It ensured that German unification would be achieved by Prussian military power rather than by liberal democracy, shaping the authoritarian character of the German state that emerged in 1871. This legacy, in turn, contributed to the militarism and democratic deficit that characterised German politics through the German Empire, the failure of Weimar, and the rise of Nazism. However, the parliament's constitutional and intellectual contributions should not be entirely dismissed - they influenced later democratic movements and helped define the eventual shape of German unification.