Age of the French Revolution : Germany

The nudge which brought the crumbling Reich crashing down came from the west. Revolution broke out in France in 1789. Under Pressure from the middle classes, the feudal social order which had existed since the early Middle Ages was swept away; a separation of powers and human rights were to assure the liberty and equality of all. The attempt by Prussia and Austria to intervene by force in events in the neighboring country failed ignomin-iously and triggered a counter-thrust by the revolutionary armies.

Under the stormy advances of the forces of Napoleon, who had assumed the revolutionary heritage in France, the Reich finally collapsed. France took the left bank of the Rhine. To compensate the former owners of these areas for their losses, an enormous territorial reshuffling took place at the expense of the smaller and particularly the ecclesiastical princi-palities. Through the “Reichsdeputationshauptschluss” of 1803, some four million subjects changed rulers. yhe medium-sized states were the beneficiaries. In 1806 most of them grouped together under French protection in the Confederation of the Rhine (Rheinbund). In the same year Emperor Franz II laid down the crown and the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation ceased to exist.

The French Revolution did not spread into Germany. Although there, too, various individuals had over the years tried time and again to do aw&y with the barriers between the aristocracy and the common people, and although leading thinkers welcomed the overthrow in the west as the start of a new era, one major reason why the spark could not catch easily was that, in contrast to centrally oriented France, the federalists structure of the Reich hampered the spread of new ideas.

Another big reason was that France, the motherland of the revolution, opposed the Germans as an enemy and an occupying power. Indeed, the struggle against Napoleon forged a new national movement which culminated in wars of liberation. But Germany did not remain unaffected by the forces of social change. First in the states of the Confederation of the Rhine and then in Prussia (in the latter connected with names such as Stein, Hardenberg, Scharnhorst and W. von Hum-boldt) reforms were begun which were aimed at breaking down feudal barriers and creating a society of free, responsible citizens. The objectives were abolition of serfdom, freedom of trade, municipal self-administration, equality before the law and general conscription.

But many reform moves were pulled up short. Participation by the populace in legislation was refused almost everywhere. Only hesitantly did some princes grant their states constitutions, especially in southern
Germany.