ABSTRACT
The thorniest constitutional problem was how far and in what form Austria, herself a large and mainly non-German empire, was to be associated with Germany. The ruthless suppression of the Vienna rising aroused great bitterness against reactionary Austria, though Prussia’s prestige also suffered through her own constitutional conflict. The Frankfurt Parliament’s draft constitution formed a well-reasoned whole which, even though it failed to secure adoption at the time, remained an important model for later German constitutions. On 28 April, 1849, the Prussian Government finally informed the Reichsverweser and the National Assembly that the King declined their offer, but added that it was still possible to reach a negotiated agreement on the constitution. In Bavaria, too, there existed a strong movement for recognising the democratic constitution which had already been achieved in Wurttemberg. The draft constitution of the Berlin Assembly, even more than the Frankfurt one, had many democratic features.
