![]() ![]() ![]() The only federal body was the Confederate Assembly in Frankfurt am Main, over which Austria presided and which was later rechristened Deutscher Bundestag, or German Federal Diet. Instead of the nation state to which many people aspired, the German princes created the German Confederation, comprising 37 principalities and four free cities. While the aim in terms of foreign policy was to restore the balance of power among the states of Europe, the domestic aim was to re-establish the monarchic principle, preferably without concessions to liberal and democratic ideology. The negotiations were largely characterised by attempts to bring about the restoration of the pre-revolutionary order. New political order established at the Congress of ViennaĪfter the victory over Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna met from September 1814 to June 1815 to redraw the political map of Europe. At the same time, resistance against the French occupation contributed to the formation of a German nationalist movement, which not only sought the liberation of the French-occupied areas but also propagated demands for national unification and political self-determination. Reforms in the states of the French-occupied Confederation of the Rhine and a new awareness of the evident inferiority of the old order triggered reformist efforts in other German states, particularly in Prussia. Not until the Napoleonic conquests of the early 19th century was the old regime undermined and a comprehensive process of political modernisation set in motion. Although the Ancien Régime had been criticised from several quarters in the German territories, it took a long time for any recognisable signs to appear of developments that might seriously challenge the existing order. Political conditions in the Holy Roman Empire - known in Germany as the ‘Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation’ - were still entirely determined by the traditional structures of the authoritarian state that characterised the latter part of the age of absolutism. In Germany this development began relatively late. The late 18th century saw the emergence throughout Europe of political movements dedicated to the pursuit of national unification on the basis of liberty. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |