| Vormärz | |
|---|---|
| 1815/1830–1848 | |
 ChancellorMetternich about 1820, painting byThomas Lawrence | |
| Location | German Confederation |
Vormärz (German pronunciation:[ˈfoːɐ̯ˌmɛʁts]ⓘ;English:pre-March) was a period in the history of Germany preceding the 1848March Revolution in the states of theGerman Confederation.[1] The beginning of the period is less well-defined. Some place the starting point directly after the fall of Napoleon and the establishment of the German Confederation in 1815.[2] Others, typically those who emphasise theVormärz as a period of political uprising, place the beginning at theFrench July Revolution of 1830. The era also saw a gradual shift in developments from Germany being a country primarily based onagriculture to one evolving into an industrial society during the lateIndustrial Revolution.[2] This was accompanied by developments in science, literacy, literature and political awareness.[3]
Internationally known as theAge of Metternich, within Germany it was characterized by the dominance ofAustria andPrussia within theGerman Confederation. Both Austria and Prussia established repressiveabsolutistpolice states domestically, and pressured other German states to do the same. These authoritarian regimes practicedcensorship andmass surveillance on an unprecedented scale in response to even moderatereformist calls forliberalism,constitutional monarchy, andGerman unification, as well as moreradical, revolutionary calls forrepublicanism anduniversal suffrage.
Culturally, this period is known as theBiedermeier era. As such it is seen as a conclusion of theRomanticist era.
UponNapoleon's final defeat at theBattle of Waterloo, the European powers, led by the Austrian state chancellorKlemens von Metternich andBritish foreign secretary LordCastlereagh, implemented theConservative Order, thereby reversing the massive changes brought by theFrench Revolution. The aim was to reestablish the pre-revolutionarybalance of power. Against thenationalist andliberal tendencies among the Germanbourgeoisie that had risen during theNapoleonic Wars, theGerman Confederation was established as a successor of the shatteredHoly Roman Empire. It was not anation state but a loose association of the Germanprinces, who agreed on suppressing such political activities of their subjects. The German Confederation ultimately failed. After the "French period" in large German territories including theRhineland, the implementation of theNapoleonic Code, and thePrussian reforms, the movement towards aconstitution and aparliamentary system could be delayed, but not reversed.
Demonstrations grew increasingly visible and strident. Having founded one of the first nationalBurschenschaft circa 1815, the students ofJena openly demonstrated at theWartburg Festival, demanding a national pan-German state founded on a liberal constitution. When the 1819 assassination ofAugust von Kotzebue by student activistKarl Ludwig Sand created appropriate pretext, theBundesversammlung responded to the growing influence of theBurschenschaften by issuing theCarlsbad Decrees, which censored the press, curtailed academic study of liberalism, and restricted public discussion of such ideas as national unity and wider suffrage.
Though many activists likeErnst Moritz Arndt,Hoffmann von Fallersleben,Hans Ferdinand Massmann,Georg Büchner,Fritz Reuter,Friedrich Ludwig Jahn,Carl Theodor Welcker andFriedrich Gottlieb Welcker were arrested or retired into private life, liberal ideals enjoyed resurgence in the FrenchJuly Revolution of 1830, which was followed by insurrections in the Prussian capital,Berlin, and in the German states ofSaxony,Hanover,Hesse, andBrunswick. That same year, as theNovember Uprising inCongress Poland failed and the consequent emigration of many Polish insurgents began, popular German support for liberalism grew; at theHambach Festival of 1832, which was a culminating point of the national, liberal, and democratic movement, thenational colours of Germany and thePolish flag were raised together. After theGreater Poland Uprising of 1846, the trial against the insurgents aroundLudwik Mierosławski at the BerlinKammergericht gained large interest, and the defendants had to be pardoned by KingFrederick William IV of Prussia during the March revolution due to public pressure. However, the liberal and democratic movement included a strong nationalistic element from the beginning, predominantly against the French "hereditary enemy".
The states of the German Confederation reacted by increased suppression. In the failedFrankfurter Wachensturm, an attempt to storm theBundesversammlung assembly of the princes' delegates, theFree City of Frankfurt was occupied by Austrian and Prussian troops. Many participants were sentenced forhigh treason; others likeGustav Körner andFerdinand Lindheimer fled from Germany, mostly to theUnited States. On the other hand, the establishment of the Prussian-dominatedZollverein customs union, though formed to address economic concerns, was widely seen by national-liberal circles as a decisive step towards a (Lesser) German unification. In 1837 theGöttingen Seven professors were dismissed for their protest against the abolition of the Hanover constitution.
The succession of the mentally handicappedFerdinand I of Austria to the throne in 1835 made it possible for Metternich to have responsibility of the internal and external affairs of the Austrian Empire. Nationalism and the social developments in the empire created more tensions that would eventually erupt in the form of the March 1848 revolution. The emerging working class was looked at as a political problem, rather than a social one. The rise of liberalism would eventually be the downfall for Metternich and Ferdinand. Liberal ideals were coming from the upper aristocracy and the middle classes. The dissent of the middle class was extremely evident. InHungary, the 1836-39Diet saw few gains made, though these were significant to the peasant class. Along with the abolition of serfdom in Hungary, it no longer was a question of class but of the national position and the right of the authority of Vienna. The conflicting ideas would eventually come to a head in theMarch 1848 revolution.
Musically, the Vormärz spanned during the end of theClassical period and the beginning of the Romantic period.Ludwig van Beethoven lead the way during the composers late period. He wrote monumental works like theMissa solemnis and hisSymphony No. 9.Franz Schubert another transitional composer wrote over 600 lieder including two famous song cycles;Winterreise andDie schöne Müllerin. Thewaltz was the most popular dance craze in Europe with composers likeJoseph Lanner andJohann Strauss I writing the most celebrated waltzes. Other notable composers from this era includeFelix Mendelssohn,Johann Nepomuk Hummel,Carl Maria von Weber,Franz Liszt andRobert Schumann.
Vormärz is also the name of a movement inGerman literature during the same time, characterized by an increasing interest by authors in political and social topics, including the growing economic unity of Germany through theZollverein, the topic ofGerman Unification itself, and expanded malesuffrage.[4]
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