ABSTRACT
The revolution of 1848-1849 which started in early March 1848 predominantly in Baden belongs to the highlights and turning points of German history. For a while a constitutional compromise was adopted: the monarchs remained but the Cabinets they appointed governed in agreement with the Parliaments. The predominantly liberal ministers sought to achieve reforms and the maintenance of law and order alike. The decentralised revolution aimed at the foundation of a German national State and a German Parliament. The 574 delegates of the ‘Pre-Parliament’ who met in the Frankfurter Paulskirche from 31 March to 3 April mainly came from the Southwest. They were already split into a liberal centre and a democratic left, and the latter into a moderate left around Robert Blum and a radical left led by Friedrich Hecker and Gustav von Struve favouring a ‘second revolution’.
