THE “REACTIONARY” 1850s

• Many observers agreed with Engels that “feudal reaction” had triumphed in 1849.

• Prussia’s King Frederick William IV sought to unify Germany in 1849/50 but abandoned that effort at Austria’s demand.

• In the 1850s Prussian elections could be termed a sham, because there was no free press or freedom of association.

• But the Prussian government did become responsive to “public opinion” and sought to give all property owners good reason to support the government.

THE SERENE BOULEVARDS OF BERLIN:Unter den Linden, 1852

Joseph Maria von Radowitz (1795-1853) was an outsider in the Prussian government who briefly rose to the top

Descended from Hungarian Catholic immigrants to Brunswick, fought under Napoleon in 1813.1823: Joins the Prussian army and rises to rank of general.1836: Switches to diplomatic service, becomes close friend and advisor of Frederick William IV.1848: Conservative delegate in Frankfurt National Assembly.May 1849: Secures pledges by Kings of Saxony and Hanover to join a unified Germany led by Prussia, if the other German monarchs agreed.March 1850: Convenes a “parliament” of the “Erfurt Union.”

“Opening of the Parliament of the Erfurt Union,” March 1850:Radowitz persuaded 23 German governments to support the project, with a draft federal constitution based on three-class

suffrage and a strong Imperial Crown.

But Bavaria sided with Austria in November to demand intervention in revolutionary Hesse.

In the “Humiliation of Olmütz” (November 29, 1850), Prussia and Austria agreed to revive the old German Confederation of 1815.

"Capitulation of the Hungarian Army at Világos" on August 13, 1849: The defeat of Hungary with Russian aid enabled

Austria to turn its attention toward Germany

BY DECEMBER 1850 PRUSSIA AND AUSTRIA WERE BOTH LED BY PRO-RUSSIAN CONSERVATIVES

Otto von Manteuffel, Prussian Prime Minister, 1850-58, trained in financial administration

Prince Felix von Schwarzenberg (1800-52)

Manteuffel appointedOtto von Bismarck Prussia’s delegate to the revived Diet of the

German Confederation.

UNDER MANTEUFFEL PRUSSIA MADE CONCESSIONS TO ARTISANS AND PEASANTS WITHOUT

UNDERMINING “LIBERAL” ECONOMIC POLICY

• FOR PEASANTS: Government-subsidized loans to purchase land:– 1811-48: 240,000 new peasant freeholds.– 1850-65: 640,000 new freeholds.– Prussia’s landowning peasants became reliably

conservative thereafter.• FOR ARTISANS: Guilds revive in the 1850s as voluntary

chambers, deputized by the government to oversee vocational training and consumer protection.

• FOR BUSINESSMEN: Regional “Chambers of Commerce and Industry” gain the right to publish reports on business conditions and advise the new “Ministry of Commerce.”

The German Railroad net in 1860

The railroad net in 1870

A literate and disciplined work force is a precondition for industrialization: The “Rough House” orphanage founded

by J.H. Wichern in Hamburg in 1832

“The Rolling Mill at Eberwalde” (near Berlin), ca. 1830:One of the first depictions of a German factory

PRO-BUSINESS LEGAL REFORMS IN PRUSSIA

• Separate Ministry of Commerce created in 1848• Chambers of Commerce gain the right to publish annual

reports and petition the authorities.• Prussia rejects Austrian pressure for an Austro-German

Customs Union, and persuades Hanover to join the Zollverein in 1851.

• “Limited liability” encourages the foundation of 120 joint stock corporations.

• Prussia accepts the “universal” joint-stock investment banks pioneered by France (1852) and Hesse (Darmstadt Bank, 1853); David Hansemann founds the “Discount Company” in Berlin, 1856.

• The “Joint Ownership Law” of 1851 privatized the coal mines, and output soared.

CAPTAINS OF GERMAN INDUSTRY WORKED CLOSELY WITH THE PRUSSIAN STATE:

August Borsig (1804-1854) graduated from the State School

of Applied Arts in Breslau.

The first Borsig locomotive, made in Berlin in 1841

The Borsig Locomotive Factory, Berlin,1847

Werner Siemens (1816-1892) and his railway telegraph (1856):This army engineer co-founded Siemens & Halske in 1847

The growth of Siemens (logarithmic scale), 1847-2006:10 employees to 475,000; sales near 0 to 87 billion Euros

Alfred Krupp (1812-1887) and his steel works in Essen (1874):He expanded the work force from 7 to 20,000

The 100-ton steam hammer “Fritz,” developed by Alfred in 1861

The new Bessemer ovens to refine iron into steel, ca. 1870:They cut the time needed from 24 hours to 20 minutes

The rifled, cast-steel, breech-loading Krupp cannon that won the prize at the Paris World Exposition of 1867

The Krupp Works in 1912

Burbach Foundry, near Saarbruecken, 1870s

The old family workshop was becoming rare:“A Cobbler’s Workshop,” by Max Liebermann (1881)

The stress of factory labor: “The Iron Rolling Mill,”Upper Silesia, painting by Adolph Menzel (1875)

The industrial workplace was quite hazardous:The Hartmann Machine Shop in Chemnitz, ca. 1870

A steam-powered threshing machine, ca. 1870

A shanty town outside Berlin, ca. 1875(compare Blackbourn, p. 156)

The People’s Kitchen, Berlin, 1870s:One of many Lutheran and Catholic initiatives for the poor

Manteuffel was dismissed in 1858

largely because the King’s brother, Prince William, regarded his

techniques for manipulating elections

as “corruption”.William gained

appointment as Regent in 1859 and proclaimed

a “New Course.”

“Just Keep Smiling!”Kladderadatsch,October 9, 1859.Should Germany look to leadership

from Austria, Bavaria, or Prussia?

If it cannot decide, Napoleon III will

scoop up the German states in his

hunter’s bag.

The Coronation of King William I, Königsberg, January 1861