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Rhine at Bingen around 1840 (detail)                                                                                                                                        

Prussia | I. Pre-March (1815-48)

World

1810

 1809-1817, USA
James Madison
4th President

 1817-1825, USA
James Monroe
5th President

The Vienna Congress had reestablished the old feudal order, a time of restoration began. Therefore, the years between 1815 and 1848 are referred to as "The Time of Restoration" or "Pre-March" (Vormärz), referring to the March Revolution of1848.

1815-1848, Europe

More than anyone else, the Austrian statesman Prince Metternich has dominated  this time. In his  eyes, freedom of opinion, freedom of the press and freedom of assembly as well as the struggle for national unity meant agitation and a threat to security - therefore, he and other princes oppressed them by might and main. He had watched student organizations burn reactionary books at the Wartburg Festival in 1817 on the Wartburg Castle (Eisenach, Thuringia) with great suspicion.

When two years later, in 1819., the writer August von Kotzebue was killed by a student, Metternich called a conference which Prussia, Austria and eight other states attended. It issued the highly oppressive Karlsbad Decrees.

1820

 1825-1829, USA
John Quincy Adams
6th President

Now the Burschenschaft student movement, who struggled for a unified German nation and a progressive, liberal political system, was prohibited, professors and students were put under supervision  by the state,  newspapers and books were censored. Even worse, suspicious persons were considered demagogues and prosecuted. Among them were men of great merits, such as Freiherr von und zum Stein, General Gneisenau, Professor Ernst Moritz Arndt from Bonn, the "father of gymnastics" Jahn and the publisher Joseph Görres from Koblenz. 

1830

 1829-1837, USA
Andrew Jackson
7th President

1837-1901, England
Queen Victoria

 1837-1841, USA
Martin Van Buren
8th President

The July revolution in France 1830 made a difference in Europe. On May 27, 1832, about  25.000 people from all circles of society, among them French, Polish and Italians, celebrated a national democratic festival on the Maxburg Castle in Hambach, Rhineland-Palatinate. Cheered by the crowd, the speakers demanded democratic rights and the fraternization of all free people. That was political dynamite. New demagogue prosecutions began and literature was censored even more strictly.

1834, Germany

Within the State of Prussia, free trade was possible. Smaller states began to join the free trade area, and in in 1834 of the German Customs Union (Zollverein) was created that included most German states, but not Austria. 

1837, Germany

After protesting against a breach of the constitution, seven highly respected professors of the university of Göttingen are expelled from the state of Hanover, among them the brothers Grimm.

Industrial Revolution 

The pre-march also was a time of great need. The Rhineland, Berlin and Silesia had been industrialized very early. The State of Prussia enjoyed an economic boom, but at the same time the Industrial Revolution caused great need and misery. The more machines were developed and in use, the more people lost their work. One mechanical loom replaced 200 workers - a catastrophe for the weavers, and starvation wages, women or even child labor could not change anything. At the same time, countless impoverished peasants and jobless craftsmen moved into the industry cities, hoping to find work in the factories, what again forced down the wages. Working conditions were generally terrible, laws to protect the workers did not exist, and the conditions of living were disastrous. More and more people became destitute.

1840

 1841, USA
William Harrison
9th President

 1841-1845, USA
John Tyler
10th President

 1845-1849, USA
James Polk
11th President

1845-1849, Ireland
Great Potato
Famine in Ireland

1846-1848, USA
Mexican War

 1849-1853, USA
Zachary Taylor
12th President

Poets and artists wrote about the great need and misery, among them Heinrich Heine in his "Weberlied" that soon was prohibited by the Prussian Government. Friedrich Engels translated it into English.  Since 1827, Heine's work was censured, since 1833 it was forbidden in the State of Prussia, and thereby in his native Rhineland. Heine had left Germany in 1831, to spend the remainder of his life in France. He only once came back, in 1843, and he wrote "Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen" (Germany. A Winter's Tale). 

Also the press was strictly censured. Karl Marx (1818-1883), born in Trier, began as political journalist at the "Rheinischen Zeitung" in Cologne, writing about the desperate situation of the peasants in the Eifel and the Hunsrück and the  wine-growers at the Mosel river. In Cologne, he met his live long friend Friedrich Engels (1820-1895). When Marx became editor-in-chief, the newspaper became radical and was soon forbidden. Shortly after, Marx and Engels went to London into exile. 

Failures of harvest  in the years 1845 and 1846 caused famine and misery. The Prussian Government had potatoes and grain  delivered, but the need was too great.  In the middle of the 1840 decade, many people emigrated to the USA.

1840, Prussia

At first, the new Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV (Frederick William IV, 1840-1861) was considered a bearer of hope by the liberals. But he firmly believed that he was appointed King by the Grace of God. To base his kingdom upon a constitution instead  must have been inconceivable to him. 

1844, Cologne, Rhineland

Friedrich Wilhelm IV was known as the "romanticist on the throne". Although he was a Lutheran, he settled a fierce conflict with the Catholic Church in Cologne. To encourage a peaceful side by side of Protestantism and Catholicism, he patronized the completion of the Cologne Cathedral which still stood uncompleted. In 1844, he personally attended the laying of the foundation stone celebrations. 

In February 1848, revolution broke out in France, King Louis-Philippe of France was forced to abdicate. The news from Paris spread quickly, and already in the first days of March  uprisings occurred in Germany. 

In March 1848, the revolution had won. A prototype parliament called for free elections for a National Assembly for all of Germany. 

The march of the parliamentarians into the Paulskirche (St. Paul's cathedral)  in Frankfurt on May 18, 1848, was a big day. Everywhere black-red-golden flags were waved and people cheered for the parliamentarians. Among them were Jakob Grimm and Ernst Moritz Arndt.  The National Assembly had to face tremendous tasks. Its standing, however, was low from the very first. The princes had given in only for the moment, and most of them, above all  the big powers Prussia and Austria, did not even think of accepting the victory of revolution. They acted as if the National Assembly did not exist. There was nothing that the National Assembly could do except protest, since it had no executive power.  While the National Assembly discussed about a new constitution, it was overtaken by reality. The fights continued and the old powers regained territories and might. 

November 1848, Vienna 

In Austria, Count Schwarzenberg crushed the revolutionary movement and restored absolute monarchy with Franz Joseph I (Francis Joseph I, 1848-1916) as new Emperor. Robert Blum, a member of the National Assembly, had been sent to Vienna to encourage the republicans. In those desperate days, he got involved in street fights and was arrested. In defiance of his immunity as a member of the National Assembly and all the protests, he was executed on November 9, 1848.

November/Dezember 1848, Berlin  

Troops marched into Berlin, and the old powers regained control. Friedrich Wilhelm IV appointed a new cabinet that consisted of conservatives only.  On December 5, 1848, he imposed a constitution of his own which was based upon the work of the National Assembly, but did not grant real participation to the people. 

March 1849, Frankfurt 

The National Assembly had finally finished its work. In December 1848, the "Basic Rights for the German People" proclaimed equal rights for all citizens before the law. On March 28, 1849,  the constitution was passed: Germany should become a constitutional monarchy with the Hohenzollern dynasty of Prussia as Emperors. On April 2, 1849, a delegation of the National Assembly traveled to Berlin and offered  the crown to Friedrich Wilhelm IV.  He turned it down in a polite, but unmistakable way. For a man who believed that his was king by the grade of God, it was inconceivable to receive the crown  from the people.

Summer/fall 1849, Germanyt 

The National Assembly was forced to dissolve in 1849. A second revolutionary wave went through Germany, mainly  Saxony, Baden, the Rhineland, Westphalia and the Palatine - democrats took up arms again to force the monarchs to accept the constitution.  Prussian troops under Prince William crushed the second revolutionary wave in Baden and the Palatinate.

In our region there were democratic clubs, too. At Bonn University, professor Gottfried Kinkel from Oberkassel  and Carl Schurz from Liblar had become friends .. and revolutionaries.  In the night of May 10/11, 1849, they both marched at the top of 120 citizens  to the arsenal in Siegburg, to get the Landwehr's weapons stored there. But the operation failed,  Kinkel and Schurz had to flee. In July 1852, Carl Schurz emigrated to the USA.

Carl Schurz is one of the best-known German Forty-Eighters. After the failure of the revolution, many Europeans who had participated in or supported the revolution emigrated to the United States, Canada and Australia. Some of them were prosecuted by the authorities, others wanted to built up a new life for  themselves in a free country. Carl Schurz became a General in the Union army, member of  President Lincoln's cabinet and later Secretary of the Interior.  He never came back to Germany, and died in New York City,  USA.

1850

 1849-1853 USA
Zachary Taylor
12th President

1850-1890, USA 
Indian Wars

 1853-1857, USA
Franklin Pierce
14th President

1854-1856, Russia 
Crimean War 

 1857-1861, USA
James Buchanan
15th President

After the victory of the reaction, the press was strictly censured, assemblies  were forbidden and democrats had to fear house search, spying, confiscation, even harassment by the police and arrest.

1850, Prussia 

The Prussian constitution, imposed by the King, provided for a twohouse-parliament. The upper house,  the Herrenhaus ("House of Lords"), was appointed by the King. The lower house, the Landtag, was elected by all male taxpayers. Yet, their votes did not have the same weight. According to the amount of taxes paid, the voters were divided into three classes. As a result, the few voters with a high income, and therefore a considerable amount of taxes paid, had a lot more political influence than large parts of the population with little or none income.

1857/1858, Germany

In 1857, King Friedrich Wilhelm VI  (Frederick William IV, 1840-1861) suffered a stroke and had to abdicate. In January 1958, his brother Wilhelm became Prince Regent for his brother. 

1860

1860/61, USA
Southern States secede from the Union

 1861-1865, USA
Abraham Lincoln
16th President

1861-1865, USA
Civil War 

On January 2, 1861, Friedrich Wilhelm died and Wilhelm ascended the throne as Wilhelm I (William I, 1861-1888) of Prussia. 

At the beginning of his reign, he gave hope to the Liberals, but he also made it clear how  important a strong army was to him. He introduced his plans for a military reform in Parliament, since it had to approve the budget to pay for its cost. Yet, this military reform would strengthen the regular line regiments  with their aristocratic, mainly conservative officers who were sworn in on the King, whereas it would weaken  the Landwehr units with their mainly common born  officers who were sworn in on the constitution. Yet, many people identified themselves with the Landwehr. The House of Lords agreed, but the lower house, the Landtag, did not. 

Wihelm dissolved parliament, but the following elections brought the opponents of the military reform a majority. The King was considering abdication in favor of his son Friedrich, but Friedrich felt not ready. Then the war minister recommended him to receive Otto von Bismarck. 

This first meeting took place in William favorite residence, Babelsberg Castle in Potsdam. Bismarck descended from a very old Prussian family and was a staunch conservative. Very early in his political career, he demanded that the multi-ethnic state of Austria should cede  primacy in Germany to the mainly German state of Prussia. As Prussian Prime Minister, he was determined to unify German under Prussian leadership. 

1862-1867
French Invention
in Mexico

1862, Prussia

Otto von Bismarck, the "Iron Chancellor"

On September 23, 1862, Bismarck was appointed prime minister.  According to the Prussian constitution, the Prime Minister was responsible solely to the King, not to Parliament. The two men had a very special relationship. For the next four years, Bismarck ruled with the House of Lords only, without a new budget, and immediately pushed the military reform through. The violation of the constitution did not concern him. 

1864, Germany

When Denmark tried to annex Schleswig-Holstein, a military conflict with the German Confederation broke out. In 1864, Prussian and Austrian forces defeated the Danes, who surrendered both territories. Prussia and Austria agreed on dual administration.

 1865-1869, USA
Andrew Johnson
17th President

 1869-1877, USA
Ulysses Grant 
18th President

1866, Germany and Austria

But soon tensions arose between Prussia and Austria. Bismarck wanted wants in order to expel Austria from the German Confederation and unite Germany under Prussian dominance. He overruled King Wihelm's objections against this "war between brothers", and shortly after both sides took up arms. 

Austro-Prussian War

On Prussia's side stood Italy and a a few small North German states; on Austria's Bavaria, Württemberg, Saxony, Hanover, Baden, and several smaller German states. Prussia quickly occupied Hanover, Electoral Hesse, Nassau and Frankfurt. In the Battle of Königgrätz in Bohemia, the Prussian troops under General Helmuth von Moltke defeated the Austrians 

The century-long struggle between Berlin and Vienna for dominance of Germany was now over. Prussia emerged by far the biggest state in Germany.The states south of the Main river, for instance the Kingdom of Bavaria under Ludwig II (Louis II ) remained independent. The German Confederation was dissolved, Austria was expelled and re-orientated  towards its eastern territories (Austro-Hungarian Monarchy).

1867, Germany

Prussia and the remaining independent states north of the Main river grouped together into the North German Confederation under Prussian leadership. Bismarck concluded secret defense treaties with the states in the south. 

1870

 1877-1881, USA
Rutherford Hayes
19th President

1870, Germany and France

The tensions between France and Prussia aggravated  when a Hohenzollern prince presented his candidacy to the Spanish throne. Although the prince stepped back shortly after, the  French Government insisted on a formal confirmation by King Wilhelm that the prince would never again present his candidacy.  That went too far for William, and he turned the French ambassador down and informed Bismarck by telegram. Now Bismarck, a master of diplomacy and of using the media, gave the King's telegram a sharper version that made it sound like a diplomatic defeat for France, and gave it to the press. On July 19, France declared war on Germany. Not only in Prussia, everywhere in Germany patriotism rose above all other feelings. 

Franco-Prussian War

Under the command of Helmuth von Moltke, Prussian troops, reinforced by soldiers from Bavaria and other German states, invaded France. Soon, the French main army was surrounded at Metz. A French relief army was defeated at Sedan, and almost the entire army and Emperor Napoleon III himself were captured. 

In France, the Republic was proclaimed, a people's war against enemy troops began. On January 28,  1871, Paris capitulated. In May, the peace treaty was signed in Frankfurt. France had to pay large-scale-reparations and, what caused great embitterment, had to cede Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. 

1871, Versailles

After the victory of Sedan, even the reluctant German states gave in to the patriotic enthusiasm, and Bismarck could  win them over for unification. The Bavarian King Ludwig II, being the most prestigious among the German princes, offered the Emperor's crown to  King Wilhelm I of Prussia (rumor has it that Bismarck pushed him). Wilhelm was proclaimed German Emperor Wilhelm I on January 18, 1871,  in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. 

The Empire was  a federal state consisting of 25 federal states, 22 monarchies and the three free cities Hamburg, Lübeck and Bremen, plus "Reichsland" Alsace-Lorraine.