Prussia

As compensation for the Polish districts ceded to Russia, Prussia then received New Upper Pomerania, the northern part of the kingdom of Saxony, the whole of Westphalia and the Rhineland. Of the ten million inhabitants of Prussian territory in 1816, nearly four belonged to the newly-acquired territory. It was only now that Prussia lost the character of a purely North Germanic State; it had assimilated elements from southern and central Germany, and from now onward was a Germany in petto. The old Prussian nobility and bureaucracy found it no easy task to adapt themselves to the inhabitants of the new dis tricts, who had grown up in quite other traditions. They suc ceeded, however, in maintaining their hegemony for several decades longer. The western districts, and especially the Rhine land, now began to form the principal focus of the Liberal movement.

This met at first with small success. The danger once over, Frederick William III. abandoned the tendencies of the reform period altogether. He had previously promised to introduce a "United Diet," but this was now forgotten; only meetings of the provincial Estates for the individual provinces were introduced and these were only given an advisory voice in local affairs (1823). By economical administration and abstaining from external en tanglements, the king managed to do with the existing taxes and excises. He opposed an obstinate resistance to all demands of the Liberals.

The 1848 Revolution.

On the death of Frederick William III., his eldest son, Frederick William IV. (184o-61) ascended the throne. He had grown up in an age when the theories of romanticism had dominated Germany; these theories swayed him, and, like his father, he was averse at heart to the modern political demands. After long consideration, however, he deter mined in 1847 to the members of all provincial diets to a "United Diet" at Berlin. This body, however, immediately put forward a demand to be convoked at regular intervals, and recognized as a partner, with equal rights, in the legislature.

The king refused to admit such claims, and the deliberations led to no practical result. Nevertheless, it was an event of no small importance that representatives of all parts of the Prussian State had, for the first time, met for common parliamentary debates. Soon after this, the revolution broke out in all Germany. Although the military remained the victors in the street fighting of March 18 in Berlin, the king nevertheless decided to give way and withdraw the troops from Berlin. He agreed to the convocation of a Constituent National Assembly, which was to meet in Berlin and collaborate with him in drawing up a Consti tution. But as democratic elements gained the upper hand in

this Assembly, the king dissolved it and enacted a constitution (Dec. 5,1848), with the proviso that a freshly elected parliament should negotiate further on its final form. These negotiations proving very protracted, the parliament was again dissolved in the spring of 1849, and it was only when a chamber was elected on the three-class franchise that agreement was at last reached on a definitive constitution, to which the king took the oath on Feb. 4, 185o. Prussia now received a parliament, consisting of two chambers ; the first chamber, called the Herrenhaus after 1354, was composed of representatives of the large landed pro prietors and of the larger towns, and of members nominated by the king, either for life, or as hereditary members. The second chamber was elected by all tax-paying citizens, but as the electors were divided into three categories, according to taxes paid, elec tors with larger incomes were given much greater influence than the poorer classes.

During the revolution of 1848 an attempt had already been made to place the king of Prussia at the head of a German empire, to include all the German states except Austria. These plans, however, met with resistance, both from the king himself, and from the Prussian nobles and bureaucrats. Ever since the Wars of Liberation, wide circles of the population had become convinced that a strongly united Germany could only be achieved by an alliance between Prussia and the Liberal elements which formed the backbone of the movement for union. The creation of the German Zollverein (q.v.), under Prussia's leadership (1834), which created an economic unity out of all German States, except Austria, seemed to be a step along this road. The king's legitimist views, however, revolted against making com mon cause with the revolution to force the other princes into a position of subordination and his national sentiments, swayed by the tendencies of romanticism, were shocked at the thought of excluding the Germans of Austria, while the nobles and official classes feared that they would be unable to maintain their exist ing influence in a German empire with parliamentary government. Accordingly, Frederick William IV. refused the imperial crown offered him on April 3, 1849, by the Frankfurt National Assembly. As his efforts to weld Germany into closer unity by agreement with the other princes were also unsuccessful, the movement towards unity led at the time to no results.