In this video I explain to you how the revolution of 1848 was brewing in Germany. We look at the four most important ingredients, the four developments that are needed. I also reveal the secret of what the Vormärz, strange word somehow, actually is. Just everything, I'd say, that you need to know. So, let’s clarify the term “Vormärz” right now. In March 1848, the March Revolution took place in the German states. The period before that is called “Vormärz”. "Vormärz" refers to the period between 1815, the Congress of Vienna, and 1848, the revolution. Sometimes, however, one only means the period from 1830 to 1848, because during that time things were already bubbling up enormously. And now to ingredient 1: Since the French Revolution, people's lives have been pretty shaken up. They also resisted foreign rule by Napoleon. Citizens are discovering cultural commonalities and a German identity across the borders of the German states. People talk about the cultural nation. People no longer see themselves primarily as Bavarians or Frankfurters, but as Germans. Citizens develop a national consciousness and the political perspective of a nation-state. But citizens are not only demanding a new state, but also a new society. For over 50 years, an ever-growing educated middle class has been emerging. Professors, Protestant pastors, doctors, pharmacists, lawyers, notaries, poets, writers, journalists, newspaper publishers. These people, many different groups, want to rise up through their achievements . They are tired of the old system. A system in which one is given a certain social position at birth. Citizens also want to take on political responsibility. But the princes are preventing this. As is so often the case, young people are particularly committed to the new political ideas. In 1815, students from various German countries joined together to form a so-called Burschenschaft . “Burschen” is simply the term for students. Women didn't go to university back then. By founding their association, the students want to show that Germany extends beyond the borders of individual states and that it is possible to create a united Germany. In 1817, all German fraternities met at Wartburg. At this symbolic place, the boys are demanding a nation state and a constitution that guarantees civil liberties. The rulers of the German Confederation observe these activities very closely and have the fraternities monitored by the police and secret police. The Austrian head of government, Klemens von Metternich, ensures that the German Confederation issues the so-called Carlsbad Decrees . And that is ingredient 2: repression, oppression. The princes of the German Confederation ban the fraternities. Newspapers will be censored in the future. The police and secret police in each country spy on the students and professors. And booksellers and journalists and writers. Well, actually anyone who seems suspicious in any way. Anyone who doesn't please the prince is thrown into prison. Anyone who campaigns for a united Germany is banned from working. Court proceedings were not public at that time. So nobody knows when someone is locked away. Now there are more and more people who want to fight against the oppressive measures. And in 1832, around 30,000 people met at Hambach Castle in the Palatinate and celebrated the so-called Hambach Festival. They demand the national unity of Germany. They demand a liberal constitution. They demand the abolition of princely rule, that is, a people's government, democracy. While this celebration may not have any major concrete impact, it is a signal of departure for the liberal movement, our third ingredient. Liberalism, as the name suggests, has something to do with freedom. It is about the individual, who should be free from external constraints. In politics, being liberal means standing up for human freedom and human rights. The liberals in the German Confederation want constitutions and parliaments, civil rights and a free market and, of course, a German nation state. Prince Metternich and the other princes reacted as they had done before: with pressure. The Carlsbad Decrees are being tightened. It is no longer possible to talk about politics in public. Many hundreds of people are arrested or deported. Thousands of liberal thinkers are fleeing Germany to America or Switzerland. Those who stay at home either retreat into private life or find new ways to become politically active. They establish gymnastics clubs. Political associations are banned, but that can't be political, can it? The gymnastics clubs are to the craftsmen what the fraternities are to the students . People also form singing clubs. Today, such clubs are often ridiculed as being bourgeois and old-fashioned, but back then they were political clubs. People sing songs about a united and free Germany. Every choir rehearsal is a declaration of war on the rulers. You all know one of these songs: “Unity and Justice and Freedom.” Our national anthem today. But there is something else in the many German states of that time that is often overlooked: not all people are well-educated citizens who spend their time in clubs. Many more people are manual workers or journeymen or casual workers. These people are not doing well at all. The poor do not only live in rural areas. Between 1815 and 1850, 70 to 80 percent of the population in large and medium-sized German cities belonged to the lower class. That is the mass of the population. Ingredient 4 is social misery and poverty. How does this difficult situation arise? Most importantly, the population in the German states is growing enormously. In 1815 there were a little more than 20 million Germans. By 1845 there were already almost 30 million. The problem is that the economy and agriculture are not growing fast enough to provide employment for all these people . The people who produce things, such as weaving fabrics, in their homes on behalf of a publisher cannot compete with the industry that has developed in England. They earn less and less and become poorer and poorer. At the same time, around 1846, the prices for rye, potatoes and meat rose sharply. This development is called pauperism, from the Latin "pauper", meaning "poor". The impoverishment of the lower classes. This is why, at least since 1840, there have been repeated hunger riots and localized uprisings such as the Silesian Weavers' Revolt. So you see: During the time of the German Confederation, there were political grievances that caused citizens to turn against the ruling order. They want a say, they want parliaments, a nation state. And there are also economic grievances that cause workers and peasants to rebel against the prevailing conditions . They want an end to feudal rule. An end to poverty and misery. So we really have all the ingredients needed for a real revolution. But I'll tell you how it all works in the next video. If you don't want to miss this and all upcoming videos, just subscribe to this channel here. If you have any further questions, post them in the comments and we'll take care of them. I would like to say thank you for watching and see you next time. Subtitles for funk on behalf of ZDF, 2017