The Rights of the Prussians between Constitution, Law and Government (1850-1870)

Abstract

After a thematic introduction, the author focussed on the civil and human rights introduced in Prussia (Germany) during the revolution of 1848-1849. Many of these freedoms and equality rights were secured by the first constitution of Prussia (31.1.1850), but this was naturally not enough to make the Prussian State a modern liberal and constitutional State. During the Fifties the reaction was successful in striking some of these rights off the constitutional text or in reshaping / neutralising their impact on politics and society through new legislation or the practical work of government and administration. Only the advent of the so-called old-liberal New Era (1858-1862) marked a moment of political reverse, which was soon interrupted by the sudden burst of the so-called constitutional conflict (1862-1866). The legislation of the Northern German Confederation seems to have recovered many of the individual Rights secured by the Prussian constitution. A special attention is paid to the discriminations in matter of freedoms and equality rights which concerned the Jews until the promulgation of the act of July, 3^rd 1869, which legally / formally equalized the Jews to the other Prussian citizens.