The Carlsbad Decrees of 1819

The Carlsbad Decrees of 1819 were a set of reactionary restrictions introduced in the states of the German Confederation by resolution of the Bundesversammlung (Federal Assembly) on 20 September 1819 after a conference held in the spa town of Carlsbad, Austrian Empire. They banned nationalist fraternities (Burschenschaften), removed liberal university professors, and expanded the censorship of the press. They were aimed at quelling a growing sentiment for German unification and were passed during ongoing Hep-Hep riots which ended within a month after the resolution was passed.

Background
The meeting of the state’s representatives was called by the Austrian Minister of State Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich after the liberal Burschenschaft student Karl Ludwig Sand had murdered the conservative writer August von Kotzebue on 23 March 1819, and an attempt had been made by apothecary Karl Löning on the life of Nassau president Karl von Ibell on 1 July 1819. In the course of the European Restoration Metternich feared liberal and national tendencies at German universities which might conduct revolutionary activities threatening the monarchistic order. At this time, the two outrages cited were a welcome pretext to take action.
The Carlsbad Decrees had consequences not only for the rights of the member states but also for the independent academic jurisdiction that had partially been in existence for centuries. An important instrument for the application of the decrees for these and other purposes was the Mainzer Zentraluntersuchungskommission (Mainz Central Commission of Inquiry). An essential attribute of the decrees was that the reactionary German Confederation understood liberal and nationalistic ideas as sedition and persecuted those spreading these ideas as demagogues. This persecution of demagogues, Demagogenverfolgung, was especially vigorous in Prussia.
After the Hambach Festival in 1832 the persecution was renewed for the last time. Only after the March Revolution of 1848 were the Carlsbad Decrees abrogated by the German Bundestag, on 2 April 1848.

Text of the Decrees
The decrees effectively dissolved the Burschenschaften Studentenverbindungen as well as the Turnerschaften and also provided for university inspectors and press censors. The text of the decrees consisted of four articles:
– Article I: The Burschenschaften and other secret or unauthorized societies are to be dissolved immediately and are forbidden forever. No new associations are to be formed under any name or pretext whatsoever.
– Article II: The curators or other authorities responsible for universities are to remove without delay any teacher who, by word or deed, shows himself to be an enemy of existing institutions or who seeks to spread discontent among students by means of false or exaggerated representations. They are also to prevent any public or private lectures or exercises that are not in accordance with good morals or sound principles.
– Article III: A commission composed of delegates from several states is to be established at Mainz with full powers to investigate and prosecute all persons who are suspected of being involved in revolutionary plots or activities. The commission is to have access to all archives and documents relating to such matters and is to report its findings and recommendations to the Federal Assembly.
– Article IV: The Federal Assembly is to request all governments within and outside the German Confederation to cooperate with the commission and to extradite any fugitives or offenders who may have escaped from its jurisdiction.

Consequences and Evaluation
The Carlsbad Decrees were enforced with varying severity in the German states over the next decade. Although they were temporarily successful in suppressing liberal political activities, they failed in the long run to stifle German nationalism or to curtail liberal developments in the states. They also provoked resentment and opposition from many intellectuals, students, and reformers who saw them as a violation of their civil rights and a betrayal of their national aspirations.
The Carlsbad Decrees can be seen as an example of how authoritarian regimes try to control dissent and opposition by restricting freedom of expression, association, and education. They also show how such regimes use external threats or incidents as pretexts to justify their repressive measures and to rally support from conservative or loyalist sectors of society. However, they also demonstrate how such measures can backfire and generate more resistance and discontent in the long term, as well as alienate potential allies or sympathizers. The Carlsbad Decrees can be compared to other historical or contemporary cases of authoritarian censorship and repression, such as the Index Librorum Prohibitorum of the Catholic Church, the Stalinist purges in the Soviet Union, the Cultural Revolution in China, the Iranian Revolution of 1979, or the current situation in North Korea, among others.

References

– Carlsbad Decrees – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlsbad_Decrees
– Carlsbad Decrees | German history | Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Carlsbad-Decrees 
– Carlsbad Decrees | Encyclopedia.com. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/carlsbad-decrees 
– Carlsbad Decrees – Wikiwand. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Carlsbad_Decrees 

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