The Growth of Liberalism

• The old social and political order was challenged by the creation of the USAQ (1776) and the French Revolution (1789); and the enlightenment thinking (which challenged theretofore beliefs)
• The enlightenment encouraged people to question the divine right of kings (where monarchs said they were chosen by god to rule - monarchs and aristocrats had used this to remain in power)
• The French Revolution released violence under ‘Liberty, fraternity, Equality’ these ideas spread (france was defeated in 1815 but liberal ideas continued)
• Liberals wanted to belong to the party of ‘movement’ (not the party of ‘resistance‘) as they wanted a change in the system of government
• liberals wanted power removed from the elite to be shared evenly in society (some wanted universal manhood sufferage, others wanted a republic or constitutional monarchy, others wanted the middle-class to hold political office)
• The Carlsbad decrees were a reactionary response (by Metternich and William III) against the rise of liberalism (reactionary governments held from until 1848)
• some liberal gains were made (in 1833 hanover gained its first constitution from king william, in the 1830s, 3 German states made their constitution more liberal, in Baden in 1846 press censorship was relaxed and police and judicial services reformed)
• other liberal gains were made (in 1847 a liberal newspaper was published - ‘The german newspaper’ in Heidelberg; in 1847 was the Heppenheim meeting where liberals met from south west states demanding liberal reform in the national diet, armed forces, the press and taxation)
• Frederick william III agreed to a meeting of the national diet in 1847, but he was afraid of the possible liberal ideas so disbanded the diet (this made liberals even more active)
• Liberals were mostly middle-class people who wanted ‘equality’ (free trade, free press, office holding)