HISTORY
NATIONALISM AND THE SPREAD OF DEMOCRACY
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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Germany was briefly unified as a single nation.
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Liberals in the Assembly sabotaged unification.
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The Prussian ruler rejected the German throne.
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Tariff barriers between German states were dismantled.
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Detailed explanation-1: -On May 18, 1848, the German National Assembly met at Frankfurt am Main, representing the first assembly to be freely elected by the German people. Yet, despite electing an imperial vice regent (Reichsverweser), the government was flawed from the beginning by its lack of a strong executive power.
Detailed explanation-2: -After long and controversial debates, the assembly produced the so-called Frankfurt Constitution (Paulskirchenverfassung or St. Paul’s Church Constitution, officially the Verfassung des Deutschen Reiches) which proclaimed a German Empire based on the principles of parliamentary democracy.
Detailed explanation-3: -The Revolution of 1848 failed in its attempt to unify the German-speaking states because the Frankfurt Assembly reflected the many different interests of the German ruling classes. Its members were unable to form coalitions and push for specific goals. The first conflict arose over the goals of the assembly.
Detailed explanation-4: -Moreover the parliament kept at least half of the population out of active participation. Women could only be spectators from the gallery and were not allowed to participate actively. Without complete support of the entire society, the Parliament did not become a success.
Detailed explanation-5: -The Wars of Unification resulted in the annexation of large populations of non-German speakers, such as Danes in Schleswig and French in Alsace-Lorraine. In addition, a large part of Poland had been part of Prussia since the eighteenth century.