March Constitution of Austria
As Oktroyierte March Constitution, the Constitution of the Empire Austria is called, which was adopted after the revolution of 1848/ 49 in the Empire of Austria on March 4, 1849 by 18 -year-old Emperor Franz Joseph I. without the intervention of Parliament of Olomouc from. ( The Danube monarchy was here exceptionally not called Empire, but the Empire. )
As Oktroy be in law commented " oktroyierte " (by Fr. Octroyer ), that is called forced or imposed regulations or decisions. The imperial patent was issued in Olomouc, because the court in order to escape the dangers of the revolution in Vienna, had gone in 1848 to Moravia. (Even the Reichstag met there.)
In a lengthy introduction Franz Joseph I explained why he the appointed this ( zu Schwarzenberg with the help of Karl Friedrich von Kübeck and Franz Graf Stadion drafted by Prime Minister Felix ) Constitution without the participation under its predecessors, resolved by him on March 7, 1849 Reichstag Kremsier issued (in which the until August 1849 revolting Hungary, which proclaimed the dethronement of the Habsburgs in Hungary in April 1849 was not represented ). He is going to a constitution for the whole kingdom, which can not bring about the Reichstag.
The Constitution provided for a diet before and bicameral legislature with the upper house ( sent by the provincial members) and the House of Commons ( elected by all men with certain minimum control performance MPs) as well as a consultative Imperial Council and defined basic rights and freedoms of the uniform Austrian citizen. The working at the University of Prague Anton Heinrich Springer already stated in 1849: Impossible Constitution.
Walter Pollak summed up to 1974: the imposed Constitution was promulgated, but never filled with life. The neo-absolutism began his path. But Pollak also noted that there had not been a complete return to the situation before the revolution of March 1848. The emancipation of the serfs, the unified customs system, the single citizenship, the separation of judicial and administrative, trial by jury and the municipal autonomy had been preserved as a legacy of the Revolution.
On August 20, 1851, the Emperor sent a formal letter to Prime Minister Prince Schwarzenberg, in which he was asked to step over the stock and the possibility of enforcement of the Constitution of 4 March 1849 in mature and haunting recital and with the President for the time being the ( consultative ) Council Empire, Karl Friedrich von Kübeck, to issue an opinion, as these considerations are addressing .. the emperor and his environment was obviously aware that constitutional law and constitutional reality apart gaped strong.
On August 26, 1851 Franz Joseph I. taught ( by unrecognized source) to his mother, Archduchess Sophie, supposedly a letter, alleging his job to Schwarzenberg would be done only for the sake of the form: A great step further happened. We have thrown the Constitutional overboard, and Austria has only one Lord. Now, however, still needs to be worked hard.
The imposed Constitution was set up by Franz Joseph I formally with the New Year's patent of December 31, 1851 expire. Even before the later described as neo-absolutism political attitude of the emperor and his counselors had led to the free formation of opinions and participation selected delegates were prevented in the affairs of state by the Emperor dictatorship. For a really long time the Constitution in the imperial Austria came for the lost wars of 1859 and 1866 only to the Constitution in December of 1867, which was valid until October 1918.