mar 8, 1849 - the Prussian side of the 1848 Revolution

Description:

• the March Days in Berlin (March 1848)
• King Frederick William IV being forced to make concessions
• the creation of a Prussian national assembly
• and the Frankfurt Parliament (the all‑German assembly)
• followed by its collapse and the rump parliament in Stuttgart (1849)

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1. March 1848: Revolution reaches Berlin
Protests erupted in Berlin after the February Revolution in Paris. Crowds demanded:
• freedom of the press
• a constitution
• a representative parliament
• civil rights
The king, Frederick William IV of Prussia, was terrified by the scale of the uprising.
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The king makes concessions — and loses control
To calm the crowds, he:
• promised reforms
• agreed to lift censorship
• allowed a citizen militia
• promised a constitution
But these concessions only encouraged more demands.
He was soon surrounded by protesters and effectively confined in his palace — not formally imprisoned, but unable to act freely.
This is what the passage means by “essentially under house arrest.”
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. Reformers pressure him to approve elections
While the king was politically cornered, liberal leaders pushed him to authorize elections for a new Prussian parliament.
He agreed.
This was the Prussian National Assembly, separate from the all‑German parliament.
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4. Meanwhile: The Frankfurt Parliament is created
At the same time, German liberals from all states met at Heidelberg and called for a pan‑German national assembly.
This became:
Frankfurt Parliament — first met on 18 May 1848
Location: St. Paul’s Church (Paulskirche), Frankfurt
Goal: Write a constitution for a united Germany
This is the “brand new national parliament” mentioned in your passage.

. 1849: Collapse and the “rump parliament” in Stuttgart
By 1849:
• Prussia rejected the Frankfurt Constitution
• many German princes regained control
• the Frankfurt Parliament lost support and members fled
The remaining delegates — a tiny remnant — moved to Stuttgart in June 1849.
Historians call this the “rump parliament” because only a small, powerless fraction of the original assembly remained.
It was quickly dispersed by Württemberg troops.

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