| Abstrakt: |
During the Premarch era, the provincial diets in Prussia did not gain much reputation as political institutions of influence. All the deputies were land owners and as such represented only a small fraction of the Prussian population. Even more, the nobility clearly dominated the estate assemblies, while town representatives and peasants were eager to have a say, too. The paper argues, however, that the diets of all eight Prussian provinces struggled to subsequently win general esteem and a politicized self-image. Although they debated mostly local and regional matters, they can be interpreted as protoparliamentary. In this regard, the most important issue involved was the emancipation of the Jews. During the 1820s and 1830s, all classes of property owners were united by a religious and economical prejudice against the Jews. Only during the 1840s, at least some representatives welcomed civil equality of the Jews. The common fight against Jewish emancipation helped to shape a political consciousness prior to the revolution of 1848. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
