[rachelwong]

Hi!
Some said that the frankfurt parliament was a turning point for the german unification. I've no ideas on it. What do you think?
Thanks!

[genbug]

Yes, the Frankfurt Parliament's "committee of 50" was established for the purpose of drawing up a constitution for German Unification in 1848, but it failed to retain popular support by the public.

Good Luck.
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Some good sites on the subject can be found at:

http://www.lwc.edu/staff/jmunson/19e...p/bismarck.htm

"In 1848 each German state sent liberal representatives to an assembly whose goals were nothing less than to unify Germany under a liberal constitutional monarchy.1 The assembly came to be known as the Frankfurt Parliament. Unfortunately, though the Parliament wanted to see Germany unite, the assembly was fraught with both internal and external problems. Moderate liberals wanted a constitutional monarchy while radicals wanted a republic. Though these as well as other internal issues were eventually resolved, the parliament could not escape the simple fact that it owned no lands and had no army.2 When offered the crown of what the parliament hoped would be a united Germany Frederick William of Prussia replied: "What, you bring an imperial crown? You are beggars! You have no money, no land, no law, no power, no people, no soldiers! You are bankrupt speculators in cast-off popular sovereignty!"3

Though many Germans wanted their separate states united into one nation, the Frankfurt Parliament was a miserable failure. It simply did not have the support from already organized governments it needed to succeed. Hope for unification was not dead, however. Each state had benefited from an agreement that allowed interstate commerce without the detriment of tariffs. This agreement called the Zollverein was hugely successful and very popular. Many wanted a united government in order to gain more advantages and have a better bargaining position with other nations. Unfortunately liberal elections and meetings were not going to accomplish this goal, especially after counter-revolutions began around 1849."
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http://www.germanheritage.com/Essays...s_of_1848.html

". . . To create a unified German empire, and to this end the Frankfurt Parliament was elected and convened (May 18). It adopted a bill of rights and a moderately democratic form of government. When Schwarzenberg made clear his determination to centralize Austria, however, the Frankfurt Parliament decided to exclude the German-speaking provinces of Austria from the German empire and in March 1849 offered the crown of a constitutional Germany to the king of Prussia. He declined, and without Prussia the work of the parliament came to nothing."
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