Continuity or rupture? On the constitutional acts of the German Confederation of 1815 and 1820
The article is devoted to the analysis of two main documents of the Constitution of the German Confederation – the Federal Act of June 8, 1815 and the Vienna Final Act of May 15, 1820. It is noted that many articles of the first document had clearly temporary nature, only declaring future transformations, while the second act was a structurally more holistic and complete document. Comparing both texts in detail, the author comes to the conclusion that there was no conscious refusal in the 1820 document from the tasks and intentions that were proclaimed in 1815. The author emphasizes that the act of 1820 was developed in the context of public disillusionment with the work of federal institutions, as well as in a general anti-revolutionary political climate. Thus, the negative impression of the protective nature of the Federal Constitution made it difficult to evaluate its real possibilities correctly. Examining the strengths and weaknesses of both documents, the author focuses on the most problematic points that led to a discrepancy in assessing the role and significance of these documents in historiography.
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Sources
Deutsche Bundes-Akte vom 8. Juni 1815 [German Federal Act of 8 June 1815] [Online], available at: http://www.verfassungen.de/de06-66/index.htm (Accessed 19 August 2021) (in Germ).
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Protokolle der deutschen Bundesversammlung [Minutes of the German Federal Assembly] (1817), 3, Federal Publishing House, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (in Germ.).
Wiener Schlußakte (Schluß-Acte der über Ausbildung und Befestigung des deutschen Bundes zu Wien gehaltenen Ministerial-Conferenzen) vom 15. Mai 1820 [Vienna Final Act (Final Act of the Ministerial Conferences held on Training and Fortification of the German Confederation in Vienna) of 15 May 1820] [Online], available at: http://www.verfassungen.de/de06-66/index.htm (Accessed 19 August 2021) (in Germ.).
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The article was prepared within the framework of the state assignment of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (No. FZNF-2020-0001 "Historical and cultural traditions and values in the context of global history").