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Italy and Germany 1815–71

The Frankfurt Parliament and the reasons for its failure

  • 3 things to know
  • AS Unit 1

Overview

The Vorparlament and the election of the assembly, the Grossdeutsch and Kleindeutsch question, and the offer of the crown to Frederick William IV.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Numbers

Why is the Frankfurt Parliament often called a parliament of professors?

Numbers

How did the Schleswig-Holstein question expose the assembly's weakness?

Key term

What happened in Frankfurt in September 1848?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Describe the Vorparlament.

    Model answer

    The Vorparlament was a self-appointed gathering of about 500 liberals who met in Frankfurt at the end of March 1848 and arranged elections to a national assembly.

  2. 2

    Why is the Frankfurt Parliament often called a parliament of professors?

    Model answer

    The assembly that opened in St Paul's Church on 18 May 1848 was made up almost entirely of lawyers, officials, professors and other educated men, with barely a handful of artisans and no peasants at all.

  3. 3

    Who was made Imperial Regent, and why was the choice a weakness?

    Model answer

    Archduke John of Austria was elected Imperial Regent in June 1848, a Habsburg prince with no army, no revenue and no authority over the state governments.

  4. 4

    What were the Fundamental Rights of the German People?

    Model answer

    The assembly passed a charter in December 1848 guaranteeing equality before the law and freedom of speech, worship and movement, but no state government was obliged to enforce it.

  5. 5

    How did the Schleswig-Holstein question expose the assembly's weakness?

    Model answer

    The assembly had no army of its own and had to let Prussia fight Denmark on its behalf, so when Prussia signed the Armistice of Malmö in August 1848 under British and Russian pressure the deputies could only swallow it.

  6. 6

    What happened in Frankfurt in September 1848?

    Model answer

    Radicals rioted against the acceptance of the Malmö armistice and murdered two conservative deputies, and the assembly had to call in Prussian and Austrian troops for its own protection.

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