A Federal 2nd Reich

  • Thread starter Deleted member 1487
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Deleted member 1487

What if instead of a 4 kingdom empire the German empire was federalized under the Reichstag and Kaiser? I know this is extraordinarily difficult to imagine, because which German king would want to give up his noble rights? However, just for a thought experiment, what effect would a federal Reich have on Germany economically, politically, educationally, militarily, and foreign policy-wise?
 
Federalised how? It was a federal state, with a bicameral system, but of course Prussia, with its huge preponderance in population, got most of the votes (automatic majority in the Reichsrat). Were you thinking of artificially creating relatively equal-sized states? Or a centralised system removing the sovereign princes?
 
This would seem to be a democratised HRE. Just with each fedral state having a vote to elect the leader rather than the Electors.
 

Deleted member 1487

Federalised how? It was a federal state, with a bicameral system, but of course Prussia, with its huge preponderance in population, got most of the votes (automatic majority in the Reichsrat). Were you thinking of artificially creating relatively equal-sized states? Or a centralised system removing the sovereign princes?

It would be a centralized system similar to modern Germany in that there are smaller historic bundesländer (thuringia, saxony, etc.) and a central legislature with an executive monarch.


Is that a DBWI?
No, I just phrased the question poorly. I meant a system more like modern Germany than the 4 kingdoms under Prussia.

This would seem to be a democratised HRE. Just with each fedral state having a vote to elect the leader rather than the Electors.
The states would vote on their representative they could send to the Reichstag, while the monarch would be unelected. They system would have its national policies decided on in Berlin, while the states could decide local issues.
 
How about weaker Prussia and less dominance over the other kingdoms? E. g. Prussia does not succeed in annexing Hanover... under the pre-1866 borders of Prussia, how much would Prussia dominate Germany?
 
How about weaker Prussia and less dominance over the other kingdoms? E. g. Prussia does not succeed in annexing Hanover... under the pre-1866 borders of Prussia, how much would Prussia dominate Germany?


Well, it can only be stopped from annexing Hanover if it loses the war with Austria (or never fights it, but that's a longer shot). Then we probably get a looser federal Germany, with a much reduced Prussia, and with Franz Josef as Kaiser.

OTOH, if Prussia acquires Saxony and land on theh Austrian border, it may leave Hanover independent, but then it's still just as predominant in Germany as OTL.
 
Well, it can only be stopped from annexing Hanover if it loses the war with Austria (or never fights it, but that's a longer shot). Then we probably get a looser federal Germany, with a much reduced Prussia, and with Franz Josef as Kaiser.
The Frankfurt Reichstag of 1848 offered the crown to Prussia, not Austria.
 
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