History
How accurate is it that King Fredrick William IV of Prussia was responsible for the failure of the Frankfurt parliament?
The Frankfurt Assembly came as a result of the political unrest in Prussia and the German states during 1848. Both liberals and radicals were dissatisfied with the lack of freedom that the government offered them. The assembly in Frankfurt was a gathering of elected representatives from Prussia, Austria, and all the Germanic states to discuss the creation of a unified Germany. Most of the delegates were lawyers, professors, or administrators, and most were also moderate liberals. At the assembly, questions about nationality generated a lot of contention. Which Germans would be in the new state? Many delegates argued that all Germans were bound to unification by their language, culture, and geography. They believed that the German nation should include as many Germans as possible. On the other hand, there was a minority who wanted a "Small Germany" that left out all lands of the Habsburg Empire, like German Austria. After a long debate, the assembly went with the Small German solution and offered the crown of the new nation to Frederick William IV. Fredrick William IV was responsible for the start of the down fall of the Frankfurt assembly however he wasn’t completely to blame as the disorganisation of the parliament and the fact that it had no real power to do anything as it lacked a loyal army.
Fredrick William IV was quite heavily responsible for the Frankfurt parliament as well as the failure of it. Frederick William refused the crown on account of the constitution being too liberal. Here, things started to fall apart. Frederick William refused to accept the crown because it had not been offered by the other German Princes, stating that he would not "accept a crown from the gutter". He said this because he felt that they had decided to give him the crown as a last resort and he was too proud to accept it. By late 1849, the movement for
The Frankfurt Assembly came as a result of the political unrest in Prussia and the German states during 1848. Both liberals and radicals were dissatisfied with the lack of freedom that the government offered them. The assembly in Frankfurt was a gathering of elected representatives from Prussia, Austria, and all the Germanic states to discuss the creation of a unified Germany. Most of the delegates were lawyers, professors, or administrators, and most were also moderate liberals. At the assembly, questions about nationality generated a lot of contention. Which Germans would be in the new state? Many delegates argued that all Germans were bound to unification by their language, culture, and geography. They believed that the German nation should include as many Germans as possible. On the other hand, there was a minority who wanted a "Small Germany" that left out all lands of the Habsburg Empire, like German Austria. After a long debate, the assembly went with the Small German solution and offered the crown of the new nation to Frederick William IV. Fredrick William IV was responsible for the start of the down fall of the Frankfurt assembly however he wasn’t completely to blame as the disorganisation of the parliament and the fact that it had no real power to do anything as it lacked a loyal army.
Fredrick William IV was quite heavily responsible for the Frankfurt parliament as well as the failure of it. Frederick William refused the crown on account of the constitution being too liberal. Here, things started to fall apart. Frederick William refused to accept the crown because it had not been offered by the other German Princes, stating that he would not "accept a crown from the gutter". He said this because he felt that they had decided to give him the crown as a last resort and he was too proud to accept it. By late 1849, the movement for