The Making of a German Constitution ― A Slow Revolution

It is impossible to comprehend the political development of the United States, England, or France without considering the US Constitution, English common law or the Code Napoleon, respectively. Why then has legalism been neglected in the study of German politics? Drawing on constitutional and legal history, this book reconsiders the creation of the German state and the nature of the "bourgeois revolution". The author reviews the critical time period of 1814-1930 to demonstrate the links between the legal code and political evolution. She argues that German liberals perceived that the ends of revolution could be achieved legislatively; thus Germany was able to attain a modern political and social system while avoiding--or at least delaying--violent movements. This book provides a much-needed republican synthesis of German political development through time. It offers a new interpretation of German political and constitutional history through its reading of a slow, bourgeois revolution.

Margaret Barber Crosby is Research Fellow, King's College London.