1848–1849 CE · Europe · Rights
The revolutions of 1848–1849 and the Frankfurt Assembly
Liberal, democratic and national movements challenged Europe’s established order. The Frankfurt Assembly attempted to create a constitutional German nation-state.
Enlarge and examine the pictureFr. Wentzel / Wien Museum, HMW 88579 · CC0 1.0 · Full frame retained; resized and converted to WebP · Source and rights ↗ · Licence terms
National and constitutional demands
Repression of liberal-democratic and national movements preceded the upheavals of 1848–1849 in the German lands. Demands for representation and constitutional government intersected with the question of national unity. Those aims were related, but did not prescribe a single agreed political settlement.
A parliament in Frankfurt
The first German National Assembly met in Frankfurt and drafted a constitution. A contemporary print of the parliament in the Paulskirche records how the new institution was represented. The image is evidence of political aspiration and public presentation; it cannot establish that the Assembly had achieved its goals.
Failure did not determine the only possible future
The attempt to establish a democratic constitutional state failed. German unification in 1871 followed a different route, dominated by Prussia and successive wars. Keeping the two projects distinct avoids presenting military unification as simply the successful completion of the Assembly’s programme. This is a German case within the wider European revolutionary wave.